jbclem :
Bambiboom, that's about the best answer I've ever received. It's got me looking for later Optiplexes that are faster, using DDR3 memory. And I've been thinking about an SSD for a while so that makes sense. But since I'm not very familiar with the scoring system(s), I don't know if the higher number is always better. Where did you find that information, is there a website or do you have software that allows you to run these comparisons?
Another computer I'm looking at now is an Optiplex 980, i5-650(1st gen) 3.2gHz. I'd like to see how it compares.
jbclem,
The Dell Optiplex line is interesting as they meander along a line of being above average build quality, but ultimately ordinary and forgettable for the performance enthusiast, especially the small form factor and even some of the mid-tower ones- the 755 for example- in which the CPU shroud prevents gamers from having any fun with big overclocked GTX's and the power supplies often meet their limit.
It's lucky though that very good performing GPU's like the GTX 750 Ti are smaller use less power , and are affordable since the later Optiplex that can use 2nd Generation i5 and i7 can really move pixels at a low cost.
There are a number of benchmark tests, but the one I find the most useful is Passmark Performance Test as the baselines have thousands and thousand of systems' test results posted. Since the major components- CPU / operating clock speed, motherboard, GPU drive, amount of RAM are listed and have the associated score. The results are comparative and weighted in a particular way that I think is supposed to describe the system as the performance level is experienced. This is not a completely perfect configuration, but the very lows scores reveal hardware problems and simply poor selection and very high scores tell at a glance the hardware that gets the best performance from that motherboard, CPU, GPU, drive, and etc.
A demonstration:
Advanced Search: >"Other_Model = Optiplex 980 /Date & Sorting = Sort by Rating descending"
There are 133 Optiplex 980's tested. The sorting is by the Rating descending so the the first baseline is the top overall rated 980:
Rating: 3404
CPU:
10582 (i7-4790 @ 4.0GHz)
2D: 989 (Radeon R5 240)
3D: 702
Mem: 2668 (16GB)
Disk:
4439 (Samsung 850 PRO 256GB)
Already we can see that a 4th generation i7 gets though a lot of cycles /sec and Samsung 850 Pro is a very good SSD. Remember that the disk controller is SATA II 3GB/s so the 850 Pro performance is restricted.
I do what I call a "jump test" with these baselines. By cycling through the test parameters by the top rating, I watch to see where the top rated system moves in the list and this reveal the weighting of each parameter. I know from experience that, the results of the top-rated system that the 3D score is very low- and if I filter by 3D, the top system becomes No. 27. But the CPU and disk are also heavily weighted, so by CPU, the system is No.1 and by disk No.2.
The second step is to see what hardware makes the highest score in each parameter on an Optiplex 980:
Rating: 3404 (i7-4790)
CPU:
10582 (i7-4790 @ 4.0GHz)
2D: 989 (Radeon R5 240)
3D: 3995 (GTX 750 Ti)
Mem: 2668 (16GB)
Disk: 5556 (Intel Raid 0 volume) (Software RAID 0 , actual SSD's unknown)
The lesson here is that the compact, power efficient and relatively inexpensive GTX 750 Ti does very well in a 980. That would be an appropriate, proportional cost to the value of the system too.
As you are considering an Optiplex 980 with an i5-650, a search with the i5-650 as CPU:
33 systems tested:
Top rated Optiplex 980 / i5-650:
Rating: 2306
CPU: 3350
2D: 495 (GTX 750 Ti)
3D: 3655 (GTX 750 Ti)
Mem: 1268 (16GB)
Disk: 2681 (Samsung 850 EVO 250GB)
A theme develops: GTX 750 Ti and Samsung 850.
OK, so the top performance in each parameter:
Rating: 2306
CPU: 3487
2D: 607 (GeForce GT 610)
3D: 3655 (GTX 750 Ti)
Mem: 1486 (16GB)
Disk: 2681 (Samsung 850 EVO 250GB)
This is further demonstration of the weighting as the 3D and disk scores are from the top-rated system and the CPU score is second.
I would say that the i5- 650 is not a very impressive performer though which prompts a search filtered by CPU. However, we know that the CPU score can be as high as 10582. From experience I would suggest at least a 5000 CPU score.
The top five CPU scores:
I7-4790: 10581
i7-2600: 8654
i5-2400: 6215
i7-860: 6165
i7-870: 5902
- and the i7-870 takes the next 16 places, then several i7-860's
A quick check on Ebay shows:
I7-4790: $90 to $125
i7-2600 costs from $100 to $170
i5-2400: $35 to $60
i7-860: $30-50
So, you might shop for a system with one of those according to your budget.
There are no completed listing with I7-4790 or I7-2600, but:
Dell Optiplex 980 Intel Core i7-870 2.93GHz Desktop 4GB 250GB HDD > sold for $157 free shipping
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-980-Intel-Core-i7-870-2-93GHz-Desktop-4GB-250GB-HDD-V2094-/361447126295?hash=item5427ed7517%3Ag%3AqokAAOSwnH1Wadhn&nma=true&si=AlyssDgLHsNBdlG65kXbvCJ48%252BE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
-and so on, many choices.
Another tactic:
Dell Optiplex 980 Barebone Desktop PC Windows 7 COA | Add your i7 CPU | RAM | HD > sold for $40 + $12 shipping
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-980-Barebone-Desktop-PC-Windows-7-COA-Add-your-i7-CPU-RAM-HD-/301804365704?hash=item4644f12788%3Ag%3ARIUAAOSweuxWT24b&nma=true&si=AlyssDgLHsNBdlG65kXbvCJ48%252BE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
And you can choose the CPU , RAM, GPU, and drives. The cost may be a bit more in total, but the combination can be done according to the test results for each component. Make sure that the system has a COA so you can reload and activate Windows without buying a new copy.
With this method, an hour of research and shopping can produce a very good system at a very reasonable price.
Cheers,
BambiBoom
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram