Ex-Server Station Convert As Desktop PC Possible?

[_Hustler_One_]

Dear All computer enthusiast,

 

Several months ago my friend told me that he saw Server computer from his office was on tender, the server already used about 5 years but it come in high specification (Xeon processor, 32 GB RAM) but they asked for very low prie (about USD 300). is it possible to convert this Server to desktop PC, is there any restriction to converting it? what must he prepared if he bought this server (except money offcourse)

 

thanks alot dear friend

[Guest]

Got anymore details? It's worth it in lots of cases, but in others a giant, loud, power hungry legacy server can get annoying in many ways.

[WereCatf]

6 minutes ago, King Poet said:

Got anymore details? It's worth it in lots of cases, but in others a giant, loud, power hungry legacy server can get annoying in many ways.

Loudness at least can be done something about, like e.g. modifying the case so that there's better airflow in it and then slapping some higher-quality Noctua-fans on it or something. Won't be pretty, though.

[_Hustler_One_]

 

10 minutes ago, King Poet said:

Got anymore details? It's worth it in lots of cases, but in others a giant, loud, power hungry legacy server can get annoying in many ways.

Intel 8 CORE, QUAD XEON E5504 X 2

ram 32gb ddr3

hdd 600GB SAS

 

some people says that there are no video output from server, other says if we install windows, it will not maximizing its performance.

is that true?

[Windows7ge]

For the most part assuming it was running Windows or relatively recent distribution of Linux before it should be able to. However what you plan to do with it will affect weather or not it's a good idea.

 

Chances are it won't be quiet. As a Xeon you won't be playing the latest titles at ultra setting and that's assuming it'll run an OS Windows 7 or later. He should really acquire more information before making a purchase decision but $300 for 32GB of RAM and the rest of it is a pretty good deal especially if it's dual socket.

[Windows7ge]

3 minutes ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

some people says that there are no video output from server, other says if we install windows, it will not maximizing its performance.

Assuming it's functional there should at least be a VGA output. He can install a graphics card to improve that substantially.

 

As for choice of OS really depends on the use case. If you want to use it as a server I'd personally install some flavor of Linux but if you want to game on it Windows is typically easier with a broader compatibility for games. For this application you can't expect the upmost performance to begin with.

[Radium_Angel]

5 minutes ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

 

Intel 8 CORE, QUAD XEON E5504 X 2

ram 32gb ddr3

hdd 600GB SAS

 

some people says that there are no video output from server, other says if we install windows, it will not maximizing its performance.

is that true?

I regularly convert servers to gaming systems.

If it's a Dell PowerEdge I can help you out, if it's something else....I can only give you advice.

Let me know more details please.

Throwing a gaming video card into a sever can be done, with some planning.

Quieting down a server is more of a challenge than you might think...

[_Hustler_One_]

5 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

For the most part assuming it was running Windows or relatively recent distribution of Linux before it should be able to. However what you plan to do with it will affect weather or not it's a good idea.

 

Chances are it won't be quiet. As a Xeon you won't be playing the latest titles at ultra setting and that's assuming it'll run an OS Windows 7 or later. He should really acquire more information before making a purchase decision but $300 for 32GB of RAM and the rest of it is a pretty good deal especially if it's dual socket.

I think he plan to bulit some sort of gaming or commercial internet cafe, it means he plan to use this server to multiple user, display and processing. is it possible? how about video output then?

 

thanks alot

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

Loudness at least can be done something about, like e.g. modifying the case so that there's better airflow in it and then slapping some higher-quality Noctua-fans on it or something. Won't be pretty, though.

I was thinking more along the lines of the Dells and HPs w/ the proprietary hotswap fans when I said that, but yeah.

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

I think he plan to bulit some sort of gaming or commercial internet cafe, it means he plan to use this server to multiple user, display and processing. is it possible? how about video output then?

 

thanks alot

Linux/*NIX if he wants to use it as a local online game hosting server. If you're talking about everyone using 1 "gaming" tower for multiple users that's also do-able but it'll be a lot more work to setup and have specific requirements. This could also use a server distro of Linux/*NIX.

[_Hustler_One_]

8 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

I regularly convert servers to gaming systems.

If it's a Dell PowerEdge I can help you out, if it's something else....I can only give you advice.

Let me know more details please.

Throwing a gaming video card into a sever can be done, with some planning.

Quieting down a server is more of a challenge than you might think...

How about power consumption then, is it worth on the power bill compare to its price and capability?

 

thanks alot

[_Hustler_One_]

3 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Linux/*NIX if he wants to use it as a local online game hosting server. If you're talking about everyone using 1 "gaming" tower for multiple users that's also do-able but it'll be a lot more work to setup and have specific requirements. This could also use a server distro of Linux/*NIX.

what the example of specific requirement, is that heavy modification on the system or can be done plug and play?

 

thanks alot

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

what the example of specific requirement, is that heavy modification on the system or can be done plug and play?

 

thanks alot

If it's just to be a game server that everyone connects to with their PC that's not an issue.

 

If the server itself is going to be the PC for multiple clients that's different. Every user (likely setup in a VM) is going to need at least 2 USB ports and a PCI_e port passed though to the VM for Keyboard, Mouse, and Monitor.

 

This is starting to go outside my field of knowledge but AFAIK each VM/User would require their own entire GPU unless you wanted to go full VM but I'd expect the performance their without passing a GPU in to be utter garbage. This means you can only create as many VMs as you have PCI_e slots. Linus made a video on this topic called 7 gamers 1 CPU (them a couple more).

 

As for Plug'n'play. I'm not sure how well the VM's would handle that. Depends on the software.

[Jarsky]

What exactly is the use case for it? I wouldn't buy it without knowing it fits the purpose...

 

Those are the lowest Xeon's that everyone sells servers with because they are only worth a couple of dollars. With a single SAS drive, it doesnt seem very good value. 

 

You might want to consider this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Build-Your-Own-Dell-R710-SFF-6-Core-2-66GHz-X5650-PERC-6i-iDRAC6-Wholesale/172727202800

If you add 48GB of RAM its $260....it will use less power, has more CPU threads, can still add a second CPU to make it 12C/24T, and then Samsung 850 EVO 500GB's are only $87 on Amazon. So it will be $50 more but have better CPU, 16GB more ram, and much faster storage. 

 

 

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

1 hour ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

How about power consumption then, is it worth on the power bill compare to its price and capability?

 

thanks alot

I can't speak for what you pay for power, but at my house, I can run the server 24/7 and the elec bill goes up about 30$ a month because of it...in other words, it's ultra cheap for me to run.

[beersykins]

19 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

but $300 for 32GB of RAM and the rest of it is a pretty good deal especially if it's dual socket.

I disagree, at least it's a 1366 socket in this case but $300 is pretty overpriced.  RAM can be had for $30/16g stick or less, those low end Xeon aren't worth much anymore.

 

OP if there's enough space for a video card physically it should work, but your performance will be pretty limited by those 2 GHz nehelem CPUs that have no boost feature.  I'd invest that into something else.

 

 

[_Hustler_One_]

1 hour ago, beersykins said:

I disagree, at least it's a 1366 socket in this case but $300 is pretty overpriced.  RAM can be had for $30/16g stick or less, those low end Xeon aren't worth much anymore.

 

OP if there's enough space for a video card physically it should work, but your performance will be pretty limited by those 2 GHz nehelem CPUs that have no boost feature.  I'd invest that into something else.

 

 

OK.. I'll forward all of these informations to my friend.. Let's see what he thinks later..

[NelizMastr]

21 hours ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

 

Intel 8 CORE, QUAD XEON E5504 X 2

ram 32gb ddr3

hdd 600GB SAS

 

22 hours ago, _Hustler_One_ said:

but they asked for very low prie (about USD 300).

That's a high price for those specs. I see servers based on this configuration for for $150 and less on the used market.

 

It's also not convertible to a desktop PC if it's not even a tower server. If it's a rackserver, you're kinda boned. Usually everything is proprietary, aside from CPU, disks and RAM.

[Windows7ge]

3 hours ago, beersykins said:

I disagree, at least it's a 1366 socket in this case but $300 is pretty overpriced.  RAM can be had for $30/16g stick or less, those low end Xeon aren't worth much anymore.

I quoted that right before he posted actual specs. Though 4x8GB DDR3 UDIMM ECC costs around $250 today. Older DDR3 RDIMM modules are cheaper I guess?

[_Hustler_One_]

30 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

 

 

3 hours ago, beersykins said:

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

 

 

21 hours ago, Jarsky said:

 

 

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

 

Dear friend,

 

thanks alot about the insight, i think its not worth to buy, i think he still prefer brand new PC that capable to fulfill his needs.

 

[dalekphalm]

On 10/16/2018 at 11:46 AM, WereCatf said:

Loudness at least can be done something about, like e.g. modifying the case so that there's better airflow in it and then slapping some higher-quality Noctua-fans on it or something. Won't be pretty, though.

Keep in mind that a lot of server cases use proprietary fans, and modding or replacing them often causes more headaches then it's worth.

 

Personally, I wouldn't use a server as a desktop unless I had to. For $300, the OP might be better off scouring Craigslist, etc, for used desktop parts.