Second hand WORKSTATION buyng recommendation

[GEOrifle]

Hi.
I'm PC fan, gaming, video editing at home and some customers also.
So recently i noticed my current custom build Workhorse can't cut as it should(5 year old).
Here's my PC:
EVGA e760 Classified
i7 920 D0 at 3.2 GHZ
14 GB DDR3 1600 RAM
XFX 5850 1GB Video card
Corsair HX 750 PSU
Cooler Master Sniper Case

So decided to upgrade CPU at Xeon w3680 $280. Then i have to upgrade Video card also around $300. That's total $600 roughly. A LOT for me.
Then i find out one of my customer is selling his used Dell Precision T3600, 6 core Xeon E5-1650 at 3.2 GHZ , 8GB RAM, i don't know Video card - for $550.

Here i can't make decision what to do: New Gaming-Video Editing rig(~$1500)- NO WAY, Upgrade Old one(~$600) or buy Second hand Dell Workstation($550). I know DELL can't be modified or use custom parts. And it's used, even it has 6 core can't be OC or Gaming on it.

What do you think?

 

[inachu]

It is the DELL cases that are very limiting indeed.

You could just buy a new case to put the DELL hardware into so you could modify it as you wish.

 

[DaveVandorAmon]

The Xeon works well enough for games. I used to game on a T5500. A T3600 used for that price is a solid deal. Definitely not OC'ing that. If you sold your old machine you'd make a good chunk of that $550 back.

If you need something along those lines, you'd need a different board and a larger case.

The question is for how long would it handle the workload your current workstation cannot.

 

[GEOrifle]

Do you mean : my custom Classy vs Dell T3600 ?

I know DELL's got new generation Xeon 2011 socket, they are reliable but if it gonna die in a week i can't fix it, gonna buy genuine parts which is curious with DELL's prices. And owner can not give me any warranty, first time see him also. I can test it before to buy but can it replace my GAMING rig ?

 

[DaveVandorAmon]

I have never had issue with aftermarket upgrades for the Precision lines from eBay. If you can fix or build a custom, you can fix these by swapping parts and checking BIOS levels and compatibility of processors. Most of the time you can't exceed their own maximum spec. Parts are usually expensive at first, cheap in the middle near their initial out of warranty period, then expensive again when the parts are scarce but still perform well.

I've also never bought genuine Dell parts from Dell. I do buy genuine batteries on the used market over the aftermarket ones, but other stuff is perfectly acceptable.

It is possible that it could replace your gaming rig, but that would depend on what games you're playing, the graphics card it is equipped with, and your personal settings.

I've gamed on Precision 690s, T3400s, T5500s, and T1700s; no real noticeable difference from my i7 920, 3570k etc, in terms of speed.

 

[GEOrifle]

I have more specs from Dell T3600:
1. 6 core Xeon E5-1650 at 3.2 GHZ
2. 8GB RAM (4x2GB)- This i don't like, all slots are occupied, how i gonna upgrade?
3. 128Gb SSD OS + 1TB HDD
4. Radeon HD6450 1GB GDDR3
also 3 FREE other cards: nVidia Quadro NVS 420, Ati FirePRO2270, Visiontec Radeon 5570 1GB
Also Warranty transfer 1.5 year left.

All for $430. I guess price isn't high.

 

[DaveVandorAmon]

I have more specs from Dell T3600:
1. 6 core Xeon E5-1650 at 3.2 GHZ
2. 8GB RAM (4x2GB)- This i don't like, all slots are occupied, how i gonna upgrade?
3. 128Gb SSD OS + 1TB HDD
4. Radeon HD6450 1GB GDDR3
also 3 FREE other cards: nVidia Quadro NVS 420, Ati FirePRO2270, Visiontec Radeon 5570 1GB
Also Warranty transfer 1.5 year left.

All for $430. I guess price isn't high.

No, it's not a bad price, considering it was $550 in the second post. The Graphics card definitely needs to be changed out. I'd also consider upgrading the SSD to something a bit larger, but if 128GB as a boot drive is sufficient, leave it.

If you think 8GB of memory isn't enough you can go up to 16GB; 32GB if you can get it for a good price. Over on HardForum, there's a guy selling 16GB Registered ECC DDR3 for $110 per stick. I also have a couple 4GB RDIMMs for sale, and you can generally find them from other traders here in the FS/FT on AT.

You can always resell the RAM, graphics cards, etc. and your old system to recover the costs of the replacement plus the upgrades necessary.

Ask him if you could potentially test it out to see how it works for a week or two.

 

[GEOrifle]

Thanks, I'll Chek it out.
I was going to upgrade old one with new CPU for $300 (W3680) and for $430 whole Workstation with 2011 socket 6 core Xeon I guess was I good purchase.
I wanted upgrade the Video card first for Video Editing and gaming also arround $300, which one do you recommend?

 

[Burpo]

You can also just drop in an X5670 Hex-core Xeon ($100) and upgrade your video card for a healthy boost in performance.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...US_Server_CPUs_Processors&hash=item4ac7a2a01c

$430 for a socket 2011 Workstation is hard to beat tho..

 

[GEOrifle]

Thanks. This one is good too, only Multiplier isn't unlocked. Graphic card is really a must.
Appreciate bro.