I want to build a small game server. What should I focus on?

[Goalieguy101]

I want to put a computer together that would serve as just a personal game server for my brothers, a couple of my friends and I for smaller games like minecraft, starbound, and the like. I have no idea where to stare or what I should focus on. Great processor, lots of ram, an ssd and a fast Network card I assume but I have no idea. 

Also are there programs I would need for it? Would a certain operating systems be optimal?

[Himommies]

Would it be on 24/7 or only when you play

and budget

[TitanOne]

1 minute ago, Goalieguy101 said:

I want to put a together that would serve aswon't just a personal game server for my brothers, a couple of my friends and I for smaller games like minecraft, starbound, and the like. I have no idea where to stare or what I should focus on. Great processor, lots of ram, an ssd and a fast Network card I assume but I have no idea. 

Also are there programs I would need for it? Would a certain operating systems be optimal?

Well, in terms of Processor and Ram, a bit more won't Hurt for Minecraft. About the SSD, idk, sorry. But a goOd NIC is a good idea for at home use.

[Jurrunio]

11 minutes ago, Goalieguy101 said:

I want to put a computer together that would serve as just a personal game server for my brothers, a couple of my friends and I for smaller games like minecraft, starbound, and the like. I have no idea where to stare or what I should focus on. Great processor, lots of ram, an ssd and a fast Network card I assume but I have no idea. 

Processor, RAM and PSU are the most important. Fast network card is not required if you can use Ethernet (i.e. cable connection). SSD improves boot time, but doesn't improve performance as a server, so it's not a must.

[Himommies]

@mok

There you go that should be pretty good

[Bananasplit_00]

try to get about 8GB of RAM at least, cant remember if MC servers use one core or loads of them but im pretty sure its just a single core so maybe a G4560 for the CPU

[Goalieguy101]

2 hours ago, Himommies said:

Would it be on 24/7 or only when you play

and budget

Honestly maybe $100 to $300. the lower the better though. 

[Goalieguy101]

2 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

try to get about 8GB of RAM at least, cant remember if MC servers use one core or loads of them but im pretty sure its just a single core so maybe a G4560 for the CPU

Alright. Thanks for the help

[Goalieguy101]

2 hours ago, Himommies said:

@mok

There you go that should be pretty good

Awesome! Thanks for the idea!

[Goalieguy101]

2 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Processor, RAM and PSU are the most important. Fast network card is not required if you can use Ethernet (i.e. cable connection). SSD improves boot time, but doesn't improve performance as a server, so it's not a must.

I can use an Ethernet cable, so that will help. Thanks for the help. 

Do you think and intel Xeon proc and 16 gigs of ddr3 would do the trick?

[Jurrunio]

3 hours ago, Goalieguy101 said:

I can use an Ethernet cable, so that will help. Thanks for the help. 

Do you think and intel Xeon proc and 16 gigs of ddr3 would do the trick?

It will. Pick the e3-1220 v3 ones over the e5-1603. If you can afford the e5-1620 then those are the best, but they are more than $100 over your budget.

[domandric034]

7 hours ago, Goalieguy101 said:

Would a certain operating systems be optimal?

If you want to host servers for those games then you should look into Ubuntu Server and Windows Server.

 

7 hours ago, Goalieguy101 said:

Also are there programs I would need for it?

You'll just need files for these game servers like minecraft_server.jar

6 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Fast network card is not required if you can use Ethernet (i.e. cable connection). 

Agree but I would recommend throwing TP Link TG 3468 and using them both for that server so they can balance load on network cards.

6 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Processor, RAM and PSU are the most important. 

So true. For this server Xeon E3 V3 or V4 with 16 GB RAM and 450W Bronze PSU is enough.

6 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

SSD improves boot time, but doesn't improve performance as a server, so it's not a must.

It improves boot time on OS's like Windows Server, Ubuntu Server but on OS's like unRAID and FreeNAS it can act as cache which is pretty useful or storage for game servers but in overall it is recommended to have in server.

7 hours ago, Goalieguy101 said:

 Great processor, lots of ram, an ssd and a fast Network card I assume but I have no idea. 

This is the build you should rock on : 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Xeon E3-1220 V3 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($208.98 @ Directron) 
Motherboard: ASRock - H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($62.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($113.47 @ Amazon) 
Storage: ADATA - Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($58.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($80.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI - Radeon HD 6450 1GB Video Card  ($31.90 @ Amazon) 
Case: Thermaltake - Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 
Wired Network Adapter: TP-Link - TG-3468 PCI-Express x1 10/100/1000 Mbps Network Adapter  ($12.25 @ Amazon) 
Total: $649.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-16 01:18 EDT-0400