Dell OptiPlex SX280

Targeting the business market with a small-form-factor PC, the Dell OptiPlex SX280 takes up only about as much room as a college dictionary. You can outfit the unit with Windows 2000 or either flavor of Windows XP and choose from the latest Intel Pentium 4 CPUs, from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz. Of course, a small system such as this doesn't leave much room inside for gourmet multimedia options. Instead, the OptiPlex SX280 relies on the integrated graphics and audio in Intel's next-generation 915G chipset, which provides able performance that will serve the purposes of most businesses. At $1,781, the OptiPlex SX280 is a bit more expensive than some of its competitors, but the price includes a baseline three-year onsite warranty and Dell's outstanding overall support, as well as the assurance that you'll be able to handle most office tasks, now and in the foreseeable future.We certainly appreciate the aesthetic uniformity of the Dell OptiPlex SX280, since its monitor, its speakers, and its other peripheral components all share the same color scheme. The coolest thing about this corporate PC, though, is its flexible design. Measuring only 10.3 by 3.5 by 8.9 inches (HWD) and weighing just more than 10 pounds, the OptiPlex SX280 looks equally at home sitting on top of or under your desk. You can even maximize your desk space by mounting the unit behind the monitor on an optional stand. Just slide the PC into the clip, screw the unit into place, and voilà: a makeshift all-in-one PC. You can also spring for a cable cover ($7) that hides the unseemly tangle of cords protruding from the rear of the box and provides a modicum of protection against peripheral theft. However, the cover is a nightmare to attach, and you'll have to reattach it almost every time you want to add a component. The highly portable case also features a loop for attaching a security cable.



To measure application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's SysMark 2004, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop's performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver).

3D graphics and gaming performance
Business systems aren't generally designed with gaming in mind, but we were pleasantly surprised by the Dell OptiPlex SX280's graphics prowess. In the past, almost all integrated graphics chips made playing games unbearable, but the OptiPlex SX280 relies on the new Graphics Media Accelerator 900 chip that comes with the Intel's 915G chipset. With the new 3D chip, the OptiPlex SX280 was able to muster 51.2 frames per second (fps) on our low-end 1,024x768-resolution Unreal Tournament 2003 test, which is awfully close to the 60fps sweet spot. Still, even a virtually identical system with a low-end standalone graphics card, the Dell OptiPlex GX280 and its PCI-Express 64MB ATI Radeon X300, for example, can post higher frame rates, in this case edging the OptiPlex SX280 by six frames per second on the 10x7 Unreal test. This difference is not earth-shattering, but it illustrates the point that standalone graphics chips, even new and improved ones, are not the ideal solution for 3D gaming. You might be able to get away with some casual after-hours gaming on the OptiPlex SX280, but we wouldn't recommend trying anything challenging like Doom 3.



To measure 3D gaming performance, CNET Labs uses Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 2003, widely used as an industry-standard benchmark. We use Unreal to measure a desktop's performance with the DirectX 8.0 (DX8) interface at a 32-bit color depth and at a resolution of 1,024x768 and 1,600x1,200. Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are disabled during our 10x7 tests and are set to 4X and 8X respectively during our 16x12 tests. At this color depth and these resolutions, Unreal is an excellent way to compare the performance of low-end to high-end graphics subsystems. We report the results of Unreal's Flyby-Antalus test in frames per second (fps).

Performance analysis written by CNET Labs technician David Gussman.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:

Dell OptiPlex GX280
Windows XP Professional; 3.2GHz Intel P4 540; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; 64MB ATI X300 (PCIe); Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB Serial ATA 7,200rpm

Dell OptiPlex SX280
Windows XP Professional; 3.2GHz Intel P4 540; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB integrated Intel 915G (shared memory); Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB Serial ATA 7,200rpm

HP Compaq Business Desktop dc7100
Windows XP Professional; 3.2GHz Intel P4 540; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB integrated Intel 915G (shared memory); Seagate ST380013AS 80GB Serial ATA 7,200rpm

HP Pavilion a650e
Windows XP Professional; 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (Socket 754); Nvidia Nforce-3 chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB ATI Radeon 9800 (AGP); WDC WD2500BB-22FTA0 250GB 7,200rpm

Sony VAIO PCV-RS630G
Windows XP Home; 3.2GHz Intel P4; Intel 865PE chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB ATI Radeon 9200 (AGP); WDC WD2500BB-98FTA0 250GB 7,200rpmLike every OptiPlex desktop, the Dell OptiPlex SX280 is backed by a standard three-year, next-business-day onsite warranty, complete with 24/7 phone support. Dell's Web site also provides every imaginable support feature. You'll find full system documentation, a knowledge base of technical help, user forums, help with upgrades, tips and tricks, and even live chat with Dell support personnel. The live-chat support agents always seemed busy whenever we attempted to contact them during business hours, so it may be easier to try to get in touch with them during off-peak hours. Hide Review