Building a cheap server for $500

I purchased parts for another server recently and thought I would document my choices. I wanted to spend more but that’s not an option at the moment. So here’s what I bought and when I get the parts I can report on my level of satisfaction.

What I purchased

• cpu: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (2.4GHz, Socket AM2, 65W, Windsor core)
  It was a requirement to have hardware virtualization extensions and that made AMD the logical choice. I tried to pick what I thought was a good price/performance point in the sub-$100 range.
• motherboard: ASUS M2A-VM (Socket AM2, microATX)
  This is an AMD 690V / SB600 motherboard. The SB600 has an issue in that DMA doesn’t work in 64-bit mode but this is apparently only an issue for systems with more than 4GB of RAM.
• ram: 2 2x1GB DDR2 800 PC6400
  Yes, you read that right. I found the sweet spot for 4GB of ram to be buying 2 packages of 2 1GB modules. It was cheaper than a 4x1GB package, 4 1GB packages, and a 2x2GB package (though the latter is advantageous for expandability)
• case: Foxconn TLM776 (microATX, 300 Watt)
  Seemed like a reasonable microATX case that included a power supply, had good cooling potential, and was very cheap. I think it looks decent as well.
• disks: 2 WD Caviar SE WD5000AAJS (500GB, 7200RPM, 8MB)
  A great deal and well suited for RAID 1 under GNU/Linux. I also considered the WD Cavier SE WD5000AAKS (500GB, 16MB), the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3400620AS (400GB, 16MB), and the Samsung Spinpoint HD501LJ (500GB, 16MB) but made the choice for the cheapest 500GB option.

If I had more money

• cpu: Intel Q6600 (2.4GHz, LGA 775, Kentsfield core)
  4 cores are better than 2, especially for a server hosting multiple virtualized guests.
• motherboard: MSI P35 Neo2-FR
  I would definitely go with an Intel P35 / ICH9R chipset and I’ve heard pretty good things about this board being a solid value.
• ram: 4 2GB DDR2 800 modules
  8GB is better than 4GB.
• case: Supermicro CSE-733T-645B
  It has included hot-swap SATA backplane goodness.
• case: Antex TITAN650 Black
  Could be good combined with a SATA backplane.
• disks: 2 or 4 WD Cavier RE2 WD4000x (400GB, 7200RPM, 16MB)
  Lowest cost solution.
• disks: 2 or 4 WD Cavier RE2 WD5000x (500GB, 7200RPM, 16MB)
  Highest capacity solution.
• disks: 2 or 3 WD Raptor WD1500x (150GB, 10,000RPM, 16MB)
  Highest performance solution.

Research

• Asus M2A-VM linux status summary