Build advice please for LOB migration rig

[Ronco]

I need to transfer important data from a couple of ancient servers (dual-Xeons circa 2006) which are in the process of being virtualised for the migration process, because the servers have already been unracked and we can't run them where they are during the migration - which due to the software in use will probably be a long and painful process.

Assuming the VM process is accomplished successfully, I'm going to need a machine which can be run out of the way in a pretty quiet office space crunching away the data migration process. Once it's done, I'm not sure what will be done with it - it'll probably have a life afterwards, but not for anything major.


OS: Possibly WS2012 temporarily depending on whether we can get away with client Hyper V or nor. Then Windows 8.1 or 9 depending on timing

Requirements:
Power - at least the equivalent of two Xeon 5160's, but doesn't need to be massively over. Needs to host two virtual machines running Windows Server 2003 R2 on top of the host OS( I probably won't be doing it the bare hypervisor way). Max RAM - 16Gb really. The 2003 machines were running with 4Gb RAM so not a huge memory requirement. I'm thinking something along the lines of an E3-1245v3 or a 4771.

GPU - For the purposes of the migration I'll either use onboard if offerd or stick in whatever low-end slot powered 2D Firepro / Quadro that I can lay my hands on. Would probably be prudent to build for a single mid/upper-mid 2-power-socket GPU if required but nothing beyond that.

Storage - Each server needs about 1Tb storage wise. Data redundancy is not really needed - the data'll be written out to external (redundant) storage. Wringing fast transfer for transactional operations (SQL Server and similar type stuff) from the VM's at low cost would be advantageous here.

Priorities: Adequate power to run the migration, silent for quiet office.

My go-to would be:
Define R
Some Asus mobo... Z97-K?
Macho cooler, looks like enough clearance
The abovementioned CPU's
16Gb LP (if required) Corsair RAM
Seasonic X650
2x 1tb or 2Tb drives in RAID0 (I'm feeling lucky)
A 128 or 256Gb SSD - probably an 850 Pro for the host OS

Pretty predictable, right? Anyone have any better ideas?

 

[Dangman]

Is this suppose to be cheap, relatively disposable, and/or temporary? I ask because the Xeon 5160 aren't exactly "fast" by todays standards. Almost any $100+ quad core CPU would be as fast, if not faster, than those two Xeons. So you really don't need to get that Core i7 CPU or the E3-1245v3 . You might be fine with the $150 AMD FX-8320.

The basis for my FX-8320 mention:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/49?vs=698

The Q9650 is a roughly equivalent to two Xeon E5160 CPUs AFAIK.

Off the bat though, your choice of case is pretty solid. The PSU choice is solid if you can find it at the right price. IN the past few months, you were able to get the higher quality and slightly quieter Seasonic SS-660XP 660W PSU for just $10 more than the X650. So keep an eye for that.

 

[plugwash]

The CPUs you have proposed will be substantially faster than a pair of 5160s given increases in both clockspeed and IPC.

If you don't have any overclock plans and/or are buying non-overclockable CPUs there isn't much point in a Z series chipset.

Not a whole lot of point in a SSD for the host OS since the host OS probablly won't be doing much. Going 100% SSD would probablly be prohibitively expensive for the ammount of data you have. What might make more sense is a SSD caching configuration though this may hammer the lifetime of the SSD somewhat if the load is write-heavy.

 

[Ronco]

The CPUs you have proposed will be substantially faster than a pair of 5160s given increases in both clockspeed and IPC.

If you don't have any overclock plans and/or are buying non-overclockable CPUs there isn't much point in a Z series chipset.

Not a whole lot of point in a SSD for the host OS since the host OS probablly won't be doing much. Going 100% SSD would probablly be prohibitively expensive for the ammount of data you have. What might make more sense is a SSD caching configuration though this may hammer the lifetime of the SSD somewhat if the load is write-heavy.

I was just thinking because it's the newest chipset. You're right, but at the same time I'm not going to quibble over a few bucks difference - what would be the demerit in this context of NOT going with a Z chipset?

I did actually consider a Hyperduo config because I've been meaning to try it out, but I wanted to avoid any complications.