Dell OptiPlex 9020-T, Core i7-4770, 16GB, 2TB HDD, Black

An old Dell Optiplex with a decent amount of RAM and a lot of slow storage. The CPU is a real weak point, but for under $200, it's a functional Windows 10 Pro box for basic tasks. Just plan on adding an SSD yourself.

The Core i7-4770 is the biggest bottleneck here. At the 13th percentile overall, it's old silicon that single-core performance falls behind even modern budget CPUs. The 16GB of DDR3 RAM comes in at the 33rd percentile, which is enough for keeping Chrome tabs open but the slow speed holds it back. Oddly, the integrated GPU lands in the 96th percentile. That's not because it's fast, it's because most desktops in our database simply don't ship with GPUs this weak, so it technically outranks them for having any video output at all. The 2TB HDD at the 81st percentile gives you a lot of gigabytes for the price, but a spinning hard drive as your boot disk in 2024 will make Windows 10 feel like you're wading through mud. If you buy this, budget for a cheap SATA SSD immediately.

Stacked against something like the Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus, the Dell gets absolutely obliterated in performance and power efficiency, but it also costs a fraction of the price and gives you way more storage out of the box. The HP OmniDesk and Lenovo IdeaCentre models are modern budget towers that will run circles around this Optiplex in CPU speed and often include an SSD, but you'll pay at least double for one. The Apple Mac Studio M2 Max is in a completely different universe of performance and price. If you need a computer just to check email and run Office, the Dell is the cheapest way in. If you need to do any real work, skip straight to a modern mini PC.

For $197, the value proposition depends entirely on your willingness to spend another $20 on a small SATA SSD. The 2TB hard drive is a nice bonus for bulk storage, but using it as your boot drive is a miserable experience. The 16GB of RAM and Core i7 are useful for a basic home office PC, but you're buying very old technology that has no real upgrade path. If you just need a cheap Windows box for web browsing, document editing, or running a home server, the price is right. Just know that you're buying the bottom of the barrel in terms of raw CPU power.

This is a refurbished Dell Optiplex 9020 from Haswell era, and the specs make that really clear. You're getting an Intel Core i7-4770 and 16GB of DDR3 RAM, which was a solid combo back in 2013. The 2TB hard drive gives you plenty of cheap storage, but the lack of an SSD will drag the entire experience down hard. For under $200, it's a cheap way to get a Windows 10 Pro tower, just don't expect a modern or snappy machine.

Dell's business desktops are built like tanks, and the 9020 has aged surprisingly well in terms of build quality and repairability. With 6 USB-A ports, 2 USB-C, DisplayPort, and Ethernet, the connectivity is actually better than some budget PCs sold today. But that integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 means gaming is a complete no-go, and even basic photo editing will feel sluggish. This box is for spreadsheets, web browsing, and maybe acting as a cheap Plex server, not much more.

If you need a snappy daily driver for work or school, skip this entirely. The lack of an SSD and a CPU this old means even loading web pages will feel frustrating compared to any modern machine. Gamers and content creators should not even consider this, the integrated graphics are useless for any modern title. If you can stretch your budget to around $350 or $400, you'll get a vastly better experience from a refurbished business PC with an 8th-gen or newer Intel chip.

This is a cheap, slow PC for people who know exactly what they're getting into. It's not a hidden gem for gaming, and it won't feel fast out of the box. But if you slap in an SSD and use it as a dedicated office machine or a home server, it's a functional Windows 10 Pro tower for under $200. Perfect for a spare PC for the kids or a back-office machine that just needs to run QuickBooks.