Which server should i choose from? Xeon or desktop CPU?
Ryssk
Join Date: 2012-12-18 Member: 175441Members
Join Date: 2012-12-18 Member: 175441Members
Hi, was thinking of buying a new server, but the thing is, i dont know which one i should choose from to run NS2 dedicated.
I've been looking on a Lenovo solution called Lenovo ThinkServer TS130 1105 - Xeon E3-1245V2 3.4 GHz, there is also one alternative with 1240V2 CPU, but what i've seen its just 7 watt less in load.
I know that you are supposed to run them at about 4.2ghz with an I7, but how's it with Xeon? I mean shouldnt the Single-Thread be better on a Xeon CPU than a I7-2600K?
The Lenovo solution will cost me about 550euro with storage and Memory.
Or should i just build a "desktop" computer with I7-4770K? But the thing is, more power draining, pain in the ass without ECC, bad controller for RAID and so on...
So for those who've been running a server, what's your thoughts?
The amount of players will be at 16 slot. Nothing else
I've been looking on a Lenovo solution called Lenovo ThinkServer TS130 1105 - Xeon E3-1245V2 3.4 GHz, there is also one alternative with 1240V2 CPU, but what i've seen its just 7 watt less in load.
I know that you are supposed to run them at about 4.2ghz with an I7, but how's it with Xeon? I mean shouldnt the Single-Thread be better on a Xeon CPU than a I7-2600K?
The Lenovo solution will cost me about 550euro with storage and Memory.
Or should i just build a "desktop" computer with I7-4770K? But the thing is, more power draining, pain in the ass without ECC, bad controller for RAID and so on...
So for those who've been running a server, what's your thoughts?
The amount of players will be at 16 slot. Nothing else
Comments
That being said, a 4770k is somewhat faster then a E3-1245. The 1240 is even sightly better according to the benchs.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html (more important)
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
I think all of those should run 16 slots. The 4770k can run even 18 for sure.
The differences between the Xeon processor line and the i7 processors is in the instruction set support. A CPU like the Core i7-4771 is completely pointless when its Xeon-branded equivalent is priced exactly the same; with the server instructions and ECC support to boot.
Xeon E3-XXX5 CPUs include the integrated HD Graphics 3000, 4000 or 4600 iGPU, the Xeon E3-XXX0 processors do not have a functional integrated graphics processor and will consume less power by themselves; but they will require a dedicated graphics card to be present on your workstation. Much like the i7-4771 and other regular non-K CPUs, these workstation processors also have their multiplier locked, so in order to overclock your choice would be a Core i7-4770K processor.
http://ark.intel.com/products/75123/Intel-Core-i7-4770K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz
http://ark.intel.com/products/77656/Intel-Core-i7-4771-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz
http://ark.intel.com/products/75464/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1275-v3-8M-Cache-3_50-GHz
So you can read these and see, the only thing that these processors will differ on is their memory support and specific security instructions that are not of any concern if this will be purely a gaming server, so your choice should pretty much boil down to what you can get cheaper than this, or go 4770K if you wish to overclock. Have fun
Should add, Sandy Bridge running at 5 GHz will be roughly identical Ivy Bridge running at 4.5 and Haswell at 4.2, so if your particular application (in this case, NS2 server recommends 4.2 2500K; a 3.2 GHz Haswell-DT with 8MB L3 (2500K has 6 MB) will handle the same workload just as easily.)
It's just that i will use later on the server for something else, a storage solution with Raid 5 or 10. Right now i've got a HP N40L for that, but i feel that i need the performance of crypt my files.
But i should be able to run with the Lenovo solution together with a Xeon 1245? As i told, 16 players slot running the NSL mod and NSL maps and Custom Hud.
It's just that the solution for a 4770K would be much more expensive than the OEM from Lenovo.
Or i could just get the 4770K for my main, and use my old I7-2600K as the server, but i dont think the GF will approve that xD
See the benchmark list above. If you're getting v2 it's about ~10% slower or so, but you should still be able to run 16 slots. Especially with the NSL maps, they have reduced entcount and run better on the server as well.
I do have a 4770k and it runs 18 slots perfectly fine, assuming the performance issues in B261 get fixed, it was able to run 22 slots before.
I would not recommend OC though if you're running other stuff off the server. OC has issues people tend to talk down because they have no idea. Unless you don't mind the instability and possible data corruption of course, but then you definetetly don't need ECC in the first place.
Btw, how much MEM does NS2 use? 4gb should be enough?
I'd get at least 8GB.
NS2 uses around 700MB when started, but it memory-leaks, so it goes up to like 1.5-1.8GB before it crashes. I also suggest daily restarts to keep memory usage down.
If you're eventually going to run then more then 1 server, which you might do with a CPU that can handle that easily, you'll be running into memory problems quickly.
Also if you're specifically building a machine, I'd also suggest an SSD to ensure you don't have any loading problems.
Might also consider simply building the machine your self instead of going with a brand thing. It doesn't look like it's any specific rack case, so you can just buy a cheap customer case and slap some fans into it and the according hardware.
The i7-4770 (non K) should be identical to the Xeon E3-124X CPUs in performance as well, or just 100 MHz shy of those other three processors. I very much doubt 100 MHz will make that big a difference, so really, just build the cheapest one you can in this case bro.
God... never even struck me that it could be a pain in the ass to build a home built server haha xD
Don't forget it will be running 24/7 and some parts might simply not be build for that kind of stress; especailly the cheaper consumer-grade motherboards; getting a decent one with good capacitiors and quality parts is worth it. Nothing is more annoying to have your motherboard die because the capcitors die quickly or are badly soldered to the motherboard. Or if you get one with cheapass controllers that outright suck; though the onboard ethernet is usually good enough; though additional controllers might be bad (like if you have extra SATA3 controllers or so (if you need that at all)).
Same with the PSU, get a high quality one; bad PSU gonna fry early, and probably takes some parts down as well.
Make sure to get proper cooling too, if you're housing you can ignore noise levels pretty much.
If you want to go for more high quality parts you can also go for a pure server setup, but it's gonna more expensive then customer-grade parts and imho isn't really necessary unless you *really* need things like ECC.
Haha you're just making a big deal out of it mane. Xeon E3 CPUs are just Xeon-branded Core i5/i7 processors. They'll work just fine with virtually all motherboards, it's just that when paired with a certain chipset it will support error-correcting memory
If anything just look the supported list of processors for the motherboard you may want to buy, pretty much ALL ASUS and Gigabyte Z87 motherboards will work with Xeon E3 CPUs.
What Omega says about the power supply is true though, getting a high quality supply is very critical. Other than that a reinforced Z87 board like the Sabertooth (that I own and love) will be more than capable of heavy duty 24/7 usage :P
$139Fractal Design Define R3 Black
$113TX650
$218i5 2500K
$186Asus P8Z68-V
$69
8G Kit 1866 G.Skill Ripjaws
$89noctua D14
No hard drive
No video card
My own server is an empty Dell PE 2650 case, and becuase i have had quite a bit of experience with M-ITX Builds, I used trusted hardware
Silverstone ST45SF 450W SFX
Intel Core i5 3470
G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3
Western Digital WD Blue 500GB WD5000AAKX
ASRock B75M-ITX Motherboard
If your looking at a high throughput (even 10/100) if not GB, the ASRock has good check-sum offload, so the north bridge takes some of the strain from the CPU with network packets
Assign each server thread to a core via task manager, and enable real time on that core - i followed the advice on the valve dedicated server page about running WMP as a high resolution timer, but don't think its helping very much.