Last time we reviewed a beast of a laptop – the Dell Precision 3541 workstation laptop. That laptop was an absolute pleasure to review and if you are interested, you can check it out at the above link.

However, as convenient and portable as laptops are, they come with their fair share of problems. Issues like:

• Fragility
• Repair limitations
• Hardware upgrade constrictions
• Higher cost per performance unit
• Limited customizability

That’s why this time we will introduce you to the other side of the portability spectrum with the Dell OptiPlex 7010 Desktop. That’s right folks, welcome to desktop land!

If you are not sure whether desktops are you, check out all these advantages desktops can offer you:

• Cheaper
• More resilient
• Easier to upgrade and change hardware
• Can accommodate multiple storages
• Bigger Screen Sizes
• Ideal for gaming
• Easy to repair
• Suitable for both organizations and individuals

I could go on and on. So without further ado, let’s look at the Dell OptiPlex 7010!

What is the Dell OptiPlex 7010?

Dell’s OptiPlex range of desktops is solidly built and intended to provide you, the customer, with unquestionable reliability, endurance, and performance. So it shouldn’t surprise you if I only sing praises about this OptiPlex 7010.

To begin with, the Dell OptiPlex 7010 is an affordable desktop that was designed for both small and large businesses or organizations. This doesn’t mean to say it’s not suitable for individual buyers. In fact, that could not be more false. The OptiPlex 7010 offers business-class security, performance, and connectivity that shouldn’t be only enjoyed by businesses.

If you are a home user, you too can get to experience these high-value perks for a very reasonable price!

The OptiPlex 7010 desktop has a minimal energy footprint and is certified by both ENERGY STAR® and Blue Angel.

So you can rest assured that by buying this machine, you are also doing your part to help conserve our planet. Plus, it also helps that it will save you some money on your bills.

Here is a summary of our Dell OptiPlex 7010 specifications:

Processor: Intel Core i5 3rd Gen 3470 ~ 3.2 GHz, max 3.6 GHz

Power Supply Unit: Dell 275W DDR3 1600 MHz (CPU max speed)

RAM: 8 GB

Storage: 1 TB Seagate HDD

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro

Graphics:  ZOTAC GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti Mini

As you can see from the above specs, the OptiPlex 7010 is not that surprising or powerful. However, you have to know that between a desktop and a laptop with similar specs, the desktop will always outperform the laptop. If you also consider that there is a difference in their prices of over $200 between the similarly powerful machines, you most likely will choose the desktop.

Performance

Let’s talk performance.

Although the OptiPlex 7010 is decently powerful, it is not a gaming laptop or a desktop designed for maximum power output. If you specifically need a desktop that can handle resource-demanding applications or the latest games, then this machine is not for you.

This desktop was designed for the office. It’s made to smoothly run almost any programs your business needs to be productive. It can run your office programs, your accounting software, even some high-level software without any complaint. In fact, it does so beautifully!

Now that you know all this, it’s time for the good news. If you are strapped for cash and can’t afford a more powerful desktop, this desktop might fill in the gap nicely. We thought we would test it out as a gamer’s or creator’s alternative by running some games on it.

Before testing, we matched the OptiPlex 7010 with a ZOTAC GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti Mini graphics card which is near the maximum GPU you can install without upgrading the power supply. We also equipped it with an additional 250 GB Samsung SSD.

Without overclocking anything, I installed and enjoyed playing Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA V) at a 1080p setting/resolution. The visuals were crispy and more fluid than I expected. My software was registering an average frame rate above 60 fps. If that doesn’t impress you, I don’t know what will.

Computer Case Sizes

The OptiPlex 7010 comes in a variety of sizes. You can find it in:

• Ultra Small Form Factor (U-SFF)
• Small Form Factor (SFF)
• Mini-Tower, Etc.

In my opinion, if you are going to buy this desktop, you might as well buy the model with a larger and more spacious computer case size. By doing so, you will undoubtedly reap benefits in the long run.

First of all, a larger case will allow you to upgrade your current hardware with bulkier, newer, and more powerful hardware, e.g., graphics card.

Not only this, a roomier case boasts much-improved airflow and heat dissipation than a more compact case. Good airflow ensures the long life of your desktop’s delicate components like the CPU.

For example, a Mini-Tower (MT) is superior to a Small Form Factor (SFF) in these areas:

• It has better airflow.
• It has space for specialized cooling gear.
• It can accommodate larger and more powerful hardware.
• It has more HDD/SSD connectors than an SFF. Therefore, you can install more storage capacity.
• An MT can accommodate full-size cards due to its full-size PCIe slots.
• An MT has a standard full-size ATX power supply unit (PSU). Therefore, you can power more powerful stuff with it.

Dell OptiPlex 7010 Motherboard Specs

The Dell OptiPlex 7010’s motherboard varies together with the size of its computer case size. As previously mentioned in case sizes, bigger is always better. A larger motherboard not only has more connections but also leaves more room for customizations to be done.

So if you are looking for a reliable desktop that won’t quit on you when you need it most. Pick the 7010, especially in its largest size. Doing so means you can perform upgrades easily because you have space and the ports/connections.

If you buy a small case size, such as a small form factor, knowing that you will upgrade your hardware in the future – sorry in advance.

A smaller case size can only hold a small motherboard like an mITX motherboard, only larger cases like Mini-Towers can contain a larger motherboard like an mATX, ATX, or eATX.

Additionally, because smaller cases don’t have a lot of room, you will need to transfer the SFF motherboard to another case before you can carry out any meaningful upgrades.

Here lies the problem, the Dell OptiPlex 7010 SFF motherboard is a proprietary one that won’t fit in standard off-the-shelf computer cases. To fit it inside standard cases, you will need to do a lot of rewiring, cutting, soldering, and drilling to make it fit – which is beyond most people.

In short, buy a bigger case with a larger motherboard and save yourself the unnecessary hassle.

Dell OptiPlex 7010 Graphics Card(GPU)

By default, the desktop comes with an average graphics card that is enough to perform all your office tasks in peace. As I said before, when you buy this desktop, you are purchasing reliability, security, and top-notch business performance.

If you really need to extract all the juice out of the 7010, your only course is to make some upgrades. For example, swap the default Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 2500/4000 graphics card with a specialist graphics card like the GTX 1050 Ti Mini. As you can see from my experience above, it was worth it!

Is it worth buying the Dell OptiPlex 7010 in 2021?

The short answer is Yes. Although the Dell Optiplex 7010 Desktop Computer is not the best desktop on the market, it still excels magnificently at what it does. And that is productivity work. It’s an ideal, low-budget desktop for any organization or individual looking to get some serious work done for very little money.

It’s reliable, secure, stable, and can easily be linked to a larger IT network meaning that you will cut expenses on IT setups and maintenance. Overall the IT support experience will be pleasant and highly efficient with technologies like;

• Dell Data Protection and Trusted Platform Module for Organizational Data Security.
• Top-Notch Hardware Sustainability and Management with Dell ProSupport™ and Dell Deployment Services.
• Business-Class IT control with Processor remote out-of-band management and Dell’s remote BIOS management.

So yes, indeed. The Dell OptiPlex 7010 is still very much worth buying in 2021!

Thanks for reading.

You can check out the full specifications from Dell below.

Dell Optiplex 7010 Specs

Dell Optiplex 7010 Video card Video Card

• Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 2500/4000 (3rd generation Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs);
• Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 2000/3000 (2nd generation Core i3 CPUs);
• Integrated Intel® HD Graphics (Celeron®/Pentium® Dual Core CPU);
• Optional discrete 1GB AMD RADEON HD 7570;
• Optional discrete 1GB AMD RADEON HD 7470

Memory

1. Up to 4 DIMM slots (2 for USFF); Non-ECC dual-channel 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, up to 16GB

Hard Drive

• 3.5” Hard Drives: up to 1TB 7200 RPM SATA;
• 2.5” Hard Drives: up to 500GB 7200 RPM SATA; 500GB Hybrid; 320GB 7200 RPM Opal SED, 128GB Solid State Drive;
• Supports Dell’s Flexible Computing Solution diskless option

Ports

1. 4 External USB 3.0 ports (2 front, 2 rear) and 6 External USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear, except USFF – 4 rear only)
2. 2 Internal USB 2.0 (MT/DT only);
3. 1 RJ-45;
4. 1 Serial;
5. 1 VGA;
6. 2 DisplayPort;
7. 2 PS/2 (MT/DT/SFF only);
8. 2 Line-in (stereo/microphone),
9. 2 Line-out (headphone/speaker),
10. optional Parallel/Serial port support (MT/DT/SFF only),
11. optional 1394a PCI card (MT/DT only)

Optical Drive

1. DVD+/-RW; DVD-ROM;
2. Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader (MT & DT only)

Regulatory

1. Environmental Standards (eco-labels):
2. ENERGY STAR 5.2, EPEAT Registered17,
3. CECP,
4. WEEE,
5. Japan Energy Law,
6. South Korea E-standby,
7. South Korea Eco-label (for DT/SFF/USFF only),
8. EU RoHS,
9. China RoHS

Other Environmental Options:

Carbon Off-set; Asset Resale and Recovery Service

Dell Optiplex 7010 manual

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