Dual Socket Server Board for Gaming

[cja711]

I am looking to buy used parts off ebay to get myself a decent gaming PC and I have decided on wanting a dual socket motherboard and Xeon Processors. I havent been able to find a motherboard that has 2 CPU sockets and at least 1 PCIe x16 slot (for graphics card). Ideally id like to be able to get the motherboard and CPU's for under £100. Id also like to be able to run the PC off of a Corsair VS650 as I already have it.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

Thank you

 

[McHenryB]

Server motherboards aren't designed with high performance graphics in mind. You might be better suited by a good workstation motherboard.

 

[cja711]

Are there any workstation motherboards that support 2 CPU's? The only ones I can find run off power supply's that arent ATX ones like the one I have. Would having a server board be a massive knock on performance?

 

[noidea_77]

This might not be the best idea in general, because games are definitely not designed to run on two CPUs. There is a big difference between multi-core CPUs and multi-socket boards! Beside that the PSU is not the only problem. Take care you get a board that works with standard CPU coolers as well. Most server board require special coolers, only run with ECC RAM, may not support graphics cards in the PCI-E slot at all,... And not that old workstation boards are rare and expensive....

 

[McHenryB]

Are there any workstation motherboards that support 2 CPU's? The only ones I can find run off power supply's that arent ATX ones like the one I have. Would having a server board be a massive knock on performance?

Yes, such workstation motherboards exist.

For example: http://b2b.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5186#sp

But I think your estimate of under £100 for a decent two-socket motherboard and two Xeon processors is a little optimistic. A decent multi-core single-processor setup is probably a more realistic option.