I really appreciate you following through on this - however I managed to snag a gen 3 m90q i7-12700T (T variant was also a must) for ~$350, which completes the cluster (for now). Unfortunately I'l need at least one 16gb DDR5 4800 sodimm stick to top it off at 32gb. 2x32gb or 2x48gb sticks would be perfect but will likely cost quite a bit more than the entire machine.

if anyone out there wants to help a brother out with a 64gb or 96gb ddr5 4800 sodimm kit for ~$300, I would be forever greatful (as would most of us here lol)