New build utilising both integrated and dedicated graphics

ConnorMacloud

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Jan 19, 2016
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Hi All,

Firstly, many thanks for any responses and apologies if I'm repeating this question.

Im hoping to get a new build together to host a NAS, HTPC, virtualisation, file server etc. as well as wanting to game on this machine.

The pc will be on 24x7 for the non-gaming part so I am aiming for a low power build when the GPU isn't churning. My question is if I were to have both integrated and dedicated graphics, could I choose to only utilise the dedicated when I'm running games?

I am intending to go with a low power Xeon or atom cpu to keep power to a minimum as well as utilise their server capabilities.


Would the low power cpu bottleneck the GPU at all? Is there any other aspect of this build that just won't meet my requirements?

Also if you have any cpu recommendations?
 
Solution
GPU's typically do not use much power, at idle. Even the 390x isn't horrible, at idle. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,4178-8.html

An Atom would bottleneck any decent graphics card. A Xeon would work, but I wouldn't go with anything less than a 1230/1231v3. The lack of IGP does help with power consumption a bit. At idle, they do not use much either. Just be sure to have power saving options enabled, in the bios.

http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-e3-1230-v3-review-haswell-xeon-benchmarks/

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
GPU's typically do not use much power, at idle. Even the 390x isn't horrible, at idle. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,4178-8.html

An Atom would bottleneck any decent graphics card. A Xeon would work, but I wouldn't go with anything less than a 1230/1231v3. The lack of IGP does help with power consumption a bit. At idle, they do not use much either. Just be sure to have power saving options enabled, in the bios.

http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-e3-1230-v3-review-haswell-xeon-benchmarks/
 
Solution