Building Budget Server - $300-$500

[bryceray]

Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: 300-500 After rebates including shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important:

• 
  ■ Host 2-3 low traffic websites
  ■ Host a 25 person teamspeak 3 server
  ■ Host a single america's army game server

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No, will be using VMwaresESXI then putting each of the above applicatinos in its own vm (2 vms with centos and 1 with windows 7 (already have license)).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Cheapest

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Kansas City, MO

Parts Preferences: intel preferred but open to cheaper optinos

Overclocking: Yes if needed

Additional Comments:
I have a gigabit up/down connection (google fiber) so there should not be any network bottlenecks. The server will be hardwired into the network. I have a PSU I can potentially reuse, a midsized desktop case, dvd drive, and a hard drive. Where possible I want the server to be upgradable. I am ok with the initial build being minimum specs (i.e. 8gb ram instead of 32gb), as I will upgrade it as needed over time. For this reason I need a motherboard with room to grow. I also understand that getting a motherboard that supports multiple cpus is expensive so I was thinking it makes sense to invest a significant part of my budget into the cpu.

Based on the fact that I have a case, psu, dvd drive, hardrive, periphreals, and a monitor, it would seem that my server build will just require:

• 
  ■ Motherboard
  ■ Memory
  ■ CPU
  ■ CPU Cooler

I really appreciate any advise. I've built a couple gaming PCs from scratch but this is my first attempt at a server. I am a software developer so I am proficient enough to manage the server just not confident on choosing server hardware.

 

[flamefire999]

You won't be able to even buy the CPU for a dual CPU build. Your budget would have to be around $1200 (with only one CPU) for that because you need a mobo thats really expensive and the CPU is really expensive too. You would also need a cheap graphics card because it wouldn't have integrated graphics. This build is good enough: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6dMmNG . And you can drop the SSD if you don't want it but it will really speed things up and you can always add it in later. This build will allow you to OC easily. Also if you want to add in an SSD later then I suggest saving up for more RAM (16 gb is enough) before you buy one and get a bigger one (somewhere around 120- 240 gb) that way you can have more stuff on it, not just stuff for your server. Also keep the hard drive in it so you have more space for music and what not.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I wouldn't mess with overclocking on a server system. Here are some solid core components in your price range.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($105.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $458.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-17 01:23 EDT-0400

 

[flamefire999]

I wouldn't mess with overclocking on a server system. Here are some solid core components in your price range.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($105.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $458.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-17 01:23 EDT-0400

Overclocking is fine on a server system as long as it's done in moderation.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I'm aware that overclocking systems is perfectly safe. I've been doing it for years. The problem here, however, is that moving up to the 4690k, a Z97 chipset motherboard, and nice 1866MHz or 2133MHz RAM pushes the system over budget. It also often takes hours/days to reach a fully stable overclock. Many people who are building a server just want to build the system and begin using it. Other factors include increased heat and power consumption that most standard users don't think as much about. I'm all for overclocking a system when it makes sense, but in this case I didn't see the need.

 

[flamefire999]

I'm aware that overclocking systems is perfectly safe. I've been doing it for years. The problem here, however, is that moving up to the 4690k, a Z97 chipset motherboard, and nice 1866MHz or 2133MHz RAM pushes the system over budget. It also often takes hours/days to reach a fully stable overclock. Many people who are building a server just want to build the system and begin using it. Other factors include increased heat and power consumption that most standard users don't think as much about. I'm all for overclocking a system when it makes sense, but in this case I didn't see the need.

This is the build I posted above: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6dMmNG . Completely overclockable

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I'm aware that overclocking systems is perfectly safe. I've been doing it for years. The problem here, however, is that moving up to the 4690k, a Z97 chipset motherboard, and nice 1866MHz or 2133MHz RAM pushes the system over budget. It also often takes hours/days to reach a fully stable overclock. Many people who are building a server just want to build the system and begin using it. Other factors include increased heat and power consumption that most standard users don't think as much about. I'm all for overclocking a system when it makes sense, but in this case I didn't see the need.

This is the build I posted above: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6dMmNG . Completely overclockable

And $50 over budget with only 8GB of RAM...

 

[flamefire999]

I'm aware that overclocking systems is perfectly safe. I've been doing it for years. The problem here, however, is that moving up to the 4690k, a Z97 chipset motherboard, and nice 1866MHz or 2133MHz RAM pushes the system over budget. It also often takes hours/days to reach a fully stable overclock. Many people who are building a server just want to build the system and begin using it. Other factors include increased heat and power consumption that most standard users don't think as much about. I'm all for overclocking a system when it makes sense, but in this case I didn't see the need.

This is the build I posted above: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6dMmNG . Completely overclockable

And $50 over budget with only 8GB of RAM...

I said in my other reply that he can drop the SSD. It's $50. Not over budget. You just have to read.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I know you stated the SSD was optional. For a server that will be running multiple VMs I would certainly rather have 16GB of RAM than a couple hundred extra MHz of CPU speed and all the drawbacks that come with overclocking. This back and forth isn't helping the OP. You just seemed to skip over all my points on why overclocking a server may be a bad idea. The OP has the info he asked for, so now it's up to him to decide what will work best for his needs.

 

[flamefire999]

I know you stated the SSD was optional. For a server that will be running multiple VMs I would certainly rather have 16GB of RAM than a couple hundred extra MHz of CPU speed and all the drawbacks that come with overclocking. This back and forth isn't helping the OP. You just seemed to skip over all my points on why overclocking a server may be a bad idea. The OP has the info he asked for, so now it's up to him to decide what will work best for his needs.

I wasn't skipping over what you were saying. I was just responding to what you were saying about my build