Dell OptiPlex RGB Review

This is a complete but dated starter PC bundle for absolute beginners on a strict budget. It includes a tower, monitor, and peripherals for about $450. The 7-year-old CPU is a major bottleneck, but the GTX 1050 Ti and 16GB RAM can handle light 1080p gaming. Only buy this if you need everything at once and play older or esports titles.

Let's be real about this Dell gaming tower. It's a refurbished system built around a 7th-gen Intel Core i5-7500, which is a quad-core CPU from 2017. That puts it firmly in the 'budget starter PC' category. It comes with a GTX 1050 Ti, 16GB of RAM, and a combo of a small SSD and a 1TB hard drive. The whole package includes a 24-inch monitor and a keyboard and mouse, which is a nice touch if you're starting from zero.

This isn't for someone chasing the latest AAA titles at max settings. It's for the person who wants a complete, plug-and-play setup for light gaming, homework, or general home office use without breaking the bank. Think games like Fortnite, Minecraft, or older titles from a few years back. The fact that it's renewed means you're getting a significant discount, but you're also buying older tech.

What makes it interesting is the bundle. For around $450, you get the tower, monitor, and peripherals. That's a compelling price point for a complete starter kit. Our data shows it scores surprisingly well for reliability (76th percentile) and social proof, which suggests these refurbished units tend to hold up and buyers are generally satisfied with what they get for the money.

The numbers tell a clear story. That Intel Core i5-7500 lands in the 7th percentile for CPU performance in our database. That means it's slower than 93% of the desktop CPUs we track. In real terms, it's fine for web browsing, office apps, and light multitasking, but it will show its age quickly if you try to stream while gaming or run demanding software. The GPU, a GTX 1050 Ti, sits in a more respectable 46th percentile. It's an older card, but it can still handle 1080p gaming at low-to-medium settings in many modern games.

The storage setup is a classic bottleneck. With a 256GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, it scores in the 4th percentile. You'll want to install Windows and your most-used programs on the SSD for speed, but games and media will live on the slower hard drive. That means longer load times. The 16GB of RAM is a bright spot for the price, even if it's only in the 37th percentile. It's enough headroom for gaming and having a bunch of Chrome tabs open, which is more than you can say for many budget pre-builts.

At its current price of around $448, the value proposition is all about the bundle. You're not just buying a PC; you're buying an entire desktop setup. If you priced out similar new, entry-level components plus a monitor and peripherals, you'd easily spend several hundred dollars more.

However, that value comes with a big asterisk: performance per dollar on the internal components is low because the tech is so old. You're paying for convenience and completeness over raw power. Compared to building your own PC with modern, even entry-level parts, this Dell tower will feel sluggish. But for someone who wants no fuss and a single transaction, it's a hard price to beat for a working computer with a screen.

The closest competitors in spirit are other budget pre-builts, but this Dell is in a league of its own due to its age. A modern competitor like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i with a current-gen Intel Core i5 and an RTX 3050 will absolutely demolish it in gaming performance, but it also costs twice as much or more and doesn't include a monitor. That's the trade-off: modern performance versus an all-in-one budget kit.

Even compared to other renewed systems, this Dell's CPU is a standout weakness. You might find similar-priced refurbished PCs with 8th or 9th gen Intel CPUs, which would be a meaningful step up. The HP and Dell Alienware towers listed as competitors are in a completely different performance and price category; they're not direct rivals. This Dell exists in its own niche: the ultra-budget, complete-starter-pack niche.

Skip this PC if you have any serious ambitions for gaming, content creation, or productivity. The i5-7500 is a deal-breaker for streaming, video editing, 3D work, or playing CPU-heavy games. If you want a system that will feel fast for more than a year or two, this isn't it.

Also, skip it if you already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The value is in the bundle. For the same $450, you could put together a used parts list with a much more powerful CPU and GPU if you're willing to shop around and assemble it yourself. If you're not comfortable with that, look for a renewed or new pre-built that features at least a 10th-gen Intel or AMD Ryzen 3000-series CPU, even if it means spending a bit more for just the tower.

We can only recommend this Dell Gaming Tower to a very specific buyer: someone with a tight budget (around $450 total) who needs a complete desktop setup right now for very light gaming and general use, and who prioritizes convenience over future-proofing or high performance. It's a decent pick for a student's dorm room, a family's second PC, or a casual gamer who sticks to games like League of Legends, CS:GO, or titles from 5+ years ago.

For almost everyone else, we'd suggest saving up a bit more. If you can stretch your budget to $600-$700, you can build or find a pre-built with a modern CPU like an Intel Core i3-12100 or AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and a more capable GPU, which will be a dramatically better and longer-lasting investment. This Dell is a shortcut, not a foundation.