Is this used server worth purchasing?

[plidosir]

I'm looking at a used server in a tower form factor.

It's a Xeon E5-2420 with 12GB of ECC DDR3 (goes to 96GB). It has 8x SAS connectors with matching 2.5" bays.

I'm currently using a core i5 4670 with 16GB of RAM, 2x 8TB drives in mirrored RAID, 1x 1TB spinning rust, and 128GB SSD for the OS. This machine is maxed out (was not a server initially) and what I'm most short of is the RAM.

My priorities are low noise (I don't have a separate room, it sits in the home office), low power usage, under 300-400 EUR without drives (I'm happy with the ones I have now)

Is that Xeon server a good deal for about 150-200 EUR in Europe? Will my SATA HDDs work with the SAS controller that's in the server? I don't know how to compare across Xeon and i5/7 lines, just that they seem to be from the same time and Xeon > i5/7 for server/ProxMox duty generally.

 

[Rand__]

Is that Xeon server a good deal for about 150-200 EUR in Europe? Will my SATA HDDs work with the SAS controller that's in the server? I don't know how to compare across Xeon and i5/7 lines, just that they seem to be from the same time and Xeon > i5/7 for server/ProxMox duty generally.

Not particularly, yes but the chassis not (2.5 vs 3.5", or are the 8tb drivds 2.5?), and more cores but significantly less frequency.
To me it's a downgrade

 

[plidosir]

Not particularly, yes but the chassis not (2.5 vs 3.5", or are the 8tb drivds 2.5?), and more cores but significantly less frequency.
To me it's a downgrade

Thanks. My 2x8TB drives are 3.5".

 

[Glock24]

Not particularly, yes but the chassis not (2.5 vs 3.5", or are the 8tb drivds 2.5?), and more cores but significantly less frequency.
To me it's a downgrade

And power consumption will go up, as Sandy Bridge is considerably less efficient than Haswell.

I don't know how to compare across Xeon and i5/7 lines, just that they seem to be from the same time and Xeon > i5/7 for server/ProxMox duty generally.

Core 2nd gen = Xeon E3/E5 (v1)
Core 3rd gen = Xeon E3/E5 v2
Core 4th gen = Xeon E3/E5 v3
Core 5th gen = Xeon E3/E5 v4

i5/i7 CPUs are more comparable to Xeon E3 line, the E5 line has more cores (except the lower end models) and support for a lot more RAM using ECC Registered modules.

The E3 line goes up to 32GB RAM, same as i5/i7. Newer E3s and newer i5/i7s that use DDR4 go up to 64GB.

The E5s can go as high as your budget allows.