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Josh McCollum
Rebecca Maxwell
Senior Project
2 November 2011
When building a computer, prices will have to be dealt with, to figure out what will fit in
the budget range, or get a cheaper something for the same amount of value, much like shopping
for any other item. This however, is more work than people normally think. There are a lot of
parts that need to be chosen. The first thing to figure out is, if AMD(Advanced Micro Devices)
or Intel is better for the type of computer that is being built.Intel is the most widely used, and is
known for having a combination of cores and hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are like fake cores, the
computer will look at the hyperlink and treat it as a core. Intel cores are also faster than AMD
cores.( Cross, Jason. "Can AMD Ever Beat Intel?" PCWorld.com, 17 Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Nov.
2011) AMD uses cores only, but are typically the same price as cores and hyperlinks, so for
example: AMD would have 8 cores, while Intel would have 4 cores and 4 hyperlinks. AMD
cores also support more memory DIMM’s(dual in-line memory module) per core, DIMM’s find
correctable errors that are interfering with the coreor hyperlink’s way of working correctly.
Also, decide on desktop CPU(Central Processing Unit) or server CPU. Desktop CPU’s
are cheaper, but can only support one physical CPU socket per motherboard. While server CPU’s
on the other hand, are a little more expensive, though multiple can be put on the same
motherboard. A Xeon or Opteron is a much better choice than a desktop, reason being: they can
use ECC(Error Correction Code) RAM. According to Google, only 8% of the DIMMs in a
(Harris, Robin. "DRAM error rates: Night on DIMM street." ZDNet.com, Oct.-Nov. 2009. Web.
4 Nov. 2011.)server see one correctable error per year. Take into consideration though that a
desktop may not be on all the time like a server might. applications also might be using 30-50%

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of RAM, while in a virtual server may use 80-90% of RAM.
Next is the CPU socket type: i.e. AMD server CPU’s G32 or G34 sockets.
The G32 is a motherboard that is cheap and has some wonderful features packed
into it. The G34 is a great motherboard, it can support up to two 8 and 12 cores,
the G34 also has 16 DIMM slots, and it also has a wide range of upgrade capability
and data protection. The next big thing that will have to be chosen is the RAM: Registered
(RDIMM) or unbuffered (UDIMM). Registered checks for ECC errors and are available in larger
sizes than the unbuffered. The Case and power supply is next, the casemustsupport the
motherboard form factor. And the power supply has to have sufficient wattage for the
components chosen.
There are 4 types of hard drives, IDE(Integrated Drive Electronics), SATA(serial
advanced technology attachment), SAS(Serial Attached SCSI),and Solid State. IDE shouldn’t
be used on computers built in this day and age because SATA drives are the new minimal
performance standard. SATA are the most commonly used drive in the desktop and laptops
today, the performance is around 70 IOPS(Input/Output Operations Per Second), and in other
words, it’s the best choice to spend money on. SAS is the most commonly used drive in
servers, they are available in 7,200, 10,000, and 15,000 RPM’s(Revolutions Per Minute), the
SAS’s performance is around 100, 150, and 200 IOPS respectively. Last is the Solid State,
probably the best performance drives, but the most expensive. It has no mechanical parts, low
power usage, and only smaller size drives are available for it, 5,000 or a little more IOPS per
drive.
Next are the video card and network card. The video card cards are
now usually built-in to the motherboard, but if not, they are usually found at
cheap rates. For building a machine to run virtual servers however, an extremely
good one is not needed. Most motherboards also come with one or two network

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interface cards (NIC’s), so it would be a good idea to check the hardware
compatibility list of the operating system being used. Last would have to be the
Operating System and the peripheral devices. For the operating system there are
many options that support virtualization, though the three most commonly used
today are VMware vSphere, Citrix XenServer, and Microsoft Hyper-V. VMware is
highly recommended by many companies, while Citrix is free to use. The only
difference is that VMware’s vSphere can run multiple servers and communicate
between them, while Citrix’s XenSphere can only run one at a time.
For price comparison, there are 5 combinations put together based on the greatest
result/price: An Intel desktop i7 CPU containing: An Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Motherboard, at
$99.99, an Intel Core 17-2600 at $299.99, 2 ADATA XPG Gaming Series 16GB RAM for
$859.99, an Antec Three Hundred case for $49.95, a COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-
AMBAJ3-US power supply at $179.99, a Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200
hard drive at $139.99, while the Video card and Network card(s) are not needed because the
motherboard has them built-in, The Operating System (Hypervisor) is free, a GIGABYTE GK-
K6800 keyboard for $14.99,a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse for $11.99, and an Acer
S201HLbd monitor for $99.99. Adding up to a total of $1,756.86
An Intel Xeon Westmere (4 cores with hyperthreading) containing: An
ASUS Z8PE-D12(ASMB4-IKVM) motherboard for $369.99, an INTEL Xeon E5606
Westmere-EP 2.13GHz CPU for $234.99, two Kingston 8GB 4GB 240-pin DDR3
SDRAM ECC RAM for $319.96, an Antec Three Hundred case for $49.95, a
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US power supply at $179.99, a
Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 hard drive at $139.99, While the
Video card and Network card(s) are not needed because the motherboard has
them built-in, the Operating System (Hypervisor) is free, a GIGABYTE GK-K6800

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keyboard for $14.99,a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse for $11.99, and an Acer
S201HLbd monitor for $99.99. Adding up to a total of $1,421.84
An AMD G32 (6 core) containing: A TYAN S8226GM3NR SSI EEB
motherboard for $469.99, An AMD Opteron 4180 Lisbon 2.6GHz 6 CPU at
$209.99, two Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC RAM at $319.96, an Antec
Three Hundred case for $49.95, a COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US
power supply at $179.99, a Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 hard
drive at $139.99, while the Video card and Network card(s) are not needed
because the motherboard has them built-in, the Operating System (Hypervisor) is
free, a GIGABYTE GK-K6800 keyboard for $14.99, a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse
for $11.99, and an Acer S201HLbd monitor for $99.99. Adding up to a total of
$1,496.84
An AMD G34 (8 core) containing: An ASUS KGPE-D16 SSI EEB 3.61
motherboard at $429.99, An AMD Opteron 6128 Magny-Cours 2.0GHz 8 CPU at
$249.99, two Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC RAM at $319.96, an Antec
Three Hundred case for $49.95, a COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US
power supply at $179.99, a Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 hard
drive at $139.99, while the Video card and Network card(s) are not needed
because the motherboard has them built-in, the Operating System (Hypervisor) is
free, A GIGABYTE GK-K6800 keyboard for $14.99, a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse
for $11.99, and an Acer S201HLbd monitor for $99.99. Adding up to a total of
$1,496.84
An AMD G34 (12 core) containing: An ASUS KGPE-D16 SSI EEB 3.61
motherboard at $429.99, an AMD Opteron 6168 Magny-Cours 1.9GHz 12 CPU at
$769.00, two Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC RAM at $319.96, an Antec

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Three Hundred case for $49.95, a COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US
power supply at $179.99, a Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 hard
drive at $139.99, while the Video card and Network card(s) are not needed
because the motherboard has them built-in, the Operating System (Hypervisor) is
free, a GIGABYTE GK-K6800 keyboard for $14.99, a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse
for $11.99, and an Acer S201HLbd monitor for $99.99. Adding up to a total of
$2,015.85
Overall the AMD G34(8 core) is the greatest choice, it is one of the
cheapest, and has the greatest room for upgrades later, the motherboard also has
2 CPU slots, so another one can be added in later if needed.