logitic :
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Jan 1, 2010
BUDGET RANGE: 1200$ US Before / After Rebates Not very flexible
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming only
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, tiger direct, amazon
PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type
OVERCLOCKING: Yes ( for gaming)
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Don't know
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Making a dedicated server for shooters. Will run it for MW2, but setting it up for DX11 AVP(love the game)
Form Factor: Don't know
Thanks guys for any help.
My server knowledge is really low so if you can walk me through it, that would be great!
Apparently the game
doesn't have dedicated server support, so I suppose you're out of luck.
As for the other game, I am not sure. I haven't used a dedicated server for games in a
long time. The last one I've used was a Slot 1 PIII running W2K for the original Counter-Strike. CS didn't really stress the server very much, but the server was an unreliable pile of garbage. Apparently more modern games do stress the server a bit as the server has to do a lot of the bot housekeeping, so the general recommendation I saw was to use hardware similar to what's in the client PCs, except you don't need a stout GPU. I'll make a few very general recommendations about servers that you may want to follow.
0. The most important thing that you want in a server is
reliability. Keep that principle in your mind when you're buying parts and setting up your server and you'll not be disappointed. I put this at #0 instead of #1 as it is so important.
1. Having an adequate supply of clean power is probably the most important hardware thing you can do to keep your server running well. Buy a good-quality PSU and plug it into a good-quality uninterruptable power supply, or at the very least, a good surge protector.
2. Don't overclock anything in the server.
3. Get a motherboard and CPU that both support ECC RAM, as both must support ECC RAM for the ECC to work. ECC RAM is important in a server as RAM errors collect over time and can cause the server to act flaky or crash after it has been turned on for a while. Normal RAM does not correct these errors, but ECC RAM does. I know that all of AMD's desktop and server CPUs except the Sempron support using ECC RAM, I am not sure about the Sempron. All Xeons support ECC RAM. Intel LGA775 CPUs support ECC RAM only if they are used with an X-series chipset (e.g. 975X, X38, X48) or one of the Xeon 3000 series chipsets. Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs do
not support ECC RAM, you'd want the equivalent Xeon 3400 and 3500 series CPUs instead. ECC support in the motherboard is generally limited to server and workstation boards, but some of Intel's and ASUS's desktop motherboards do support ECC. If you wonder as to whether the board supports ECC, look at the manual online and go to the BIOS section. If there are options to enable ECC or memory parity, it supports ECC. If not, it doesn't.
4. Graphics cards are unimportant in servers. Integrated graphics works fine, but if the board doesn't come with that, a bottom-end $20 GPU will be more than enough. Many servers don't even have a monitor attached as they are simply administered through the network, but you'll probably need some sort of graphics output if you're installing games on a game server.
5. The case just needs to fit the motherboard and number of HDDs you want. About the only thing to look for is that there is adequate HDD cooling if you're going to be running a lot of HDDs in your server.
6. Pick your OS carefully, lock it down as much as possible, and then keep it updated, particularly if it is accessible from the Internet.
7. Don't mess with the server very much once it is set up and is running.
8. Keep regular backups of anything important on the server so you can restore quickly if the server decides to eat a hard drive or otherwise has problems.
If you have any more-specific questions, feel free to ask.