Best cpu for a home server?

[merrymustu]

Hi guys, I am planning on building a home server for myself. Just wanted to know the best socket 775 (that's important) cpu that would do the job nicely and also help me on saving electricity and cutting bill costs. The system will run 24 X 7 for uninterrupted downloads. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[ruthless_villain]

i reckon a core2duo e7500 would do the job.

 

[sheroo]

Can you be more specific about what the server will be used for? If its just for downloading you can buy a dual atom board for not much more money than a dual core 775 chip...

 

[merrymustu]

Can you be more specific about what the server will be used for? If its just for downloading you can buy a dual atom board for not much more money than a dual core 775 chip...

I'll be using the server for data storage, downloads and occasional web browsing.

 

[I Hunta x]

E5700 or E5800 (3 and 3.2ghz) can be picked up for £50 new now so there allways an option, another would be an E21xx chip off of ebay, i see them going for less than £20 quite alot, should handle everything fine including HD vid play back if your going to be doing any of that

 

[merrymustu]

E5700 or E5800 (3 and 3.2ghz) can be picked up for £50 new now so there allways an option, another would be an E21xx chip off of ebay, i see them going for less than £20 quite alot, should handle everything fine including HD vid play back if your going to be doing any of that

I won't be using the rig for any hardcore cpu intensive stuff, just plain basic data storage. Also, I'm emphasising on a socket 775 cpu because i already own an asus p5gc-mx\1333 mobo with intel 945GC chipset. I'm on a very tight budget, anything below 40$ will be fine for a cpu.

 

[I Hunta x]

Your best bet would be an E2140, E2160 or E2180 off of ebay then, there dirt cheap now

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-D..._EN_Networking_Components&hash=item33675b860a

$33 buy it now is the best price on BIN i could find looking quickly.

 

[sheroo]

As long as its dual core you should be good to go...

 

[merrymustu]

Your best bet would be an E2140, E2160 or E2180 off of ebay then, there dirt cheap now

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-D..._EN_Networking_Components&hash=item33675b860a

$33 buy it now is the best price on BIN i could find looking quickly.

Do they have a 45nm die? Because as far as I know, 45nm or lower die chips are energy efficient. And I am looking forward to buying a new chip, the ones you mentioned on ebay are used ones...

 

[I Hunta x]

The E2180 is only 65W TDP, need to keep an eye on that and what voltages your running it at more than die size (nm) for running a low power usage machine.

This is probably the cheapest your going to get thats 775, new and actually worth it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116348

If your going to be running a stripped down version of xp or a linux distro like damn small linux then this should do you fine aswell with a 35W TDP http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116039 but costing only a tiny bit less than the dual, electricity bill savings will be minimal aswell.

 

[merrymustu]

I think I'll raise my budget and go for an E5700 dual core...

 

[sheroo]

I think I'll raise my budget and go for an E5700 dual core...

I've got an E5300 in one of my HTPC's and that runs fine. So for a home server that is more than enough...

 

[merrymustu]

I've got an E5300 in one of my HTPC's and that runs fine. So for a home server that is more than enough...

Yeah the E5300 is cheaper and will do the task...Thanks!

 

[merrymustu]

Any other suggestions???

 

[Rastalovich]

Yeah, unless your server is going to be actively virus checking, defraging loads of drivers, handling emails or website junk - just get the cheapest dual core you can find.

If it's just a box sitting there and ticking over, even just handling torrent downloads, it isn't going to do much work at all. The biggest worker may be it's network ports.

Even in business, they outlay thousands on servers with big arse xeon cpus that hardly do anything. I've got an old Q6700 in one here and it's totally wasted.

If you got an old cpu laying around, I'd try that first and see how you get on. An E2xxx for all it's cheapness, is a decent cpu for an inactive box.

 

[merrymustu]

Yeah, unless your server is going to be actively virus checking, defraging loads of drivers, handling emails or website junk - just get the cheapest dual core you can find.

If it's just a box sitting there and ticking over, even just handling torrent downloads, it isn't going to do much work at all. The biggest worker may be it's network ports.

Even in business, they outlay thousands on servers with big arse xeon cpus that hardly do anything. I've got an old Q6700 in one here and it's totally wasted.

If you got an old cpu laying around, I'd try that first and see how you get on. An E2xxx for all it's cheapness, is a decent cpu for an inactive box.

Yeah, that is just what I want, a box handling torrent downloads...

 

[sheroo]

Yeah, that is just what I want, a box handling torrent downloads...

If all you want is a torrent box, get a cheap dual core atom motherboard. You can get them for £70.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-D525T-UD-D525T-UD-Mini-ITX-Motherboard/dp/B003Y65XHM

 

[merrymustu]

yeah but I already have a mobo so why spend the extra bucks on hardware I don't want. I could maybe use the extra money to buy a very low end gpu and make the rig into sort of an HTPC-cum-server if I want...

 

[sheroo]

yeah but I already have a mobo so why spend the extra bucks on hardware I don't want. I could maybe use the extra money to buy a very low end gpu and make the rig into sort of an HTPC-cum-server if I want...

Whatever....