Dell XPS Tower Plus| Next Gen Tower | Review

The Dell XPS Tower Plus is a CPU powerhouse in a sleek case, but it completely lacks a graphics card. Its 20-core Intel Ultra 7 processor and 32GB of RAM make it a beast for coding, data analysis, and multitasking. At $1199, it's great value for pure computation work. Only buy this if you know you'll never need gaming or GPU acceleration.

The Dell XPS Tower Plus is a bit of a puzzle. It's got the name and chassis of a premium XPS desktop, but it's packed with a very specific set of parts that tell a clear story. This isn't your flashy gaming rig or a minimalist home PC. With its 20-core Intel Ultra 7 265 processor and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, this machine is built for one thing: chewing through serious multi-threaded workloads. It's a business and development workhorse in an XPS suit.

So who is this for? If you're a developer running virtual machines, a data analyst crunching large datasets, or a small business needing a reliable, powerful machine for design or CAD work, this tower makes a lot of sense. The CPU performance lands in the 86th percentile, which is genuinely impressive for the price. But you'll notice there's no dedicated graphics card. That's the big trade-off, and it defines everything about this system.

Think of it as a professional-grade engine in a sleek, familiar body. It comes with Windows 11 Pro, WiFi 7, and Thunderbolt 4, all of which are nice premium touches. The catch is that it's being sold as an 'upgraded' open-box unit, which explains the competitive price. You're getting pro-level CPU muscle, but you're on your own for graphics if you need them.

Let's talk about that muscle. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core beast, and its benchmark scores put it in the top 15% of all desktop CPUs we track. For tasks that can use all those cores—like video encoding, 3D rendering, or compiling code—this thing will fly. The 32GB of DDR5 RAM is also well above average, sitting in the 82nd percentile, so you won't be hitting memory limits anytime soon. It's a setup that laughs at having fifty Chrome tabs open while also running a demanding application.

Now, the other side of the coin. That integrated Intel UHD Graphics scores in the 24th percentile. In plain English, it's fine for driving two 4K monitors for spreadsheets and emails, but that's it. You cannot game on this. Even light gaming is off the table. The 1TB SSD is also just average (45th percentile), which feels a bit tight for a pro machine. So the performance story is a tale of two halves: elite CPU power for professional work, and bare-minimum graphics for everything else.

At $1199, the value proposition is sharp, but it's very niche. You're getting CPU and RAM specs that would normally push a pre-built system well over $1500. The catch is you're sacrificing graphics entirely. If you compare it to a similarly priced gaming PC from the competitor list, those will have a mid-range GPU but a much weaker CPU. So you're not getting a worse deal, you're getting a different one.

It's a great price for a pure computation engine. If your work lives in the CPU and RAM, this is a steal. If you need any graphical horsepower, even for casual gaming or GPU-accelerated apps, you'll need to add a graphics card, which means factoring in that extra cost and ensuring the 460W PSU can handle it.

This sits in a weird spot compared to its listed rivals. Take the HP Omen 45L or Alienware Aurora R16. Those are gaming desktops. For the same money, they'll give you a decent GPU like an RTX 4060 but a CPU that's maybe half as powerful in multi-core tasks. They're for playing games. The XPS Tower Plus is for compiling code or rendering scenes, not rendering frames.

A closer comparison might be a business-focused tower from Lenovo's ThinkStation line or HP's Z series, but those are often more expensive. The Legion Tower 5i is a hybrid, but again, it leans gaming. The real trade-off here is specialization. This Dell gives you max CPU for the budget and cuts graphics to zero. The competitors try to balance both, which means you get less CPU power. You have to know which side of that equation matters more to you.

Gamers, streamers, video editors, and 3D artists should look elsewhere immediately. The integrated Intel UHD Graphics is a hard barrier for any task requiring GPU acceleration. Even playing older or indie games will be a struggle. If your desktop use includes any form of entertainment or content creation that uses the GPU, this is the wrong machine.

Instead, check out those gaming-focused competitors like the HP Omen or a Lenovo Legion Tower. They balance a decent CPU with a dedicated graphics card. Also, if you're a very casual user who just needs web browsing and documents, this is overkill and you'd be paying for power you'll never use. A cheaper mini-PC or all-in-one would be a better fit. This Dell is a specialist tool, not a general-purpose one.

We'd recommend this Dell XPS Tower Plus wholeheartedly, but only to a specific audience. If you're a software developer, engineer running simulations, or a business user whose most demanding application is something like MATLAB, Visual Studio, or database software, this is a fantastic buy. The CPU power is exceptional for the price, and you get a quality, expandable tower chassis to build on later.

However, if 'desktop computer' makes you think of gaming, video editing, or 3D modeling, you should skip this. The integrated graphics will be a hard stop. Even for a general home office user who might want to play the occasional game, it's the wrong choice. For them, a balanced system with a mid-tier CPU and GPU is a better fit. This isn't a jack-of-all-trades; it's a master of one.