Hey, I was curious if anyone knows what kind of specifications on a dedicated server that I'd need to run about 8-10 Counter Strike Source and Team Fortress 2 servers (about 4-5 each)? We plan on them (the game servers) being at capacity 100% of the time. So we don't want to overload the box. Which processor, how fast/many would we need? How much RAM? How much bandwidth? How fast throughput? Etc.

Please ask anything else you may need to know so I can follow up. Thank you for the help.

I'd also like to point out for the slots, maybe 150-160 for CS and 150-160 for TF2 totaling ~300-320 slots total on the box.

I would go with a Dual Quad with 8GB RAM. A quad might be able to do the trick but that would be pushing it very hard.

Since no gameservers are multi-threaded you can easily choose a single quad core to power your system. You won't be able to stack as many servers to the machine with half the CPU's available, but its a cheaper way to get started.

There will be no performance impact for having 4 cores versus 8 cores. The additional cores will only provide you with additional density.

Assign a core to each server.

A quad is fine for starters.

I run a fairly large community with 15 game servers in all.
9 Counter-Strike: Source
6 Team Fortress 2
(Server vary in slots and fps)

On Sundays (When most of the community is online) we almost max out our Intel Harpertown Xeon L5410 (8 cores, 2.33Ghz).

We currently run the following:
* Intel Harpertown Xeon L5410 (8 cores, 2.33Ghz)
* 12GB DDRII Memory
* 2 x 250GB SATAII HDD (RAID 0)
* TCAdmin Remote Install
* Windows Server 2003

Note: Having 15 servers loading off one hard drive would be a bad ideal. Make sure to get a raid 0 setup.
Note: We barely consume memory. I would suggest at least 6GB.

Hey, I was curious if anyone knows what kind of specifications on a dedicated server that I'd need to run about 8-10 Counter Strike Source and Team Fortress 2 servers (about 4-5 each)? We plan on them (the game servers) being at capacity 100% of the time. So we don't want to overload the box. Which processor, how fast/many would we need? How much RAM? How much bandwidth? How fast throughput? Etc.

Please ask anything else you may need to know so I can follow up. Thank you for the help.

I highly suggest going with a Dual Quad 5410/5520 with 8GB or going with 2 Quad Cores with 4GB in each machine.

So it looks like the general consensus is that dual quads and 6+GB of RAM. How much am I going to be spending per month on that type of setup? What companies should I be looking at? Thank you so much.

So it looks like the general consensus is that dual quads and 6+GB of RAM. How much am I going to be spending per month on that type of setup? What companies should I be looking at? Thank you so much.

Which location are you looking for and I am sure we can suggest some hosts for you.

East coast. New York, Atlanta, etc.

What kind of budget do you have ? Do you require game server related support ? Are you looking for a game panel ? This should eliminate hosts so we can point you in the correct direction.

What kind of budget do you have ? Do you require game server related support ? Are you looking for a game panel ? This should eliminate hosts so we can point you in the correct direction.

We don't need support. We're going to be going with TCAdmin. Budget about ~$250-300? Is that way too cheap? Am I too optimistic?

We don't need support. We're going to be going with TCAdmin. Budget about ~$250-300? Is that way too cheap? Am I too optimistic?

Yeah, that is a great budget. I would start contacting a few hosts too see what they can do for you.

With your budget you should not have any problem finding a great machine. As for hosts, I suggest checking out XFactor, they are a large GSP with a long track record. Good luck!

I have been hosting at colocrossing.com. They cater towards dedicated game servers and have been great to me. I suggestion you contact a gentleman named Brian Farrell; he can definitely get you a good deal on a dual quad with windows and tcadmin.

Best of luck.

I have been hosting at colocrossing.com. They cater towards dedicated game servers and have been great to me. I suggestion you contact a gentleman named Brian Farrell; he can definitely get you a good deal on a dual quad with windows and tcadmin.

Best of luck.

Great choice as well. :)