this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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I’m looking to pick up a low cost server to use for my burgeoning home lab. Something to throw Proxmox onto and run a few VMs. I like the look and cost of refurb’d HP Elitedesk 800 G3/G4s on eBay, especially because they have a PCIe slot for a 10GBe SFP card. But I also have a few HDDs I was hoping to throw in for storage. Can the HPs be case swapped into something 3 or 4U short-depth and handle storage as well, or would another machine be a good choice? Hoping to keep the total (PC + case) under $250-300.

Thanks!

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[–] vasveritas@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Used Dell Optiplex can be a good value. Can get 6 cores, an expansion slot, Intel QSV for Plex. Might not have space or PSU connections for HDDs, because most cheap, small PCs have SSDs these days.

A lot of the cheap mass produced PCs will have limited motherboard/PSU combinations. Even if they have a SATA port, they're probably not going to have multiple HDD power connections. You would run into that problem with the HP Elitedesk too, unless you got a new power solution.