These Dell Gaming Desktops keep coming up and continue to represent fantastic value in a time when the price of RAM and Graphics Cards are inflated. I want to put all the deals and discussion together on one page so the OzBargain community can find all the answers regarding these units in the one place. This will allow this one post to be updated every time ebay has their 20% off sale, instead of having several smaller posts every couple of weeks and having fragmented discussion and people asking the same questions. Credit to all the OPs who have helped me put this together will be listed below.
DEALS:
(Sorted in order of what I consider to be best value at the top to the worst value at the bottom)
Inspiron - Intel
1: Dell Inspiron 5680 - i7-8700, 16GB, 256GB + 1TB, GTX 1070 8GB $1,719.20
- Intel® Core™ i7 8700 (6-Core/12-Thread, 12MB Cache, up to 4.6GHz Boost)
- 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 256GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Storage)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5
2: Dell Inspiron 5680 - i5-8400, 8GB, 1TB, GTX 1060 6GB $999.20
- Intel® Core™ i5 8400 (6-Core/6-Thread, 9MB Cache, up to 4GHz Boost)
- 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Boot)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
3: Dell Inspiron 5680 - i5-8400, 8GB, 128GB + 1TB, GTX 1060 6GB $1,119.20
- Intel® Core™ i5 8400 (6-Core/6-Thread, 9MB Cache, up to 4GHz Boost)
- 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 128GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Boot)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
4: Dell Inspiron 5680 - i7-8700, 16GB, 128GB + 2TB, GTX 1060 6GB $1,519.20
- Intel® Core™ i7 8700 (6-Core/12-Thread, 12MB Cache, up to 4.6GHz Boost)
- 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 128GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Storage)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
XPS - Intel
5: Dell XPS 8930 - i7-8700, 16GB, 256GB + 2TB, GTX 1070 8GB $1,799.20
- Intel® Core™ i7 8700 (6-Core/12-Thread, 12MB Cache, up to 4.6GHz Boost)
- 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 at 2666MHz
- 256GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Storage)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5
6: Dell XPS 8930 - i7-8700, 16GB, 256GB + 2TB, GTX 1060 6GB $1,679.20
- Intel® Core™ i7 8700 (6-Core/12-Thread, 12MB Cache, up to 4.6GHz Boost)
- 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 at 2666MHz
- 256GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Storage)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
Inspiron - Ryzen
7: Dell Inspiron 5675 - R7-1700X, 8GB, 256GB + 1TB, RX 580 8GB $1,519.20
- AMD Ryzen™ 7 1700X (8-Core/16-Thread, 20MB Cache, 3.4GHz up to 3.8GHz Boost)
- 8GB DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 256GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Storage)
- AMD Radeon™ RX 580 with 8GB GDDR5
8: Dell Inspiron 5675 - R5-1400X, 8GB, 128GB + 1TB, RX 570 4GB $1,159.20
- AMD Ryzen™ 5 1400X (4-Core/8-Thread, 10MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz Boost)
- 8GB DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 128GB M.2 SATA SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Storage)
- AMD Radeon™ RX 570 with 4GB GDDR5
Special Mention
This is not a gaming desktop, but just a solid budget PC that has been my go-to whenever a family member asks for a new computer for emails and web browsing, and under $500 its decent value.
9: Dell Inspiron 3268 Small Desktop - G4560, 4GB, 1TB, $479.20
- Intel® Pentium® G4560 (2-Core/4-Thread, 3MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz)
- 4GB DDR4 at 2400MHz
- 1TB 7200RPM SATA HDD 6Gb/s (Boot)
- Intel HD 610 Integrated Graphics
All models (except the special mention above) come with the following:
- Windows 10 Home (64bit) English
- 460W Power Supply
- 802.11ac WiFi - Dual Band 2.4&5GHz + Bluetooth 4.1
- Killer E2400 Ethernet and Killer 1535 AC WiFi (XPS Models only)
- Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
- Dell Mouse and Keyboard
- Front Ports:
- 1x Audio Combo Jack (Inspiron Models) // 1x Mic-in and 1x Headphone Jack (XPS Models)
- 1x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C™ 5Gb/s
- 1x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A 5Gb/s (Inspiron Intel Models) // 2x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A 5Gb/s (Inspiron Ryzen Models) // 3x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A 5Gb/s (XPS Models)
- 2x USB 2.0 (Inspiron Models Only)
- 1x SD Card Reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC) (XPS & Ryzen Models only)
- Rear Ports:
- 4x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A 5Gb/s (Inspiron Models) // 3x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A 5Gb/s (XPS Models)
- 1x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A 10Gb/s (XPS Models Only)
- 1x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C 10Gb/s (XPS Models Only)
- 2x USB 2.0
- 1x RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet Port
- 1x HDMI Port (XPS Models Only)
- 1x Full Size DisplayPort
- 4x Audio Ports [Mic in, Front L/R Surround Line out, Rear L/R Surround, Center/Sub] (Inspiron Models) // 3x Audio Ports [5.1 channel Surround] (XPS Models)
- What appears to be a SPDIF Optical Audio out jack, shown in pics but not in the specs, anyone confirm? (Inspiron Models only)
- Graphics Card Ports
- 1x HDMI 2.0
- 1x DVI
- 3x Display Port
- Internal Ports:
- 4x Memory Slots supporting up to 64GB DDR4 RAM at 2400MHz for Inspiron and 2666MHz for XPS Models
- 4x SATA 6Gb/s ports (one taken by Optical Drive)(None of which share resources with the m.2 slot(s)) To be confirmed
- 1 M.2 Slot with SATA & NVME support (except Ryzen models which have 2 M.2 Slots - one with NVME support and not sure about the other. I am also unsure if XPS models' m.2 slot has NVME support) To be confirmed
- 1x PCIe16x, 1x PCIe4x, 2x PCIe1x (Except Ryzen Models which have 2x PCIe1x and 2x PCIe16x running at 8x speed)
- 1 Year Warranty (In Home service after remote diagnosis for Inspiron Models, Premium onsite service for XPS models)
Price Comparison
All prices are from eBay's current 20% off sale, and are the cheapest option that best match the Dell unit in option 1.
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($393.60 @ Futu online)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B360M HD3 mATX Motherboard Intel LGA1151 DDR4 M.2 USB 3.1 DVI HDMI ($119.20 @ Futu)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 2X8GB DDR4 2400MHz C14 ($238.40 @ Futu)
SSD: WD Green 240GB M.2 SATA Solid State Drive ($91.60 @ JW Computers)
HDD: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.20 @ Shopping Express)
GPU: Galax nVidia GeForce GTX 1070 EX 8GB GDDR5 Gaming Graphics Video Card HDMI DP ($647.20 @ Futu)
PSU: Corsair VS450 450W 80PLUS PSU Power Supply ($51.20 @ PC Byte)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H17 Window Micro ATX ($63.20 @ PC Byte)
Total: $1,661.60 a saving of $57.60
Doesn't Include:
Windows 10 Home: $142.20
DVDRW Drive $20
Build Fee with OS & Driver Installation: $100
USB3.1 Type-C port
If you are looking at building using my list above as a guide, I have a couple recommendations:
PSU - Never cheap out on a power supply. I recommend the EVGA SuperNOVA Series G3 550 Modular 550W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply for $136.80. Its pricey, but the 7 year warranty is nice.
Also the SSD i would upgrade to a Samsung 960 EVO 250GB M.2 NVMe SSD for $135.20.
The case is personal preference, there were a few at that price range on ebay, otherwise check out your local PC shop, may be even cheaper for something nicer since they don't have to pay delivery.
With those 2 changes you would have a very good, long lasting, well balanced, reliable gaming computer for only $1,790.80 delivered.
FAQs
Q: Is it worth the extra $80 to get the top XPS model over the top Inspiron model?
A: Maybe - The XPS has double the HDD storage and slightly higher clocked RAM, as well as Killer branded networking and front SD card slot. It has premium on site warranty and a more sleek less gamery case design, and apparently runs quieter. It also has the faster USB3.0 Gen 2 10Gb/s slots. This combined is probably worth the extra $80
Q: Since it is shipped from outside Australia, does it attract import fees?
A: No.
Q: It has a long delivery estimate. Does it really take that long?
A: Usually its pretty quick and around the earlier part of the delivery estimate range at 2-3 weeks for most people. But it has been longer for others so YMMV.
Q: Prebuilts suck, can't you build something yourself with the same specs for cheaper?
A: Not if you include Windows. Every custom build costing I have seen has been more expensive than the equivalent Dell prebuilt. This is unlikely to change until RAM and GPU prices settle down. However if you can get windows free/cheap and can build it yourself then you can get the equivalent specs for cheaper, and have the added benefits of better, more reliable parts and a longer warranty.
Q: Is it wise to buy this now with GTX 11xx series graphics cards and new Ryzen chips coming out.
A: Maybe. These represent good value now. I don't think the new cards and chips are bringing anything too significant to the table except greater speed. If your needs match, then jump on board. If you want to pay more for future proofing and can wait then wait for an updated model.
Q: Damn! It's out of stock. Have I missed out?
A: No. Often they get restocked before the sale is over, so keep an eye on the listing. If not, the next 20% off ebay sale is usually just around the corner!
Q: Can I overclock the CPU/RAM?
A: No. The BIOS is locked down by Dell and doesn't support XMP Profiles.
Q: I got the model without an SSD and want to upgrade it with an m.2 SSD. What do you recommend.
A: I recommend a Samsung 960 EVO. These have a great reputation, and good value. However if you are upgrading from a HDD then any SSD will give you a drastic improvement, while an upgrade from SATA SSD to NVME SSD will only be a minor improvement.
Q: I went to install an m.2 SSD but there is no m.2 screw. Help!
A: These work. Select M2*4mm -25PCS for $1 Delivered from China
Q: Can I upgrade the graphics card to a 1080/1080ti?
A: No, not without upgrading the 460W PSU as well.
Credits
Credit to the following people who have posted these as deals in the past few months:
stuhtb, OldBugger, RogueWolf, foos, Balabink, scottySK, arctan.
Big credit to Dinjay for his forum post on the Ryzen model with upgrade advice and general info. Check it out here.
Here's a photo of the inside of the Inspiron Intel model from canusich. And some more photos of the internals, m.2 location, GPU ports, and m.2 speed test from Twitchy.
I hope this post helps everyone, I'll try keep on top of it and update it as we go. Let me know if I've made any mistakes.
Oh and don't forget 1% Cashrewards!
Original PLUGNPLAY 20% off Selected Sellers on eBay Deal Post
Great post… thanks!
Already have a Win 10 Pro license. How would I upgrade the supplied Win 10 Home?