Small Gaming Server and Media PC

[MoonFisherman]

Hello Tech Gurus! Please advise me on building my new computer.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within next week.

Budget Range: Approximately $600. Can spend $800 if it is significantly better.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: A small game server capable of running with 6-10 friends on it, and a media PC capable of streaming from my other computers.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: All (Not applicable)

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Websites for Parts: Amazon and Newegg

Location: Portsmouth, Virginia (United States)

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU

Overclocking: None please.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: N/A

Additional Comments: I would like this server computer/media PC to be quiet. I plan to run it as a server with only a few people on it at a time anywhere between 6-10 people. The games I plan to use it with are ARK: Survival Evolved, 7 Days to Die, or Minecraft (only one game at a time, not all at once). I will be hooking this up to a 4K TV but I am not using this for gaming. Only for watching shows from my subscribed services.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I do not like the idea of renting game servers for $20 a month. I would also like another device that plays Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, Spotify, and stream things from my main computer to this one easily.

Let me know if you need anymore information. Thank you for your help, and I hope everyone's New Year is going well!

 

[MacDonalds]

So your not willing to buy a graphics card, just a cpu with a graphics card? Because than it's more becoming a home theather PC which you can build a REALLY good one for 600-800 euro's!

 

[MoonFisherman]

I do have a GTX 770 laying around that I can use with it. I didn't realize a home theater PC would be better with a graphics card. I thought a CPU with integrated graphics would be good enough, but I will not sell my 770 if I can use it in this build!

 

[skit75]

I can speak for hosting an ARK:SE private server....

The server application has yet to be fully optimized and seems to be core restricted or limited, making a high clocked CPU more valuable Vs. a quad or hex core CPU. This might change by release. With a vanilla server(no mods) mine uses just under 5GB RAM while idle with nobody connected and 12-20% CPU usage on a E6850 C2D @ 3.0GHz. At around 10 people connected my system will use ~6GB RAM and CPU will be around 50-70% usage. My server is an HP xw4600 Workstation with 8GB DDR2 using (2) WD Raptor 300GB 2.5" drives in RAID 0.

 

[MoonFisherman]

Thank you for the insight on what specifications you are using to run a server with ARK: SE. It is very helpful. Would you say that it runs smoothly for everyone without any hiccups with your setup? Hopefully, further into development ARK: SE will make it more optimized. Unfortunately, my friends like to play the new games which aren't always using system resources efficiently.

 

[MacDonalds]

If your really whiling to pay 600 go with this and put your 770 in it http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yj72XL I think it will be really good even as a game PC But you have to change the PSU if you want to put the 770 in it.

 

[skit75]

It does well with my limited population. I fear it only has capacity for about 20 players before I would have to scrap the whole thing for a more powerful CPU. There is a database "Save" that happens every 15 minutes by default that causes a quick rubberband effect ingame. An SSD for your server might minimize that. It happens on all servers but I believe you can limit the effects of it with an SSD and high clocked CPU from a recent generation. This is the only thing this machine does. Nothing else is running on it except the Ark Server Manager & Teamviewer. Using Windows 7 x64 PRO for the OS.

 

[MacDonalds]

It does well with my limited population. I fear it only has capacity for about 20 players before I would have to scrap the whole thing for a more powerful CPU. There is a database "Save" that happens every 15 minutes by default that causes a quick rubberband effect ingame. An SSD for your server might minimize that. It happens on all servers but I believe you can limit the effects of it with an SSD and high clocked CPU from a recent generation. This is the only thing this machine does. Nothing else is running on it except the Ark Server Manager & Teamviewer. Using Windows 7 x64 PRO for the OS.

SSD is not really save with backingup.

 

[skit75]

It does well with my limited population. I fear it only has capacity for about 20 players before I would have to scrap the whole thing for a more powerful CPU. There is a database "Save" that happens every 15 minutes by default that causes a quick rubberband effect ingame. An SSD for your server might minimize that. It happens on all servers but I believe you can limit the effects of it with an SSD and high clocked CPU from a recent generation. This is the only thing this machine does. Nothing else is running on it except the Ark Server Manager & Teamviewer. Using Windows 7 x64 PRO for the OS.

SSD is not really save with backingup.

I have no idea what you mean by that.

 

[MoonFisherman]

Thank you MacDonalds for the suggestion. I have already started looking at it.

Skit75, thank you for the quick response. It seems if I only want a gaming a server I can spend significantly less than $600. I do not mind rubberbanding for world saves if it only happens briefly. So I will hold off on purchasing an SSD unless prices come down significantly. I do not think I will ever need a capacity greater than 10 as I only play with small number of friends. Thank you very much for your insights with server hosting.

It seems the decision I have to make is game server and media center, or only just a game server. I could just make a game server and buy a Roku for my streaming needs.

 

[skit75]

Thank you MacDonalds for the suggestion. I have already started looking at it.

Skit75, thank you for the quick response. It seems if I only want a gaming a server I can spend significantly less than $600. I do not mind rubberbanding for world saves if it only happens briefly. So I will hold off on purchasing an SSD unless prices come down significantly. I do not think I will ever need a capacity greater than 10 as I only play with small number of friends. Thank you very much for your insights with server hosting.

It seems the decision I have to make is game server and media center, or only just a game server. I could just make a game server and buy a Roku for my streaming needs.

I went as cheap as possible with mine as you can see also using 7-8 year old hardware. We didn't have a lot of money but couldn't stand the official servers =) It is good enough for us. Cheers

 

[MoonFisherman]

I went to PCpartpicker and created my own build with some of MacDonalds suggestions and my own changes. I decided to just add a small SSD instead of a 1 terabyte HDD to make everything a little snappier. Please let me know if there are any glaring issues. http://pcpartpicker.com/user/MoonFisherman/saved/nN3xFT

 

[skit75]

FYI - Game server applications and associated files are huge. My ARK:SE server is using around 150-160GB including the OS. Like I said this is a dedicated server with only ARK:SE. If you want to have room for all those other things you mentioned without having to uninstall things, you may need more capacity than a 250GB SSD can provide. Food for thought.

 

[MoonFisherman]

Wow, that's a lot of required space needed. I will probably get the 1 terabyte HDD then rather than the SSD for large file sizes. 1 terabyte SSDs are too expensive. I did see a SSD/HDD Hybrid drive which I am leaning towards. Any opinion on this new one? http://pcpartpicker.com/user/MoonFisherman/saved/nN3xFT

 

[skit75]

Looks good.... If you haven't double checked, you may want to verify that your GTX 770 length fits in that case and that your Cm Evo 212 fits the depth in your case.

Case Dims:
MAXIMUM VIDEO CARD LENGTH
13.98"
DIMENSIONS
7.91" x 14.88" x 17.52"