I have a gaming PC that’s been sitting around and have been thinking about finding ways to use it.

Specs:

  • CPU: i9 9900K
  • RAM: 64 GB DDR4
  • GPU: RX6700

My “homelab” - if you can even call it that - is pretty basic. I have:

  • RPi 4 running Pi-Hole and TeslaMate
  • Synology DS218 to backup phones and pcs

Should I repurpose my old gaming PC to a Proxmox machine and run everything off that 1 machine?

What else can/should I consider hosting?

  • Zeal514BEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Well… Thats a beast.

    Proxmox. Run multiple VMs. 2 VMs for ubuntu server, run all your containers through that, perhaps kubernetes? This way if your containers go down, they just switch over. Super nice.

    Than with all the extra resources… I mean, home lab for fun. Spin up windows server. Diff Linux distro. Learn arch, etc.

    • pivotpixelsBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      +1 for proxmox. He can also run a Hackintosh VM reliably since he got an AMD GPU.

  • RealestasteBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    It’s overkill for a proxmox server that will likely sit idle

    Use it as a streaming PC, buy a quick video capture card and use it to edit, stream and store footage while your main PC stays clean for larger games

  • paoloapBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Llama2 for self hosted text-to-speech, speech-to-text, Immich’s AI-powered photo recognition. Hardware transcoding for Jellyfin. These are two things that need a good GPU and might be cool in a self hosted environment imho

  • Accomplished-Lack721BEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    It can handle almost any service you might care to self-host - and with that much RAM, several at a time. You could run multiple VMs and still have breathing room.

    But a much less powerful box can also handle most self-hosted services well. If your existing Pi is doing the job, I wouldn’t switch. The 9900K will consume way more power, which is bad for the environment and your wallet.

    Maybe make it into a testing station. Or donate it to a nonprofit. Or sell it. Or turn it into a living room gaming station, playing light games natively and streaming AAA games from another machine with Steam Link or Moonlight (in sleep mode when it’s not in use?). Or give it to a family member. Or make it available to a neighbor via Freecycle/Buy Nothing/similar gifting networks.