does this make economic sense

[Ken Wood]

I have a very nice PC box that I want to upgrade for use as a FreeNAS 10 server. Buying the upgrade component parts adds up to around $550. I can buy a refurbished Lenovo desktop with a Intel i5, 1T HD and 8GB DDRIII and the rest of components for $265 from NewEgg.com.
Why would I not do something like this?

 

[gpsguy]

It lacks ECC support.

One can buy some budget servers - even new (in the US) for about the same cost. Search the forums and limit the timeframe to the past couple of months.

 

[religiouslyconfused]

You can buy a cheap HP i3 box for 199.99 at Tiger Direct and that would have ECC support.