• @[email protected]
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    285 hours ago

    i think the best choice is a cheap used pc or laptop, or server. Reduces electric waste. I also host my own server on a 19 year old Dell Insprion 1300

    • @[email protected]
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      73 hours ago

      Reduces electric waste

      A lot of older equipment actually wastes more electricity.

      But it will cut down on electronic waste.

      • Possibly linux
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        12 hours ago

        Not necessarily.

        A i5-6500 has a TDP of 65W while a i5-13600K has a TDP of 150W.

        If you get something modern that has the performance of a i5-6500 it will be a little bit more efficient. The key is that more performance uses more power.

        • @Blue_Morpho
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          251 minutes ago

          13600K

          If you buy a high watt CPU, that’s on you. Ryzen 7 also came out in 2022 and had many 65 watt cpus that could outperform an i5-6500.

    • @[email protected]
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      94 hours ago

      Yes, but also no. Older hardware is less power efficient, which is a cost in its own right, but also decreases backup runtime during power failure, and generates more noise and heat. It also lacks modern accelerated computing, like ai cores or hardware video encoders or decoders, if you are running those appd. Not to mention lack of nvme support, or a good NIC.

      For me a good compromise is to recycle hardware upgrades every 4-5 years. A 19 year old computer? I would not bother.

      • @[email protected]
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        33 hours ago

        I have a Lenovo M710q with a i3 7100T that uses 3W at idle. I’m not mining bitcoin, server is idle 23h a day if not more.

    • @[email protected]
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      54 hours ago

      Yeah what I’ve always done is use the previous gaming/workstation PC as a server.

      I just finished moving my basic stuff over to newer old hardware that’s only 6-7 years old, to have lots of room to grow and add to it. It’s a 9700k (8c/8t) with 32GB of ram and even a GTX 1080 for the occasional video transcode. It’s obviously overkill right now, but I plan to make it last a very long time.

    • @Valmond
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      125 hours ago

      Think centre tiny here

      Low consumption, two ddr4 slots, one 2.5" slot and one nvme slot! Lots of outside slots.

      Costed less used than a new pi too. They have gotten too expensive IMO.

      • oni
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        22 hours ago

        lenovo thinkcentre m910q supremacy

        • @Valmond
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          1 hour ago

          Yesss I have a m910q as my main with (IIRC) a 6500T 4 cores.

          And a m710 with the CD contraption for backup (the CD is just for fun, the PC is the backup) :-p

      • @cellardoor
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        54 hours ago

        Same mentality but HP Elitedesk Minis

        • @[email protected]
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          4 hours ago

          Just add dell micro to the list and you have what I run - 9 tiny/mini/micro PCs run everything here. Though I may move a few things to a VPS soon.

          Edit:

          • (4) Dell Micros
          • (3) Lenovo Tinys
          • (2) HP Minis
          • @Valmond
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            21 hour ago

            How would you class them, if you think you could/would/should? I’m so impressed with the thinkcentre tiny I wonder if it can get better at all.

            • @[email protected]
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              11 hour ago

              Mostly equitable.

              Ive had a slightly higher failure rate with the Dells, but the sample size is too small to be relevant.

              The Lenovos more often than others ive found outfitted with a dGPU which comes in handy in some scenarios, but I think that comes down more on which enterprises more often purchase Lenovos and want the dGPU, and that its just what ive come across in the used/decommissioned territory.

              Short answer - they are basically all the same.