Best Dell Optiplex for gaming.

[carsonbrommerich]

Hello, I have a gtx 1050 (that doesn't require a power cord) and I am wondering what is the best delll optiplex to put that in to make it a pretty good budget gaming pc. I will mostly be playing fortnite so it doesn't have to be the most powerful one. Thanks

 

[COLGeek]

What is your budget? You looking for new, used, or refurbished? Local or order on-line?

Also, keep in mind that an Optiplex is not a gaming rig. These, built like tank models, are business-class office machines.

Some of them have limited support for video cards due to limited PCIe wattage provided to PCIe slots. They can also have low wattage PSUs.

Just keep these factors in minds when folks make recommendations.

 

[carsonbrommerich]

Definitely used, I can do local or online, my budget right now is not the highest, I'm talking $50-$100. Even if it only has 4gb ram or a low hard drive capacity. That is fine becuae 1. I have my own 500gb hard drive, and 2. Once I get more money I can always upgrade the ram.

 

[william p]

If you go to userbenchmark.com you can enter the name of any Optiplex that interests you and see what CPUs are being used, and a performance ranking.
Almost all Optiplexes have a 95W CPU limit. The newer ones get more performance out of that 95W than older ones.
The Mini Tower versions are the only ones that support full height GPUs, and aftermarket PSUs.
Up to the Optiplex 380,780,980 models they were BTX format. The Zotac GTX1050(Ti) Mini is the only 1050 that fits.
Many newer Optis have a proprietary 8 pin connector instead of the 24 pin ATX MB connector. There are adapters for this. Due to the 95W CPU limit they stilll use the 4 pin CPU connector and almost never have a 6 pin PCIe cable on the PSU.
The PSUs are quality parts and the seemingly small power rating is due to the 95W CPU, and the small number of expansion slots and bays they need to run. They're designed to power every slot, bay and CPU that's available. Parts like GPU,RAM, and SSD can be moved forward to your next computer.

 

[The Paladin]

OptiPlex 7020 but stay away from the SFF case. I am running one with 4790K + 1060 and its a great gaming box.
note I did upgrade the PSU to a 750W and got a 24 to 8 pin cable converter to get the board to run. with it.

all depends on your budget but a 7020 motherboard can be had for 30-40$ (yes I have mine in a NXZT S340 Case

 

[william p]

Since you haven't bought one yet you might take a look at the Dell T3500 workstations.
X58 chipset, LGA1366 CPUs, and triple channel DDR3 RAM. Very expandable, and overclockable also.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/dell-workstation-owners-club.243124/#post-3830958
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/
For a small step up in budget you could get a huge increase in power. Of course if the money isn't there, it isn't there. There are more important things than playing with computers.

 

[COLGeek]

You should look at what models are listed on Craigslist in your area and then run those by us.

As stated earlier, look for mini tower variants. Also look at the Precision workstations.