Upgrading cheap/old computer - eviltoast

I am thinking about buying a home server for a wide range of things. I found some cheap old computers on amazon for around 80-90€. Is it worth it to upgrade them with another stick of ram or a larger SSD? 2 8gb RAM sticks are only around 15€, so that would be 100 in total. But my question is, is it worth it, or is the CPU the limiting factor. Some of them have one from the pentium series. Also, is 15€ for 2x8gb DDR4 RAM normal (not too cheap)? Maybe you have other ideas for a cheap home server. In my case I don’t think a 90€ raspberry pi is worth it

  • cron@feddit.orgEnglish
    7·
    3 months ago

    I bought such an old computer. 6th gen i3 Intel CPU, upgraded the memory to 16G and added more storage. For me, it works well.

    However, I recommend checking the power usage of the system. Some older PCs might be very piwer hungry, which makes them expensive in the long run.

    Edit: 6th gen and 7th gen Intel CPUs are not compatible with windows 11. The market is full of these old PCs and they are cheam. I personally would not buy anything older.

    • NastyNative@mander.xyzEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      You can always do a clean install from a USB and create 2 new registries and it will bypass the hardware check. I have installed windows 11 on various 6th gen machines and they run great.

      • cron@feddit.orgEnglish
        2·
        3 months ago

        Absolutely true from a technical perspective. But if you’re shopping for used devices, the price difference can be quite relevant. I’ve seen 7th gen PCs at ~100€, while 8th gen PCs are sold for littpe under 200€.