Dell Precision Tower 2018, Core i5-9500, 16GB, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, GTX 1660 SUPER, Black

The GTX 1660 SUPER lands in the 71st percentile for GPU performance, making this a solid 1080p gaming machine for older titles. Port selection is a standout at the 91st percentile with 10 USB-A ports, USB-C, DisplayPort, and HDMI. But the i5-9500 CPU ranks in the 33rd percentile and the 128GB SSD is tiny, so keep expectations in check.

The GTX 1660 SUPER with 6GB of VRAM is the star of this show, landing in the 71st percentile for GPU performance. That's a solid showing for a card that's a few generations old now. It'll handle 1080p gaming on medium settings in most titles without breaking a sweat, and esports games like Valorant or CS2 will run great. The 6GB of VRAM is the limiting factor for newer AAA games, but for the price point, it's a reasonable trade-off.

The Intel Core i5-9500 is a 6-core chip with a 3.0GHz base clock and up to 4.40GHz Turbo Boost. That 9MB of Smart Cache helps with responsiveness, but the 33rd percentile CPU ranking tells the real story. It's a mid-range processor from 2019, and it shows in multi-threaded workloads. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM is adequate for most tasks, though the 32nd percentile ranking means it's on the lower end of what we see in this category. For gaming and everyday multitasking, it's fine. For video editing or heavy productivity, you'll want more.

Stacked against the competition, this Dell Precision Tower is a budget option in a field of heavy hitters. The Apple Mac Studio M3 Ultra and Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS are in a completely different league, with far newer silicon and dramatically higher performance ceilings. The HP OMEN GT16-0364 and MSI Aegis ZS2 A9NVP-1407US both offer newer CPUs and GPUs that'll run circles around the i5-9500 and GTX 1660 SUPER in modern titles. The CLX SET TGMSETRTU5204BM is another step up in gaming performance. Where this Dell wins is price and port selection. If you need a cheap machine with tons of USB ports and a dedicated GPU for light gaming, it's a contender. If you want to play anything released in the last two years at high settings, look elsewhere.

Pricing isn't listed for this refurbished unit, which makes value a bit of a guessing game. But the specs tell a story: a 9th Gen i5, GTX 1660 SUPER, 16GB RAM, and a dual-drive setup is a budget-friendly combo that'll handle 1080p gaming and everyday work without complaint. The 90-day warranty is shorter than we'd like for a refurb, but that's common in this space. If you can snag this for a few hundred bucks, it's a reasonable deal. Just don't expect it to keep up with newer mid-range builds.

The Dell Precision Tower is a refurbished mid-tower that leans on a 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9500 and a GTX 1660 SUPER to get the job done. Our database puts its gaming score at 60.7 out of 100, with an overall score of 58.9. That's not going to set any records, but it's honest about what it is: a budget-friendly workhorse with a dedicated GPU and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. The port selection is the real surprise here, ranking in the 91st percentile, which means you'll have no trouble plugging in a pile of peripherals. But the compact score of 22.7 tells you this thing is a chunky 13.61kg box, so clear some desk space.

The storage setup is a mixed bag. You get a 128GB SSD for Windows 11 Pro and quick boot times, plus a 1TB HDD for your game library and files. That SSD is small by today's standards, and our storage percentile sits at 48, which is about average. The CPU and RAM rankings are the weak spots, landing in the 33rd and 32nd percentiles respectively. For everyday computing and older titles, it'll feel fine. For anything modern and demanding, you'll feel the age of that i5-9500.

If you're planning to play modern AAA games at high settings or do any serious video editing, this isn't the machine for you. The i5-9500's 33rd percentile CPU ranking and the 32nd percentile RAM score mean it'll choke on demanding workloads. The 128GB SSD is also a real limitation, and the 22.7 compact score means you'll need a lot of desk space for a 13.61kg tower. Anyone looking for a future-proof build should save up for something with a newer CPU and more storage.

The Dell Precision Tower is a refurbished budget build that knows its lane and stays in it. The GTX 1660 SUPER and 16GB of RAM make it a capable 1080p machine for older titles and esports, and the port selection is genuinely impressive. But the aging i5-9500 and small SSD hold it back, and the 90-day warranty is a reminder that this is a refurb, not a new machine. If you can find it at a low price and your expectations are set accordingly, it's a solid pick for a first gaming PC or a home office workhorse with light gaming on the side.