Dell Optiplex 990
Rental/day 188.03yuan Rental/week 410.26yuan Rental/month 512.82yuan +17% VAT	Processor	Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHZ
	Memory	2G DDR3 1333
	Hard drive	SATA 500GB
	Media drive	DVD±RW
	Screen	19"WLCD
	Network interface	10/100/1000 Auto
	I/O	Vga-Out RJ45 All-in-one card reader

The DellOptiplex 990 ($1,905 direct) is an enterprise-class, high-end desktop PC. With its IntelCore i7-1600 processor and RAID 1 hard drive array, it's as high up as you cango in the business world without buying a full-blown workstation. It has a lotof enterprise features, like disk image compatibility, Intel vPro managementcomponents, an easy to service chassis, and physical security features. Ifyou're in the market for enterprise class PCs, the Optiplex 990 is a good fitfor your more demanding users.

Design andFeatures
The Optiplex 990 is a standard sized minitower desktop, which means it has adecent amount of internal expansion space. It has the same sort of silver greymesh motif that we've seen on other Optiplex systems like the Dell Optiplex 780 USFF ($1,484 direct,4 stars). It's a modern look, and will fit into most cube farms without aproblem. Getting into the case is as easy as lifting a lever—all theIT-serviceable components are tool-free. There's space for one more opticaldrive, two memory DIMMs, one PCI card, and one PCIe x16 card (electrically x4).The system's other install points are already filled. The Optiplex 990 has two500GB hard drives linked in a RAID 1 (mirroring) array. This means that your PCis complete and stays functional, even if one of the hard drives physicallyfails. Hard drives all eventually fail, depending on use, and having a RAID 1array is a way to make sure your critical tasks can't be stopped by hard drivefailure.

The outside ofthe unit is dotted with I/O ports, both legacy and current interfaces: PS/2(for old mice and keyboards), a pair of DisplayPorts, serial port, audio, and10 USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately, there isn't a USB 3.0 port to be found, butthen again both users and makers of enterprise-class machines don't embracenewer technologies right away. One thing that is missing in this high-endmachine is an eSATA port. Users that deal in a lot of data (databases,graphics, etc.) may have already transitioned to eSATA for fast storage.Multi-GB files take a lot less time to access when using eSATA or USB 3.0.

 

The desktopcomes devoid of bloatware, which is a good thing. You don't want ads ortrialware mucking up a business system. For example, it would be more thanembarrassing if your competitors' ads popped up every time you startedyour browser. Like most Windows 7 desktops, the Optiplex 900 comes withMicrosoft Office 2010 starter pre-installed, with an option to buy or enter aretail-bought code for the full version of Office. That doesn't count asbloatware, since the Starter version never expires, and business users have aneed for Microsoft Office in any form.

Performance
The desktop isconfigurable with a range of components, from the entry-level Core i3 processorwith integrated graphics, up to the Core i7-2600 with AMD Radeon HD 6450 videocard in our review unit. This desktop is configured as a power user's system,thanks to the CPU, graphics, RAID 1, and 8GB of RAM. These components combineto give the desktop a measure of speed on the benchmark tests: The Optiplex 990completed the Handbrake video test in 1 minute 51 seconds, the Photoshopc CS5test in 2:57, and got a very good 9,054 point score on the PCMark Vantage test.This is better than the Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Thunderbolt) ($1,199 list,4.5 stars), which took a bit longer on both timed tests and got a lower scoreon the PCMark Vantage test (1:56 Handbrake, 3:29 CS5, 8,141 PCMark Vantage). Infact, the Optiplex 900 is nipping at the heels of the ISV-certified HP Z210Small Form Factor Workstation ($2,173 direct, 4 stars), which scored 1:32 onHandbrake, 3:04 on CS5, and 16,130 on PCMark Vantage. The Optiplex 900'sSMB-oriented brother, the Dell Vostro 460 ($1,163 direct, 4 stars) also runsnear the head of the pack, scoring 1:36 on Handbrake, 2:54 on CS5, and 10,286on PCMark). The Optiplex 990 runs a little behind the Dell 460, likely becausethe extra overhead from the RAID 1 array slows performance (but that's okaysince the RAID array's data integrity is worth a small performance hit).

The Optiplex 990comes with an AMD Radeon HD 6450 graphics card, which helped a little withBlu-ray playback and some light 3D work. But you likely aren't paying yourworkers to play 3D games while on the clock. The Optiplex 990's Core i7-2600CPU has built-in graphics that are adequate for day-to-day use. The Radeon cardreturned significantly higher 3D test scores, but still far below the thresholdof a high-end graphics card. Unless you will be doing a lot of Blu-ray viewingor video editing, I'd recommend forgoing a discrete graphics card in favor ofthe built-in Intel HD Graphics; the Core i7-2600's built-in graphics are morethan enough for business tasks.

The current Editor's Choice for businessdesktops is the HP Compaq 4000 Pro ($549 direct, 4.5stars), and our EC for entry-level workstations is the HP Z210. The Optiplex990 sits between these two poles in pricing and performance, but uncomfortablytoo close to the Z210 in pricing. True, the HP Compaq 4000 Pro and Dell Vostro460 are categorized as clerical-level PCs, but as long as your users aren'tcalculating the national debt from 10,000 factors, they should be enough formainline workers. The Z210 likewise is more suitable for the high-endgraphics/engineering/scientific/financial users, where quick recalculations areexpected.

Thereinlies the rub: This high-end system has workstation aspirations, and a simpaticoprice, but low end workstations have moved down in terms of price andperformance to the point that they are competitive with high-end businessdesktops. If you need to keep your systems compatible with a general disk build(like if you're rolling out 1,000 or more systems), then the Optiplex 990 makesperfect sense. But if you're just buying a few systems for an engineering departmentor a single unit for your proprietorship, then going higher (up to a low-endworkstation) or lower (to a SMB system like the Vostro 460), respectively,makes more sense. The Dell Optiplex 990 is powerful, and eminently anenterprise PC.