Linux gaming PC, X58 still rocks

Fasauceome · May 13, 2019

Finally everything is running to my liking. First iteration of my server project:

And now it's seen an upgrade. Snagged a 760 off eBay for $35, got a spare hard drive for free from a friend, and the server itself was being thrown away. Upgraded the CPU from an E5506 to an X5560, and it has 6 DDR3 dimms so a second CPU would have ample memory and bandwidth as well. Shoutouts to the X58 crowd, including @Zando Bob and @r2724r16 for repping that triple channel as well. However, this machine is the jankiest thing I've yet built:

~~The GPU is powered by two dual molex to 6 pin PCIe, and then dual 6 pin to 8 pin.~~ turns out that was a nightmare, switched to a 750 ti lol

The CPU is unsupported by the motherboard officially, it was an $8 gamble that paid off.

The hard drive is a really old 1.5TB with a bad S.M.A.R.T. status, both Windows and Linux suggest I replace it.

The case doesn't even have a spot for a SATA HDD, it's just sitting up front under the 5.25" drive bays. There is a SAS raid board I may populate one day though.

The GPU fights for air with the PSU, a nice touch.

The audio only works when system audio is at max, so any reduction has to be program specific.

At the end of the day, it plays Overwatch like a champ, 70 fps at high, and all the experimenting I've got to do will be a blast. There's a lot to learn about Linux if I'm gonna escape the mighty clutches of Microsoft. Pictured is the old MSI 650 swapped for the 760.

Updated pic of my internals, with a second jank heat sink I went for as well as the fan crunchy lent me for the setup to work. Despite the CPU not being supported, dual socket works flawlessly.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Fasauceome

r2724r16 · May 13, 2019

Might be janky, but it's cheap and gets the job done.

And almost nothing beats the X58 platform in terms of value if you get good deals.

And that's why I <3 X58.

Zando_ · May 13, 2019

jank intensifies

But hey, if it works it works, and yet another advantage of X58 is the hardware (especially server stuff) is usually incredibly durable and reliable, with how old it is the iffy components have broken by now.

Firewrath9 · May 13, 2019

noice. Perhaps find a used SSD thats like 120-250GB?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SSD-240GB-V300-For-Kingston-SATA-3-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-6Gb-s-RK300S37A-RK/233223871301?hash=item364d39db45:g:jR0AAOSwGMFcxsQl

new is 30$

Fasauceome · May 13, 2019

6 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

noice. Perhaps find a used SSD thats like 120-250GB?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SSD-240GB-V300-For-Kingston-SATA-3-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-6Gb-s-RK300S37A-RK/233223871301?hash=item364d39db45:g:jR0AAOSwGMFcxsQl

new is 30$

I considered it, the speed of the hard drive is not that bad though, especially in terms of the relative boot time. The BIOS screen and initializations take forever by themselves.