I want to buy me a Server, help needed

[neojd[ny] 10]

Hey folks,

Since I play alot of ArmA 2 alone or sometimes with some Friends at home, and mostly Warfare from Oden,i want to buy me a little LAN only server to improve performance and bonuses like that i can open a LAN Warfare game and let the AI having there war till i join, you know what I mean?

Now to my Questions:

- What kind of Computer System will I need to have a good quality LAN server with good performance in ArmA 2 with up to 6 players and good non lagging AI.

- How much you guys think i have to spend?

- is a good graphic card nessecary for a server?

I would like to build the System myself, so i want to buy not a complete system. And also the LAN serv. dosent need to be a next gen High Power RIG with tons of power, it should just be great playing Arma 2 in Lan mode over some days.

If already got a system im thinking of:

MB: ASRock K10N78M (µATX, Sound, GeForce 8100 VGA DVI, G-LAN, RAID)

RAM: GeIL DIMM 2 GB DDR2-800 Kit

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 7550 (OPGA, "Kuma")

CASE: MS-TECH LC-01 Desktop case inkl. power supply

All for 200€

What do you think?

Thank you in Advance!:rolleyes:

Edited March 23, 2010 by NeoJD[NY]

[terox 316]

Servers dont use sound or graphics. so those components are not needed and therefore it's a waste of time buying them, or motherboards that have them

(Look at buying a server mboard)

ArmA2 dedicated exe only utilises 2 cores properly, they hardly use any additional cores, so dual core is all you will need processor wise

The more powerful the processor, the better (xeons in preference)

as for RAM, depends what operating system you will be running and any other apps you may have running on the server, how big is the addon pack you run etc etc.

2 gigs should be ample. Once you have your rig up and running on full load, (lots of A.I and max players connected) check the resource manager and see how much ram is being used. If more is needed add a couple of modules (another 2 gig) but it's doubtful you will need it.

the rest is dependant on the amount of upload and download your home connection has

[neojd[ny] 10]

Ok Thanks, that was helpfull!

Another Question, If the Mboard got 1000 mbit LAN and my PC has it too, do i need a special 1000 Lan Cable for 1GB Lan connection or is a normal cat 5e ok and running with 1000 mb LAN?

Jesus Xenon are pretty expensive...

Edited March 24, 2010 by NeoJD[NY]

[terox 316]

We run a xeon x5570 which allows us to run (well at least 3 servers simulataneously).

You do not need that amount of power.

As I said, given a choice of a family of processors, a xeon would be prefereable, but we used to run ArmA2 on 2 single core opterons, which we had back in the OFP days.

I would imagine a Q6600 or an E6850 could cope with a small number of players.

Q6600 would give you 2 cores for the o/s leaving 2 cores just for ArmA2 and the ability to overclock.

If you are U.K based Overclockers.co.uk offer overclocked barebones and motherboard bundles with warranty, depending on your budget. (You could step the overclocking down a bit to say 3.2 - 3.5

Their cheapest 4ghz bundle

Get the fastest processor you can with your budget.

As for the lan cable, dunno m8, sorry We have ours colocated at a data centre)

Edited March 25, 2010 by Terox

[RN Escobar 0]

no you don't need a special cable, however you may well need a special router or switcher.

i agree with terox, get a cheap quad, onbaord vga, audio completely not required but pretty much every mobo comes with it.

looking at you being in NY clan?? i assume your NA based and therefore newegg is your choice of shop.

go for an intel g41/43/45 with an LGA775 cpu, the newer 1156 and 1366 chipsets are very short of motherboards with built in gfx at a reasonable price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131602

couple it with 4GB of fast ram, this mobo uses DDR3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131602

then take your pic for a dual or a quad, cache isn't so important go for as fast as you can or a good overclocker if your that way inclined, asus mobo's are more than capable of a solid OC as long you keep the heat in check.

YOU DO NOT NEED A XEON, for the most part they are rebadged desktop CPU's with the prefetchers optimised for servers apps (Dbase/fileserving). Stick with desktop components. they are much cheaper and more readily available.

then go for a gigabit router/switcher, so you can have the fastest network you can get for your LAN gaming sessions, something like this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127060

[neojd[ny] 10]

great thx, i will have to save my money for 2 months doh but then i will go schopping... :D

Thx for the answers m8`s