No Opterons, so Intel it is!

[IggSter]

Well, I've looked everywhere for an Opty 1356 and I'm beginning to think that AMD have watched the Matrix far too many times - "There is no Opteron...err spoon"

So I've given up and I've decided that an Intel quad core will be purched later this month.

This is where I need some advice as I'm a LGA775 n00b.

Recommendations please for a VERY reliable 775 mobo.

On-board GFX would be preferred tho not a show stopper.
It must take 8Gig DDR2 ram.
No SLI/x-fire is required.
It must be passively cooled (no chipset fans)
I would like it to have the fastest FSB available.

This mobo will run 24/7 as a home server

It must be available in the UK

Many thanks for any help/advice

 

[zithe]

This available over there? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296

Edit: Nevermind. I'll try again. It has no onboard video.

 

[IggSter]

This available over there? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296

Edit: Nevermind. I'll try again. It has no onboard video.

Thx for the quick reply.

As i said, onboard gfx is not 100% needed but is preferred as it would make the finished server much quieter, without resorting to an add in card and an after market silent gfx cooler.

I've checked and the one you linked is avail in the UK.

 

[mikek75]

No onboard video, but I've no complaints with my MSI P45 Zilent. Comes with a very quiet Zalman CNPS9500AT PWM controlled full copper CPU cooler. Chipset cooling is handled by a fancy passive copper cooler. Might be a bit pricey for a server though, I paid £130 for it a couple of months ago. (BTW, the actual mobo is the same as the P45 Platinum, just with the bundled cooler they call it the Zilent)

 

[Thermopylae_480]

Why do you think you need a quad core for a home server?

 

[zithe]

Why do you think you need a quad core for a home server?

Possible LAN parties? That's my guess. If it's just for storage, a single or dual core CPU should work.

 

[IggSter]

The reasons for a quad core as follows:

At present I run 2 PCs which act as servers (p4 530) and these are very power hungry - approx 125-200w each.

The services they run:

Apache web server (4 web sites based on Java/php/mySQL)
A media server (This downsamples and transcodes real time)
A large eSATA raid array.

If I have 2-3 people accessing my media server (transcoding/down sampling) the cpus pretty much max out and web page access pretty much grinds to a halt, especially as a couple of the web apps make a lot of calls to mySQL.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I will be using vmware/virtulisation on the new server to make testing/config of new web apps much easier.

 

[Thermopylae_480]

How many games do you plan on using it to host at once at a LAN? Dedicated servers don't require that much power unless you intend on hosting multiple games at once, and in that case you would benefit more from a good RAID set up than a quad core processor.

Do what you want, but I don't think you need that much power for a computer that will sit around storing files for most of its life. It's your money.

My recommendation for a home file/game server:
-Cheap Dual Core CPU
-Less than 4GB of memory
-Integrated Graphics
-Integrated Audio
-Reliable Motherboard
-2 HDDs in some sort of redundant RAID to prevent file loss

 

[Thermopylae_480]

The reasons for a quad core as follows:

At present I run 2 PCs which act as servers (p4 530) and these are very power hungry - approx 125-200w each.

The services they run:

Apache web server (4 web sites based on Java/php/mySQL)
A media server (This downsamples and transcodes real time)
A large eSATA raid array.

If I have 2-3 people accessing my media server (transcoding/down sampling) the cpus pretty much max out and web page access pretty much grinds to a halt, especially as a couple of the web apps make a lot of calls to mySQL.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I will be using vmware/virtulisation on the new server to make testing/config of new web apps much easier.

Understandable then. You can consolidate your servers.

How is this for a motherboard for you? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

And graphics http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161231

 

[IggSter]

I'm guessing then that the P45 chipset is the way to go then?

Can anyone explain to me the major differences between P45, P43 and X48?

 

[Binge]

get p45, it's worth it. look at the GA-EP45-UD3R and GA-EP45-UD3P. Both are rock solid boards that oc like nuts/are reliable for under $120

I dunno the diff between p35 and p45 but x48 has 2x 16xPCIe slots while p45s are 1x16 and 1x8 and x48 is also rated for 1600 FSB while P45 is rated for 1333, but p45s regularly break that mark.

 

[Devilsclarinet]

I just finished building an AMD based windows home server.
the board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138105
the onboard graphics is a little much but it supports 140W procs and 8GB of ram has onboad Gbyte LAN 6x SATA ports(the kicker for me) and biostar has really picked up their game in the past few years.
Processer:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255 I know your looking for something that is a quad but this processer has more than enough performance for most server apps. though you could try any one of these:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340727%201652741692%201652941697&name=Quad-Core
memory:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145098
Power Supply:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005
Case:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

[Thermopylae_480]

The main difference for you will be P45 has ICH10R instead of ICH9. It also has some Crossfire differences which won't matter.

 

[IggSter]

Thanks for all the advice - I think I've decided upon the Asus P5Q Deluxe Intel P45.

One more question with regard to the P45 chipset and in particular the ICH10R southbridge:

I found this on the wiki page - ICH10R is a RAID variant which also supports a new technology called “Turbo Memory”. This allows the use of flash memory on a motherboard for fast caching.

Can anyone explain how I would use this? (What do I need to buy)
and will it give me any benefit when running with 8Gig of ram and a 64bit windows OS?