For workstation purposes (2D stuff, not a 3D gaming PC that demands the latest $300 videocard), it's hard to beat off-lease/refurb deals out there...
I sound like sort of a hypocrite writing this, because I've always been a huge advocate of building your own x86 PC and choosing your own case, high quality power supply, motherboard, etc. But I cannot build a system that will match this for $159 + 45 shipping... It's a 3-something year old Xeon and 32GB of RAM: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-PRECISION-690-WORKSTATION-2x-XEON-5160-3GHZ-DUAL-CORE-CPUS-32GB-MEM-250GB-/380931107576?hash=item58b1436af8:g:KfoAAOSwQTVV80Fz On Thu, Nov 26, 2015 at 4:09 PM, isp lists <[email protected]> wrote: > I just snagged a dell Xeon quad core desktop off a special for $300 > shipped. The CPU had ~6500 CPU benchmark. It's tough to beat that for > normal uses > > Jon Langeler > Michwave Technologies, Inc. > > > On Nov 25, 2015, at 11:23 PM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I know you may scoff at the idea of a server based on a lowly ATOM chip. > And the idea of paying around $545 for one, plus RAM and HDD. > > > > But I am putting a couple Supermicro 5018A-TN4 servers into service, and > so far I'm pretty impressed with them. I just pop in an 8 GB stick of DRAM > and a 256GB 850 Pro SSD and then load CentOS 7. I think these could even > be used for virtualization, if you don't need hot plug HDD or hardware > RAID, like maybe you have a SAN. > > > > These are in a short depth 1U chassis that easily mounts to a 2 post > rack, no need for a rail kit. The CPU has a passive heatsink, there is a > chassis fan but I suspect everything would be fine if the fan died, the > power consumption seems negligible under normal load. It's as if it > generates zero heat. So with an SSD, there is little to fail, it's > probably down to the power supply. Despite the compact size, nothing > inside is crowded. The chassis seems to be a dedicated design for this > server, not one of their multipurpose chassis. My only complaint is > there's almost no room on the front for any labels, unless you cover up the > logo and serial number. > > > > Some highlights: > > > > 2.4 GHz 8 core ATOM C2750 SOC (8 physical cores) > > up to 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 ECC SO-DIMM (yes, ECC memory) > > 2 x 3.5" or 4 x 2.5" HDD bays > > 4 x GbE interfaces plus IPMI > > 1 PCI-E slot > > > > Doesn't make much sense as a desktop, definitely a server. > > > > I wondered about the 8 physical cores without hyperthreading support, I > kept thinking that was equivalent to a 4 core CPU with HT. But I did a > little reading, and realized you don't just count virtual cores to estimate > performance, especially if the tasks are computation intensive not memory > intensive. > > > > There is also a 5018A0TN7B model for network security appliance use, > based on the C2758 SOC which includes encryption support. 7xGbE with > software controlled bypass, and up to 64 GB of UDIMM. That's a lot of > memory. > > >
