My Precision 3630 running 24.04. What to upgrade?
I just finished a RAM upgrade on my Dell Precision 3630, and I couldn't be happier with how this "old" workstation is holding up in 2026.
I’m running a bit of a specialized setup (I think...): an Intel Xeon E-2186G (the top-tier Coffee Lake Xeon) handling the display output, paired with a headless RTX card dedicated purely to CUDA workloads. To keep everything rock solid, I’m running a ZFS mirror for /home on two ssd's. / is on the NVMe stick. large data chunks go to a conventional hard drive. I'm running Kubuntu 24.04. And the latest addition brings me now to a comfortable 64GB.
Current Specs:
CPU: Intel Xeon E-2186G (6C/12T, 3.8GHz base / 4.7GHz boost)
RAM: 64GB Samsung DDR4-2666MHz CL19 (4x16GB)
GPU 1: Intel UHD Graphics P630 (Integrated - driving the displays)
GPU 2: NVIDIA RTX 3060 (12 GB - Headless for CUDA/Compute)
OS: Linux Kubuntu 24.04
Storage: / on NMVe using ext4, /home on two ssd's using a ZFS Mirror and large chuncks of data on a hard drive using ext4
I also added the large front fan, which makes it cool and quiet. I love the Dell build quality, accessbility and looks. It’s quiet, it’s unassuming, and it handles everything from heavy dev work to some AI training really without breaking a sweat.
My last machine I had for more than 10 years (military grade motherboard and all....). Now lets see how long this one will last me.
So, now... what should be my next upgrade on this nice piece of hardware?
