Hi all, Im in the process of building a new home media server. I was going to run Solaris 11.1 as my main OS. Considering the server will be on at home 24/7, I figure why not run a Windows VM or 2 and do some botting while Im at work I was originally going to build it with an Intel i3 processor, given its low power and built in GPU. Looking around however, it appears some of the AMD chips have better built in GPUs, and still draw low power (albeit more than the i3). It doesn't make sense to have a dedicated graphics card in the server, as it would draw too much power, and too much noise. So to my question, are any of you guys out there botting on an Intel i3 or AMD A4/6/8/10 box, without a dedicated graphics card? If so, how many bots are you running at a time, do you feel it is working for you, etc? Thanks!
If your running a home media server, my suggestion would be to run Zentyal (Zentyal, the Linux Small Business Server), and to use AMD APU, Lower Cost, Lower Heat, Lower Energy Use, and no need for a card. Low End: AMD A6-5400K Trinity 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7540D AD540KOKHJBOX - Newegg.com High End: AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7660D AD580KWOHJBOX - Newegg.com
my first laptop was a a6, and it was fine for doing everything i wanted. had no problems playing wow, with decent settings at 1366x768, and no issues with doing TF2, or anything else really. i have since upgraded to one with an A8 and that gave it a bit of a boost. still nothing life changing though, but i use it as my main pc. i did pick up one of these. Foxconn NTA350-0H0W-B-A-NA AMD A45 (Hudson D1) 1 x 204Pin AMD Radeon HD 6310 Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System - Newegg.com right now i use it as a media center pc, running windows 7 connected to a 3tb WD My Book with all the media on it, i use Windows Media Center and Media Browser. ive not had a single problem. what nice is it small enough where i velcro'd it to the back of the TV along with the MyBook, although the tv i run it on is only running at 720p i dont think i would have much problem running it at 1080p. when i bought it newegg had a deal where it came with a 64gb ssd for free, and ive been using that as the main drive and 4gb of ram. not only that but with 4 usb ports, 2 usb 3.0 ports and an SD Card slot, there's a lot of room to expand plus it comes with Wireless N, so streaming off a network share isnt a problem ether. my core media center / server is a Phenom x4 2.8ghz (or something) and i have most of my storage there, and its running the same software as the small media center i mentioned above, but i also use it for backing up, and file sharing i also have it setup with concurrent remote desktop connections so i can manage the media drives with metadata and all that and if i need to also backup dvd's or do other tasks while the main media center interface is running without issue. there are times when i set handbrake to run and people are watching videos or live tv and live tv is being recorded and ive never had a problem. i also have it setup with emulators and games that you can access from the media center. that with the xbox 360 wireless receiver means that you can easily get in and play with 4 people doing a game of Mario Kart wii, or Smash Bros Brawl, without having to turn on a wii, or deal with wiimotes. shit just works. the only thing i plan to do is get another 2 tb drive and upgrade the video card, so i can play games like Bioshock infinite at 1080p
i play with it, no dedicated gfx card, i have the HD3000 (previous gen of intels i-series). Used to get 250fps steady with that on CSS, now on csgo in a 5v5 match 100 fps, in smokes and flashes arround 50-70. You can overclock that iGPU so hard. And the HD4000 is even a bigger improvement spec wise. Also i't manages LoL/WoW fine, if you aren't picky graphic wise (low graphics), i've also ran 4 bots at a time all on the lowest res/settings. If you are planning to buy this now, i'd suggest you just wait a month, the next series of intel APUs will be insane. And not that much more expensive, and will save a shitload on an extra gfx card. Haswell (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Do know AMD has advantage in graphics since they bought ATI.
not only that but, AMD APU's are powering all the next gen systems. so they are making MAD money. not to mention they've been providing GPU's for the gamecube, wii, wii u, and xbox 360. now they own it all.
There are reviews of the new Haswell APU and they lost across the board by 20% against the A10 5800k. (If you are just using the on board stuff without an extra GPU.) No point in buying those, since you pay more for less power. Intel (German page, but just the first graph will show it all.)
Thanks guys, appreciate the thoughts. The Haswells do look nice. The i5s and i7s seem to be out as of yesterday (?), so I assume you mean the Haswell i3s are still on their way. The AMDs seem like a great option, however they do seem to draw more power on both Idle and at Load than the i3s. I guess the question is, what constitutes as Peak load. Would running 2 instances of WoW within a VM place significant load on a CPU (assuming using the GPU built into the CPU)?
yea, in the case of an APU the graphics core is built in. on my A6 i was dual botting and doing development, and it was keeping up with me. keep in mind Visual Studio when you have 3 or 4 projects open and firefox when you never close it can take up a ton of memory. i have no doubt that on an a6 with 8gb of ram, and maybe also an SSD that you could run 4 bots at a time. i was dual botting Swtor and D3 and those are both much heavier clients then wow is.
Thanks Code. Dont suppose you monitored power usage. I know I am harping on about it, but it is a priority for me (now that I have a stupid mortgage to pay ). As to RAM, I was going to get 16gb, due to ZFS' memory hungry nature (1gb per 1tb of HDD approx). Might consider upping it to 32gb in order for the VMs to run concurrently. Though might pass on going for ECC RAM (preferred for ZFS) and get DDR. ECC is so damn expensive.
If you're on a budget, go with AMD. Haswell has just launched and has a really improved IGP, but it costs.
Was just pointing out that APUs are worth buying now, i find a dedicated gfx card isn't worth buying anymore for me
With their new platform of AMD Motherboard Chipsets, Dedicated Cards, and APU's together provide over 150% increased performance over non-AMD Counterparts and an AMD Dedicated Card. AMD Platform Technology: Dragon Platform Products
150%? lol i'd like to see benchmarks on that. I guarantee my 2.5 year old 2500K cpu would beat the 6800K when both are matched with a 7970 GPU and both processors are overclocked. sandy bridge is superior in gaming to every AMD processor that has been released. if youre going by rumors then lol. it was rumored that bulldozer was going to mop the floor with ivy bridge and well.... bull dozer actually had lower fps than ivy bridge
For me the best choice is ths i3 with HD4000(Ivy) (don't know if exist with new HD4600), no problems to run wow in low at 30fps + movie in 1080p on TV Don't forget to watch the TDP
Thanks! Sounds like I'll get a good trade off for ability to do stuff vs power with the i3, despite a slightly higher cost.
hey guys so i didnt wanted to start new threat but here is what i m thinking . i want to start new pc 15 bots on in. i consider fx 8350 amd processor 24gb ram etc alternative is some kind of i5 intel processor though i m not convinced about which is better. atm i m using 6 core fx amd 6*** something that allows me to run 10 bots and sometimes 1 extra - bots are little bit low on fps but they handle and they farm easy. what do you guys think i should choose. i run all 24/7 , will use water cooling systems low graphics around 70$ cost . and last question ssd vs hdd. i heard that ssd just start faster but if i run 15 bots on 1 computer wouldnt it be better to have ssd?
