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Need advice. turning a old server into a general purpose PC. (Hopefully)

Jeeper

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This is my first post so please forgive my ignorance. I have been reading some on this topic both on here and other websites. My 13yo son is very interested in computers and spends his days virtually building the best computer he can out of parts from amazon. Back when I was in high school I built a couple of PCs but since then have gotten out of it. He has talked about building a cheap computer from a server for awhile now, I saw a deal on Ebay today and went ahead and bought it. Honestly I don't know if it will work or fully what I'm getting myself into. I'm a DYI fan and I don't mind building something fairly blind and figuring out how to do it on the fly. Here is what I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121982837541?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I got it for $55. Didn't seem too bad for a dual quadcore processor with 16 gigs of ram. I know I will still need a hard drive, power supply and operating system. Will this mother board set up work, any tips or recommendations? I'm thinking about going with windows 7. The intended purpose will be a general PC with light to medium gaming. I'm thinking I will plan to add a video card to it for better performance and since I'm use to working with dual monitors.

Thanks in advance
 
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You will need a case for it and a power supply thats designed specifically for that board. You might be able to rig something up to get it to work but still that system is fairly old.
 

Kursah

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That's a Core2 + DDR2 era server board, it's gonna be so-so, but not fast...it's going to consume a lot of power and not be all that great for gaming IMHO. It might have a lotta threads, but none of them can really keep up with even modern Pentium CPU's...you're talking technology from 10 years ago you just bought. Frankly I'd return it and build something cheap and custom. Use a site like PC Parts Picker to help you work through a budget build.

Using server gear for a gaming PC isn't really a good way to go...it is possible...but servers are designed for different types of work loads.

For gaming, and power consumption, you'd be far better off with a used Intel G3258, 4-8GB (and eventually maybe 16GB) DDR3, a H81/B85/Z87/97 board, and a GPU, even a 750Ti, 950/960 or 1050/1050Ti would suffice quite nicely for gaming and multiple screens...you could even buy an older used GTX660/670, or go with a 7970, R9 270/280 from AMD as well. Then you can improve to an i3 or i5 later on for the CPU, and have a decent budget gaming platform that consumes a fraction of the power than that server board with CPU's and RAM would alone.

Power supplies, stick with good brands like Superflower, EVGA makes good budget PSU's in my experience, Seasonic, Corsair, etc. Get something with 5+ years of warranty.

Hard drives...you can get a 1TB HDD for $50-60, and then add in a 120-250GB SSD for OS and the favorite game or three...this will make a system that can boot up in seconds and be very responsive.

There's A LOT of ways to do this...but I really think you've greatly limited yourself with that cheap board combo from Fleabay and it'll be something you waste more time and money on if gaming is a goal. Windows 7 should mostly work, but these boards were designed with server operating systems in mind, so they might not have full driver support for consumer-grade operating systems.

You know what they say, use the right tool for the job. A server board like that isn't the right tool for the job. You could use that server board as a home server project...but even then its so old now...efficiency and power consumption aren't that great, performance should still be decent but might struggle with modern needs for reliability, streaming, sharing, processing, etc.
 

Frick

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That seems ... impulsive. :laugh:

It could theoretically do what you want it to do, but you need to build your own case from.scratch, complete with mounting the non standard PSU (or mod the board and a PSU if you're good with electronics and soldering). A GPU would require a riser and again, building your own case. Or buy a case for the Poweredge 1950 it came from, but that would make a terrible general purpose machine.

Add to that that it's close to a decade old at this point means it'll not be very fast.

It's doable, but it would be a pretty big project, and I'm not sure it would be worth it, unless the point is to have a project to work on. For general use/gaming, almost anything else would be a better buy.
 

Jeeper

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Thanks everyone.

I probably should have also said this more just to have a project for my son and I. It will not be used all that much and I'm hoping to get it running for less than $100.00. I don't plan to use a case. It won't be turned on all the time so I don't care about the power consumption. Sounds like it should be able to fit my needs, and once i get it going if I fry a processor over clocking it then I'm not out much.
 
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Yeah, must have been an impulse purchase.

The thing is virtually useless in this era. Power usage alone would put me off and make me throw it away....

... or sell it for quick bucks on Fleabay.
 
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Get one with a case from ebay.

 

Jeeper

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Well, you guys convinced me. I just messaged the seller to cancel it. I will do more research before jumping the gun next time.
 

Frick

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It would have been a decent project, but it would have been a lot of effort, and not a lot of gain. And the PSU's for those things are usually kinda expensive and you can't use them for other things (except for provide +12V for hobby projects).

$150 could get you a decent computer that is easily upgraded. Here (Sweden) Sandy Bridge i5 systems can usually be had for about €150. Get a used GPU for it and you have a nice performer.
 
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