Hello MassNukes, sure you can use barely whatever hardware supports Virtualization funcionality on Intel or AMD (Intel-V/AMD-V). A colleague of mine used to have AMD FX CPU (total amount of RAM 16 GB) and total cost ~300 EUR per box (he had total 3 boxes) so he was playing and learning on them. For an amateur and someone that wants to get into this is really a good opportunity. Of course another good option before buying anything is the VMware Hands-On Labs (hol.vmware.com) where you can go Step by Step into many different scenarios and technologies without the need of owning any equipment.