Dell OptiPlex 7090 Ultra vs 3080 SFF

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#1
JAD  
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My computers are old. IT consultant has recommended either the Dell OptiPlex 7090 Ultra or the 3080 SFF. If anyone has any experience with these, I would love to receive some guidance.

The OptiPlex is almost twice the cost, but I keep my hardware for a long time, so that is not the most important thing.

I wonder of the OptiPlex is more of a PIA to fix. These old computers have been opened up and worked on many times, and I wonder if the process is as simple in the new design.

The never-ending humming of technology bugs me, and I wonder if one is quieter than the other.

I am going to call Dell tomorrow, but again, am curious about any experiences here. Thanks.
 

#2
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What's the specs on each?
Solid state HD?
16MB ram?
Processors?

I've had a number of optiplex towers and I've always been happy with them.
The small form factor never really seemed to be my speed.
 

#3
ATSMAN  
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I have a Dell Optiplex 1TB SSD, 16GB Memory, I5 CPU and it runs just fine with all my tax and accounting software. I do not run any graphics or game software on that computer.
 

#4
JAD  
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Thanks for the replies! Here are the details. One big question is if maintenance is more difficult on the OptiPlex 7090 Ultra, which is a completely different look.

The small form factor never really seemed to be my speed.

What do you mean? Why not? Does it have some sort of limitation? I need the extra space under my desk.

OptiPlex 7090 Ultra $1,907.27
11th Generation Intel Core i7-1185G7 (4-Core, 12MB Cache, up to 4.8GHz, 28W, vPro capable)
Windows 10 Pro English,
16GB (1x16GB) DDR4 non ECC memory
M.2 1TB PCIe NVMe Class 40 Solid State Drive
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201, Dual-band 2x2 802.11ax with MU-MIMO +
Bluetooth 5.1
Wireless Bracket for M.2
Wireless Driver, Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201
Dell Pro Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
USB-C to USB-C cable, 0.6m
Dell 24 USB-C Monitor – P2419HC
OptiPlex Ultra Height Adjustable Stand (Pro2) for 19"-27" displays
Waves Maxx Audio
Trusted Platform Module (Discrete TPM Enabled)
Intel vPro Technology Enabled
90 Watt A/C Adapter
ProSupport Next Business Day Onsite 3 Years
No Microsoft Office License Included – 30 day Trial Offer Only

OptiPlex 3080 SFF $1,019.30
M.2 512GB PCIe NVMe Class 35 Solid State Drive
16GB (1x16GB) DDR4 non ECC memory
10th Generation Intel Core i5-10400 (6-Core, 12MB Cache, 2.9GHz to 4.3GHz, 65W)
No Microsoft Office License Included – 30 day Trial Offer Only
Windows 10 Pro
Waves Maxx Audio
Dell Optical Mouse - MS116 (Black)
Dell KB216 Wired Keyboard English
No Wireless LAN Card (no WiFi enablement)
No Optical Disk Drive
Intel Integrated Graphics, Dell OptiPlex
OptiPlex 3080 Small Form Factor with 200W up to 85% efficient Power Supply (80Plus Bronze)
Support: Technical Support, 3 Years

Thanks!
 

#5
AlexCPA  
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Have you considered the Dell OptiPlex 7070 SFF Desktop Computer Intel Core i7-9700? It's currently selling for $1,249.00 on Amazon and seems to be the mid-way solution between the two options you mentioned. The "SFF" stands for "Small Form Factor" which really does provide a minimal footprint for a desktop tower. I already have two of these and would buy another without hesitation.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K6 ... uctDetails

Technical Details
Summary
Processor 3.2 GHz core_i7
RAM 16 GB DDR4
Memory Speed 2666 MHz
Hard Drive 1 TB 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD
Graphics Coprocessor Integrated Graphics
Card Description Integrated

Other Technical Details
Brand Dell
Series Optiplex 7060
Item model number OptiPlex 7070 SFF
Hardware Platform PC
Operating System Windows 10 Pro
Item Weight 13.47 pounds
Package Dimensions 19 x 15.4 x 10 inches
Processor Brand Intel
Processor Count 1
Computer Memory Type SDRAM
Flash Memory Size 1 TB
Hard Drive Interface PCIE x 4
Optical Drive Type DVD±RW
Power Source AC
Even more of my antics may be found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDitB ... sMwfO19h7A
 

#6
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It's industry standard to replace desktops after 5 years and laptops after 3 years.
The longer you run a machine the more chance you have for hardware failure and down time.
I stick with Dell business and usually will run a desktop for 5 years before formatting it and passing it along to reception.
This plan had worked great until this past tax season when my old tower had a hard drive failure.
It was caught early enough to salvage the data with only a few bad sectors, but it's a little life lesson.
Penny wise and pound foolish.

My opinion on the SFF, typically speaking the smaller things get the more they cost.
A prime example of this is a laptop with very similar specs to a desktop. The laptop used to cost 2x the price.
I am not sure if this is still true with the SFF towers, but I have always preferred a tower that I could add and expand, and easily get to things inside. If space is at that much of a premium for you, then perhaps the small form factor is worth considering.
I am currently running an Optiplex 7070, and prior to that I had an optiplex 9020 because that was the only dell tower that would support 3 monitors about 7 years ago, and before that was an optiplex 360..

Without pulling the benchmark data on those 2 processors, I would say both of those machines should be very capable to run anything an accountant would need. Besides the jump from i5 to i7, and the difference between the 512 and 1TB of SSD hard drive space, I'm not really seeing the huge price jump.
The first one does include a $300 monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse (I prefer wired personally)

Benchmarks
the i7 is ranked 424
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cp ... Hz&id=3793
the i5 is ranked 377
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cp ... Hz&id=3737

My current machine has a i7-9700 which ranks 344, 16MB ram and 250GB SSD - which is okay because I have a server enviroment.

The SFF seems to be cheaper and faster, but a smaller HD.
It appears you are not comparing apples to apples with the 2 sets of specs you provided.
 

#7
JAD  
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Thanks for responses - very helpful. I read everything, spoke w/ Dell, and am going w/ SFF.
 

#8
Beagle  
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I hope you went with a SSD. Had to work on my wife's computer for a few minutes and realizing the slow old spinning hard drives was a wakeup call.
 

#9
Benztax  
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Two things I would consider:

1. For system, SSD definitely much faster than physical drive. But Physical drive give signals before crashing, SSD would just stop working without a signal. So I would add a physical drive as a secondary drive to do regular backups.

2. Maybe consider paying a few hundred dollars purchase a DELL workstation instead of business desktop. workstations made to run longer hours and more stable.

Optiplex are great desktops, but I prefer workstations like Precisions with server CPU and ECC memory.

And SFF saving space but definitely slower and easier to get over heat than regular tower.
 

#10
Bob A  
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Love this discussion..... I'm running with an 8 year old Dell Server, it's been wonderful (knock on wood), we're considering a proactive rebuild, new hard drives, new power supply, new ram. Any comments or input on such a plan? ty
 

#11
JAD  
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I chose the OptiPlex 3080 SFF and so far I am really happy with my decision. I have two computers - one offline and one online - and the space savings under my desk is significant. Most importantly, it sounds like your equipment is as old as mine was. When the new IT consultant saw what I was working on, he was alarmed. He said computers need to be replaced every 5 years if you care about reliability. He said after that, your chances of a crash increase dramatically. I decided to make the change now rather than risk a crash during a deadline.

I was really dreading the change. It seems like changing to a new system is always such an ordeal. This transition went really well. I realized that in the past I have often upgraded the existing computer rather than just starting fresh. Maybe upgrading an existing system increases complexity of making everything work.

The cost of new equipment is pretty low - why would you do a rebuild rather than just put a whole new system in place?
 

#12
Bob A  
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Well, good question, my son-in-law is tech savy / engineer type, less money to rebuild but I'm concerned about whether or not it makes sense, he would do it, it would cost only the parts...... I'm on the fence. Looking to simplify too, maybe no server, trying to decide what to do for the next number number of years..........
 

#13
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In my experience, the main issue with rebuilding and updating is the motherboard and processor chipset are the main limiting factor. You are limited on RAM based on the MB, and if you are upgrading MB it's cheaper to just upgrade the whole machine.

Servers come with a whole different level of expense.
Desktop a good machine runs maybe 1200-1500 for good RAM, HD and processor size.
Server is $7000- based on the last server I bought a couple years ago.
 

#14
Bob A  
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My consideration relating to rebuilding my server or buying a new one vs buying a desktop has to do with viruses malware and cyber threats..... rightly or wrongly I just don't trust desktops. I'm simply concerned desktops are more vulnerable, at least that's what I've been lead to believe.
 

#15
Bob A  
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Here's what I did yesterday, for whatever's it's worth........ Purchased a new Dell Server T140 including Server 2019 software, Raid, 16gig ram, (2) 1TB drives for $1,750 (found a $300 Dell coupon). This will replace my Dell Server T110 purchased in 2012. with this purchase I can continue to use my desktops and just about any computer / laptop will do going forward. I'll continue to run cloud backups. My tax software runs on the server access by Remote Desk Top, my accounting clients data reside on the server. The server will be chained to the wall in a clean airconditioned security alarmed room. I can safely access from anywhere I have internet (fyi) perhaps someone will find this solution helpful. Thanks for input.
 

#16
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Just how tech oriented are you? Are you cloud based or local software installs and data?

My company utilizes laptops exclusively with docking stations and external monitors. I still have a full form factor PC sitting around that is quite powerful, but I really do not see myself using it again since I am at a point that I can keep a spare laptop around and have it ready for immediate use if one needs to be repaired.

Larger form factor desktops are easier and cheaper to repair, but laptops are a lot more convenient and they've proven quite reliable for me. Just something to consider.
 


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