Lucky eBayer snags 128-core Intel server for $700 — HP server has 1TB RAM and 16 Xeon CPUs worth more than $4,000

Sixteen Xeons give this ageing HP C7000 enclosure a surprisingly dense processor count The 1TB DDR3 memory pool remains the biggest number in the listing Each blade adds eight cores and sixteen threads to the overall configuration A UK seller trading as NomadUK has listed a fully populated HP C7000 blade enclosure for £500 per blade, roughly $700 at current exchange rates.

The bundle includes sixteen BL460c G8 servers, each built around a single Intel Xeon E5-2660 processor with 8 cores, 12 threads, and a 2.20 GHz base clock under the Sandy Bridge-EP architecture.

Multiplied across the chassis, it delivers 128 physical cores and 256 logical threads, backed by 1024GB of DDR3 memory spread across 32 modules of 32GB each, running at speeds up to 1600MHz through registered DIMMs.

The hardware underneath the headline numbers The listing shows that each blade uses the Intel C600 series chipset paired with an HP Smart Array P220i controller, supporting RAID 0 and RAID 1 across two small-form-factor drive bays per unit.

Network connectivity runs through an integrated FlexibleLOM slot, typically populated with a 10Gb dual-port adapter capable of Flex-10 partitioning when paired with a Virtual Connect module in the enclosure's interconnect bays.

HP rates the C7000 chassis at 10U, built to house up to 16 half-height blades vertically alongside up to 8 interconnect bays and 6 hot-plug power supplies feeding a shared power backplane.

Each blade also ships with Integrated Lights-Out 4 for out-of-band management, giving remote access to power state, health telemetry, and virtual media independent of the host operating system.

Memory population follows a four-channel design per processor, meaning each blade's DIMM slots must be filled in matched pairs to maintain full bandwidth rather than dropping into single-channel mode.

Combined, the 16 blades, the enclosure, the storage controllers, and 1024GB of registered memory carry an estimated resale value above $4,000.

According to the seller, each blade “has been professionally refurbished and checked for functionality.” NomadUK carries 3,740 feedback entries with a 99.9% positive rating, though eBay does not independently audit refurbishment claims of this kind.

Why the economics still work for buyers A comparable listing surfaced in Canberra during February, where a Dell PowerEdge R820 with four Xeon E5-4650 processors and 1TB of DDR3L memory sold for close to $1,200.

That server used 32 modules of SK Hynix registered ECC memory at 32GB each, working out to roughly $1 per gigabyte at sale price.

Individual sticks of the identical HMT84GR7AMR4A-H9 part number were listed separately near $60 in the United States, meaning the memory alone nearly covered the asking price.