Cheapest cpu for a simple file server?

[Supercookie]

I want to make a small file server (1Tb) that I can access outside my home network. what would be the cheapest/ worst cpu i could use. the requirements are very vague. Would an old pentium 4 of amd sempron work or will i have to get a cheap xeon off ebay? (something like this)

 

[Ericloewe]

Sounds like you should read the Hardware Recommendations Guide.

 

[Supercookie]

Sounds like you should read the Hardware Recommendations Guide.

not really helpfull. i am trying to go cheap as possible. less then an i3. I have a freenas build with a celeron and it does fine but I want to know if i can go lower.

 

[Chris Moore]

Would an old pentium 4 of amd sempron work or will i have to get a cheap xeon off ebay? (something like this)

No, that will not be good enough

I have a freenas build with a celeron and it does fine but I want to know if i can go lower.

Why do you seek the lower limit of what will work?

 

[Supercookie]

No, that will not be good enough

Why do you seek the lower limit of what will work?

to save the most money. I already have a p4 and sempron. I was saving a q6600 for another project but i might end up using it or getting the xeon from my first post

 

[rvassar]

to save the most money. I already have a p4 and sempron. I was saving a q6600 for another project but i might end up using it or getting the xeon from my first post

Need a 64 bit proc, and 8Gb memory. P4 is 32 bit, the Sempron may be 64 bit, unless it's a socket A or 754, but you'd likely have trouble getting 8Gb on a system that old anyway.

The Q6600 is 64 bit. Note, you will need an adapter to fit a Xeon in a LGA 775 motherboard. Also, the chipsets of that era are notoriously obtuse, avoid anything pre-945. But consider... You can buy a complete used i3-2120 system these days for less than $100.

 

[Chris Moore]

to save the most money. I already have a p4 and sempron. I was saving a q6600 for another project but i might end up using it or getting the xeon from my first post

The minimum memory is 8GB. Will any of those systems handle 8GB?

 

[Chris Moore]

Here is a system with 8GB of memory and I used one of these myself as a NAS at one point. It should work fine. Just add drives.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-Xeon-Quad-W3530-2-8GHz-CPU-8GB-RAM-NO-HDD/282482836385

 

[rvassar]

Here is a system with 8GB of memory and I used one of these myself as a NAS at one point. It should work fine. Just add drives.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-Xeon-Quad-W3530-2-8GHz-CPU-8GB-RAM-NO-HDD/282482836385

I have two of those. I use one as a gaming rig, and the other runs ESXi. In the ESXi role, it suffers because it can't use 8Gb sticks of memory, and is limited to 24Gb. The downside is Dell hasn't shipped any Spectre/Meltdown BIOS fixes, and Intel hasn't offered up any microcode fixes for the Bloomfield Xeons. I think you can shoehorn a 6-core Westmere X5670, which is slated to get microcode fixes, but I don't think Dell is going to ship a BIOS containing them. The A17 BIOS is the latest, and it dates back to 2013.

Having said all that, they're built like tanks! Plenty of power, lots of expansion ports, spare parts are cheap, etc... $80 is a steal.

 

[Chris Moore]

I think you can shoehorn a 6-core Westmere X5670, which is slated to get microcode fixes, but I don't think Dell is going to ship a BIOS containing them. The A17 BIOS is the latest, and it dates back to 2013.

I have put some Xeon X5690 processors in the T3500 systems I used to have. They are great systems. I had five of them at one point and used them at work also. It is a value option. If you want something a little more robust, you can get a Precision T3600 with the socket 2011 ant put an Xeon E5 V2 processor in it. Those are really pretty decent for the money.