After a ten+ year hiatus, I built another (inexpensive) AMD Server machine. That first AMD machine cost less than $400. I didn’t quite match that cost, but I got pretty close.
The CPU and the RAM were $20 off each. I got unlucky on the CDROM drive and paid an extra $5 compared to the price 3 days later.
For the motherboard, I followed some bad advice, and paid extra for a board that had video out. The problem: the AMD FX CPU does not have built-in graphics. So I ended up needing a PCIe video card anyway. If I had noticed the bad advice in time, I would have purchased this Sata6 motherboard instead. Live, learn, and do your own double-checking.
Some facts on the CPU: it is currently #38 on PassMark [9,128] cpubenchmark.net. It is also the #1 AMD CPU on that list right now. Intel’s 3770K 3.5GHz is #27 and scores [9,596] and costs $310. The 4770K 3.5GHz is #17 and scores [10,154] and costs $350.
All product links are from the actual vendor.
| Item | Product | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop | $179 |
| RAM | Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 | $119 |
| Motherboard | ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 AM3+ AMD 760G HDMI USB 3.0 uATX AMD Motherboard | $80 |
| Power Supply | (with case) | – |
| Video | EVGA GeForce 210 Passive 1024 MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 DVI/HDMI/VGA Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1313-KR | $32 |
| Case | Cooler Master Elite 350 RC350-KKR500 500W Power Supply Mid Tower Case (Black) | $58 |
| SD Drives | – | – |
| HD Drives | (reuse 160GB Samsung Sata) | – |
| BD/DVD/CD | Samsung Optical Drive SH-224DB/BEBE | $21 |
| Keyboard | – | – |
| OS | Ubuntu 12.04p2 LTS and VMWare ESXi 5.1 (dual boot) | $0 |
| Total | – | $489 |
| RAM | 2014 March Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 (2015/Aug price was $80) | $134 |