It's also just clearly a powerful and interesting tinkering project, which there are valid arguments for, but this can just chill out on your desk as an elegant general productivity machine. What it wouldn't do that the tinkering project could do is be upgraded, act as a powerful gaming pc, or cause migraines from constant fan noise.

The custom build would work great though, and even moreso in a server room and as well continues to reveal by comparison how excessively Apple prices it's components.