Upgrading my intel i7-4790k to proper server hardware.

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Xal3xhx

New Member
Feb 23, 2021
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Hi everyone!

ive been slowly upgrading my server with new drive, case, sas cards, you know the works. But I’m now at the point where I need to get a better cpu+mb combo as I just can’t add any more ram to my current board.

My current specs are,
Cpu: Intel i7-4790k
Mb: ASUS z97-k
Memory: 32gb ddr3 2133

I have a budget of around 400$
For the new build I need a decent amount of Memory and preferably ecc

please let me know your ideas!
 

zer0sum

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2013
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A bit more information would be helpful...

Is the $400 including everything or just cpu/motherboard?
Do you want to re-use your current ram?
Do you need storage controllers?
How many pcie slots do you need?
Will you be running nvme drives? gpu?
Do you want 10/40/56GbE networking?

My personal favorite at the moment is still Xeon v3/v4 as you can get a 2678v3 with 12 cores / 24 threads for $70-80 or less.
You can pair that with a $229 Supermicro X10SRL-F that supports 1TB of ram in 8 slots
 

Xal3xhx

New Member
Feb 23, 2021
4
0
1
A bit more information would be helpful...

Is the $400 including everything or just cpu/motherboard?
Do you want to re-use your current ram?
Do you need storage controllers?
How many pcie slots do you need?
Will you be running nvme drives? gpu?
Do you want 10/40/56GbE networking?

My personal favorite at the moment is still Xeon v3/v4 as you can get a 2678v3 with 12 cores / 24 threads for $70-80 or less.
You can pair that with a $229 Supermicro X10SRL-F that supports 1TB of ram in 8 slots

I was hoping to stick around 400$ for everything cpu+mb+ram and that might be pushing my luck

I don’t plan on reusing my current ram For the new build

I have 2 storage controllers that I plan on re using, they are 2x dell h310

I’ll need 3-4 pcie slots. Incase I decide to add a gpu

no Nvme drive just going with SATA and I don’t have plans to upgrade any time soon, might add a gpu in the future but not im not sure as of yet

10gb would be nice but not needed at all, a 1gb will do the job perfectly
 

zer0sum

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2013
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473
63
I also came across this on eBay, Supermicro Server Motherboard X9DR3-LN4F+ 2x E5-2620 8GB Warranty USA Ship Free | eBay I’m honestly not sure If it’s comparable to my current build
That's a huge EATX motherboard that only supports DDR3, and Xeon v1/v2 cpu's, but it's definitely lower budget.
If you want to go down that path, you can do a $149 X9SRL-F and a $70 2680v2

The Supermicro X9/X10 SRL-F boards are nice because they are ATX, support plenty of memory, have IPMI for remote management and have a decent amount of PCIe slots
 

Xal3xhx

New Member
Feb 23, 2021
4
0
1
That's a huge EATX motherboard that only supports DDR3, and Xeon v1/v2 cpu's, but it's definitely lower budget.
If you want to go down that path, you can do a $149 X9SRL-F and a $70 2680v2

The Supermicro X9/X10 SRL-F boards are nice because they are ATX, support plenty of memory, have IPMI for remote management and have a decent amount of PCIe slots
I’m really not worried about The size I have a large enough chassis that it does not matter, all I care about is price and specs. How much better would that EATX board and cpu be to my current build
 

zer0sum

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2013
849
473
63
I’m really not worried about The size I have a large enough chassis that it does not matter, all I care about is price and specs. How much better would that EATX board and cpu be to my current build
It's hard to compare unless you specify use cases and workload :)

The 4790k you have will win for clock speed and single core performance, but it's only 4 cores / 8 threads with limited memory size support.
The Xeon's can have a LOT more cores, especially in a dual socket board and can have far more memory.