Seeking personal dev server build advice
by Mitovo · in Hardware Issues · 07/09/2014 (5:04 pm) · 7 replies
Hello,
Forgive me if this is the wrong section, as it's not really a hardware "issue", but more of a question. I see others asking non-issue type questions, so I figured it should be okay.
Anyways...
I'm looking to build a development/testing machine, to setup a Torque server which I can connect to as I would in a normal "live" environment, rather than connecting to something on my local machine. I'm not looking for monstrous player numbers, necessarily. Up to 32 would be fine. Above that would be even better.
I'm guessing the system wouldn't have to be terribly robust or expensive for this, but I don't want to under-shoot it, either.
I'm targeting TGEA, or *possibly* T3D for this. I'm sure each has somewhat different requirements, so the specs might differ.
I'm knowledgeable and experienced with building systems for personal use, for gaming and graphics work, etc. I've no experience in building something as a dedicated game server, however.
A couple specific questions..
For my uses, is a single drive okay? Or should I have a RAID setup?
Is there benefit of using Intel over AMD? I'm an AMD user, but will get an Intel if there's a benefit to it.
If anyone has personal experience in running/setting-up something like this that they can share, that would be awesome.
Thanks!
Forgive me if this is the wrong section, as it's not really a hardware "issue", but more of a question. I see others asking non-issue type questions, so I figured it should be okay.
Anyways...
I'm looking to build a development/testing machine, to setup a Torque server which I can connect to as I would in a normal "live" environment, rather than connecting to something on my local machine. I'm not looking for monstrous player numbers, necessarily. Up to 32 would be fine. Above that would be even better.
I'm guessing the system wouldn't have to be terribly robust or expensive for this, but I don't want to under-shoot it, either.
I'm targeting TGEA, or *possibly* T3D for this. I'm sure each has somewhat different requirements, so the specs might differ.
I'm knowledgeable and experienced with building systems for personal use, for gaming and graphics work, etc. I've no experience in building something as a dedicated game server, however.
A couple specific questions..
For my uses, is a single drive okay? Or should I have a RAID setup?
Is there benefit of using Intel over AMD? I'm an AMD user, but will get an Intel if there's a benefit to it.
If anyone has personal experience in running/setting-up something like this that they can share, that would be awesome.
Thanks!
About the author
#2
Thanks for that info!
Turns out, I've priced out a tentative system around the range I'm looking at, which is a bit more powerful than the one you linked, so at least I know I'm not undercutting it.
Here's the parts list I currently have set up. I'm torn between the case in that list, and a lower model from FD, the Core 1000. I'm really liking the sound dampening and the overall setup of the Define model. I'm keeping it as a MicroATX because I don't have tons of room here, so I wanna keep it as low profile as possible.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cLhgFT
Parts could change before I make the purchase, but not by much.
07/10/2014 (3:47 pm)
Hey there, Richard.Thanks for that info!
Turns out, I've priced out a tentative system around the range I'm looking at, which is a bit more powerful than the one you linked, so at least I know I'm not undercutting it.
Here's the parts list I currently have set up. I'm torn between the case in that list, and a lower model from FD, the Core 1000. I'm really liking the sound dampening and the overall setup of the Define model. I'm keeping it as a MicroATX because I don't have tons of room here, so I wanna keep it as low profile as possible.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/cLhgFT
Parts could change before I make the purchase, but not by much.
#3
07/10/2014 (6:36 pm)
Cases - make sure all of the edges are rounded (or at least smoothed) inside to prevent bleeding all over your electronics. Other than that, beef up the power supply a little - too much is better than not enough (shoot for 800 ~ 1200 watts). I prefer Antec, but do some research for steady, clean, durable power....
#4
Actually... I've done a bit more altering, and now have the overall cost down to about $370 :p.
The case I'm getting is really well-made, so I don't think I'll have to worry about bleeding everywhere :p.
Curious, what's the thinking behind using a PSU with so much more power than the requirements? The system build I have currently is estimated to require ~180W.
07/10/2014 (7:42 pm)
Interesting. I wouldn't think of getting that much extra power.Actually... I've done a bit more altering, and now have the overall cost down to about $370 :p.
The case I'm getting is really well-made, so I don't think I'll have to worry about bleeding everywhere :p.
Curious, what's the thinking behind using a PSU with so much more power than the requirements? The system build I have currently is estimated to require ~180W.
#5
07/11/2014 (6:47 am)
Sorry - for some reason I got to thinking about my usual system build. I guess what I actually do (had to think about it for a minute) is shoot for about a 25% overhead - if you're nowhere near the limit the thing will last forever. Electronics these days are going super cheap so the thing to keep in mind is the cheaper components can have large variations in quality. To avoid stressing a potentially inferior quality transistor somewhere in that thing I just buy more headroom. 
#6
07/16/2014 (7:29 am)
This is something I haven't tried, but since T3D does compile as a dedicated server in Linux, you could buy a cheap hosting plan on a virtual machine provider and see if that suits your requirements. I know you can get plans from like $5 a month, but obviously that'd be for a fairly small VM that may not deal too smoothly with the game engine.
#7
A friend of mine works for Rackspace and has suggested checking them out. They seemed kinda pricey from what I saw, though. Though I was probably looking at the wrong thing :p.
07/16/2014 (3:40 pm)
I've considered that as an option, just to see how it would work, without "comitting" to building a new system.A friend of mine works for Rackspace and has suggested checking them out. They seemed kinda pricey from what I saw, though. Though I was probably looking at the wrong thing :p.
Torque Owner Richard Ranft
Roostertail Games
Ultimately, even a relatively low end machine should suffice. No special hardware required and you don't require RAID. You could probably get away with a $500 eMachine rig right off the shelf. It's a dedicated server so you don't have to worry about graphics - it runs in the console anyway. Don't have to worry about sound cards, either. This should be powerful enough for TGEA or T3D, easily. I'd say shoot for 4GB RAM as the only real thing to watch for. Something like this computer at Fry's should more than do the trick and you could probably downgrade further without too much worry.
Just make sure you've got good network equipment and you should be golden.