Don’t forget that a single core on a modern CPU might be 4x faster and use 4x less power than an old xeon. Old server gear is cheap because it’s slow and costs heaps to run - make sure to budget for ongoing costs too.

I reduced my servers power consumption from $5 a day to $1 by replacing 2 2667v2 machines with a single i5 12500 machine… And it’s significantly faster. My servers main use was Plex and at $150~ a month to run it was cheaper to be subscribed to Netflix, Disney, Stan, binge etc every month vs leaving the old gear on.

One of the best things I did for my homelab is swap from 2 120w Xeon servers to a single Intel 12400 machine. Went from $4-5 of power a day to $1-$1.50.