You could try to get a used Dell Wyse 5070.
If you pick the right dual ranked RAM modules (e.g. Patriot PSD416G26662S), you can have a max. of 2x16 GB.
There's a slot for SATA SSDs onboard and with the right adapter (PCIe A/E key -> M key) you can plug an NVME SSD in the WiFi PCIe slot, which gives plenty room for storage and even allow for a disk mirror setup.
All that is very well within your budget and quite a beast that once was meant to be just a thin client.
this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025
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Quite like this option since it's small, there seem to be many on eBay too. Would the chipset matter particularly? Most of the units for sale are Celeron J4105 but I see a few pentium ones as well
Yes, it's small, runs at a few watts and is silent.
The Celeron J4105 and Pentium J5005 CPUs in the Wyse 5070 are very close to each other both regarding energy and computing power.
Have a look here: https://www.cpu-monkey.com/de/compare_cpu-intel_celeron_j4105-vs-intel_pentium_silver_j5005
I would take either.
You'll have a hard time finding another silent box with such a small footprint that's able to take 2 gumstick drives - even if one of them needs some tinkering - and 32 GB RAM.
The standby power of a desktop is not that massive. Especially when you don't run a GPU or display. That windows 8 machine you have is probably fine as-is.
An ATX PSU doesn't suck down 500 watts at all times, just because the sticker on it says it can. How much power your machine will use will depend much more on the CPU.
So just slap linux on it and have at it. If nothing else, you'll get familiar with the software involved, and be better prepared if you end up wanting to buy new hardware for this.
There's not really any lock-in with linux. Almost any piece of software you might run can be run on almost any distro you might consider using.
Whatever you have available to start, once you're up and running make small upgrades based on your needs and use-case. Starting is key, just my 2¥.
Welcome to your new ~~addiction~~ hobby.
Many people like cheap refurbished thinclients, and Intel CPUs 6th gen or newer are not so bad on power consumption.
A RasberryPi has the advantage that you will find a lot of easy to follow guides and if you get a NVMe hat for it to have fast database storage then Nextcloud should be relatively happy (it is a bit bloated these days).
I would recommend going for at least an Intel 7th gen or failing that some sort of computer that has an Nvidia GPU, 1050ti or better.
Those will help as you go further down the line with allowing some CUDA and Intel acceleration features and only adds a couple of dollars to the total cost of the system.
Why CUDA? I don't see any services listed that would benefit at all from a GPU, and even if they later spun up a Jellyfin or similar that can always be mapped to the integrated GPU.
Better to start with something cheap and imperfect to learn what you actually need then upgrade from there
I threw it in as a gimme or as a backup if they go AMD.
My real intent is to aim for the seventh gen intel processor or higher, as the intel quicksync encoders are better on the seventh generation than they are in the sixth gen.
That can help with encryption of files and decoding encrypted files for something like an opnsense box or wireguard.
And who knows, they might want to play around with some local AI stuff or jellyfin in the future.
I would get an Optiplex and drives. Run fedora server, portainer, and docker.
This is the way.
frankly for dipping your toes in, i'd just find a used desktop computer. you can usually find them cheap or free. ask your friends if they have an old pc kicking around. otherwise, ive found some good deals at goodwill etc. doesnt need to be a powerhouse, but its easy to upgrade ram, storage. for most applications a slowish pc wont be any kind of an issue.
i only just retired my 2011 era pc nas.
i only just retired my
Keyboard?
2011 era pc nas.
sorry, i dropped my phone and sent. i edited iy, but i guess it didnt come through
I've noticed edits don't always propagate to other instances.
Raspberry PIs are great little machines, but they're ARM based rather than x86, which can potentially limit your software choices. Once you've bought the PI, a decent PSU, some storage, and maybe a case the cost can also start to go up quite quickly. Another option you might want to look at is something like a refurbishd EliteDesk. You can get a decent spec for a similar price to a PI and those extras, it's x86, they run quietly, and they're upgradable if you need more horsepower in future.
I recommend an ex-lease HP Prodesk. You get an ok cpu, nvme slot, physical space for an ssd and hdd, plus a pcie slot depending on form factor. As they use mainstream components the hardware is well supported in Linux.