DIY Desk PC from old server?

[cleanshirtuk]

Hey all,

 

I need to get myself a new PC but money is suuuuper tight right now. Whilst I would like to do a bit of gaming it's definitely not the highest on my list of priorities, for the main part I need to run it as a workstation for music production. 

 

Having used an older Mac Pro I know that my processing needs would be met by dual Xeon X5670's (or similar). I'd be able to pick up either a Dell Poweredge 710 or a HP DL380 G7 on ebay for somewhere between £150-£200. However, installing a GPU into it would be difficult because of the weird PSU stuff with those servers. Seeing as I would have to pull the server out of its case just to physically install a dual slot card into the PCIe slot, I was wondering about creating a draw under the desk to house the server in. 

 

My main concern is providing power to the GFX card - I know it's *technically* possible to install a second PSU just to power the GPU but would it make sense in practicality? And are there any better ways of getting a GPU into this thing? 

TIA

[STRESSMASTER]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-FX-8320-w-MSI-MATX-FX-board-8GB-Hyper-X-ram-640Gb-HD-HD6450-vid-Win10/112959111939?hash=item1a4ce34303:g:SikAAOSw2Yta31~w

 

your better with this for a cheap high number and pic cruncher. plus you can Overclock it a bunch.

[TheGlenlivet]

Dual Xeons sounds like overkill for Music production and doesn't work so well for games.  Have you already bought the server?

[cleanshirtuk]

Just now, TheGlenlivet said:

Dual Xeons sounds like overkill for Music production and doesn't work so well for games.  Have you already bought the server?

Not yet. My process chains are pretty stupid to be honest, 30/40 channels each running like 9/10 plugins on each, many of which are convolution reverb units or iZotope Neutron (AI comperssion/eq/ exciter etc. plugin), so my CPU requirements are pretty nuts tbh..

[TheGlenlivet]

1 minute ago, cleanshirtuk said:

Not yet. My process chains are pretty stupid to be honest, 30/40 channels each running like 9/10 plugins on each, many of which are convolution reverb units or iZotope Neutron (AI comperssion/eq/ exciter etc. plugin), so my CPU requirements are pretty nuts tbh..

Well, it's true, you won't get more cores for less money.

You can get a new case, or even a 4U rack to mount it and then the GPU and new power supply will fit.

[cleanshirtuk]

1 minute ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Well, it's true, you won't get more cores for less money.

You can get a new case, or even a 4U rack to mount it and then the GPU and new power supply will fit.

I mean, I'm comfortable enough with my DIY skills to just turn it into a hidden away desk PC as opposed to finding a new case considering how proprietary the mobo is bound to be. I'm more wondering about using a second PSU for the GPU - is there anything I'd need to bare in mind? Would it be as simple as plug the GPU into the PSU and away I go? Would I need to do some trickery with any of the connecters on the PSU, or is there even a power supply designed purely for powering only GPU's?

 

Thanks for your answers and apologies for bombarding with questions

[TheGlenlivet]

15 minutes ago, cleanshirtuk said:

I mean, I'm comfortable enough with my DIY skills to just turn it into a hidden away desk PC as opposed to finding a new case considering how proprietary the mobo is bound to be. I'm more wondering about using a second PSU for the GPU - is there anything I'd need to bare in mind? Would it be as simple as plug the GPU into the PSU and away I go? Would I need to do some trickery with any of the connecters on the PSU, or is there even a power supply designed purely for powering only GPU's?

 

Thanks for your answers and apologies for bombarding with questions

What GPU?  It looks like if it is lower power and doesn't require a PCI power connection, you can install it with  a riser card.

Higher end GPUs need pci power and a customer power solution or an external PSU.