Hi

I have a Phenom II X4 955 box running 8G RAM. Now I'm planning building a Phenom II X6 box running 16G RAM. But the 4G module/stick is very expensive, not easy to find. However most mobo can take max 4 sticks. I can't find mobo board on market except server taking 8 sticks. Any advice? TIA

B.R.
satimis

If you want the big dog you have to pay the feed bill.

Hi,

Not knowing your reasoning but the means to expand memory are available at a cost. What are you attempting? Reasoning?

As stated if you want to play then PAY!

Hi onebuck,

It is a good question.

I have a Phenom II X4 955 box here running 8G RAM. Therefore I expect adding more RAM on the new box. Besides I will use the new box as virtual machine running >30 guests (VM) on it.

Now the old box Phenom II X4 955 is also a Virtual Machine running >15 guests(VM) on it, Linux/Windows. I have no idea if all guests are running at the same time whether RAM will be sufficient?

I'm running the virtual machine for testing software NOT for production. I'm not in urgent need building this new box. I also have a Phenom X2 virtual box running 4G RAM for testing as well.


I'm not a gamer NOR interested on testing overclocking.


B.R.
satimis

How about some capacity planning to see if you actually need 16 GB RAM? You could start by collecting data to find out how much RAM is currently being used, especially as you are "not in urgent need building this new box". Then you could extrapolate from the current 15 VMs to the projected 30 to guesstimate how much RAM will actually be needed, making reasonable assumptions about the similarity of the VMs' usage patterns and the number of concurrently active VMs.

If that says you need 16 GB RAM then calculate the costs to decide between a server motherboard and relatively cheap RAM (maybe using some of the existing RAM) or the existing motherboard and relatively expensive RAM. Bear in mind that the existing motherboard fully stuffed with RAM will give no scope for further expansion.

EDIT: the same capacity planning exercise could assess CPU and storage needs, too.

Hi catkin,

You're right. I won't purchase 16G RAM at the beginning. Instead I would get 8G RAM first, then expanding to 12G and finally 16G. But I need spair DIMM slot for expansion.


I won't buy the most expensive RAM. NOR I would re-use the RAM on another box. Because I still need the old box.


I'm considering whether it is worthwhile upgrade to Opteron CPU building a server box. I never built a server box before. But in doing so I have to pay more. I can buy 1 CPU at start. Do I need a server box for this job?

satimis

Hi,

The term 'if you want to play then PAY!' has nothing to do with gaming. If you want to do the tasks at hand then you will need to invest the $$ to get to the means required.

What is a server and how does it differ from a workstation in hardware terms? There's no clear dividing line; for many "server" purposes a stock workstation is all that's necessary but when extreme performance (other than video!) and uptime is required then we get into server territory with hardware redundancy, better online diagnostics, more and faster memory, more processors ... and the further we get into this territory the less bang-per-buck and the more bangs.

One more difference about top end servers. If they are in a machine room they need not be quiet, unlike workstations used in an office environment. They have noisy fans and plenty of them; they have lots of 10 K RPM (or faster) disks which are certainly not quiet ...

So your "server box" can be wherever you choose on this spectrum -- to suit your needs, your pocket and your environment. Knowing the needs is a good starting point and getting there begins with measuring present resource usage.

Err, find out how much memory you actually need before splashing the cash? Do you know how much of the RAM the existing box needs? (I know Catkin has already suggested this, but, if the money is an issue, it would be odd not to find out if you need it.)

I doubt that you'll find a 'consumer' mobo that supports more than 4 sticks of ram, because the cpu directly drives the RAM, now the chipset doesn't do it. Of course, you'll find server boards that support more than one CPU chip, but they'll be more expensive...

Essentially, the advantage of an Opteron over a 'consumer' CPU is that they work in multi-socket boards. Again, you can do simple testing to see whether having more cpus would be of advantage to you. But, if you are struggling with the cost of RAM, you probably won't buy a server board or multiple cpus, either.

Hi folks,

Thanks for your advice.

To build a new box I would consider following points.

1)
My need comes first. Cost is second

2)
I won't build a new box using the component of yesterday

3)
I won't build a new box with spec and performance equivalent to the running boxes.

4)
I would balance the cost amongst components to be used.


The new box to be built is on planning stage. I have 2 virtual machines here, one running phenom X2 with 4G RAM on board and another phenom II X4 with 8G RAM on board. They are still running strong. The new box will replace the phenom X2 box.

I'll reconsider your suggestion. Thanks

B.R.
satimis