Hi all,

I am willing to get a mini pc for setting up my first home server!
I currently use VPSs for some applications and now it is type to start bothering my wifi with additional devices at home ;)

My goals are:

• Proxmox for running a few VMs
• Wanna play around and learn about: VPN, ip tables and secutiry, bucket storage with MinIO
• If I change my mind, I will try to setup a NAS with 2 drives for family photos
• I will install new HDs, since I am not that confident on using used was...

I have the following options with very similar price:

1. Lenovo m900 mini / i5 6500T 2.5GHz / 22gb ram
2. Dell OptiPlex 3040 / i5 6th gen (further details not provided) / 12GB RAM
3. Dell Optiplex 3050 / i5 7500 2.7GHz / 8GB ram

My questions are:

• Should I prioritize i5 7th gen and new device over higher ram? I have seen people recommending nothing below intel 8th gen and others saying that 7th gen has significantly better performance than 6th gen.
• I am tending to go with the 22gb ram, but this maybe not even needed for my applications. How should I evaluate the required ram?
• Is there any significant difference among the devices or additional details that I should care about?

All comments and critics are appreciated!