Gaming Computer(s) in Server Rack

[Wolfmann37]

Hello, 

 

Long time viewer, seldom poster. I was very inspired by Linus’ home desktop in a server cabinet. My SO and I thought it would be a great way to consolidate our gaming builds and network equipment. 
 

I’ve been looking into 4U sized server chassis for a gaming computer. I know Linus had his specially made so I wasn’t sure what would be a cheaper pre-fabricated option. I was looking at  some from iStarUSA (around $200 which seems reasonable). I was wondering if anyone could lend some advice regarding building in a server chassis and what size works best (4U?). I’ve been looking at a 22U sized server cabinet. 
 

My biggest concern which Linus mentioned too is the cord pass through. I have a basement closet that I’d like to keep the server rack in and route the cables to the other room for Monitor and peripherals. It seems Thunderbolt 3 maybe the best option and use a thunderbolt dock (even though the docks are pricey). How long can a thunderbolt 3 cable be? Should I just get a longer DisplayPort Cable? I’m thinking I may need at least 2 meters and possibly more for a 2nd setup a little farther away. 

I have a 1440p 144Hz monitor and it theoretically looks like it should run off TB3. However, I’m concerned about that too if I even wanted to add a 1080p monitor or upgrade to one 4K monitor at 120Hz

 

 

Budget (including currency): $2000 (one system plus $300 for server rack)

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator

 

Planned Parts:

CPU: Ryzen 3600x or 3700x

MB: ASRock X570 PHANTOM GAMING-ITX/TB3 Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard

GPU: RTX 3070 or Navi equivalent

 

 

[jaslion]

You really don't need to spend 200 on a case unless it also comes with rails then yes decent price. Then again plenty of cheap 4u cases for under 100 with rails.

 

In the end it's just a desktop case ya load with a row of fans and that's it.

For cables if it's under 5m you can just do usb 3.0 + hdmi. Dp port caps out at 1.8m.

 

If you go tb3 it's gonna get crazy expensive and basically at least 1/4 of your budget is gonna be eaten by a motherboard that can do thunderbolt 3.

What you have to ask yourself is. Are you willing to spend easily over a thousand on equipment just to put 2 computers in a room away or would it really be such a hassle to just make 2 decently small boxes (compact matx systems the size of most regular cheap itx boxes people buy) and put them in a corner under your desk away. Or spending all the money and then having to deal with all the hassle it comes with for when you want to do something as simple as plugging in a usb device and running out of ports on the dock or not being able to use another monitor at it's full spec/not being able to use another monitor at all?

 

To me it's simple. Just cablemanage well and put your systems in a small box under your table never to be seen again part from turning them on or your typical maintenance.

 

If it's for silence sake you do this well. 2k can really do ya wonders on that point :p. Not necessarily watercooling but like a simple strap some arctic p12s to a gpu with a big heatsink and watch the noise and temps drop massively.

[Wolfmann37]

Thank you so much for replying. Lot of really good info. 
 

I am looking at the future a bit too. Ive got two kids that are still a few years away from having their own computers but theoretically I could see up to 4 computers in one server rack. But at the moment, two computers for one rack does seem a bit underutilized. 
 

Like you said, the cost of TB3 is wild. That is what’s  holding me back the most about this. I wonder if USB4 would make this setup more obtainable in the future. 

[Warrior]

I say wait for the new ryzen processors which will be faster.