Can a workstation be used to play video games? I'm not talking new FPS games, but like Steam games...

Can a workstation be used to play video games? I'm not talking new FPS games, but like Steam games. They're significantly cheaper than a computer designed for gaming, but they have severely limited compatibility with graphics cards, and the graphics cards they're compatible with don't seem the best for gaming, from what I keep hearing. But I'm not sure what that means, because everyone who's into "gaming" always seems to set the standard for what a computer can do based on whatever high-end FPS or open world sandbox crime game they want to play, whereas I have no interest in those kinds of games. I want to buy a relatively inexpensive computer, but I want the option to add a graphics card later if there's like an RTS or RPG I want to play (not an MMO, more like Diablo 3 maybe).

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You're being way too broad. What specific workstation are you talking about? The one in your picture takes regular graphics cards and could easily play any game just as well as a top of the line gaming system, if configured for it.

Not really. Because they all use Quadro cards. And there's only like six of those in existence.

They have free expansion slots. Nothing stopping you from installing a gaming GPU.
Also you can game on Quadro cards too, they just have very a bad price/performance ratio if used for that purpose.

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This can't be real. Please don't tell me you don't know you can change GPUs,

I was under the impression that workstations have limited space, so you had to select from a small number of graphics cards that would fit the box. Have I been misinformed?

I've seen some that were relatively cheap, but yeah that's another thing I keep hearing.

Workstations come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small, some are huge. Same as regular PCs.

mfw this thread

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"Workstations" are usually prebuilt PCs that are in most respects the same as any other PC. They might have a specialilzed GPU (Quadros) or ECC RAM, but they won't necessarily. It's as much a marketing term as anything else. And like any PC, they come in all different form factors.

The one I'm looking at is a Thinkstation P300. And it specifically lists a very small number of graphics cards in the recommendations. Are these just recommendations, or is this all that the computer can fit? Because it seems like the way it's been phrased that these are the only ones that would work. And every single workstation I've ever seen always has a Quadro card in it. Maybe they're just marketed that way, but I don't want to buy a cheap computer with the intention of upgrading it with a normal graphics card later and then find out that I can't fit one.

I'll have you know I'm actually a genius on other topics.

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Also, don't expect to save any money by buying a workstation. If you want a gaming PC, buy a cheap prebuilt or get someone to build one for you. It'll perform a lot better at games than some cheap workstation.

Yeah, not so much in my experience. It seems that a lot of gamers' idea of "cheap" is like $1,000.

So the P300 is actually not one model, but a line of models in different form factors. The smaller ones will only fit low profile video cards (or none at all for the smallest).

Technically the motherboard could be set up in such a way as to not accept other add in cards,
but the pcie connector is standardized.
I would actually be surprised if you cant put in a "cheap" gayming card.

Sure, but one of those is going to cost you a shitload more than just building your own. You'd be looking at something at least 4 years old before you see the price start to be worth it.

I think it was an ssf, but it didn't say.

Untrue. I roll out those Lenovo workstations at work and they'd be fine. The bigger models even have some really cool internal bracket systems that make swapouts even easier.

>ssf
Don't bother.

For 5-600 buckeroos you can pretty much play whatever at 1080p @ 60fps. You just need a 4-6 core CPU@3,7ghz+ and a GPU in the range of rx580/gtx1060.

That's because they're a lot more powerful than some entry level workstation. Compare the specs. Any cheap workstation is just going to be a cheap, low end PC.

Not if I buy a refurbished one. If you buy a refurbished workstation, you have options. I've never seen used gaming computers that had options. They're always just someone's old gaming computer and they come as is.

I could be wrong, because it looks like maybe a mini tower or something.

Oh boy, here's the part where I get yelled at for not being born rich and living with my parents who give me free money. I'm looking to spend about half that. And then if I want to add a graphics card later when I have more money, I want to have that option. That's why I'm going this route.

Yeah, but my problem is I'm sort of in the middle ground. I don't have any intention of playing high-end games. Just watching video, browsing the internet and playing stuff like Steam games. The most visually intense game I would have any intention of playing would be some Blizzard game. And I've already seen those played with the integrated graphics that come with the system that I'm looking at, albeit at lower settings.

> #
Was supposed to go with
>I could be wrong, because it looks like maybe a mini tower or something.

Don't listen to these niggers. You can get by on a cheap work station / Dell Optiplex fine. You can pick up a dirt cheap one on ebay and a second hand GPU all for a hundred / hundred and fity bucks if you want to run stuff like Diablo 3. Just don't buy a shitty SSF. Make sure you get a tower.

Nvidia gimps GTX/RTX and Quadro drivers for this very purpose.

Holy shit this thread. How can one user be this dense.

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Yeah, that's the problem. Almost all the computers that I have found in the price range I'm looking for are sff. And I'm pretty sure this one is too. Which explains why I saw so much talk about graphics cards possibly not fitting. I don't know why, but I didn't even think about the sff being the reason. I was just assuming it was the workstations the way they were built. BTW I've never seen any computers on eBay that cheap, except for mini PCs with like 32GB hard drives.

At my uni, we used workstations to set up CSGO and LOL tournaments, so it's possible.

Use auctions, filtered to ending soonest and put in your price range. Don't look at buy now prices. Stick to your price range and keep trying, you'll snap one up cheap with patience.

If you stick to the wider models with the horizontal drive bays you'll be able to add a fullsize graphics card. I'm seeing a bunch of those listed on ebay in the $250-$400 range. They have low end Xeon CPUs, but they actually perform a bit better than the currently recommended budget Ryzen CPUs for the price, making them an okay buy.

So I guess everyone pretty much agrees that a SFF is fucked when it comes to expanding with a graphics card basically?

If it's an SFF with no or low-profile only slots, then yeah, no GPU.

1TB HDD, gtx 1060, i5 9400f, H310M-D 16 GB RAM
450 USD build that will play anything. for you.

Can a thread be used to post retarded shit?

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>HDD
Why do people still do this?

Some only have half-height slots which limits you to entry-level cards or mid-tier cards with awful cooling.

>that case
Beautiful optical drive and beautiful 5.25 bay
I had to stock up on cases with at least 3 5.25 bays because most new cases don't even have one, even full size or super size ones don't have them. Minimalist in both appearance and functionality.

All of the people on tech forums that tell you workstations are incompatible or significantly worse at consumer/gaming applications are mostly just braindead retards parroting shit they heard other braindead retards parroting in the '90s and early 2000s when workstations were either SysV RISC machines or built around more specialized OpenGL-oriented graphics chipsets.

In 2019 they're pretty much the same, or far superior to a contemporary consumer/gaming desktop.

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