PC build needed to take place of dedicated server

daztrouk · 23 Feb 2013 at 16:13

I’m in the market for a new PC, as I’m currently renting a dedicated server to get my work done, but am having issues with the provider, which makes me think I’d be better of dealing with things in house. My current server is a Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2, and I’d like the performance of the new build to be as close to this as possible, albeit on my limited budget.

I don’t do any gaming at all, and I won’t be overclocking. The main use for the PC will be to run an app, which is CPU and multicore intensive. I’ll be making use of virtual machines, at least 2, which will need to run the app pretty much 24/7 on, and the CPU will be maxed out during this time, so power efficiency and system stableness are very important.

I have a max budget of about £400, and only require the following:

CPU
motherboard
RAM
PSU

I’m completely out of the loop when it comes to PC hardware, as I haven’t been following it for years, so any advice in regards to what specific items for the above hardware groups mentioned are appreciated.

Idleman · 23 Feb 2013 at 17:25

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL316GB1600C9DC) £79.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
Total : £401.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1230+V2+@+3.30GHz

linwelin · 23 Feb 2013 at 17:27

Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL316GB1600C9DC) £79.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
Total : £401.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1230+V2+@+3.30GHz

Doesn't that CPU run very hot ? he would need a proper cooler for it would he not ?

Idleman · 23 Feb 2013 at 17:43

linwelin said:
Doesn't that CPU run very hot ? he would need a proper cooler for it would he not ?

Probably, when OC`ed, but as the OP is not going down that road, it should be fine.

daztrouk · 24 Feb 2013 at 09:50

Thanks for the recommendation Idleman, appreciated. The only thing I'm worried about though, is that i've been told that the CPU mentioned uses a lot of power? Which would become an issue if my PC is running at 100% pretty much all day.

decto · 24 Feb 2013 at 10:40

You can purchase an intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 for around £180

Power supply should be 400W+ preferably gold or titanium rated for efficiency. £60+

You will find it hard to get good advice without more detail on your specific workload.

Intel chips generally do more work per clock cycle than AMD but AMD give you more cores. With Intel hyper threading you get some virtual cores.

You also need to consider how much memory you need and how the application will respond to memory and disk access, do you need RAID, SSD's etc. Fast CPU and slow mem / hdd could reduce throughput.

For reference, If the PC uses 100W from the wall 24/7 it will cost around £12 per month in electricity.

Intel - approx 100W total
AMD x8 approx 150W total

You also need to think about noise and cooling, a PC at full load can be quite audible especially at night.

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