[Refurb] Dell/Lenovo/HP SFF PCs: i5-6th $109 | i5-7th $129 | i5-8th $199 | i5-9th $239 | i7-8th $299 Delivered @ MetroCom

1130

Hi all, clearing some of our SFF machines, ranging from 6th gen to 9th gen.

Model CPU RAM SSD Price
Lenovo ThinkCentre M910S i5-6500 8GB 256GB $109 Delivered
Lenovo ThinkCentre M710S i5-7400 8GB 256GB $119 Delivered
Lenovo ThinkCentre M710S i7-7700 16GB 256GB $199 Delivered
Lenovo ThinkCentre M720S i5-8400 8GB 256GB $199 Delivered
Lenovo ThinkCentre M720S i5-9400 8GB 256GB $239 Delivered
Dell Optiplex 7050 i5-7500 8GB 128GB $119 Delivered
Dell Optiplex 3060 i5-8500 16GB 256GB $199 Delivered
Dell Optiplex 7060 i5-8500 16GB 256GB $199 Delivered
Dell Optiplex 3070 i5-9500 16GB 256GB $239 Delivered
Dell Optiplex 7070 i5-9500 16GB 256GB $249 Delivered
Dell Optiplex 7060 i7-8700 16GB 256GB $299 Delivered
Dell Precision 3430 Xeon E-2174G 32GB 512GB $279 Delivered
Dell Precision 3431 i7-9700 16GB 256GB $399 Delivered
HP EliteDesk 800 G3 i5-6500 8GB 256GB $109 Delivered
HP ProDesk 600 G3 i7-7700 16GB 256GB $199 Delivered
HP ProDesk 600 G4 i5-8500 16GB 256GB $199 Delivered
HP ProDesk 600 G4 i7-8700 16GB 256GB $299 Delivered
HP EliteDesk 600 G5 i5-9500 16GB 256GB $249 Delivered
HP EliteDesk 800 G5 i7-9700 16GB 512GB $399 Delivered
Acer Veriton X4660G i5-9400 16GB 256GB $239 Delivered

We also have a bunch of HP demo stock if you prefer some newer generation pc and laptops.

Also we are preparing a list of refurbished gaming laptops for sale.

Cheers,
Metrocom

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Comments

  • +1

    Dell Optiplex 7060

    Can you throw a GTX1650 Low Profile into this ?

    What power supply does it come with ?

    • I think 1650 runs off pcie power, so pretty much any psu should do.

    • +8

      I think it's a 200w PSU but it's Dell custom so you won't have an 8pin out of it, so your card will need to be slot powered only - if that's the case then likely yes. an XFX RX6400 fits - check this video out:

      https://youtu.be/Xi8S0huhlSg?t=107

      otherwise you could get a new [flex] PSU and go a low profile 2-slot card. See this video:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpQzBCaYC0M

      • -3

        I think it's a 200w PSU but it's Dell custom so you won't have an 8pin out of it, so your card will need to be slot powered only

        I've got the card currently in a 9020 sff.

        • +13

          I've got the card currently in a 9020 sff.

          To deliver the best results, you should put the card in an envelope.

        • +1

          Same! I'm thinking about upgrading to a 3050lp and get a newer gen chip (currently have a 5th gen i5)

      • -4

        you could get a new [flex] PSU

        yes did this for the 9020 already when the GPU killed the power supply within a month (could be coincidence though)

        • is it a single slot card?

      • -3
        • +1

          Depends what PSU you have. if you look at that second ETA prime video I linked, he fits a two slot low profile 4060 into it with a Flex PSU.

          • -1

            @jk82: So I'd need to get a different psu for the 7060 and it would work?

            • @jv: what PSU did you get to replace the one in the 9020?

              And yes if you got a suitable PSU it would work, but seriously bud - watch that video. He does exactly what you're trying to achieve and shows you the pitfalls. The other thing he points out needing is an adapter from 24pin mobo cable to the Dell custom 6pin CPU power - something like this

              https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/295687504769

              but I don't know if that's the exact one, I also don't know how safe that is so do your own reseach on that.

              Here the video you should watch: https://youtu.be/PpQzBCaYC0M?t=124

      • +3

        Tried this recently. What a gigantic pain in the arse for very little gain.

        You need to faff about with a riser cable, with a PSU that can fit, and also get one of those special converter cables so that the PSU can power the custom Dell input on the motherboard.

        Hopefully you can still access the PCI slot to install a wifi card, otherwise get a USB one of those as well unless the machine already has wifi.

        Best case scenario, you have a PC that is ventilated by one pissy little case fan and will probably have thermal problems unless you have god-tier air conditioning.

        Ultimately the converter cable I got didnt work. No idea why. The debug light illuminated but couldnt get to post screen.

        Ended up getting a cheap fractal case, PSU and a basic motherboard and 5500 cpu instead. Total spend maybe $450.

        • +3

          good to know - thanks for the info. I'm debating over something like this, or a cheap as chips itx build with second hand parts for my next little project. Think I might go the ITX route then.

          • @jk82: No worries. I have done the other option of putting a basic GT 1030 card (draws 30 watts) in a business desktop as a minecraft machine for my youngest kid and that worked fine. I don't know if I would push it much further than that with a PSU thats only rated to 200w.

            Obv a tempting option given that you get a machine complete with windows licence for $100, but it has its limitations.

            Also most of the connectors on the motherboard are non standard. Had to google which jumpers were the power switch etc.

            Essentially - put a basic card in there or build from scratch. I think the Meshify 2 is good value for $149 and it comes with proper filters, much easier to deal with the dust.

            • +1

              @cannedhams: Yeah good points. If I go ITX I’m thinking something like the velka 3. Would be much more rewarding building from scratch too as opposed to just throwing a card in an ex-business pc

        • +3

          Im considering this, work are offloading i7 8700 dell precisions with a quadro card in them and i got one for a proxmox box which its great for. Considering a second to upgrade my very old gaming pc, but the easiest course of action seems to be buy another motherboard and transplant the cpu, drive and ram to that then reuse my old case, power supply and RX570 until I can be bothered to spend on a new gpu. I cant reuse the dell board in anither case or swap out the psu to make it useful.

          Dell shouldn't be allowed to use all thia proprietary nonsense really, we've standardised most bits but these random connectors they use make kt much harder to upcycle these old machines and extend their lives.

          • @Everettpsycho: I would probably consider just buying a second hand cpu, most of the above CPUs can be had around the $50 mark or a bit more.

            Another thing to consider is that the dell boards dont have backplates. The case has a raised section with screw holes that serves as a backplate. So you need to buy a backplate if you move it to another case. Another 15 dollars which is hard to justify when basic boards are like 80 bucks.

            • +1

              @cannedhams: My old pc os only a 3rd gen i5 so upgrading to an i7 would be a waste of money. I was intending to reuse the gpu, case, power supply and sata ssds, then rip the cpu, ram and nvme drive from the dell in to a new motherboard to merge it all in tk one better system.

              The dell SFF motherboards also lack front IO headers and have it directly on the board itself. Overall ubless you want tk use then as they come they are a pain. You cant even just stuff them with drives to make a nas.

              • +1

                @Everettpsycho: @Everettpsycho
                @cannedhams
                @jk82
                You can buy an entire gaming PC, brand new, including a modern video card, in an ITX case, for $688 - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/872785 - at these prices, it doesn't make sense to put time or money into these old Business machines.

                • @Nom: Yeah this is a banger deal!!!

                  edit: wow, sold out already. I knew they'd go but not that fast!

                • @Nom: Im also in new zealand so they wint ship the thing here unfortunately. Would have been really tempted at rhat pricing for the machine.

                  I barely use mine as jt is though so cheap is the ain of the game if I bother to upgrade at all.

                • @Nom: it was an impressive deal, no doubt. The cheap build i ended up going for was

                  MSI Ryzen 5 Value Bundle -5500 - $188
                  Gigabyte radeon rx 7600 - $399
                  Fractal meshify 2 case - $149
                  Gigabyte - GP-UD750GM PSU- $115
                  cheap gskill ram 16gb $45
                  ended up using the SSD from the dell machine

                  total 896. Over $200 more than that deal - which is a broadly comparable machine, performance wise.

                  I was sceptical on the case, but people here say its alright:-

                  https://forums.overclockers.com.au/threads/itx-gaming-pc-tec…

  • Would the Xeon work well as a NAS?

    • +6

      You don’t need a Xeon for a basic NAS. A potato will do.

      • +27

        I tried running my NAS off Peter Dutton and all my foreign films got deleted 😢

        • -3

          " tried running my NAS off Uncle Fester and all my foreign films got deleted "😢

          That's Uncle Fester for Ya!

        • +3

          Thankfully, the French au-paire films won't be deleted, though ;-)

    • +1

      Yes, the e series xeons are essentially core processors with ecc ram support. The ones ending in a g, like this one, are the ones to pick as they have an igpu, same as the cores, makes them good for plex transcoding etc.
      assuming this comes with ecc ram it’s a good value unit as ecc udimms are expensive.

      I’ve got a hp equivalent sff machine running true as and it works great

      • Thanks.

    • +2

      If you are building a NAS consider the HP G3/G4 models. They can take 2 x 3.5" drives.

      • How many sata or m.2 headers are there? Would need something that can take 5 or 6 drives ideally.

        • you can get a m2 card with 5 or 6 sata ports, or pcie sata card

        • +1

          I’ve got a hp z2 g4, essentially an elitedesk 800 g4 with the C246 chipset to support xeons and ecc ram. They’ve both got 4 sata ports and 2x m2. I’m using a 2.5” ssd as boot, and have 2x nvme for fast storage/apps and 2x 3.5” drives for bulk storage. That’s all the stock drive locations used up. But could easily remove the dvd drive and put another 2.5” drive there but not more room to easily add extra 3.5” drives

  • Which is the best one to buy that supports windows 11 and maybe a low profile graphics card and it’s the lowest price?

    • For native support, it has to be 7th gen or higher.

      https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/mi…

      You can use lower than 7th gen with some workarounds, but for less hassle, just exclude the i5-6500 ones.

      • +5

        8th Gen or newer I thought. For instance the i7-7700 isn't technically on the supported list. But for some reason these are?

        Intel® Core™ i7-7800X
        Intel® Core™ i7-7820HQ[1]
        Intel® Core™ i7-7820X

        • +1

          Hmm yeah, 7th gen is hit and miss. I know some Surface Studios which we use at work do allow win11 and they're 7700's or something in that range.

          • +1

            @wetsandwich: I have the 7700 and it’s definitely not compatible as I did try to upgrade.

            • +1

              @Not Applicable: Interesting, maybe they specially exempted Surface devices from their own rules.

              • @wetsandwich: It’s possible!

              • @wetsandwich: The surface with 7th gen processors have a TPM 2.0 module, so that makes it easier. You still need to use a non official method to bypass the processor check though. Win 11 runs like crap on these old processors anyway, not really worth it imo. I rolled back to Win10 for now and am replacing the hardware soon.

  • +2

    Is the RAM ECC in the Dell Precision 3430?

    • Hi it's not ECC ram.

  • +3

    Which should I get for a generic media server playing mainly 1080p with maybe 4k occasionally. Probably max 2 devices. Was thinking about attaching a hard drive bay as well.

    • +2

      Anything with a 8th gen CPU is fine. Anything older and you may be struggling at times. Anything newer would be more expensive for negligible difference, if at all.

    • +1

      Anything i5 7500 or greater will be plenty for that. What you're really looking for is CPUs that have the HD/UHD 630 iGPU. That has the version of Quick Sync that eats up Plex transcode streams.

      Something to keep in mind is that all of these, except HP EliteDesk 800, only have space for 1 3.5" drive. That might be enough depending on what quality of media you're getting.

    • +2

      If you're looking to take advantage of hardware transcoding (Intel QuickSync on these machines), you'll only get proper hardware 10-bit HEVC support on 7th gen Kaby Lake and newer CPUs.

      The only machines in this post that don't clear this bar are the two 6th gen Skylake machines with Core i5-6500 CPUs. The higher core counts of the newer machines (8th gen+) can be useful for other tasks adjacent to transcoding, but for straight decode-encode, probably won't make much difference.

      If you're planning on software transcoding, probably don't (unless you know what you're doing).

      If you're not transcoding (i.e. Direct Play only), the CPU requirements for that are so low that you could almost take a stick of celery, inscribe the word "Intel" into it, and use that to serve your media. For reference, he's someone using a poor, poor late-2010 MacBook Air with a dual core, 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 and 2GB of RAM as their server of choice for both Immich and Jellyfin, which is about as close to running your server on vegetables as one reasonably gets: https://old.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1fvf2ec/poor_core_…

  • Hey OP, does lenovo m910s have optical drive? The rest of lenovo and dell says no optical drive.

    • +1

      Hi yes it does.

  • What option would be a good retroarch emulator?

    • +1

      That would depend on what systems you're wanting emulate. Retroarch isn't an emulator - it's a collection of cores/emulators for different systems.

      I suggest searching on YouTube the CPU name + emulation to see benchmarks. Just don't include ones where a GPU has been added.

      • -1

        thanks, N64 max.

        I asked ChatGPT and came back with the following;

        Conclusion:
        For N64 emulation with RetroArch, any of these systems should suffice, but the experience will be smoother with a more powerful CPU and additional RAM. Given the minimal price differences in some cases, opting for a system with an i7 CPU and 16 GB RAM at around $199 to $299 offers the best balance between performance and cost.

        My Top Picks:

        Dell Optiplex 7060 (i5-8500, 16 GB RAM, $199):

        Offers strong performance at a reasonable price.
        Lenovo ThinkCentre M710S or HP ProDesk 600 G3 (i7-7700, 16 GB RAM, $199):

        Better CPU performance with hyper-threading.
        Dell Optiplex 7060 (i7-8700, 16 GB RAM, $299):

        Higher-end option for excellent performance and future-proofing.

        • +1

          N64 emulation is hit and miss in general.

          PSX and anything below will run fine on basically anything now days.

    • it depends on how far you want to go with the systems - what are you comfortable not playing?

  • +1

    Biggest issue for dell and Lenovo is that you cant fit a dual slot lo profile 1650s due to length limitations. You will either have to cut parts of the case and sacrifice on full side HDD or have to settle for a even slimmer profile lower powered graphics card. At that point you may as well look for full sized secondhand desktops.

  • Could anyone recommend any of these to be connected to a TV used for casual browsing and streaming ?

    • +1

      the cheapest…

    • +1

      Dell 7500 because it's the cheapest 7th gen and has HDMI

  • +1

    Hi Metrocom rep,

    What work is completed as part of the refurb process? CPU repaste, interior clean?

    Does the HP EliteDesk 800 G5 SFF Desktop PC i7 9700 16GB RAM 512GB SSD Win 11 Pro come with a DVD drive? trying to understand what the slot is from the front..

    Cheers

  • Anything that is good for super low power, always on file server to share data with my friends?

  • I have a Xeon thing that's been ROCK solid for 15Y. If I was to replace it with something that's as equally durable, can play Cities Skylines happily, and have about 400 Chrome tabs running, what would be the pick here? (Happy to buy additional gfx card)

  • Computer noob. What’s the cheapest one that would support photo editing (photoshop and Lightroom)? Thanks

    • Dell Optiplex 7070 might do, extra ram might be needed. For editing I would suggest something with a GPU since those program take a lot to run.

  • No i3 SFF computers, RIP.

    The ThinkCentre i3-9100 for $139 was a great deal and the perfect choice for a homeserver, but it's now gone.

    The best from that list is probably the ThinkCentre M720S with an i5-8400 + 8GB ram for $199. I wouldn't bother getting anything with a CPU below 8th gen.

    • An i3-9100 isn't too far removed from an i5-7500; the i5 is maybe 10% slower for 14% less cost ($119 vs $139 assuming the rest of the system is similar).

      Both are fundamentally Skylake-based quad-core CPUs without hyperthreading and with UHD 630 graphics; the i3 just turbos about 10% higher at best.

      The 7400 is a bit worse as it loses another chunk of clock speed and is probably more like 15+% slower.

      • I was speaking in the context of home server application. Raw performance isn't as important as power efficiency and iGPU capability. Last I checked, Skylake/Kabylake processors cannot hardware transcode HEVC 10-bit video.

        • +2

          Last I checked, Skylake/Kabylake processors cannot hardware transcode HEVC 10-bit video.

          Kaby Lake can, Skylake can't.

          Intel also has a table with detail from 7th gen through to 11th gen.

          This is partly the reason why the graphics name was updated to e.g. UHD Graphics 630 on Kaby Lake vs HD Graphics 630 on Skylake.

  • Are any of these able to support a RX6600 drop in?

    • +1

      Pretty sure none would support it

    • +1

      Pretty sure no dell has the required 500w power supplyor the required 8 pin power cable. I've got a precision with a quadro cardand it relies on the pci slot power with a tiny 270w psu. Dells proprietary cables make these notoriously painful to dk anyrhing else with to the point kf im considering an entire new motherbkards tk transplant the parts over to for a cheap gaming pc upgrade and then eventual retirement plan of it becoming a nas.

      • Thanks for the detailed reply!

        • The 4060 link above discusses replacing the power supply with a smaller more powerful power supply for $44 (USD?)

  • has anyone tried fitting in a 4060 Low profile card in these?

  • +1

    What's the advantage of getting something like this versus a new mini pc like n100?

    • +1

      Space and expandability for the most part. Depends on your use case.

    • +1

      These are probably more reliable.

      Reviews on minis vary wildly and you can't really tell what's real or not. My personal experience is two failures in 6months, replaced then refunded. Geekom brand, so I didn't even go bottom barrel.

      These desktops are built for hard office life and have strong histories. My last Optiplex went 5yrs and was still going, I replaced it with that mini and now I'm going for a new Optiplex from this deal instead.

      • Thanks.
        Ended up buying one to set up a media thing + Foundry server and some other stuff.

  • Would any of these connect to a 27" Thunderbolt Display? (either via thunderbolt or USB C adapter)
    I've got 2 very nice displays, but can't justify spending the $$ on a Mac mini

  • Hey OP. Would one of these be suitable to run a plex media server? Currently just using my MacBook. Would the Lenovo i7 $199 be fine?

    • +2

      Already discussed above.

  • what are these computers best used for? seen multiple of these posts in the past and always wondered.

    • +1

      Cheap and work absolutely fine for most day to day things that the average person uses. One doesn’t need the latest and greatest.
      I still run ESXi with 5 virtual machines concurrently on a HP800 G1 SFF without issue. These cheapies are a couple of years newer!

      • Will these run minecraft and roblox do you know?

        • Sorry no idea as am not a gamer.

        • +1

          With a low-end GPU off market place you’ll be good to go. Check the recommended requirements on the website to be sure, but from what I can seen these all meet the CPU/RAM requirements easily.

        • +1

          My kid plays Minecraft and Roblox fine on an Optiplex 7050, i7-6700 with 16GB ram and a $50 RX550 4GB low profile card.

          some newer games start to struggle but at 1080p Minecraft and Roblox run just fine.

    • Raspberry Pi equivalent. I bought some from Bufferstock in their recent Mini PC post, installed Ubuntu on them, and now use them as little servers. They're cheaper than a Pi.

  • Do any of these have room for either 2 sata drives total or two NVMe drives? I want a dual disk machine for raid but a lot of them are often one or the other.

  • +2

    Can we please get this deal back? Need a 800 G4 mini for $200.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/851751

    • Second that!

      • Thrid that!
        Yeah the noted HP ELITEDESK 800 G4 Mini i5 8500T 16GB RAM 256GB SSD is exactly what I am looking for. I can't see those returning too soon for $199 which was a great price. Hope I am wrong :-)

  • Say you had $250, a GT 1030 and 8gb RAM lying around for a low-end gaming PC - which of these to get?

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