Small, Quiet, and Cheap Server Ideas

[lazyfortress]

Skylake-based Xeons tend to be cheap, even the scalables. What isn't cheap are the motherboards. I'm trying to build my own "modern" server, something that is better than my 2011 Mac Mini Server, but staying under $150 seems like an immense task. Absolutely zero mini-ITX Xeon motherboards are under $100.

Any ideas for a solution? I've been looking at edge servers, none of which are even under $200. I need something that I can practice using Windows Server 2016+ on, and something that is small enough and quiet enough to keep in my dorm room. I'll probably use an enterprise-grade SSD to keep the noise down, I don't want any 10K RPM drives within a 20 foot radius of me.

Thank you for any assistance!

[Borris70]

i use an 6 years old Lenovo Thinkpad T490 for my testlab.

At the moment with ESXi, maybe i switch to proxmox. Most important is sufficient RAM, not the cpu. So this notebook has 40GB RAM, CPU is Intel Core i7-8565U and a 2TB SSD

Advantages: Integrated USV (=Notebook battery), integrated display and keyboard, portable and most important: very quiet.

On this system are 15 different servers and client VMs. You can let run 5-6 VMs at the same time without performance problems

I got this notebook for free from my company because it was "end of support"

[ClydeCarrington]

If you're troubleshooting MOSFET failures in high-voltage circuits, STP20NM60FP could be a solid option due to its low on-resistance and high dv/dt capability. It performs well in switching applications where efficiency and reliability are key. Proper heat dissipation and gate drive considerations are crucial to avoid premature failures.

[wren4777]

If you're talking about Xeon E3 v5/v6, most consumer motherboards can very easily have their BIOS modded to run xeons.

[ApostolCV]

/to lazyfortress, D you think about some LGA 2011-3 v3 boards?
SOme original like HP Z440. Or Chinese . MicroATX.
With CPU like 2630L v4 u can use any low profile cooler and use SFX PSU.
Such sustem will use a low power and can be quiet.