What to look in buying cheap, used good/corporate desktop PC, want to use it as low power appliance?

[virtuality]

Desktop PCs in good condition previously used in a corporate setting are abundant in the marketplace. The main benefit, for my purpose, is they are x86, oops, amd64 based, so much more versatile than a Raspberry Pi and similar gadget. Yes, I'm looking for a cheap, old desktop PC as in competing with the Raspberry Pi & co., I may as well not need 10% of the processing power of these machines you can buy for, say $50. For tinkering purposes.

It doesn't hurt if I can run them 24/7, so they shouldn't consume much power. another benefit is, Linux is more compatible with older hardware.

What to look for when buying, especially the power supply? I don't know much if anything about this. Recommended product lines, and lines to avoid?

 

[EXCellR8]

If you don't mind dealing with proprietary parts then older Dells would probably serve your needs. Hell, I'd probably be willing to ship you one if you'd cover the cost. Machine is free.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Desktop PCs in good condition previously used in a corporate setting are abundant in the marketplace. The main benefit, for my purpose, is they are x86, oops, amd64 based, so much more versatile than a Raspberry Pi and similar gadget. Yes, I'm looking for a cheap, old desktop PC as in competing with the Raspberry Pi & co., I may as well not need 10% of the processing power of these machines you can buy for, say $50. For tinkering purposes.

It doesn't hurt if I can run them 24/7, so they shouldn't consume much power. another benefit is, Linux is more compatible with older hardware.

What to look for when buying, especially the power supply? I don't know much if anything about this. Recommended product lines, and lines to avoid?

Look for something with at least an LGA-1155 CPU. (i3/i5/i7-2xxx series or comparable Pentium/Celeron). Core 2 and first-gen Core i3/i5/i7 had much higher idle power use. (20-30w vs. <10w. You'll be paying next to nothing for the computer anyway, but the power use adds up.)

Otherwise, meh. Blow the dust out, leave it in a corner, and don't mess with it; it'll last you a good long time.

 

[cbn]

Desktop PCs in good condition previously used in a corporate setting are abundant in the marketplace. The main benefit, for my purpose, is they are x86, oops, amd64 based, so much more versatile than a Raspberry Pi and similar gadget. Yes, I'm looking for a cheap, old desktop PC as in competing with the Raspberry Pi & co., I may as well not need 10% of the processing power of these machines you can buy for, say $50. For tinkering purposes.

It doesn't hurt if I can run them 24/7, so they shouldn't consume much power. another benefit is, Linux is more compatible with older hardware.

What to look for when buying, especially the power supply? I don't know much if anything about this. Recommended product lines, and lines to avoid?

Do you need expansion slots?

Because if you don't the HP Elite 8200 (Sandy Bridge) and HP Elite 8300 (Ivy Bridge) USDT models can be had fairly cheap and idle is fairly low.

http://www.anandtech.com/print/4867/hp-compaq-8200-elite-ultraslim-the-littlest-desktop

 

[virtuality]

Thank you for your tips, esp. EXCellR8 for your generosity of offering me this machine for free. Important point: on which continent are you? I'm on the European side, so shipping from overseas might be prohibitive. But thank, anyways!

A few general questions, let me learn something here! Core i gen. 2.0 and onward is recommended. 1.0 is not recommended only because of heat, or, perhaps, it wasn't a well though out series? If you have to choose a machine with a CPU series between late Core 2 Duo and only 1.0 Core i (for some reason, you can only choose between these two), is Core 2 Duo recommended over Core i 1.0, or Core i 1.0 is stable enough? The reason this come to my mind is, when checking specs of older MacBooks and ThinkPads, I noticed Apple skipped Core i gen. 1.0 altogether, while Lenovo used them. What's the deal here.

Still, when you are talking about these machines we are talking about now, can be had for 'next to nothing,' please attach a dollar or euro value which price point I am supposed to be aiming at on eBay. Thank you!

Some other considerations from possibly less well thought out CPUs, but from the mobile sphere.

 

[cbn]

Still, when you are talking about these machines we are talking about now, can be had for 'next to nothing,' please attach a dollar or euro value which price point I am supposed to be aiming at on eBay. Thank you!

Below are some prices I spotted this morning from Arrow Direct's Sale:

Core i5 2400 SFF machine with Windows 10 =$67 Shippped to US

Core i5 3470 SFF machine with Windows 10 = $82 shipped to US

(And that is not the only time I have seen such low prices from a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher)

 

[VirtualLarry]

arrow direct sale? Tell me more. Do they have tower PCs with those specs and Windows 10 for similar prices? I would want to add a GPU.

 

[cbn]

arrow direct sale? Tell me more. Do they have tower PCs with those specs and Windows 10 for similar prices? I would want to add a GPU.

Coupon code is SUPER33.

Here is the link for the desktops (all form factors)--> https://arrowdirect.com/search?q=#/?_=1&page=1&filter.category_hierarchy=Desktops&sort.price=asc

And the link to the towers---> https://arrowdirect.com/search?q=#/...tops&sort.price=asc&filter.chassis_type=Tower

(Looks like Towers ~$15 more than SFF for a Sandy Bridge Core i5 Windows 10 PC)

 

[cbn]

Deleted. Wrong thread.

 

[cbn]

Coupon code is SUPER33.

Here is the link for the desktops (all form factors)--> https://arrowdirect.com/search?q=#/?_=1&page=1&filter.category_hierarchy=Desktops&sort.price=asc

And the link to the towers---> https://arrowdirect.com/search?q=#/...tops&sort.price=asc&filter.chassis_type=Tower

(Looks like Towers ~$15 more than SFF for a Sandy Bridge Core i5 Windows 10 PC)

It looks like they added some new stock.

I noticed this happening in a previous sale as well (It seems they do this after midnight Pacific time).

P.S. The SUPER33 coupon is a 33% off coupon.

 

[virtuality]

Similar discounts in Europe? Thanks!

* Preferably without the Windows tax. As I stated in the OP, the machine (at least in my case) would be for experimenting with Linux.

 

[vailr]

Try looking at used & surplus equipment sales via local hospital, university or government entities.
See:
"Is a $70 Hackintosh Any Good?":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKqdDiL8t80
Author found a dusty, used HP 6300 (quad core i5-3470, 3.2 GHz) for $30 at a local University in Utah.
Also search your local country's ebay site (in order to minimize the shipping cost) for "i5-3470" desktop machines.
Here's one example on ebay.co.uk:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Opti...2-90GHz-4GB-250GB-HDD-Win-7-Pro-/152556052690

 

[virtuality]

Look for something with at least an LGA-1155 CPU. (i3/i5/i7-2xxx series or comparable Pentium/Celeron). Core 2 and first-gen Core i3/i5/i7 had much higher idle power use. (20-30w vs. <10w. You'll be paying next to nothing for the computer anyway, but the power use adds up.)

OFF: http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=thread...bile-intel-core-i-cpus-for-notebooks.2508800/
Thanks!

 

[cfenton]

Do you need expansion slots?

Because if you don't the HP Elite 8200 (Sandy Bridge) and HP Elite 8300 (Ivy Bridge) USDT models can be had fairly cheap and idle is fairly low.

I use an 8300 as my Plex server. It's awesome. It's small, powerful, quiet, and built like a tank. For general computer use it's hard to tell it apart from my 3570K machine. I think they are a much, much better deal than a new SFF PC for most use cases. The big advantage (for me anyway) of the 8300 over the 8200 is the upgrade to USB3 ports on the back.