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$200 12-core Budget Server Hack

osuki
By osuki
in New Builds and Planning
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I'm in the US, and the plan is to put together a roughly $200 super budget build based on old server hardware for web browsing, light gaming, media server functionality and video editing (Thanks to that $150 server gaming rig video!).

It's also the first computer I'll be building, so I might have thrown myself in the deep end... but so be it. xD

$200 is a little more than the money I earned in spring break, so I have more or less decided on that budget.

 

I have decided on some parts already, and have either bought or ordered them:

 

SuperMicro X8DTU-F Server Motherboard

2x Hex-core Intel Xeon x5670s

XFX Radeon R9 290 (I have this!)

WD Caviar Blue 250GB HDD (I have this too!)

8gb Samsung DDR3 RAM

 

This leaves me ~$40 for a power supply, case and cpu fans...

 

Challenges for this build?

1.Finding the remaining parts.

2. Mounting some sort of fan to the cpu heatsink (the stock heatsink was passively cooled, so there are no fan mountings)

3. Somehow modding a case to fit everything in (the placement of the PCI-E slot places the GPU outputs in the middle of the motherboard, something I didn't think about when considering parts...)

 

The PSU would need to have 2x CPU 8-pin, which will be a pain to find... How much should I expect to pay for the remaining parts?

 

I'd like to know your opinions on my choices, dodgy or not... I want to make this work somehow. I'll do my best to keep you updated on this build!

Let me know if you want photos!

 

This community looks like fun, so I'll stick around and learn some stuff :D

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Take a look at the Dell r710. I believe it already meets all of your requirements and it sits near 200 bucks on ebay

Headphones:

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Sony MDR V6 (DT 250 pads), restored 1987 AKG K240M 600ohm (Cosmos pads with dt250 filters), AKG K7XX, Beyerdynamic DT990 pro 250 ohm, Bose Ae2 & Sony MDR v150. All off of a Bravo V2 shuguang tube, Little Dot mkII with GE JAN 5654 tubes, a CEntrance Dacport slim and a UCA222.

PC:

Spoiler
  • CPU
    i7 6700k
  • Motherboard
    Asus Z170s
  • RAM
    Crucial Ballistix (white)
  • GPU
    Asus 1070 Strix OC
  • Case
    Phanteks P400
  • Storage
    Samsung 850 pro, Seagate barracuda 1tb
  • PSU
    Evga G1 650W (regret)
  • Display(s)
    Samsung S22D300 21.5" 1920x1080 60hz 5ms & ASUS PB277Q 27" 2560x1440 75Hz 1ms
  • Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 240EX white
  • Keyboard
    Logitech G810
  • Mouse
    Logitech G502
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 (switching to linux soon)

 

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for case grab some wood, motherboard stand offs and some paint, cpu cooler and fans are cheap on ebay. psu that is hard

Good luck, Have fun, Build PC, and have a last gen console for use once a year. I should answer most of the time between 9 to 3 PST

NightHawk 3.0: R7 5700x @, B550A vision D, H105, 2x32gb Oloy 3600, Sapphire RX 6700XT  Nitro+, Corsair RM750X, 500 gb 850 evo, 2tb rocket and 5tb Toshiba x300, 2x 6TB WD Black W10 all in a 750D airflow.
GF PC: (nighthawk 2.0): R7 2700x, B450m vision D, 4x8gb Geli 2933, Strix GTX970, CX650M RGB, Obsidian 350D

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PSU Tier List      Motherboard Tier List     SSD Tier List     How to get PC parts cheap    HP probook 445R G6 review

 

"Stupidity is like trying to find a limit of a constant. You are never truly smart in something, just less stupid."

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I think performance I've done better than the server, since I'll have two Westmere hex-core processors at 2.93ghz.. and included a graphics card in the $200 as well. Not sure if a prebuilt server power supply will handle the extra graphics card though

 

I like the wood case idea though... xD

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30 minutes ago, osuki said:

I think performance I've done better than the server, since I'll have two Westmere hex-core processors at 2.93ghz.. and included a graphics card in the $200 as well. Not sure if a prebuilt server power supply will handle the extra graphics card though

 

I like the wood case idea though... xD

I would go with a BitFenix Whisper 650W or a EVGA G2/G3

PSU Nerd | PC Parts Flipper | Cable Management Guru

Helpful Links: PSU Tier List | Why not group reg? | Avoid the EVGA G3

Helios EVO (Main Desktop) Intel Core™ i9-10900KF | 32GB DDR4-3000 | GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS ELITE | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti | NZXT H510 | EVGA G5 650W

 

Delta (Laptop) | Galaxy S21 Ultra | Pacific Spirit XT (Server)

Full Specs

Spoiler

 

Helios EVO (Main):

Intel Core™ i9-10900KF | 32GB G.Skill Ripjaws V / Team T-Force DDR4-3000 | GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS ELITE | MSI GAMING X GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB GPU | NZXT H510 | EVGA G5 650W | MasterLiquid ML240L | 2x 2TB HDD | 256GB SX6000 Pro SSD | 3x Corsair SP120 RGB | Fractal Design Venturi HF-14

 

Pacific Spirit XT - Server

Intel Core™ i7-8700K (Won at LTX, signed by Dennis) | GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS GAMING 5 | 16GB Team Vulcan DDR4-3000 | Intel UrfpsgonHD 630 | Define C TG | Corsair CX450M

 

Delta - Laptop

ASUS TUF Dash F15 - Intel Core™ i7-11370H | 16GB DDR4 | RTX 3060 | 500GB NVMe SSD | 200W Brick | 65W USB-PD Charger

 


 

Intel is bringing DDR4 to the mainstream with the Intel® Core™ i5 6600K and i7 6700K processors. Learn more by clicking the link in the description below.

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@JDE I'd ned two CPU 8-pins from the PSU.. and less than $40. Would most 800+w PSUs on ebay have that?

 

Edit:Ended up with an EVGA SuperNova NEX750B :D 

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