building a server =)

[miludafolles]

Hey all. I couldn't find a good place to look for help specifically for servers, but this forum seems active so I figured I'd give it a shot =)

Question: Can I use these parts with it? Some of them are desktop parts, but the board is a server board. I don't see why they wouldn't be compatible but I thought I should ask someone

any recommendations would be fabulous, thanks =)

part list:

Mobo:ASUS P5E WS PRO
CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz
RAM:2x2x2gb ram (8gb) DDR2 1066
GFX:GeForce GTX 260
PSU:OCZ GameXStream 700w
HD's:2x Seagate Barracuda 1tb 7200rpm (2tb)
case:$70 rackmount

misc: grand total $1200 after rebates (give or take)

 

[Nagasama]

yes thse parts will work, but if i may ask, what will you be using it for (besides obviously being a server)?

 

[Puddle Jumper]

You shouldn't need a GTX 260 or x38 for a server. I would change the cpu, motherboard, ram, and video card to these parts.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - MSI X58 Pro LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR HD2400PRO 512MB SCS Radeon HD 2400PRO 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

 

[kmote]

That PSU isn't great and I wouldn't recommend seagates right now either. A graphics card in a server is a waste of power and space and you should definitely use a RAID with some redundancy (meaning you would not get 2TB space from 2*1TB drives so if you really need 2 TB you should plan accordingly). What OS are you going to be using?

 

[miludafolles]

thanks for all the quick replies =) I shall respond to each question in no particular order

I went for the graphics card because I figured I could use the rig for gaming, and I could always swap it out for a $30 one and stick it in my desktop when not using it for that purpose.

I'm mainly going to use it for running CPU/RAM taxing applications inside several VM's

Puddle Jumper: wow, that's a great build right there! some nice DDR3, and seems like people are able to OC the 920 Nehalem to 3.6ghz on air =O And it's cheaper than my build... And I get more RAM. Wow. thanks! =)

I picked those HD's because they have the best $/GB ratio (0.08/gb), the WD ones are 25% more expensive, but I suppose I should go for them if all the seagates will do for me is fail

I'll probably end up using Windows Server 2k8 because I can get it for free from my college, but any OS really since it'll be doing all its work inside VMs

and, what's wrong with the PSU? It has plenty of wattage and good amperage from what I can tell, and it's a good brand

 

[philbar71]

the OCZ gamextreme is a good PSU, especially for the price.

 

[kmote]

I happen to have the 700W gameXstream myself and it couldn't reliably power my old dual opteron machine with only one disk and a quadro 3450! The etasis ET750 it has now powers the machine with 2 * 9800GTXs.
Seagates have been failing a lot lately with various firmware related issues, this is apparently fixed now but if this was my server I would be sticking with other brands just for the moment. If you've already bought them though then don't bother returning them, I assume that since this is a server you are going to be paying special attention to backup so that's the most important thing.
If experience has tought me just one thing it's that machines are better off being specialised for their job, I would definitely leave the powerful GPUs in PCs.

 

[miludafolles]

alright, so here's how the build looks now

MSI X58 Pro LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
2x CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (12gb)
$30 gfx card
OCZ GameXStream 700w
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 1TB
$70 rackmount case

total after rebates: $970!

I did a bit of searching and it seems that the 1tb seagate drives should be fine, it seems that the firmware problem only applied to the 1.5tb models

I haven't ordered any parts yet so any other recommendations are welcome. This build looks pretty solid now, and at a great price (thanks again Puddle Jumper!)

 

[kmote]

It does not only affect the 1.5TB models as pointed out by this post.
The 700W gameXstream is on the avoid list in our power supply guide so it's not just me either.

 

[miludafolles]

thanks kmote =)

here's how it looks now after changing PSU and HD's

MSI X58 Pro LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
2x CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (12gb)
$30 gfx card
OCZ StealthXStream 700W
2x Western Digital Caviar Green 1tb
$70 rackmount case

total after rebates: $960!

The StealthXStream 600w is on this forums list, under Ste's Picks, the one I'm getting is the 700w so that should be good

so, how's it look now?

edit: for $20 more, I can get the CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W. Would that be a good choice?