This was posted 1 year 9 months ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

Related
  • out of stock

[Used] Dell Precision 3630 i7-8700 32GB/512GB NVMe GTX1080 8GB W11 Pro 1Yr Wty $509.15 Del'd ($497.17 eBay plus) @ smg-au eBay

1420
[Used] Dell Precision 3630 i7-8700 32GB/512GB NVMe GTX1080 8GB W11 Pro 1Yr Wty $509.15 Del'd ($497.17 eBay plus) @ smg-au eBay
Go to Deal
Cashback
rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:11 ebay.com.au (3143 clicks)
Last edited 31/03/2023 - 11:29 by 2 other users
MEAS15MEAS17

Original Coupon Deal

So I posted and got this and it's cool and everything, but started looking around for something better before the MEAS17 code expires tonight. I can use the Lenovo for other shit

I have no idea if this is a good deal. It has a better processor, double the RAM and storage, and a GPU. It comes with 1 year warranty and the seller is a Microsoft registered refurbisher.

I asked the seller about the GPU and this is what I got: "It has NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, 8GB, 3 DP, HDMI, DVI-D", so I can add a third monitor. There are also more PCI slots, USB ports, and more room for me to add old 2.5" SSDs and even a 3.5" 4TB I have laying around. And the case is still quite small.

So please tell me how I'm a complete moron for even considering getting this old piece of shit for $500 when I can get a brand new gaming PC for $700.

Computing Computer Dell Desktop Computer

Related Stores

eBay Australia
eBay Australia
Marketplace
SMG
SMG

closed Comments

  • d3al on 31/03/2023 - 11:19
    +19

    FWIW, I'm still rocking a GTX1080 and it's still a reliable performer at 3840x1080 resolution. I'm able to AAA titles on mostly high graphics settings (obviously without ray tracing). i7-8700 is also a decent processor that can be used with windows 11. More than enough RAM for most use cases. Only thing I'd upgrade is the NVMe drive for more storage, but there are plenty of deals around for that. All in all, this a more than capable, budget gaming PC that should last you a few years at least.

    • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:24
      +1

      I only play the occasional indy game and emulators, so gaming performance isn't really that important to me, besides better emulator performance. But thanks for the info

    • liuzhen on 31/03/2023 - 11:29
      +6

      Also still rocking a gtx1080.

      Starting to show its age (it's paired with a 6700k) but can still play most new releases at low-med at 1440p.
      Was a champ in Elden Ring and still runs BF2042 acceptably.

      At 1080p I reckon it would be a steal

    • DiscountForThee on 31/03/2023 - 11:55
      +3

      Yeah, 1080 and a 7700k for me and it's running 1080p games pretty well

    • Hank Scorpion on 31/03/2023 - 12:03
      +1

      It's good but I wouldn't be using this card for 4K, mine was on struggle street running a lot of modern games on a 1440P ultra wide. Definitely depends on the game, Cyberpunk, MSFS2020 and BF2042 were a struggle to run at low res on a high refresh rate monitor.

      For BF2042 I had to lower the res back to 2560x1440.

    • Dienk on 31/03/2023 - 12:26
      +3

      This card nowhere near good for 4k. Unless you are playing old and light games but you said triple AAA games. Something is off. The RTX 3050 is as fast as the 1080 GTX. Which games are you playing?

      • d3al on 31/03/2023 - 15:18
        +1

        I'm not playing at 4K. I said 3840x1080: I have a 49" 1080p ultrawide. I recently played hogwarts legacy at 3840x1080 with most settings cranked to high and was comfortably getting 65-75 fps.

  • SludgeTrumpet on 31/03/2023 - 11:24

    This would make for an absolute unit of a Plex server.

    • bdl on 31/03/2023 - 11:25
      +96
      • Your electricity provider liked this post.
      • Boioioioi on 31/03/2023 - 11:35

        Take out the GPU and it would be fine. I'm running a dell workstation with a similar spec Xeon equivalent. Two 3.5" drives in it as well and it takes about 30W continuous at idle

      • SludgeTrumpet on 31/03/2023 - 11:36
        +5

        This post sponsored by Synergy.

      • StephBlanks on 31/03/2023 - 12:48
        +4

        am i the only tight a** who only turns on the server WHEN i watch a movie? i don't have time to watch movies 7 nights a week. and i'd say IF i did, i'd still turn it on for about 2 hours a day. eat that my elec provider.

        • Presence on 31/03/2023 - 14:03
          +1

          A lot of people use their servers for torrenting (Linux .iso files) so want it running 24/7.
          Or for file storage that gets accessed pretty regularly.

          • StephBlanks on 31/03/2023 - 14:13
            +1

            @Presence: file storage.. i get that but to download/torrent large files, why not using your desktop? you'd power the OS & data drives only instead of 4/8 hdds (and/or ur desktop)? that'd reduce the useful life of the server/hdds too.

            • Grish on 31/03/2023 - 14:30
              +2

              @StephBlanks: Desktop for torrenting isn't a good idea, an always on low power server is perfect.

              The desktop is likely using a lot more power than your server/NAS.

              Also, if you have 8 HDDs in the server, that doesn't mean all of them are sucking power 24/7, then are spun down when not used.

              NAS grade HDDs are designed to withstand 24/7.

    • nuttapillar on 31/03/2023 - 11:35

      how many 3.5" disk bays does it have?

      • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:58
        +1

        @Koffee posted the manual below

        This is what I found:

        Primary/Boot drive Secondary drive
        M.2 Drive Upto 3x 3.5" / 4x 2.5" SATA SSD/HDD / PCIe SSD M.2 Interposer Card

        Primary/Boot drive Secondary drive
        2.5 inch Drive Upto 2x 3.5" / 3x 2.5" SATA SSD/HDD /1 x M.2 Drive /PCIe SSD M.2 Interposer Card

        Formatting is off. I think you should check the manual

  • iDarelones on 31/03/2023 - 11:25

    Would you be able to case swap the motherboard?

    • bdl on 31/03/2023 - 11:25
      +6

      Unlikely, being Dell

    • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 12:25
      +1

      Not sure why you were negged for asking a question, and the answer is yes it will fit - but you may need to be crafty in wiring up as it could use non standard connectors for IO.

    • JustAnExPat on 31/03/2023 - 13:17
      +1

      of course you can, but expect a lot of 'pain' doing so, given the multitude of proprietary connectors Dell uses.
      Many years ago I bought a Dell 9020 SFF motherboard with CPU and put that in a generic ATX case, and that's when the 'fun' started.
      All sorts of messages when booting, F-buttons to hit to proceed, etc.
      Only way to avoid is to become handy with connectors and maybe even soldering irons.
      At some point I even bought a power connection lead from some other Dell and modified that to fit, hoping it would get rid of a particularly annoying message… must've done something wrong as I did not disappear.

    • Boioioioi on 31/03/2023 - 13:37

      I did it with a similar one. Worked fine but had to extend PSU wires. It had a proprietary PSU with weird connectors. Fit fine into a regular case but then the wires were not long enough because of the PSU position.

  • astevens on 31/03/2023 - 11:28
    +5

    Seems reasonably, really…
    3060 12GB performs slightly better (albeit it has access to DLSS to improve further) to the 1080 in many cases. But not many 3060 12gb systems going for this sort of price. Rather, you're looking at something like a 1650 and this system will absolutely $h!t on that GPU.
    I was unable to immediately find a comparison of a 1080 to a 3060 8GB (like this deal had ), but I would expect the 1080 to outperform a 3060 8GB since it's a very handicapped 3060.

    • scrimshaw on 31/03/2023 - 11:33

      I was unable to immediately find a comparison of a 1080 to a 3060 8G

      There's a RX 6600 vs GTX 1080 by Hardware Unboxed comparison. The Radeon RX 6600 is a $300-ish video card also with 8GB VRAM

      Something to keep in mind is that the GTX 1080 is roughly 7 years old, and you don't know the history behind how the workstation or GPU was used (could've had an easy life in a government office building, or slaving away mining Etherium in a dusty warehouse) so do some tests on your graphic card to see if it is still performing as it should.

      • astevens on 31/03/2023 - 11:48

        No doubt that it's an old GPU, mate, and it's a fair point that the RX6600 $h!ts on it. But, I don't think it's a fair comparison in this situation, since you're looking at spending about $300ish on the GPU, and that's leaving $190ish for the rest of the system. You'd be hard pressed squeezing a CPU, RAM, MOBO, PSU, and Case out of $190 (imo).

        • Grish on 31/03/2023 - 14:39
          +1

          It's not $190, it's $209.15

          But the point is that by spending a little more, you get a brand new and much faster PC.

    • OSienna on 31/03/2023 - 12:10
      +3

      I agree that the 1080 is getting a bit long in the tooth. An entry level RTX 3050 would appear to give you the same level of performance today, according to this (with better driver support and longevity):

      • YouTube: GTX 1080 vs RTX 3050 - Old High-End Vs Modern Entry-Level

      This deal is ok for someone with a $500 budget and not looking to put something together themselves or scour Gumtree/FBM for deals. Comes with a 1 year warranty if that means much.

    • vid_ghost on 31/03/2023 - 13:31

      GTX1080 is as fast and a tini bit slower then a RTX3050 .. a 3060 8GB is around 30% Faster then a RTX3050 and a RTX3060 is around 15% faster then a 3060 8GB

      NO IDEA where your getting your information from, go check out some youtube reviews.. you will see the GTX1080 is slow and a cheap RX6600 8Gb is around 45% faster

      • bazingaa on 31/03/2023 - 13:45

        3060 8GB

        is this a new one ? I have a 3060 12 GB

        • astevens on 31/03/2023 - 14:12
          +2

          Yeah, there was a second SKU of the 3060 released later in the piece that had reduced memory of 8GB, but also a reduced memory bus that kneecapped the GPU compared with the 12GB variety.

          • bazingaa on 31/03/2023 - 14:15

            @astevens: ah! like the GTX1060 3GB back in the day, I had that one and it served me well.

            • vid_ghost on 31/03/2023 - 20:12
              +2

              @bazingaa: The GTX1060 3GB had the same memory bus but it had a little less cuda cores and clock speed.

              The 3060 8gb has the same cores and clock speeds but the ram bus was dropped down form 192bit bus to 128bit bus.

      • astevens on 31/03/2023 - 14:10

        What? https://www.techspot.com/review/2524-budget-geforce-rtx-vs-g…
        "At 1080p we see that overall the RTX 3050 was actually 6% slower than the GTX 1080, and that's a very disappointing result. There was a small selection of games where the newer Ampere GPU was faster and while it was much faster in a few instances, it was much slower in many more."

    • CodeExplode on 31/03/2023 - 14:09

      3060 also has other advantages like the newer AI cores which reportedly make a huge difference with stuff like Stable Diffusion.

  • hippyhippy on 31/03/2023 - 11:29
    -2

    You can probably get something better used.. i hear that dell parts are sometimes not standard… like their gpu are slightly customised.

    • astevens on 31/03/2023 - 11:32
      +15

      For $500 though, with a 1Yr warranty?
      Honestly, I think this is a cracker of an entry level gaming box for someone that just wants something that works and has a warranty.

      • hippyhippy on 31/03/2023 - 11:40

        Its a decent machine … I'd prefer a gpu with big hs fan imho… and I've read too many bad things about refurbs from ebay…

    • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:33

      I don't plan on upgrading anything except maybe the SSD

    • JustinFR on 31/03/2023 - 11:37
      +1

      OEM graphics cards that are shipped with Dell prebuilts are usually the Reference Design PCB.

    • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 11:41
      +2

      Where? Honestly most listing on ebay put a huge markup hoping some unsuspecting parent will pay a premium for a "gaming PC". I dont think you'd find this for less than $900.

    • FireRunner on 31/03/2023 - 12:27

      Motherboard and PSU are non-standard. If either of those go, you'll have to find a compatible replacement or else salvage parts and put into a new PC.
      GPU is still standard. It will work if you put it in another PC and the Dell machine will work with a different GPU provided it's within power limits and fits in the PC.

      • Nom on 02/04/2023 - 21:29

        There's a bazillion sellers of DELL parts, it's usually fairly easy to find even brand new spares when you need them 👍

    • eug on 31/03/2023 - 12:48

      i hear that dell parts are sometimes not standard… like their gpu are slightly customised.

      FWIW I've been using the 3070 from a Dell XPS in a DIY PC for over two years with no issues.

  • kowcop on 31/03/2023 - 11:32
    -1

    Decent specs.. take into consideration that this is an enterprise grade workstation, not a consumer model. Would have probably need targeted at graphics people doing modelling/3D work. Decent amount of memory (would generic brand like Sk hynix or something, but should be ECC)

    • UNFKNBLVBL on 31/03/2023 - 11:36
      +1

      i7 8700 and ECC? no dice https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/products/sku/1266…

      • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 12:06

        I found this in the manual:

        Table 4. Memory specifications
        Feature Specifications
        Minimum memory configuration 4 GB
        Maximum memory configuration 128 GB
        Number of slots 4 UDIMM slots
        Maximum memory supported per slot 32 GB
        Memory options ● 4 GB DDR4 (1 x 4 GB) - Non-ECC
        ● 8 GB DDR4 (2 x 4 GB) - Non-ECC
        ● 8 GB DDR4 (1 x 8 GB) - ECC/ Non-ECC
        ● 16 GB DDR4 (2 x 8 GB) - ECC/ Non-ECC
        ● 16 GB DDR4 (4 x 4 GB) - Non-ECC
        ● 32 GB DDR4 (4 x 8 GB) - ECC/ Non-ECC
        ● 32 GB DDR4 (2 x 16 GB) - ECC/ Non-ECC
        ● 64 GB DDR4 (4 x 16 GB) - ECC/ Non-ECC
        ● 128 GB DDR4 (4 x 32 GB) - ECC/ Non-ECC
        Type DDR4 SDRAM or ECC memory
        Speed 3200 MHz

        Can you explain what ECC is? Because I have nfi

        • UNFKNBLVBL on 31/03/2023 - 12:11
          +2

          Error correction code memory I don't know the full specifics but usually in workstations and servers, has an extra chip that runs a check on the memory to make sure there are no erros. Only works in certain motherboards with certain CPU's. It wouldnt matter either way for gaming on a second hand machine like this if it came with or without depending on the CPU

          • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 12:13

            @UNFKNBLVBL: Thanks, I didn't even know what it is so it's not a deciding factor for me.

        • boomramada on 31/03/2023 - 12:16
          -6

          Have you heard of google,

          What is ECC and non-ECC?
          The difference between the two is that ECC memory will protect your system from a potential crash by correcting any errors in the data, while non-ECC memory doesn't correct such errors. Think of non-ECC memory as your speed-oriented memory, while ECC is your endurance / reliability memory.

          Which makes non-ECC good for gaming.

          • UNFKNBLVBL on 31/03/2023 - 12:21

            @boomramada: There are so many other factors you won't notice the difference champ, gaming with ECC is fine, especially in a budget build

            • boomramada on 31/03/2023 - 12:28
              -1

              @UNFKNBLVBL: Champ, you don't need to negative my comment, in theory, non-ECC is better

              ECC RAM has slightly higher latencies and doesn't overclock as far as non-ECC RAM, but for this kind of build it doesn't matter.

          • OMGJL on 31/03/2023 - 12:25

            @boomramada: Frequency and timing makes a RAM good or not good for gaming, have nothing to do with ECC/non-ECC at all.

  • protecon on 31/03/2023 - 11:35
    +2

    GPU not mentioned in the listing- what guarantee it will come with it?

    • UNFKNBLVBL on 31/03/2023 - 11:38

      I would ask the seller before buying so that you can make a claim if it comes without

      • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:42

        Yeah, that's what I did and pasted the answer in this post

    • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:41

      Look at "Item Specifics". I also asked the seller. Read the post

      • UNFKNBLVBL on 31/03/2023 - 11:44
        +1

        I saw you asked, I would also be asking just in case, the Item Specifics section should be enough to dispute if it comes without but the listing doesn't mention it in specs so conflicting information

        • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 11:45

          I would also be asking just in case

          Good idea

    • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 11:43

      It's in the specs (NVIDIAGP104 [GeForce GTX 1080]), so if it's not there request a refund.

    • Kill Joy on 05/04/2023 - 12:24
      +1

      FYI mine arrived yesterday and can confirm it comes with an OEM GTX1080

  • mavis30551 on 31/03/2023 - 11:37

    I dont mind it.

  • Koffee on 31/03/2023 - 11:48
    +2

    https://dl.dell.com/content/manual56436443-precision-3630-to…
    Manual for those interested

    Can be upgraded to 32gb 3200mhz ram

  • xyron on 31/03/2023 - 11:51
    +3

    What a cool looking little stealth box.

    I want one, but have absolutely no need. I think a decent deal for $500 with eBay Plus.

  • theguyrules on 31/03/2023 - 11:53
    +3

    This is actually great value.
    My GTX 1080 still works great for 1440p and some 4k.

    Wow actually, this is literally the same specs as my gaming PC. Insane value if it's legit.

  • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 12:09

    Can a mod please explain why this was changed to [Used] rather than the original [Refurb]?

    • Nom on 02/04/2023 - 22:06

      They're the same thing - nobody on eBay is really doing any "refurb" - these machines are "used" in every sense of the word 👍

      • rosebank on 03/04/2023 - 08:07

        Ok, so in my other post: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/764551 first comment was "REFURB in title please." so I edited and it's still tagged as [REFURB]. I made sure to tag as [Refurb] this time and it was changed to [Used]. Why not just just get rid of [Refurb] altogether since nobody on ebay are doing any "refurb"?

        Anyway, I don't particulary care, I just like consistency.

        • Nom on 03/04/2023 - 09:37

          I think the other post just needed to be clear the machine was used, not new - doesn't really matter if it says Refurb or Used in the title, but I guess Used is more accurate.

          Why not just just get rid of [Refurb] altogether since nobody on ebay are doing any "refurb"?

          I agree, "refurb" sounds like the machine has had some work done, sellers use it because it sounds better than "used". But they don't do any refurbishment…

  • tekisei on 31/03/2023 - 12:17
    +1

    So frame wise the 1080 8GB is about 13% worse than a RX 6600. Compared to the ATL price of $299 for the RX 6600, it's worth $200 maybe, for a Dell OEM no frills card of unknown prior usage.

    Depends if you think the remaining package worth $297…

    • OMGJL on 31/03/2023 - 12:38
      +1

      Being a Dell machine I assume it won't have XMP support or Memory tuning ability, so at best it is running at 3200c22, and potentially CPU have a power limit locked at TDP too at 65w. You are likely not going to unleash the full performance of the GTX1080.

      an i7 8700 with locked 65w would perform same/slightly worse than a i5 10400,
      RAM without XMP over 3200c16 would make large online multiplayer game runs like potato (namely MMORPG and battleroyal)
      GTX1080 is around rx6600/6600xt depends on the game.

      everything is used for god know how long (this is a typical mid-high end build in 2018), and potentially have gone through 2 crypto mining peak.

      a i5 10400f+b560/ r5 5500 B450 combo will easily outperform this in CPU/RAM power.

      • Mucchan on 31/03/2023 - 13:29
        +1

        RX6600 costs $300-350, i5 10400F costs ~$180 and a B560 motherboard costs ~$160, so only those 3 components already cost more than the refurbished Precision 3630. At the bare minimum you'll need to add PSU, case, memory, boot drive, and possibly OS if you opt to use Windows, so you'll probably end up spending twice the amount of what this machine costs not to mention having to spend time assembling the components yourself.

        • OMGJL on 31/03/2023 - 14:50
          +1

          everything is used for god know how long (this is a typical mid-high end build in 2018), and potentially have gone through 2 crypto mining peak.

          you are comparing a 5 year old 2nd hand to new parts.

          B560 motherboard costs ~$160

          And you are over estimating cost of parts.

          • Mucchan on 31/03/2023 - 15:42

            @OMGJL: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/53897/msi-b560m-a-pro-mo…
            $149 + ~$15 postage from PCCG.

            https://www.umart.com.au/product/gigabyte-b560m-ds3h-v2-lga-…
            $159 + ~$10 postage from Umart.

            Not sure how I'm overestimating cost of parts since these are the lower end of the cost of new B560 motherboards I'm seeing at the moment.

            And yes they're 4-5 years old, but they do come with 1 year warranty (which hopefully won't be needed). I've seen 12 years old Precision T3500 which are still running fine.

            • OMGJL on 31/03/2023 - 17:07
              +1

              @Mucchan: staticice.com.au search yourself. Dell will almost definitely use bottom tier mobo.

              and you didn't factor 2nd hand

              also…. ebay 2nd hand warranty is….. meh

              talking about longevity, 12 year old parts don't have 200watt + GPU do they?

      • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 15:34
        +1

        everything is used for god know how long (this is a typical mid-high end build in 2018), and potentially have gone through 2 crypto mining peak

        Serious question because I'm genuinely curious - do you think crypto miners were using pre-built Dell office/corporate PCs for mining? Wouldn't they be building their own custom rigs?

        • OMGJL on 31/03/2023 - 17:06

          in last crypto peak, there are people buying prebuild, and pulling out the GPUs to mine (crazy and beyond me)

          not sure about the one before, don't think it was that bad back then.

  • xuqi on 31/03/2023 - 12:28
    +1

    Dell did sell the GTX1080 as an upgrade option for the Precision 3630, but suggest anyone looking to buy one query the specifics with seller, in case a system arrives without a GPU.

    Can't see why the seller didn't list the GPU more prominently in the listing.

    https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/precision-3630-wo…

  • Dienk on 31/03/2023 - 12:29
    +3

    Bad deal imo. Everything old and heavily used. Just wait for a deal like that:

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/758572

    • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 12:35

      For gaming, yes your linked PC is better. However for a home server, this workstation is a much better option.

      • Dienk on 31/03/2023 - 12:42

        Why? Just because it has 32gb memory?

        • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 12:51
          +2

          Theres 3 reason primarily;

          • 32GB RAM
          • Form factor
          • 4 PCIE slots

          The PCIE slots are most important. Often people install some combination of AI accelrators, SATA/RAID cards, and extra NIC ports to support more network bandwidth. The deal you linked appears to have a single 16x slot - at that point for a server you might as well go for a USSF which would be half the price.

          Also for what its worth, this has a NVMe drive vs the very basic SATA SSD in the gaming pc link.

          Edit: I only just realised that effectively the 11400F is only 8% faster than the 8700 - not really game changing in terms of performance if you ignore the age difference.

    • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 12:36

      That's why I posted this. Anyway, I bought the Dell because I needed a work PC more than a gaming PC

      • Dienk on 31/03/2023 - 12:44

        What makes you think the deal is better?

        • worse cooling performance
        • worse CPU performance
        • worse GPU
        • worse parts condition (New vs 7y used).
        • used drivers (bigger risk to fail).
        • rosebank on 31/03/2023 - 12:58
          +1

          Because it's $500 and available now. I don't think a sub $700 PC like the deal you linked will be posted anytime soon, and then wait months for the thing to be built. I don't play AAA games. This has 1 year warranty and the last Dell SFF I had lasted me well over 5 years.

          And this post got a lot of upvotes and most of the comments are positive. That's good enough for me.

          Edit: and a legit Win 11 licence which is $159 in your link

    • FireRunner on 31/03/2023 - 12:57
      +1

      If you've got a firm budget of $500, you could certainly do much worse.
      I agree that the linked PC is much better value.
      Dell has a few advantages. The Dell has Windows 11 Pro installed vs no OS (I believe Microsoft no longer allow stores to sell unactivated installs) and is ready to go vs the weeks waiting for BPC to build and ship your PC. 32GB of RAM is a nice to have. Also there are complaints of the quality control issues with BPC, see the comments of this deal

  • Serpeant on 31/03/2023 - 12:31

    After getting a Dell 8940 and having over-heating issues, I'd never recommend a Dell Gaming PC.

  • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 12:32
    +3

    And its gone!

    This was probably the deal of the year for a mid size home server if form factor was not an issue.

    Compare this to the recently listed ELITEDESK 800 G4 8700 16GB 256GB for $400 for an extra $100;

    • Supports more hard drives
    • Supports more PCIE devices
    • Double the RAM
    • Double the SSD size + NVMe
    • Dedicated 1080 GPU
    • Wonderfool on 31/03/2023 - 12:45

      I've seen those go for 300 before.

      That being said, trying too figure out which work station works with which gpu is a huge pain in the ass, psu information on these things can sometimes needs you digging into manuals.

      So yeah, much better deal by that virtue alone.

      • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 12:48

        I've seen those go for 300 before.

        I think thats a bit of a broad and unsubstantiated statement given the G4 sells in many configurations and you may be remembering a deal for much lesser specs. Be good if you could provide links to support that, or it really doesn't bring anything to the conversation.

    • sjbartley on 31/03/2023 - 12:54

      I think the Lenovo P320 for $330 with 32GB ECC RAM and an efficient Xeon E3-1245v6 was a better deal. That should be about 30W continuous/idle and has almost all HEVC hardware decoding built in (i.e, it's a modern enough processor). I offered $375 as I didn't want to join afterpay to get that price.

      • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 13:00

        Hmm I dont think I agree if you want the additional threads the 8700 provides. The E3-1245v6 would be closer to the 8700T in performance, which would also have the same TDP and I THINK the same instruction sets. The only reaosn I'd consider the xeon is if i needed specific xeon features like ECC which for a home server I dont think is AS relevant.

        • sjbartley on 31/03/2023 - 13:08

          Yes - I wanted the efficiency and ECC; if I didn't care about those then there are a ton of options in terms of consumer gear.

          • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 13:13

            @sjbartley: I get the ECC requirement, but for the power efficiency, 8700 will actually idle at a comparable wattage, and has a lower TDP with more performance.

            • sjbartley on 31/03/2023 - 13:16

              @Kill Joy: There's really no argument here. The i7 is better if you don't need ECC - but I'm replying to a comment about this being a home server. And for some (like me), ECC was a requirement. In that case - can you recommend a better deal incorporating ECC? Again, the home server 'deal' doesn't need a graphics card, but transcoding capability without one is useful (so the v6 xx45 Xeons fit the bill). This was a nice deal, but I'm trying to differentiate 'home server' from 'games-capable ex-workstation home computer'.

              • Kill Joy on 31/03/2023 - 13:32
                +2

                @sjbartley: Apologies I think I misinterpreted and got hung up on your usage of 'efficiency'. Thanks for the conversation.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join