Unleash the Power: Building a Gaming PC with Server Gear

Find AI Tools

No difficulty

No complicated process

Find ai tools

Home Hardware Unleash the Power: Building a Gaming PC with Server Gear

Unleash the Power: Building a Gaming PC with Server Gear

Table of Contents:

Introduction
The Concept of Building a Budget Gaming PC
The Advantages of Using High-End Workstation and Server Equipment
The Benefits of Buying Older Tech on Sites like eBay
Building the Most Badass Machine with Decommissioned Server Gear
The Challenges Faced During the Building Process
Overcoming Power Supply and Form Factor Issues
The Search for the Perfect CPU
testing the Performance of the System
Gaming Performance and Limitations
productivity and Price-to-Performance Ratio
Considerations for Different Use Cases
Conclusion

Building the Ultimate Budget Gaming PC with Decommissioned Server Gear

Back in December of 2015, we embarked on a project to build a budget gaming PC. Our aim was to create a powerful machine without breaking the bank. Little did we know that we would stumble upon a Game-changing idea that would push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of PC building. Building upon the concept of using high-end workstation and server equipment, we set out to build the most badass machine possible using decommissioned server gear. In this article, we will take you through our journey and share the challenges we faced, the solutions we found, and the performance of this unique PC build.

The Concept of Building a Budget Gaming PC

The idea behind building a budget gaming PC is to find cost-effective components that can deliver exceptional performance. In our case, we turned to high-end workstation and server equipment, which often outpace consumer hardware in terms of technological advancements. By purchasing decommissioned server gear from sites like eBay, we could take advantage of lower prices due to limited consumer demand. This allowed us to build a powerful gaming PC at a fraction of the cost.

The Advantages of Using High-End Workstation and Server Equipment

One of the main advantages of using high-end workstation and server equipment is the performance boost it provides. These components are often designed for heavy workloads, making them ideal for gaming purposes as well. With multi-core processors and ample memory slots, these components can handle demanding tasks with ease. Additionally, since businesses regularly upgrade their IT gear, there is a surplus of older tech that can be found at lower prices on sites like eBay.

The Benefits of Buying Older Tech on Sites like eBay

Buying older tech on sites like eBay can be extremely beneficial when building a budget gaming PC. The pricing for these components is often lower than mainstream hardware because they are less familiar to the average consumer. This means that there is less competition, allowing buyers to score great deals. Additionally, due to the constant supply of decommissioned server gear, buyers have a wider range of options to choose from, allowing for more customization and flexibility in their builds.

Building the Most Badass Machine with Decommissioned Server Gear

Our goal was clear: we wanted to build the most badass machine possible using decommissioned server gear. We started by searching for the biggest and baddest motherboard we could find on eBay. After careful consideration, we settled on the Supermicro H8QG6F, a motherboard designed for the proprietary SW TX form factor. This motherboard checked all the boxes with its four G34 CPU sockets, 32 DIMM slots for up to a terabyte of ECC registered DDR3 memory, multiple PCI Express slots, and an onboard LSI SAS controller. This was a motherboard in another league.

The Challenges Faced During the Building Process

The journey to building our ultimate budget gaming PC was not without its challenges. First and foremost, the Supermicro H8QG6F motherboard was of a crazy form factor that wouldn't fit in any case or test bench we had in the office. This meant we had to get creative and find a way to house the motherboard. Additionally, we needed a power supply with three EPS 12-volt connectors to power all the CPUs, a feat that was not easily accomplished with consumer-grade units. Despite these challenges, we were determined to make this build a success.

Overcoming Power Supply and Form Factor Issues

To overcome the power supply issue, we decided to Frankenstein together the cables from two modular units onto one. This allowed us to supply power to all the CPUs without any issues. As for the form factor problem, we had to wait a couple of months for a slightly stripped-down version of the Supermicro H8QG6F motherboard, which lacked the SAS controller and a few PCIe slots. While this was a slight disappointment, we made it work by using the included eight-core Opteron 6128 CPUs to fire up the system before swapping them out for our 16-core ones.

The Search for the Perfect CPU

Choosing the right CPU was a crucial part of our build. We wanted to maximize the performance while keeping the cost low. After researching various options, we settled on the Opteron 6276 CPUs. These 16-core chips were available for an incredible price and, when combined with our motherboard's quad-Channel memory support, promised outstanding performance. With four of these CPUs and a total of 64 cores, we were excited to see how our system would perform.

Testing the Performance of the System

Once the build was complete, it was time to put our system through its paces. We ran various benchmarks and compared the results to other high-end processors like Ryzen Threadripper and Intel's Core i9. In multi-threaded tests, our system outperformed the competition effortlessly. However, when it came to gaming, we faced some limitations. Due to the nature of the components we used, gaming performance was subpar compared to more gaming-oriented systems. This was a trade-off we were willing to make considering the exceptional productivity performance our system delivered.

Gaming Performance and Limitations

Gaming performance was the area where our budget PC struggled the most. Despite using a high-end graphics card like the 1080 Ti, we encountered significant bottlenecks. In games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and CS:GO, our system performed well below expectations, with only a fraction of the performance compared to systems with more gaming-oriented hardware. While this was disappointing, we kept in mind that our system was primarily designed for productivity rather than gaming.

Productivity and Price-to-Performance Ratio

When it came to productivity tasks, our budget PC excelled. In applications like Blender, our system showcased impressive 3D rendering prowess. It may not have been on par with Threadripper or Core i9, but it surpassed the performance of the Ryzen 7 1800X while maintaining a similar overall system cost. Benchmarks like Cinebench and 7-zip confirmed the system's high productivity performance. However, it's important to note that the lack of AVX support and relatively low cache per core affected its performance in heavily multi-threaded workloads.

Considerations for Different Use Cases

While our budget gaming PC with decommissioned server gear may not be the ideal choice for gaming, it offers great value for productivity tasks. If your primary focus is CPU performance and you can compensate for the limited gaming capabilities with a low-end graphics card, our system delivers better value than Ryzen Threadripper. For users looking for a budget-friendly workstation capable of handling demanding tasks like 3D rendering, our build provides an affordable solution.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our journey to build the ultimate budget gaming PC with decommissioned server gear was filled with challenges and rewards. We overcame form factor and power supply issues, discovered the potential of high-end workstation and server equipment, and achieved impressive productivity performance. While our system may not be optimized for gaming, it delivers exceptional value for CPU-intensive tasks. If you're willing to think outside the box and explore alternative hardware options, you can create a powerful PC that meets your specific needs without draining your wallet.