Title says it all.  I kinda need to build a server for a friend.  I have 4 gig of ddr3 or 16 gig of ddr2-ecc.  I dont have the mobo/cpu yet, but i do have the case and atx power supply.  Since im not used to the dumpster diving for ibm/hp/dell server boards, im not sure which one to get, mainly because it would be ddr2 and its hard to go that far back for cpu/power usage choices.

Since you need to buy both the CPU and motherboard, I think you'd be better off to simply bite the bullet and buy new DDR3 ECC modules and use a Haswell-based system.

 

... something like this would work nicely:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182819

 

with an E3-1200 series Xeon or an I3 that has ECC support, depending on how much "horsepower" you want in the CPU.

 

 

This is a dumpster build, your combo would be well over $400

 

Im talking more of this:

Intel Xeon L5430 @ 2.66GHz pass mark 4126 4 core and single core  $50 tops

 

SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE  $50 tops

 

Though im not sure why a server board would only support 8 gig with 4 ram slots...

... your combo would be well over $400

 

Actually, you could do it quite nicely for $349:

 

Motherboard ($137):  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182835

CPU ($120):  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116946

Memory (8GB - $92):  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148438

 

Granted, that's still more than $200 more than you "dumpster build" ... but it's also much newer technology; won't involve using used components; and will be more power-efficient than what you're thinking of.  [Haswell chipsets like the C222 are far more efficient than their predecessors].    I'd think it's a well-spent $200 or so.

 

 

Though im not sure why a server board would only support 8 gig with 4 ram slots...

 

The specs for that board indicate it does not support modules > 2GB.    It's possible that's not accurate (I've seen cases where SuperMicro boards will actually support higher density modules than they say);  but it's best to assume the specs are accurate.    Note also that the reliability of the memory in an unbuffered memory subsystem will be higher if you only install 2 modules => so if you want to ensure the best reliability it'd be best to only use 2 modules in the system, which would limit you to 4GB if the 2GB limit is accurate.