Creating a new gateway box

In an effort to ruthlessly eradicate legacy, I’ve decided to upgrade my gateway at the same time as I’m upgrading my development server.

NOTE: the list of components, which appears below, has been updated in this post.

The gateway box, which I think is about 10 years old, which contains these snippets from /var/run/dmesg.boot:

1. CPU: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.00GHz (1999.95-MHz 686-class CPU)
2. real memory = 536870912 (512 MB)

This box runs:

1. OpenVPN as a server
2. symon/symux
3. pf
4. darkstat

Here is what I’m considering for this new box:

1. case – Fractal Design Define Mini Black Micro ATX Silent – $99.99
2. motherboard – SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-O Micro ATX Server – $149.99
3. CPU – Intel Core i3-3225 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor – $144.99
4. RAM – Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) for $68.99
5. PSU – Rosewill FORTRESS Series FORTRESS-550 550W Continuous@50°C,80 PLUS Platinum Certified,Single +12V Rail,ATX12V v2.31/EPS12V – $99.99
6. HDD – Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
7. HDD – Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
8. DVD burner – ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner – Bulk – OEM – $19.99

Grand total: $721.74 including tax and shipping.

NOTE: the same power supply rated at 650W is an extra $10. And at 750W is an extra $20. I think I may well go with the 750W version.

And this PSU was recommended by Azer: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom.

RAM? I originally had this 4x2GB instead of the 2x4GB listed above: Kingston 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Registered Server Memory – $62.99

jbeez really likes SeaSonic. He figures this would be fine: SeaSonic X series SS-400FL Active PFC F3 400W ATX12V Fanless 80 PLUS Platinum Certified Modular Active PFC for $119.99.