Bought Desktops -- What would be the best suit for them?

[mah300274]

I bought a little over 20 d51s's and I am trying to get the most money out of them, but am not sure where the current market is for these kinds of computers.

Background: They all are P4 2.4GHz,1 CD-ROM,1 Floppy drives, most do not have ram, none of them have hard drives.

I am wondering would they be better for desktops or like servers. I assume servers but I am not sure if everyone out there has a use for them (as much as a normal desktop).

If I go with desktops... I would like to keep the ram budget to $20 but I also want 2GB and 1GB of DDR seems to cost 20 alone (for non-ecc). And I am not sure if this comp works with ecc ram (will have to test unless someone else can find out).

But servers seem more practical all the way around, for the most part. But I had a few questions on this too. What is the best OS for a server that is good for home storage, ftp share, bittorent w/ proxy client and / or a vpc. I like linux but I am not adapted to it myself yet and do not want to sell comps with an OS I am not too familiar with; so maybe linux based but windows based (So I can double click an .exe instead of apt-get install etc...). And is it fine that I install a 2TB Sata hard drive with an adapter to IDE?

Thanks!

[caperjack]

hi i sell used computer and it getting harder and harder to sell them ,especially towers , every one wants a laptop, like everone want a LCD monitor , personally i thing it will cost you more to finish building them than you can make off selling one . like cdrom ,people want a dvd burner at least a cd-burner . and are you even sure it will run a 2tb hdd
just what are d51's ,are they Compaq towers .
to keep the cost down you will have to install Linux ,did they come with a windows key sticker on them

i have a p4 2.8/ 1.5 gig ram 320 g hdd ,dell sff ,18" lcd and dvd burner spk/kb/mouse/cant gert $199.00 cdn for it,

and i have a Dell core 2 duo,1.8 dvd burner 2 gig ram 320 satd ,18" multiview /swivel lcd ,,new keyboard and mouse and cant sell it in my area
i advertised these and never even got an offer

[mah300274]

The 2TB I figured will depend more on the OS. And honestly I got about 35 towers, close to 15 smaller but still lcd monitors, keyboards & mice, adapters, etc for $350. And I can get more, for cheaper. I figured about $10 per (most if not all are working). I can get a lot of 80GB hard drives at $7-10per and ram will run me $20 (give or take depending on how much I install). $4 per CPU to upgrade from 2.4 to 3.0 P4 if need be (helps advertising). Another $20 or maybe a little less if I can find any lots for DVD+/-RW's. So I would be at $65 maybe a little less per. So it is not too bad in prices. I figured maybe $125 to $150 w/o a monitor and $200 with a monitor. But those are pretty much figures for desktops, and not the servers.

Servers I figure less ram, DVD Drive may not be needed, but get hard drives like the WD20EADS at around $60-70 and maybe less if in a lot. But if in a configuration I thought I may be able to juice out $200-$300 (because look, online sites charge $50+ per year for only a 1TB of data for backup plus they have to upload over night / all day.

Please also remember this is a side time thing, it is not a full time bushiness and etc.

Thanks!

[caperjack]

great prices ,good luck

[mah300274]

Does this sound decent in prices? Sorry I am not sure what you have done in the past and the figures above are about fine to me (I think, in my opinion at least).

Plus if anyone can help; does someone know of good software for a home server (not windows). A windows feel if possible but open source / linux based. And can I use 2TB Hard drives with a sata to ide adapter? Each computer will only use one HDD and NOT multiple with any form of RAIDs. Is this going to run me into issues or does the HDD Space depend on the OS. The server, I would like to support a few online accounts with dedicated space, ftp share, and bit-torrent downloading w/ some type of proxy server (or at least if I can install one my self). And how much ram would be fine to run these items, I am sure I'll do 2GB anyway but this will help me in the future and maybe save me a few bucks.

Thanks!

[caperjack]

I figured maybe $125 to $150 w/o a monitor and $200 with a monitor.

this sound ok, the thing is price is dictated by whats available and what the going rate for used computer in you area. for me i live in a low income/high unemployment area ,so people are selling really good computers,dirt cheap,when they need some quick cash .

Sorry i don't know much/anything about open source servers ,you talk about online storage charges,are you planning on building servers and offering this service ,or selling the servers so people can store there own stuff at home and access it when they are away from home

[mah300274]

Selling people their own servers so they can sore stuff on it at home along with backups and access a ftp link somewhere else if they need a file; nice for school students or workers that switch computers often.

And I am sure I will set up my own server as well due to having 4 computers (I would
like to make backups) and a better online server since currently I have a 1TB HDD connected to my Asus N56U router, it's nice but I would like more fexability with a server along with uploading back to it.

[mah300274]

I am sure most will be home computers because I am not sure ecc ram will work in those (even though it does not make a big difference for home server; I believe...

Plus I found 1GB non-ecc unreg. ram sticks for $11 or 12 per which is A LOT better them before since I was looking at $25 - $30 per stick. It will just be easy to bulk order low cost parts and sell the table computers at like $150 per (Also I found some lots of te for DVD-RWs for $13 per) So that says some extra too. Every bit counts!

I live near the Toledo area and this might be close to what you have since there are a lot of people unemployed but some people are "spoiled" and everything inbetween.

[caperjack]

I live near the Toledo area and this might be close to what you have since there are a lot of people unemployed but some people are "spoiled" and everything inbetween.

i live in a rural area Canada ,so limited to a small population ,also over the yrs i found that no matter how little money people have, they want a top of the line computer ,cheap.

[caperjack]

example of 2 complete computers being sold on Kijiji in my area . first one has a duel core cpu ,even!!
1-
http://capebreton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-computers-ACER-ASPIRE-DESKTOP-COMPUTER-W0QQAdIdZ322161650

2--
http://capebreton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-computers-HP-Pavilion-computer-set-Perfect-2nd-computer-or-for-beginners-W0QQAdIdZ306647176

[mah300274]

Thanks for the examples. I understand the problem in selling due to prices, but I know I will have some more flexibility then you, maybe. About 4 months ago I sold a 1.8GHz (single P4) with keyboard & mouse, screen, 2 GB Ram (then again it was ddr2) and a dvd rom, and 160GB hard drive and I had several people willing to do about $200, cash.

Plus with the lot I got, the worst that can happen is that I do not make as much as I hope.

[caperjack]

Thanks for the examples. I understand the problem in selling due to prices, but I know I will have some more flexibility then you, maybe. About 4 months ago I sold a 1.8GHz (single P4) with keyboard & mouse, screen, 2 GB Ram (then again it was ddr2) and a dvd rom, and 160GB hard drive and I had several people willing to do about $200, cash.

Plus with the lot I got, the worst that can happen is that I do not make as much as I hope.

yeah ,you got them for a really good price ,wish i could find some near me, that cheap