Help me with a pc build for Server

Braini4c · 7 Nov 2014 at 13:40

Hi Guys,

I want to build my own custom pc to run windows server on it with a few virutal pc running on it. i need the motherboard to be raid compatible raid 5 is the one i am looking for.

my budget is £500- I have hard drives already and will be using onboard graphics card for now.

I am looking for small pc case so i think the motherboard would need to be a mini.

Braini4c · 7 Nov 2014 at 13:41

Oh it needs to be energy sufficient as it will be on all the time.

stulid · 7 Nov 2014 at 14:57

What sort of parts are you needing?

How big exactly?

YOUR BASKET
1 x intel core i7-4770s 3.10ghz low power (haswell) socket lga1150 processor - retail £227.99
1 x superflower golden silent 500w fanless "80 plus platinum" power supply - black £89.99
1 x msi h97i ac intel h97 (socket 1150) ddr3 mini itx motherboard £79.99
1 x teamgroup elite black 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c11 1600mhz dual channel kit (tpkd38g1600hc11dc01) £59.99
1 x antec isk 600 small form factor itx chassis £44.99
total : £512.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

low power cpu and platinum psu for the energy efficiency

http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/h97i_ac.html#hero-specification

• RAID
- SATA1~4 support Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (AHCI/ RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 10) by Intel® H97

That case has 3 x 3.5" bays, is that enough?

Braini4c · 7 Nov 2014 at 16:16

stulid said:
What sort of parts are you needing?

How big exactly?

YOUR BASKET
1 x intel core i7-4770s 3.10ghz low power (haswell) socket lga1150 processor - retail £227.99
1 x superflower golden silent 500w fanless "80 plus platinum" power supply - black £89.99
1 x msi h97i ac intel h97 (socket 1150) ddr3 mini itx motherboard £79.99
1 x teamgroup elite black 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c11 1600mhz dual channel kit (tpkd38g1600hc11dc01) £59.99
1 x antec isk 600 small form factor itx chassis £44.99
total : £512.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

low power cpu and platinum psu for the energy efficiency

http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/h97i_ac.html#hero-specification

That case has 3 x 3.5" bays, is that enough?

thanks specs on that is great would you know of a case that has 4 bays? and what do you think of running with 4gb ram to save a bit of money? and adding extra ram later if needed?

stulid · 7 Nov 2014 at 16:28

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-085-ZA&groupid=2362&catid=736

That has more drive bays.

Sure you can also use 4GB now and add more later.

There are also other itx boards avalible, but not instock and missing WiFi+BT,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
Total : £64.97 (includes shipping : £4.98).

Braini4c · 7 Nov 2014 at 17:08

stulid said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-085-ZA&groupid=2362&catid=736

That has more drive bays.

Sure you can also use 4GB now and add more later.

There are also other itx boards avalible, but not instock and missing WiFi+BT,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £58.99
Total : £64.97 (includes shipping : £4.98).

I wont really need wifi as it will be connected to a Ethernet cable. but if they are out of stock i guess having wifi would be useful. also would there be much saving in going for a i5 processor ? or even a amd?

stulid · 7 Nov 2014 at 17:08

You said virtual PCs, i7 will rule with its 8 threads.

There are no small decent AM3+ boards either.

Ronald · 7 Nov 2014 at 17:45

With a few virtual PC instances, especially if they are running Windows along the host OS, I don't think those 8 threads on the i7 will see much use with just 4GB in the machine. I'd sacrifice the fanless PSU first, then the i7, and only then the memory to shave some money off the budget.

Especially without SSD, it will not perform when memory constrained.