Game server

[Liquid Snake]

As some of you know, I put up a UT server not too long ago (a Celeron 466). Since it seems like we only play UT together every few months, I decided to take it down. I put up a Serious Sam server instead since there aren't too many Sam servers and it's a fun game

As I discovered, the Celeron 466 wasn't enough. The CPU pegged at 100% usage a lot even with only three or four players in the server. But recently, a friend of my parents asked if we had a unused computer we could sell them since the one they had just died. They're willing to pay a couple of hundred for the Celeron, and with some money of my own I'll have enough to put together a new server

So I have around $500 to work with. I already have 256MB of PC133 RAM, a NIC and a Matrox Millennium I. I just need a case, mobo, CPU and hard drive. Any suggestions on what parts I should get? I've been looking at some of the Shuttle PCs, since they're small and unobtrusive, so I could just put it to the side and let it do its server duties. I know GT98 got a SS51G recently, but a P4-based system is out of my budget, and it would be overkill - I'd probably max out my bandwidth before I max out the server capibilities.

[RichL]

ECS K7S5A mobo (as it takes PC133 as well as DDR), Athlon XP1600, whatever cheap HDD you can get your hands on (assuming its not running as anything except a UT server)
512mb of PC133 is cheap right now and the K7S5A has 2 Dimm sockets.

[Tomasz]

Here are some suggestions:

CPU: Duron 1.2 ($42) or AthlonXP 1600+ ($64) at TCWO.com

hard drive: (size need depends on how many games you will install, etc.) you can find 20GB to 80GB for about $60 to $110 at newegg.com

MoBo: As RichL said, the ECS is the only way to go if you must use PC133... these are OK midrage boards for a very good price but I do not know how well the AthlonXP gets along with PC133 non-DDR RAM (never tried it myself...) As an alternative, you can get a SiS 745 based board for around $60 to $70 (MSI or Asus) and get 256 MB of DDR ram for $50 to $70. Currently, my favorite mobo is the aopen ak77-333 (damn stable board) which can be had for $82 at newegg.

Case: Here you can go the cheap route as long as you get a decent power supply. ($50 to $100)

For comparison, here is a recent budget desktop word processing, internet browsing, part-time server system I just set up a couple months ago:
Case Antec 660 with TruPower power supply
Motherboard AOpen ak77-333
Processor Duron 1.2 GHz
Memory 256 MB Crucial
Fan Panaflo L1A
CPU Cooler SVC GC968
Hard Disk Spare WD 18GB 7200 rpm
Video Card Spare Matrox Millennium 2mb
All this cost me about $320 and the system is very stable, running Windows XP (it has not crashed once!)

[Greebe]

I was going to suggest www.newegg.com for the XP1600+ but they sold out (limited Qu.) @$59.99 over the weekend

[Liquid Snake]

How much heat do the Duron or Athlon XP produce compared to a P3 or Tualatin?

[PowerHungry]

I've got a TB 1G on an Asus A7V w/ 256 PC133 I'm looking to sell. Price negotiable. It was my old system before I upgraded to the one in my sig now. Works like a charm, and is stable over clocked to 1.1G Chip unlocked using "pencil trick". Will clock to norm speed before shipping.

[PowerHungry]

Personally, I'd recommend going to an inexpensive Mobo and an XP cpu like Thomasz and Greebe say.

[Liquid Snake]

Yeah the K7S5A seems like a good choice - it has onboard LAN so I the only card I have to put in there is the Millennium. Supports PC133 too. And I want to see why everyone likes this board

Are there any major differences in performance between the Duron and Athlon for a game server? Are Durons easier to cool than Athlons? I want to keep the noise level from this machine down since it's going to be in my room, so I can't put any heatsinks with Delta fans in there

[Wombat]

Are there any major differences in performance between the Duron and Athlon for a game server? Are Durons easier to cool than Athlons?

Depending on the game, you generally max out your bandwidth before the CPU. Durons should be a little easier to cool since they're running with less cache and (generally) lower clocks, but I wouldn't make any decisions based on that.

[Greebe]

How much heat do the Duron or Athlon XP produce compared to a P3 or Tualatin?

Roughly double based on clock to clock

[Tomasz]

Here are the max power dissipation figures for AMD processors:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/02q2/020610/thoroughbred-05.html

As a rough comparison, a 2.4 GHz Intel P4 would dissipate about 58 watts.

In general, to keep the noise down, I would recommend a large heatsink that accomodates an 8 cm fan. I use either the Thermalright AX-7 or an SVC GC68 (only 6 dollars)(http://www.svcompucycle.com/newsvcgc3280.html) with a Panaflo L1A. This setup is pretty quiet as long as it is paired with a quiet power supply and quiet case fans. As a general rule, it is best to use good quality large fans (8 cm or 12 cm) spinning at speeds no greater than 2000 rpm.

On my main PC (AthlonXP 2000+), I use the AX-7 with a Panaflo L1A and get temperatures ranging from 40 to 50 centigrade, depending on load. On the Duron (1.2 GHz) I mentioned earlier, I use the SVC with an L1A and also get temperatures in the 40s.

[Tomasz]

Oh, one more thing:
Here are the exact thermal specifications for the P4 and PIII processors

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/thermal.htm#Specifications

and

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/pentiumiii/thermal.htm#5

These are better than the AMD numbers, but are still not great...I wish everyone would design chips like IBM's 750FX (found in some Apple iBooks)...Their power dissipation is 3.6 W at 0.8 GHz.

[Wombat]

Low power dissipation is easy, but I thought you guys said you wanted <I>fast</I> processors.

[Liquid Snake]

Hmm. I guess I'll go with a 1GHz Duron and the ECS K7S5A. I could upgrade to faster Athlon XP later if I want, and DDR RAM as well. I've built a couple of AMD systems before but haven't owned one before. But no VIA headaches this time so I'm not too worried

Has anyone here had any experiences with the Seagate Barracuda IV? They're supposed to be prety quiet, but do they have any reliability problems like the IBM 75GXP/60GXP has had? How about cases and power supplies? My sister's machine has a PC P&C Silencer 275W in it, and it's pretty quiet, but it's rather expensive.

[Agent31]

the only prob with upgrading to XP later is that the pin packaging will be changing soon, only plan to upgrade it if it's going to be fairly soon...