Dell R210 II

[I_D]

Dell R210 II's with the Celeron G530 2,4Ghz CPU's are fairly cheap.
The server also comes in a configuration that has an Xeon E3 1230 v2 CPU in it.
The Celeron version is usually a multitude cheaper than the E3 version, and E3 CPU's are fairly cheap on ebay.

That got me to thinking about maybe picking up a Celeron version and upgrading it myself:

1.) Does Dell use the same motherboards for both versions? (as both are socket FCLGA1155)
2.) Can I just swap CPU's or is there some protection or limitation built in?
3.) Can I easily buy an iDRAC from ebay with a network port for it?
(most of the G530's being sold don't have these)

I don't foresee any issues, but I would rather ask someone who has owned or worked with both of these.

 

[pricklypunter]

I have had several of these great little boxes...there was a wee board change mid way through production irc, but as I remember, they will take either chip, providing the later updated bios's are used. I only ever had E3's in mine though, so can't be 100% certain if there were other differences that I'm not aware of.

Really versatile little boxes those, cracking little workhorse, great as a storage head, makes a real smart pfSense box too, very quiet and power efficient for what they are. You can toss in a pair of iDRAC 6 modules from ebay for little money and you have remote access/ console etc too

Not that I'm saying buy one, but if it's going cheap...you really can't go wrong with these. Assuming you have a real use in mind for it, rather than something to play with