Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q vs M920q vs Dell OptiPlex Micro: Best Used SFF for a Homelab
ThinkCentre M720q vs M920q vs OptiPlex 7060 Micro for Proxmox: RAM ceilings, VT-d, NICs compared, and which one actually earns its price gap.
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If you landed here searching a specific model number instead of “used mini pc homelab,” you already know these three boxes exist. What you probably want to know is which one, and whether the price gap between them is worth paying. This isn’t another general roundup of used office PCs. It’s a straight answer to “M720q vs M920q vs OptiPlex, which one for Proxmox.”
For the broader used-hardware roundup with pricing tiers and buying sources, see Best Used Mini PCs for a Homelab Under $200. This piece goes one level deeper on three specific models.
The three machines, side by side
| Spec | ThinkCentre M720q | ThinkCentre M920q | OptiPlex 7060 Micro |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU generation | Intel 8th-gen T-series | Intel 9th-gen T-series | Intel 8th-gen T-series |
| Common CPU | i5-8500T (6C/6T) | i5-9500T (6C/6T) | i5-8500T (6C/6T) |
| RAM slots | 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM | 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM | 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM |
| Official RAM ceiling | 64GB | 64GB | 32GB (some BIOS revisions allow more, unconfirmed by Dell) |
| Storage | M.2 NVMe + 2.5” SATA | M.2 NVMe + 2.5” SATA | M.2 NVMe + 2.5” SATA |
| NIC | Intel I219-V (GbE) | Intel I219-V (GbE) | Realtek or Intel, depends on the batch |
| Typical used price | $80-110 | $100-140 | $65-95 |
All three are business off-lease machines built for the same job: sit under a desk running Windows for three to five years, then get liquidated in bulk. That’s exactly the profile that makes them good Proxmox hosts. They were built to run 24/7, they have real BIOS-level virtualization support, and IT departments don’t buy machines with flaky power delivery.
Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q: the reference point
The M720q is the one everyone else gets compared to, and for good reason. It’s the most documented used SFF machine in the homelab community, which matters more than it sounds. When something goes sideways with a BIOS setting or a fan curve, there’s already a forum thread about it.
The i5-8500T gives you six cores and six threads at a 35W TDP. That’s enough to run Proxmox with a handful of VMs and a stack of LXC containers without hitting a wall. Two RAM slots mean you can start cheap at 8GB and grow to 64GB later without replacing the board. The dual storage layout (M.2 NVMe plus a 2.5” SATA bay) lets you split your Proxmox boot drive from VM storage, which is a nicer setup than most consumer mini PCs offer at this price.
The Intel I219-V NIC is worth calling out specifically. It has clean, well-supported Linux drivers, which is not something you can say about every NIC on the used market. Realtek NICs generally work fine too, but Intel is the safer bet if you’re troubleshooting a flaky network stack at 11pm.
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920q: one generation newer, meaningfully pricier
The M920q swaps in a 9th-gen i5-9500T, which clocks a bit higher than the 8500T but shares the same six-core, six-thread layout and the same 35W TDP. In day-to-day Proxmox use, the difference between the two chips is not large. You’re not getting a different class of machine, you’re getting a modest clock bump for $20-40 more.
Where the M920q earns its premium is age. These units left corporate fleets later than the M720q generation, so you’re buying less accumulated wear for roughly the same failure-rate profile. If you’re buying used specifically to avoid a machine that’s already five years into its duty cycle, that’s a real, if modest, argument in the M920q’s favor.
My read on the trade-off: if you can find a well-priced M720q, buy that first and put the $20-40 difference toward RAM or an NVMe drive instead. The M920q makes more sense as a second or third node in a small cluster, where you might want slightly newer hardware anchoring the group, or if you’re specifically chasing the higher boost clock for a CPU-bound workload like light transcoding alongside your VMs.
Dell OptiPlex 7060 Micro: cheapest, with one real caveat
The 7060 Micro consistently undercuts both Lenovo models on price, often by $15-30. The internals are functionally comparable: same class of 8th-gen T-series CPU, same two-slot DDR4 layout, same dual-storage design.
The caveat is the RAM ceiling. Dell officially rates the 7060 Micro’s BIOS at 32GB across two slots, versus 64GB on both ThinkCentre models. Community reports of 64GB working on some BIOS revisions exist, but that’s not something Dell confirms, and BIOS behavior varies enough by unit batch that you shouldn’t buy expecting it. If your plan is a single-purpose Docker host running a dozen or so containers, 32GB is genuinely plenty and the savings are real. If you’re building a Proxmox node meant to carry several full VMs plus containers, the ThinkCentre’s confirmed 64GB ceiling removes a ceiling you might actually hit.
The other thing to watch is the NIC. Some 7060 Micro units ship with Realtek, others with Intel, depending on the batch and configuration ordered by the original corporate buyer. It’s not something you can always tell from a listing photo, so ask the seller directly if a specific NIC matters to your setup (it usually doesn’t for a straightforward Proxmox host, but it matters more if you’re planning to run this box as a router or firewall with OPNsense or pfSense).
What actually matters for Proxmox specifically
A few things separate “good for general homelab use” from “good for Proxmox” on these three machines:
- VT-x and VT-d support. All three support hardware virtualization out of the box on current BIOS versions. No hacks required. This wasn’t always guaranteed on older off-lease stock, so it’s worth confirming in a listing before buying, but it’s standard on this generation.
- RAM ceiling matters more here than on a Docker-only box. VMs reserve memory up front in a way containers don’t. If you’re planning more than two or three real VMs alongside your LXC containers, the ThinkCentre’s 64GB ceiling is the more future-proof choice.
- Dual storage lets you separate boot from VM storage, which is good practice regardless of model, and all three support it identically.
- BIOS password history. All three ship from corporate fleets, and corporate fleets set BIOS passwords. Confirm with the seller that it’s cleared, or budget time to clear it yourself; Lenovo’s process is more involved than Dell’s or HP’s, so ask before buying if you can’t verify it in the listing.
Which one should you buy
If you’re buying one machine to start a Proxmox homelab and don’t have a strong reason to prefer newer hardware, the M720q is still the default answer. It’s the cheapest of the three on average, the RAM ceiling matches the M920q, and the community documentation is the deepest.
If you’re specifically prioritizing lower accumulated wear and don’t mind paying $20-40 more, the M920q is a reasonable upgrade, though not a dramatic one.
If your workload is genuinely container-only and you’re confident you won’t push past 32GB of RAM, the OptiPlex 7060 Micro’s lower price is a legitimate reason to choose it. Just don’t buy it planning to grow into a multi-VM setup later; you may hit the ceiling you didn’t expect.
Upgrades worth budgeting for
Whichever model you land on, the same two upgrades apply. A Crucial 32GB DDR4 SO-DIMM Kit (2x16GB) runs around $35 and fits all three machines’ SO-DIMM slots, and gets you to a real Proxmox-with-VMs RAM budget instead of the 8GB most of these ship with. For storage, swapping in a 2TB NVMe like the Crucial P3 Plus as your boot-and-VM drive is a straightforward upgrade over whatever aging SATA SSD the machine shipped with from its corporate life.
Where to buy
Amazon Renewed and eBay Top Rated sellers are the two reliable channels for all three models; specific used listings churn too fast for a stable product link here, so search the model name plus the CPU (for example, “M720q i5-8500T”) directly on whichever platform you prefer. Amazon Renewed carries a 90-day return window, which is worth the small price premium over eBay if this is your first used-hardware purchase. See the used mini PC roundup for a fuller breakdown of buying sources and what to verify before you check out.
For the install itself, the Proxmox on a mini PC setup guide covers the actual installation steps once your hardware shows up, and the full hardware comparison is useful if you’re still deciding between a used SFF machine and a new N100 box.
The bottom line
These three machines are closer to each other than the model-number rabbit hole makes it feel. The M720q is the safe default. The M920q is a minor upgrade at a real price premium. The OptiPlex 7060 Micro is the budget pick with one RAM-ceiling caveat worth knowing before you buy. None of them is a wrong answer for a first Proxmox box; the right one just depends on whether you value price, RAM headroom, or slightly newer hardware most.