Hardware recommendation

[stubborn]

Want to build a ProxMox server purely for development and proof of concept work. We will run few Windows and Linux VMs, maybe maximum 10 in parallel. But the VMs all won't be running many intensive apps/servers.

Various developers will remote into the VMs running in it and deploy code, test out things etc. Machine just needs to be snappy when running few VMs or Docker containers at the same time.

Need the machine to be relatively quiet. Prefer not to buy a dedicated graphics card unless needed or there is a specific advantage in doing so over using the iGPU. Don't want to use an ancient machine (to save money) since we may need one with TPM chip and I also like the warranty of buying new since this is for a business. Since this is POC work and we will backup VMs, we don't care much about ECC RAM etc. or accommodating several hard disks. A 2 TB SSD with backups to a regular HDD is enough.

I live near a Microcenter, and they have these deals going on. Which of these would you recommend? Plan to add an Intel 620p 2TB SSD, 750 W Gold PSU from Corsair and some silent case (Antec P101 maybe).

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, MSI B650-P Pro WiFi, G.Skill Flare X5 Series 32GB DDR5-6000 -> $400
Intel Core i9-12900K, MSI Z690-A PRO WiFi DDR5, G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB Kit DDR5-6000 -> $400

Intel Core i7-13700K, ASUS Z790-P Prime WiFi DDR5, G.Skill 32GB DDR5-6000 Kit -> $500
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, ASUS B650E-F ROG Strix Gaming WiFi, G.Skill Flare X5 Series Kit 64GB DDR5-6000 -> $550

 

[jdancer]

Since I don't use any AMD CPUs in work or home (use Intel exclusively with zero issues), I've had read about issues with Debian/Proxmox with obscure AMD settings.


If you don't plan to create a cluster (highly recommend homogeneous hardware for clustering), get as much memory for the server as possible. My Intel Proxmox cluster nodes have 192GB RAM each.

 

[stubborn]

Since I don't use any AMD CPUs in work or home (use Intel exclusively with zero issues), I've had read about issues with Debian/Proxmox with obscure AMD settings.


If you don't plan to create a cluster (highly recommend homogeneous hardware for clustering), get as much memory for the server as possible. My Intel Proxmox cluster nodes have 192GB RAM each.

Thanks. Based on further reading, it does look like these newer CPUs have igpu passthrough issue with proxmox.
Also since I don't plan to run any intensive server applications, the sale prices while good deals may not be the best hardware for me.

Leaning more towards a low power draw server from eBay/Amazon now. Any suggestions for one that has good RAM but runs relatively quiet, is plenty fast and doesn't come with tons of hard disks?

 

[jdancer]

Thanks. Based on further reading, it does look like these newer CPUs have igpu passthrough issue with proxmox.
Also since I don't plan to run any intensive server applications, the sale prices while good deals may not be the best hardware for me.

Leaning more towards a low power draw server from eBay/Amazon now. Any suggestions for one that has good RAM but runs relatively quiet, is plenty fast and doesn't come with tons of hard disks?

For used, can't beat enterprise servers with built-in IPMI and optional 10GbE. Curated list at labgopher.com. Dell R230 with hot-swap drives will be a good choice.

For new, Supermicro motherboards from mini-ITX to ATX form-factor. Comes with IPMI and optional 10GbE and SAS controller. Configurator at wiredzone.com