refurbished server for video editing

[stefanocps]

hello

i just find out that there are lots of option for buy at cheap price refurbished server

Generally they have 3-4 years old hardware, most of the time ddr3 as ram

Processors are older and slower than the one we have now, but can be used multiple, 2 or more

i wonder if that could be a good(anche cheaper) alternative to a ryzen 3600 3700 which i was planning to buy for my video editing

I edit xt3 file 4k

thanks

[Otago]

Can you use hardware HEVC decoding to decode the 10-bit HEVC ? If so then doing that on the latest AMD or Intel hardware would probably be worth the price difference alone. Are these 1U/2U servers or workgroup servers in tower cases ? The 1U servers I have been around were not something I would want outside a data centre because they are LOUD, like really really loud and with a range of harmonics to set your teeth on edge. 

The other things like M.2 NVMe drives and space for PCIe cards are probably doable with a few riser and adapter cards though. 

[stefanocps]

normally i would search for rack servers, as they have more possibility to have more cpu or better pèerforming harware. an old tower server would not be compaable to a modern ryzen or intel based pc

[Geoff CB]

5 hours ago, stefanocps said:

 

I edit xt3 file 4k

 

If you have one of the latest GPU's for hardware decode then this may be an okay route to take. 

[no_connection]

Depending on what you want to do it can be a decent deal.

A few things to note that may or may not be applicable so I just made a list.

DDR3 is less fun for electricity than DDR3L, so HP g8 or newer for example.
Power draw is per RAM module so don't get one filled to the brim with 2GB sticks.
Many server CPU have weird performance so look it up on PassMark so you don't get a 130W part that perform badly for no apparent reason.
The difference between a v1 and v3 can be lower clocks and less power (or not) so again check the performance, a v1 might not be too bad but also might be.
You often need two CPUs to use all PCIe slots on a 2u server, and most need a raiser card unless server was bought with it.
Very few have PCIe power so you night need to get adapter cable or be creative.
I have not run into any issued with HP when it comes to supplying power through PCIe port to power graphics card but I know some Dell might not want to supply more than 20W.
Getting 64GB RAM should be pretty cheap, try that with DDR4 on Ryzen.
You could probably make a caddy to mount SSD into the slots since you probably not going to get HDD with it.
If you plan to get a cheaper server with v1 cpu and upgrade to v2 make sure bios support it.
If you get a server with only 1 cpu it probably don't have all the fans to just put another cpu in it.
As mentioned noise might be an issue especially for 1u but I think 2u is pretty decent depending on model, you could always make a box for it since servers have plenty of cooling power as long as you think of air flow.
Startup times can be long since servers like to check everything, so 5min+ boot time is not uncommon.
Also don't turn on/off a server every 5min or you will break it with time.

[stefanocps]

1 hour ago, no_connection said:

Depending on what you want to do it can be a decent deal.

A few things to note that may or may not be applicable so I just made a list.

DDR3 is less fun for electricity than DDR3L, so HP g8 or newer for example.
Power draw is per RAM module so don't get one filled to the brim with 2GB sticks.
Many server CPU have weird performance so look it up on PassMark so you don't get a 130W part that perform badly for no apparent reason.
The difference between a v1 and v3 can be lower clocks and less power (or not) so again check the performance, a v1 might not be too bad but also might be.
You often need two CPUs to use all PCIe slots on a 2u server, and most need a raiser card unless server was bought with it.
Very few have PCIe power so you night need to get adapter cable or be creative.
I have not run into any issued with HP when it comes to supplying power through PCIe port to power graphics card but I know some Dell might not want to supply more than 20W.
Getting 64GB RAM should be pretty cheap, try that with DDR4 on Ryzen.
You could probably make a caddy to mount SSD into the slots since you probably not going to get HDD with it.
If you plan to get a cheaper server with v1 cpu and upgrade to v2 make sure bios support it.
If you get a server with only 1 cpu it probably don't have all the fans to just put another cpu in it.
As mentioned noise might be an issue especially for 1u but I think 2u is pretty decent depending on model, you could always make a box for it since servers have plenty of cooling power as long as you think of air flow.
Startup times can be long since servers like to check everything, so 5min+ boot time is not uncommon.
Also don't turn on/off a server every 5min or you will break it with time.

so you are using a server?what specs and what you use it for?

[no_connection]

I don't currently use a rack server as a workstation but I have experience with servers. I have used several tower servers as workstations over the years mainly HP.
Dremel is your friend if you need to put a 16x card in a 8x slot, did that to a HP ML350 G5 and used that for a few years. It was loud but compared to the G4 it was a mouse in a corner. That thing have a 36W fan as case fan and 17W in the psu.

I currently use a Lenovo TS140 as workstatoin and it has been great.

I do intend to get a 2u server for ESXi and workstation use but it has to be good spec and price locally and not that much pop up here.

I do like IBM servers as well as HP. You can get 2x 10G NIC to mount instead of 4x 1G Ethernet without taking up extra slot. HP G8 or IBM M4 would be the oldest to get and that will get you into sandy bridge generation I think. Not much have happened since then, just higher clock speed and less power draw. Well until newest gen AMD cpu. (don't bother with old AMD cpu systems, they where never good, even when new)

Most servers you can get are not going to compare well in snappiness and single core performance so do factor that in your calculation. But since CPU and RAM price of a new system will get you a running server it might be a decent tradeof. Spectre and Meltdown mitigation is also a question mark.

[IronFilm]

Often gaming needs and video editing needs have a large overlap. 

There are tonnes and tonnes of builds and youtube videos discussing getting an old(er) server then sticking an appropriate modern graphics card in it to get a decent(ish) gaming machine on the cheap.

[stefanocps]

4 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Often gaming needs and video editing needs have a large overlap. 

There are tonnes and tonnes of builds and youtube videos discussing getting an old(er) server then sticking an appropriate modern graphics card in it to get a decent(ish) gaming machine on the cheap.

do you have some link?

 

anyway for now i would like to understand if a 3-4 or 5 years old 2 cpu server can compete with an ryzen 3600/3700 pc based

And for me the used server must cost the hal of a new pc, let's say 300 euro, because for the same price i would rather go for somehting newer that can be later upgraded

[no_connection]

It depends, you can get dual 8 or 10 core that would probably out perform it in encoding power, and you can get a crapton of more RAM.

But with Ryzen you will have an easier time getting fast storage due to NVMe and the RAM you get will also be faster, although not sure that matters. Power draw during it's life time it also a thing, although if you buy a server and have it for a year and then flip it and then Ryzen next gen will have dropped in price. Ryzen and what you need to run it is kind of expensive right now, especially if you look to have 32GB+ of RAM. I would want ECC RAM too, some ppl would not say it matters but I just seem to have things crash less on my computer than some other ppl experience. Or it might be cause I don't do dumb stuff, who knows. Then again modern RAM is way better than it used to be.

[stefanocps]

and another thing..the monmey saved with used server, will go quicly away because of power supply requested and electricty bill

Not talking about rack servers that have mad consuption, but also the rack ones have, i thoink the double electricity consumption

[no_connection]

I would not say quickly, but if you keep it running 24/7 for 5 years it does add up. You are only adding power from fans and a little from using dual psu, you are getting less performance per watt due to older generations but it's not that bad.

You might be looking at 80-150W depending on server vs maybe 50W. So at worst maybe 20-50$ a year if you do run it 24/7. I have no idea what you pay for electricity or cooling and if you only keep it for a year and sell it you might save more in price drop of a new system than electricity would cost. In a year you might even be editing in the cloud for all we know.

Used workstations should be plenty and cheap too if you find them.

What kind of servers have you found and for what cost?

[stefanocps]

6 hours ago, no_connection said:

I would not say quickly, but if you keep it running 24/7 for 5 years it does add up. You are only adding power from fans and a little from using dual psu, you are getting less performance per watt due to older generations but it's not that bad.

You might be looking at 80-150W depending on server vs maybe 50W. So at worst maybe 20-50$ a year if you do run it 24/7. I have no idea what you pay for electricity or cooling and if you only keep it for a year and sell it you might save more in price drop of a new system than electricity would cost. In a year you might even be editing in the cloud for all we know.

Used workstations should be plenty and cheap too if you find them.

What kind of servers have you found and for what cost?

haven t really find one as i am at begginning and i see lots of option..need to get oriented first

i see core 5660 seems most common, looks a good option, of course i mean 2x 5660

About the cost, i am willing toi pay no more than 350-400( and tyhen add a gtx card) for the whole system, otherwise if more i would go for ryzen 3600

[no_connection]

If you mean Xeon x5660 then you are looking at one to two generations too old. Even x5690 @ 3.47GHz does not keep up with Ryzen 3600.

[stefanocps]

10 hours ago, no_connection said:

If you mean Xeon x5660 then you are looking at one to two generations too old. Even x5690 @ 3.47GHz does not keep up with Ryzen 3600.

neither 2 of them together?what could be the cpu that  with of 2 of them can be same level with ryzen 3600?

[no_connection]

Depending on model E5-26xx or E5-24xx. Difference being socket and number of PCIe lanes. I have been looking a bit at E5-2650 v2 that should be decently compared against 2600 but with 8 cores and you can have two of them.

E5-2620 might be too slow with E3-2630 minimum entry depending on price. It's like E5-2650 but with 6 cores instead of 8. v2 have higher clock speed.

It is easy to find the subpar garbage CPU tho, like E5-2407 or E5-2609. Those two are common entry level CPU but ridiculously slow to the point where I have no idea why they where every made. Even the "modern" generation of the same CPU is worse than the old stuff.