So, I have an Dell Poweredge R720 game server that is the bane of my existence.
I want to replace it.
I want my build to be as budget friendly as possible. But knock the socks off the R720 and be an All Flash game server.
I am considering Threadripper 1st and 2nd gen chips as well as Epyc 4004.
I want/Need a BMC/IPMI on it since I will be managing it from ~800 mi away.
It will be rack mounted.
SuperServer SYS-511R-ML
that is way too rich for my blood
Only cheaper option is used.
Threadripper is so overkill - the bullet go straight through the target, turns around, hits the target a second time and then takes a third pass just to be on the safe side.
Unless we are talking a really taxing physics simulation, hosting 10 game servers on a 4 core computer is not only cheaper but you are still nowhere near hitting the limit of what that machine is capable of.
My advice, buy an Intel NUC or AMD laptop-in-a-box NUC-alike. Small, sips power and does everything you want of it.
except IPMI/BMC and even doing a PiKVM isnt guaranteed to work since most have the power pins soldered.
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Ark Survival Evolved. It takes ~12GB of RAM per map. 10 maps aka ~128GB of RAM
And possibly reducing that to less maps in favor of running Ark Survival Ascended maps. Ark SA requires at least Server 2022 and basically demands higher clock speeds and NVMe.
And you want more than one, max two server instances running at the same time because your family all need that open world space for themselves?
IPMI I can see a need for. In that case, let’s do a quick Newegg shopping for AM5 parts (because PCPP sucks for server hardware), my apologies if I recommend something shoddy this is more thought of as a DIY build to get started with and to see what is possible today. Only posting barebone build, add another $300-$500 for chassi, PSU and cooling.
| Part | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD EPYC 4004 4464P | $449.99 |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE MC13-LE0 | $387.92 |
| Memory | V-Color 4x48GB DDR5 6000MT/s CL30 ECC RDIMM | $1150.00 |
| Storage | Western Digital BLACK 8TB SN850X | $679.99 |
| Total | $2667.99 |
OOOOOoooorrr…
Up to 96GB RAM and has everything you want including vPro (the consumer version of IPMI). Only lacking ECC, but ECC is not really necessary for your usecase in any case. Add another $800 for RAM and the above 8TB drive, and you should be golden.
In my opinion, the NUC wins. But you know your use case best. 
its not a family thing. we have a game hosting “group” not unlike how Level1Techs hosts a Minecraft server for the community
all of our servers are in a rack. We have several servers each dedicated to different use cases.
maybe ill just keep the r720 and slap a couple Intel DC AIC cards in there.
Exactly why I’m looking forward to the jet kvm with dc control board. I have 3 amd nuc like things that I’d love to get IPMI on. Maybe could sway the math, if they were out
The day they actually have a version with the DC control board that works with miniPCs, I’ll switch to miniPCs for servers. I’ll build a miniPC cluster