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Originally Posted by Gregg Bell
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That's basically the one I'm thinking of upgrading to -- well, actually, one that's slightly older (Optiplex 755) but with almost the same specs. I've already got a hard drive and don't need Windows 7, so mine will cost me about $50 locally.
Taking a closer look -- the one you're thinking of getting also has a DVDRW in it (I think I have to pay a bit extra for that) and a year warranty. With Windows 7 Pro -- which costs somewhere around $100 on its own -- it's a good deal. (And I almost forgot the 1 TB hard drive -- really good deal.)
I like the design of this box (I think Dell still uses this design, but it looks a little different now). A big open screen on the front and back so air is pulled directly through case over CPU. The design allows the big fan to run slowly, so it makes very little noise. And, except for the front grill, it hardly collects any dust at all. All my kids and my wife have variations of this model.
If you're thinking of using it as a game machine at any point be aware of two things. The power supply is really not sufficient for most high powered video cards and it uses the PCIe card slot, which limits your choice of video cards. The Radeon Silent HD 5450 works well for the kids -- for my wife (and potentially me) there is no need to add a video card. The built-on Intel video port would be all I would need.