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Older Workstation versus New Consumer Desktop

I presently have an old Dell T3500 workstation with an Intel W3670 6 core cpu. I am considering upgrading.

I have available a 6 year old Lenovo D30 workstation with dual Intel E5-2670 v2 10 core cpu and Nvidia K2000 card, 128 SSD, 1T HD, for under $400.

Also available is a new HP Pavilion TG01-2260xt Intel Core i5-11400, 256GB SSD+500GB HDD, 8GB RAM WifiBT with on cpu graphics, at under $500.

The PassMark scores for the dual E5-2670 v2 are 1574 and 19,870 … turbo mode estimate would be 2100 and 24,000. PassMark scores for the single i5 11400 are 3047 and 17,146 … turbo mode estimate would be 5000 and 22,000.

My dilemma … although I have a general understanding of tech, I am not savvy about the relative long-term value of an old high-end Lenovo workstation compared to a new HP consumer product.

I run some multi-thread rendering occasionally on a hobby level only. I am mostly concerned about equipment reliability and power.

Help, your insights please !!!

Topic

5 years.

In reply to Older Workstation versus New Consumer Desktop

It’s been well accepted that PC lifetimes are about 5 years so if you want reliable then you don’t look at PCs that old.

It’s that simple.

However if you can get it for free or very cheap, why not use it till it fails?

Old vs new

In reply to 5 years.

Thanks for your response.
I may be misinformed, but I thought I read that enterprise workstations like the Lenovo D30 were built to go 20 plus years. So much for my ignorance.
Thanks again.

They use the same parts that has short lifespans.

In reply to Old vs new

The primary components I see fail are Electrolytic Capacitors and batteries. Batteries you can replace but those caps? Few techs can handle that repair. Once the caps go you see all sorts of issues from crashes to outright failures.

That said, sure you can find some that go for many years but the odds are not in our favor.

Again, at over 5 years old I expect this to be free or very cheap. Think a few hundred USD tops.

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