So i'm planning to go to one or more of the computer recyclers in the big city sometime in december. I would like to find one or more workstations from the DDR3 type RAM era, mostly because the last time i looked (tho that was awhile ago) the ram was way cheaper than anything DDR4. It's basically throwout/a dollar a stick any size type of things unless something has changed, so I figured it would be cheap to go to 64gigs or more if my primary bottleneck is RAM instead of an older cpu.
I'm looking for a proper used workstation because i've heard they will come with strong PSU's and so upgrading to a newer gpu for instance or maybe a bunch of hard drives is easy. (since this could be used either as a backup Adobe CC machine or to experiment with a NAS - note Adobe requires newer video cards with newer versions just to even run for some dumb reason even tho the system isnt doing anything new so I wont be keeping some 12 year old gpu)
CPU's from the era should also be cheap all the used xeons and such. However i'm looking to just buy a proper used workstation - not use one of the "i'm not sure how reliable this is" "new" chinese motherboards using 10 year old salvaged chipsets which still go for new motherboard prices and dont give me 64-256gig ram capacity that i've seen in some. I thought I might as well just use the case, PSU, used mobo and everything - instead of just migrating old xeon and ram to a "new" not really new chinese motherboard.
The only workstations I even know by name are some of the HP Z-series - i'm not sure whether to only look for those or if those are actually better. I'd heard things like you can use the less expensive cpus from the dual and even quad socket boards in the single socket models. (or at least use the quad socket cpu in the dual socket model, something like that) I don't have all my notes handy so I can't verify where I heard that...
They will be used for multiple things which is why i'd prob have more than one computer - including just having a backup setup for Adobe CC to run on (where 32gig ram hasnt been not enough and later 64gig wont be) plus other audiovisual software (Resolve, maybe ProTools), experimenting with type 1 virtualization (probably Proxmox to start at least), i've no idea if any way a hackintosh could run on a workstation but i'd love to try (and on raw hardware, not just virtualized) if anyone has ever done that, playing with some VDI 'gamestreaming' like Craft Computing did using a tesla k80 card. Plus anything else not handicapped by the old cpu(s) obviously inferior to modern boards. (games is not super important, more of an afterthought - some mild 10 year old games probly at 1080p but I don't care or have time much, the games are more 'to test VDI' under demanding conditions)
If anyone can suggest buying guides or videos elsewhere, share personal experiences and such i'd appreciate it.
I'm looking for a proper used workstation because i've heard they will come with strong PSU's and so upgrading to a newer gpu for instance or maybe a bunch of hard drives is easy. (since this could be used either as a backup Adobe CC machine or to experiment with a NAS - note Adobe requires newer video cards with newer versions just to even run for some dumb reason even tho the system isnt doing anything new so I wont be keeping some 12 year old gpu)
CPU's from the era should also be cheap all the used xeons and such. However i'm looking to just buy a proper used workstation - not use one of the "i'm not sure how reliable this is" "new" chinese motherboards using 10 year old salvaged chipsets which still go for new motherboard prices and dont give me 64-256gig ram capacity that i've seen in some. I thought I might as well just use the case, PSU, used mobo and everything - instead of just migrating old xeon and ram to a "new" not really new chinese motherboard.
The only workstations I even know by name are some of the HP Z-series - i'm not sure whether to only look for those or if those are actually better. I'd heard things like you can use the less expensive cpus from the dual and even quad socket boards in the single socket models. (or at least use the quad socket cpu in the dual socket model, something like that) I don't have all my notes handy so I can't verify where I heard that...
They will be used for multiple things which is why i'd prob have more than one computer - including just having a backup setup for Adobe CC to run on (where 32gig ram hasnt been not enough and later 64gig wont be) plus other audiovisual software (Resolve, maybe ProTools), experimenting with type 1 virtualization (probably Proxmox to start at least), i've no idea if any way a hackintosh could run on a workstation but i'd love to try (and on raw hardware, not just virtualized) if anyone has ever done that, playing with some VDI 'gamestreaming' like Craft Computing did using a tesla k80 card. Plus anything else not handicapped by the old cpu(s) obviously inferior to modern boards. (games is not super important, more of an afterthought - some mild 10 year old games probly at 1080p but I don't care or have time much, the games are more 'to test VDI' under demanding conditions)
If anyone can suggest buying guides or videos elsewhere, share personal experiences and such i'd appreciate it.