Disappointed

It all got off to a really good start. The little HP server was delivered on time. It even came with a decent keyboard and a ball mouse (didn't know they still made those). Adding an extra hard disk as a RAID 0 (striped) configuration was straight forward. When I put in the Vista DVD, the RAID controller was recognised and Vista installation was a breeze. Then it all started to go wrong...

The unit is quite noisy and there is a powerful chassis fan that can't be regulated. There is no overclocking capability on the motherboard. The PCI Express x16 (graphics) slot is very close to the large CPU cooler fan assembly. Any graphics card when inserted, obscures the PCI Express x8 slot adjacent to it. The sound card wouldn't fit in either PCI 3.3V slot so I'll have to but a new one. It looks like Creative's Audigy SE card is dual voltage sensing so will work but that's an extra £20.

Then came the benchmarking, the CPU was as almost expected at the very bottom end of the dual core table. So probably won't make a great gaming powerhouse system. Even worse was the disk subsystem which didn't even make it to 100Mb/s and puts it again as the slowest I've ever tested. So digital video editing is out as well. The onboard graphics is poor quality so even using it as a PC is doubtful unless I put a cheap PCI Express graphics card in it.

OK, on the bright side it didn't cost me much money and I didn't waste too much time on it so the experiment was worthwhile. However, the conclusion is that this system will not make a worthwhile gaming PC.

From Server to Gamer

As the local company that I quoted for a new IT infrastructure have accepted the configuration based on my old DELL server, I'm continuing my quest to discover what can be done with these value servers. Having already successfully implemented Windows Home Server on the new DELL server, I'm now looking at what can be done on the desktop and even at the gaming level with one of these boxes.

I've ordered an HP Proliant ML115 for £118 including VAT and delivery from PCworld Business. This comes with a dual core AMD Opteron, 1Gb memory, 160Gb hard disk drive and a DVD/CD writer combo drive. More importantly it has PCI Express x16 slot for a mid-range graphics card, SATA RAID 0/1/5 controller and a good 370W power supply.

So by adding an extra 160Gb hard disk drive in RAID 0 (striped) configuration, a Ati Radeon 3850 Pro graphics card and an OEM copy of Windows Vista Basic should give a reasonable desktop box for not too much money. You certainly can't build a system like this yourself for this price. And have HP quality and warranty too.

Hopefully Vista doesn't require a floppy to load the SATA controller drivers as there is no floppy connector on the motherboard, and I don't want to have to buy a USB floppy just for that. Finally, I can always add some more memory as well, Crucial have an extra 2x1Gb kit for just £38.

I'll keep you informed of my project.