Where to find good deals on used workstations (last gen Xeon, etc.)

[Azzkiker]

Looking to grab a used dual processor workstation of some kind to use for programming with multiple simultaneous VMs. Something with (2) 8 core Xeon silver or Xeon golds. Overall processing power isn't as important as having around 16 physical cores to run 4 or more VMs at once, and at least 64GB of Ram. I could probably get away with a single 12 core cpu if there was a huge price difference.

Any suggestions on where to get this used/refurb for a great price?

 

[cdabc123]

Get the motherboard and cpus off ebay. Then put it in your own case. Alternatively older workstations are avaliable as well.

I run lots of simultaneous vms on a 3900x. The cpu is great but am4/am5 hardware can have some compatibility issues with hypervisors

 

[wareyore]

Post in FS/Trade here - maybe a DC'er is looking to trade out some old gear. DC sub forum here has a FS/trade section, too. See if someone there is interested in parting with some gear. Maybe get a deal. I purchased a supermicro dual cpu MB and had a member hook me up with some cpu's here on the forums.

Ebay - lots of recyclers on there that have exactly what you are looking for. Older workstations off lease that work fine.

I picked up an HP z840 about three years ago. Bare bones dual cpu system and added the Xeons and ram I wanted - 2p 40c/80t total. Crunches DC regularly. More recently I picked up an HP z6 with a xeon silver and swapped a gold xeon 20c/40t into it. It can be upgraded with an additional cpu daughter card, if I want. Also crunching away. Both pretty cheap as parts are plentiful.

I'm in a similar situation now - but, I'm looking to get an Epyc based workstation or server. One or 2p to play with as they offer great performance and power efficiency over intel. Can't decide on the older stuff, but leaning towards a Supermicro 2P board for a 7002 based Epyc setup. Wouldn't mind one of those snazzy Gigabyte servers, but, a little to much $ and the server chassis is not ideal for me. Looking for one that has multi gpu capabilities, tho.

On ebay, there are very reputable resellers that test the hardware, offer free shipping and have a return policy. I've made at least a dozen purchases from one such seller. Never a problem.

Maybe someone here has a hookup with a recycler or know of a major company upgrading their gear soon and getting rid of the older stuff cheap?

 

[Azzkiker]

Post in FS/Trade here - maybe a DC'er is looking to trade out some old gear. DC sub forum here has a FS/trade section, too. See if someone there is interested in parting with some gear. Maybe get a deal. I purchased a supermicro dual cpu MB and had a member hook me up with some cpu's here on the forums.

Ebay - lots of recyclers on there that have exactly what you are looking for. Older workstations off lease that work fine.

I picked up an HP z840 about three years ago. Bare bones dual cpu system and added the Xeons and ram I wanted - 2p 40c/80t total. Crunches DC regularly. More recently I picked up an HP z6 with a xeon silver and swapped a gold xeon 20c/40t into it. It can be upgraded with an additional cpu daughter card, if I want. Also crunching away. Both pretty cheap as parts are plentiful.

I'm in a similar situation now - but, I'm looking to get an Epyc based workstation or server. One or 2p to play with as they offer great performance and power efficiency over intel. Can't decide on the older stuff, but leaning towards a Supermicro 2P board for a 7002 based Epyc setup. Wouldn't mind one of those snazzy Gigabyte servers, but, a little to much $ and the server chassis is not ideal for me. Looking for one that has multi gpu capabilities, tho.

On ebay, there are very reputable resellers that test the hardware, offer free shipping and have a return policy. I've made at least a dozen purchases from one such seller. Never a problem.

Maybe someone here has a hookup with a recycler or know of a major company upgrading their gear soon and getting rid of the older stuff cheap?

I had no idea there was a separate FS/T forum for the exact subject of my post! Awesome!

Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna head over to the DC sub and take a look.

 

[MrGuvernment]

Get the motherboard and cpus off ebay. Then put it in your own case. Alternatively older workstations are avaliable as well.

I run lots of simultaneous vms on a 3900x. The cpu is great but am4/am5 hardware can have some compatibility issues with hypervisors

I run a 5950x myself, 96GB of ram, Mint or Manjaro as my primary OS back and forth, use VMware workstation flawlessly as my base and run multiple VMs.

OP getting a 5950x or something might be cheaper and more powerful than older xeon workstations. Also back in the day, depending on what type of development. AMD's were faster at compiling...

Even under Windows, not aware of any virt app issues with AMD processors?