Small Network

[Ash!]

Hiya

I am considering setting up a small games network for a a few mates. When deciding on the server I suppose the main considerations would be AMD vs Intel ? Which motherboard, how much RAM, Size of power supply ?Uninterupterable power supply, O/S, Cooling.

In a nutshell what needs to be considered for giving good performance, low pings ? What would you chose and why ?

Thanks

 

[Testin da Cable]

I'd say you have to look at how many of your mates+yourself will be playing at the same time and how many (and which) different games do you want to run on the server simultaneously before you'll get handy answers mate.
example: say you'll want two different bf1942 servers running at once then you're going to need a serious amount of ram and fast drives.

 

[Will]

AMD vs. Intel : Its an age old. If you have money to burn, get Intel with Hyperthreading, otherwise, get AMD.
Mobo : Unless you are going dual CPU, nForce2 (I only do AMD advice) since you'll only need onboard gfx. Then again, my server runs on a ABit KR7A-133 fine.
RAM : Like TdC said, depends on the game. 512Mb minimum, up to 2Gb for a hefty game.
PSU : You won't be running beast gfx cards, so 350W should be fine for single CPU
UPS : Its a gaming network, not a lot of point, since you all need power to play.
O/S : Depends on the game. If it has Linux servers, then get FreeBSD. Don't bother installing X, and work from the command line. You'll pick it up in no time.
Cooling : you won't be overclocking, so anything rated for the chip will be fine. My server only has a single 92mm fan cooling the Zalman, I removed all other fans for the sake of my sanity