Home server PC

[Vixie]

Budget (including currency): 
Around 300 USD

Country: 

US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 
General server build. Websites, self-hosted chatting programs, whatever I feel like at the time. Probably running Debian or CentOS

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Xeon E5-2650 2 GHz 8-Core Processor	$57.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$29.99 @ Newegg
Thermal Compound	Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5 g Thermal Paste	$6.65 @ Amazon
Memory	Mushkin PROLINE 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) Registered DDR3-1333 CL9 Memory	$44.64 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$39.99 @ Western Digital
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTS 450 1 GB Video Card	Purchased For $0.00
Case	Cougar DarkBlader X5 ATX Mid Tower Case	$63.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	Purchased For $0.00
Custom	Sara-u X79G M.2 Interface Motherboard LGA 2011 DDR3 Mainboard for In-tel -Xeon E5/V1/C1/V2 Core I7 CPU Accessories	$65.42 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$317.68
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$307.68
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-18 18:36 EDT-0400

The motherboard according to https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000168330661.html is PCI E 3. The GPU I already have is purely to install and get SSHD running but it's PCI E 2. Is PCI E backwards compatible? The power supply which I know is complete overkill is something I already have but I am missing the cables for it. Is there anywhere where I can just buy PSU cables? And is the PSU compatible with the mobo in the first place? I hate to spend 60 dollars on a case for a server but part picker says it's the cheapest case that supports SSL CEB form factor which according to aliexpress again the motherboard is CEB form factor. Any other possible incompatibilities you see or a cheap performance upgrade?

I don't need any peripherals because I'll just use the ones I have with my desktop for setup then disconnect it from them and use ssh purely. I'll probably buy soonish? Maybe within the month?

[dean_5234]

21 minutes ago, Vixie said:

Is PCI E backwards compatible?

Yes

21 minutes ago, Vixie said:

And is the PSU compatible with the mobo in the first place?

Highly likely

22 minutes ago, Vixie said:

CPU Intel Xeon E5-2650 2 GHz 8-Core Processor $57.00 @ Amazon

Buy it on ebay, the price will be like 10 bucks

23 minutes ago, Vixie said:

I hate to spend 60 dollars on a case for a server but part picker says it's the cheapest case that supports SSL CEB form factor which according to aliexpress again the motherboard is CEB form factor

That looks like a micro atx motherboard. If you want to be 1000% sure get atx. No way its larger than that.

[Vixie]

1 hour ago, davemc said:

That looks like a micro atx motherboard. If you want to be 1000% sure get atx. No way its larger than that

Well what if this 'CEB' form factor has different mounting holes? well... if the case can both do ATX and CEB then I guess it probably is the same
but still I don't see every atx board on part picker with CEB compatibility... oh nevermind I just checked... yeah I do see that. Alright good enough thank you on that

[Vixie]

17 minutes ago, Vixie said:

but still I don't see every atx board on part picker with CEB compatibility... oh nevermind I just checked... yeah I do see that. Alright good enough thank you on that

The new case I picked does not explicitly support it actually. CEB is like an inch or so bigger so I want wonder if that's why or if I don't have to worry

[brob]

An EATX case should be fine. Although you should check the motherboard dimensions. Many current ATX cases would likely have enough room.

 

See the table of formats, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX,

 

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSI_CEB

[Vixie]

5 minutes ago, brob said:

An EATX case should be fine. Although you should check the motherboard dimensions. Many current ATX cases would likely have enough room.

Worst case scenario I can transplant another pc of mine into the new case and then the new pc into the old case. I might do that anyways because the case I already have looks a lot more appropriate for the job. It has hot swap bays and stuff even though I probably won't use it...

[Vixie]

One thing I'm a bit worried is possible upgrade paths and the extreme lack there of. The only reasonable thing I can do is upgrade the CPU to one with a better base clock but I doubt that would matter all that much with performance.
Besides that I can't see anything that doesn't include swapping out the motherboard entirely and buying a wayyyy more expensive cpu.

 

Oh and getting more ram but I'm not awfully worried about that. I'll see what I have free when I got everything set up though.
 

[Vixie]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$31.99 @ Amazon
Thermal Compound	Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5 g Thermal Paste	$6.65 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$42.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTS 450 1 GB Video Card	Purchased For $0.00
Case	Rosewill TYRFING ATX Mid Tower Case	$36.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA 400 W ATX Power Supply	$39.99 @ Newegg
Custom	Intel Xeon E5-2650	$32.99
Custom	SAMSUNG MICRON HYNIX KINGSTON 16GB	$44.99
Custom	Dual Socket Motherboard E5CPU	$135.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$372.58
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-20 10:41 EDT-0400

After some more research I've came out to this. It's a bit over budget but I think I can do. The motherboard is stupidly expensive but gives me an easy upgrade path of simply getting another CPU. This should hopefully work? Do I need two CPUs for the board to function?

This is incredibly janky feeling to me I hope it works

[Gamer4714]

Th current config is good but getting a ram with more speed like 2993mhz 3000mhz would be better.

[Vixie]

55 minutes ago, Gamer4714 said:

Th current config is good but getting a ram with more speed like 2993mhz 3000mhz would be better.

I believe the list you are referencing is outdated.
Check my last post in the thread for the new one with my new research.
According to intel the chip only supports ddr4? (unless CPU ram support is backwards compatible but I'd be surprised if it were to be.)  So I got a board with ddr4 and new ddr4 ram.
Also the board is dual socket to allow myself an easier upgrade than before.

 

Edit:

Useful review. I now know I can use one CPU and that it is EATX. And that I can get it cheaper on aliexpress.

 

edit 2:  Nope I can't heh. Amazon is about the best I can get