Dell Optiplex 990

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

Design and Features
The Optiplex 990 is a standard sized minitower desktop, which means it has a decent amount of internal expansion space. It has the same sort of silver grey mesh 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 a problem. Getting into the case is as easy as lifting a lever?all the IT-serviceable components are tool-free. There's space for one more optical drive, 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 two 500GB hard drives linked in a RAID 1 (mirroring) array. This means that your PC is complete and stays functional, even if one of the hard drives physically fails. Hard drives all eventually fail, depending on use, and having a RAID 1 array is a way to make sure your critical tasks can't be stopped by hard drive failure.

The outside of the 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, and 10 USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately, there isn't a USB 3.0 port to be found, but then again both users and makers of enterprise-class machines don't embrace newer technologies right away. One thing that is missing in this high-end machine 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 desktop comes devoid of bloatware, which is a good thing. You don't want ads or trialware mucking up a business system. For example, it would be more than embarrassing if your competitors' ads popped up every time you started your browser. Like most Windows 7 desktops, the Optiplex 900 comes with Microsoft Office 2010 starter pre-installed, with an option to buy or enter a retail-bought code for the full version of Office. That doesn't count as bloatware, since the Starter version never expires, and business users have a need for Microsoft Office in any form.

Performance
The desktop is configurable with a range of components, from the entry-level Core i3 processor with integrated graphics, up to the Core i7-2600 with AMD Radeon HD 6450 video card 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 combine to give the desktop a measure of speed on the benchmark tests: The Optiplex 990 completed the Handbrake video test in 1 minute 51 seconds, the Photoshopc CS5 test 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 score on the PCMark Vantage test (1:56 Handbrake, 3:29 CS5, 8,141 PCMark Vantage). In fact, the Optiplex 900 is nipping at the heels of the ISV-certified HP Z210 Small Form Factor Workstation ($2,173 direct, 4 stars), which scored 1:32 on Handbrake, 3:04 on CS5, and 16,130 on PCMark Vantage. The Optiplex 900's SMB-oriented brother, the Dell Vostro 460 ($1,163 direct, 4 stars) also runs near the head of the pack, scoring 1:36 on Handbrake, 2:54 on CS5, and 10,286 on PCMark). The Optiplex 990 runs a little behind the Dell 460, likely because the extra overhead from the RAID 1 array slows performance (but that's okay since the RAID array's data integrity is worth a small performance hit).

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

The current Editor's Choice for business desktops is the HP Compaq 4000 Pro ($549 direct, 4.5 stars), and our EC for entry-level workstations is the HP Z210. The Optiplex 990 sits between these two poles in pricing and performance, but uncomfortably too close to the Z210 in pricing. True, the HP Compaq 4000 Pro and Dell Vostro 460 are categorized as clerical-level PCs, but as long as your users aren't calculating the national debt from 10,000 factors, they should be enough for mainline workers. The Z210 likewise is more suitable for the high-end graphics/engineering/scientific/financial users, where quick recalculations are expected.

Therein lies the rub: This high-end system has workstation aspirations, and a simpatico price, but low end workstations have moved down in terms of price and performance to the point that they are competitive with high-end business desktops. 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 makes perfect sense. But if you're just buying a few systems for an engineering department or a single unit for your proprietorship, then going higher (up to a low-end workstation) or lower (to a SMB system like the Vostro 460), respectively, makes more sense. The Dell Optiplex 990 is powerful, and eminently an enterprise PC.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Optiplex 990 with several other desktops side by side.

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