[SOLVED] Do you think its worth upgrading this workstation to a gaming PC?

[mike0z]

I've asked this on different forums, and I've decided to also ask here. Basically, I found a workstation for 300$ (Dell T3610) which includes:

• Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2
• Nvidia Quadro K2000
• 16GB DDR3 Ram (ECC)
• 1T HDD
• 635 PSU

I plan on selling the Quadro and putting in a good GPU.
I've gotten many responses when asking, some people say that the CPU will do fine in games, while others say that the Xeons are terrible for gaming.
I want the PC to run games like Apex Legends, GTA 5 on 1080p.
So my questions are:
Do you think this xeon is good for gaming?
How does it compare to a CPU like ryzen 2600 or 3600?
Is it worth buying the workstation in your opinion?

 

[DSzymborski]

$300 isn't a particularly good price for an old refurbished workstation that's nearing a decade in age. It was a solid CPU, in the 3770k range, but I wouldn't recommend paying $300 for a 3770k build with a GPU that sells for $30-40 used either (and I had/have a 3770k).

These games will be playable, but you wouldn't be far from looking for another upgrade and the build is a complete dead-end for upgrades. You won't be able to re-use the motherboard, CPU, or RAM in your next upgrade and you won't want to re-use the case or the power supply.

 

[tennis2]

I would have to agree. Priced a bit high for what it is.

 

[DeauteratedDog]

I'm going to go along with the crowd. If if was free (scavenged/liberated) or close to it, then it would be a fine base for a low-end gaming machine, but for $300 - probably not.

 

[julienruc]

If it were about 200$ I could maybe recommend it since the quad-core XEON CPU will be able to somewhat be able to provide decent performance for gaming.

Now I know this isn't 300$ but for another 10%, you can get a very good modern machine. Please have a look and let me know what you think:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3200G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($91.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.98 @ Amazon)
Memory: OLOy WarHawk RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($62.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA SU635 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Deepcool MATREXX 30 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($38.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $341.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-03-11 09:20 EDT-0400

You can then find a used RX 570 4GB for well under 100$ and you'll have a 400$ gaming PC that will be able to run GTA V on high settings at 60fps.

 

[tennis2]

Yeah, I was around $400 for a Ryzen 2600 system, 2x8GB RAM, mobo, case, 240GB SSD, PSU, and no OS. That's a modern mid-range system.

I agree that the closer to $200-250 you get, the better it looks. Especially if it [presumably] comes with a Windows license. Also, since the PSU is 635W (with at least a 6-pin PCIe cable shown below), it probably doesn't need to be replaced (which is probably a good thing, because the pictures make it look like a non-standard shape), so you only need to add whatever dGPU you want and you're off to the races.

 

[86zx]

They are good systems very stable and you can put in a Xeon 2650 v2 8core cpu in it. It won’t be amazing at gaming but you can still get minimum 60fps on any game maxed out as long as the gpu can handle it. Games and programs that use more cores will run better due to having a higher core count. I would say 300 is fairly standard for those but if you really try to shop and spend a week or two shopping you can probably find one for 200 or so