are there any older ex-office mini PCs like the elitedesk, optiplex, thinkstation, etc models that can fit a 3.5" drive? Not looking for anything new and thus expensive, just want some old junker (6/7/8th gen Intel) that can host some light stuff. thanks
Thing is - “mini” PCs old enough to have 3.5 slots are probably way too old to have decent CPUs.
The micro/tiny form factor PCs generally only have space for a 2.5" drive, while the SFF/desktop size PCs can fit at least one 3.5" drive.
Dell, 8th Gen Intel with one 3.5" drive bay: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/optiplex-7060-sff/opti_7060_sff_setup_specs_manual/storage?guid=guid-4eab9a0b-c403-4bcd-b692-9419bddfed24&lang=en-us
Lenovo, should have one 3.5" drive bay: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/desktops/thinkcentre/m-series-sff/thinkcentre-m920s/11tc1mdm92s?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&srsltid=AfmBOorJ_EUW-QYIIIGy3i7ZJbitPq8UWoxdoQxtM_BNabrKcNojn7WL#tech_specs
yeah, those are too big. was hoping to score an ITX-sized abandonware for cheap and retrofit it with a 10 TB or so drive. I had this thing many moons ago:
it could fit a drive, with some wiggling and swearing. so I figured maybe something similar exists. building it from new parts is way, way out of budget.
edit: this is how it ran for close to a year.
just want some old junker (6/7/8th gen Intel)
You probably have to go back further than that for a 3.5" sff pc. Look on woot though, they have such refurbs all the time. Or scrounge a mini tower.
There’s a few companies selling a very plasticky mini-pc that also has 2x 3.5" slots. Trialling it now for a homebuilt Nas, so far impressed. Worst problem is that the bigger drives can be noisy.
Aoostar in the US I think.
Why 3.5" drive? (Just curious).
I’ve found prices aren’t necessarily any better at that size.
they are widely available and cheap.
Tons. Go look for refurb units from any of the big manufacturers, but I doubt you’ll get them at steal prices. Have a look at the Minisforum larger format models that are more updated and $250-400. They can fit that and more. The MS-01 is a gem.
