Dell OptiPlex 390 MT Core i3/4Gb Ram/500Gb harddisk

Description

Processor

The Dell OptiPlex 390 MT supports Gen2 Intel Core technology. Intel introduced their second generation micro architecture named Sandy Bridge in 2011. The maximum number of cores is 6 (on an i7 processor). Desktops use the 1155 LGA socket and DDR3-1066 RAM. The second generation of Intel Core is old but still sufficient for office, home tasks and retro gaming. If you plan to enjoy more recent games, a more recent CPU is required. CPUs often used with this model are Core i3 2100, Core i5 2500, and Core i7 2600.

Memory

A RAM slot (also called memory socket) is where RAM memory sticks are inserted into the computer. Most desktops will have two to four slots. This model has 2 RAM slots. It should be more than enough for most users. For those who need extra flexibility and RAM size you, go for 4 RAM slots and more.

Faster RAM speeds permit your processor to access the data stored in the RAM memory faster. This is important for the overall speed of your system. The motherboard of the Dell OptiPlex 390 MT supports RAM speeds of up to 1333 MT/s. In case you want faster RAM speeds, you will need to upgrade your system with a newer generation one.

Size of the RAM is another important parameter. It is important not to run out of RAM memory during everyday work. If this happens often, you may see significant drop in performance. For everyday work and light gaming we recommend 8GB of RAM. For everything else, go for 16GB and more. The Dell OptiPlex 390 MT supports a maximum of 8 GB of RAM.

Ports

Ports are something important that people should pay more attention to. For example, if you don’t have enough USB ports, using external devices becomes problematic. Before buying, considering your use case and plann for extension ports in advance.

The Dell OptiPlex 390 MT comes with 8 USB ports in total. Having more USB ports is always better, but also pay attention to the version of those USB ports. Higher version of USBs support faster transfer speeds. Unfortunately, this model doesn’t come with a USB 3.1 port. If you need a faster connection for your peripherals, like external Solid State Drive, you will need to choose another model.

DisplayPort (DP) is crucial for any desktop machine as it allows you to connect external monitors. It is unfortunate to see that the Dell OptiPlex 390 MT doesn’t have one. Check out the HDMI section and make sure that you are at least getting an HDMI port – a good substitution for the DP.

HDMI port is another digital video port which allows you to connect external monitors. It has very similar capabilities to the DisplayPort with few exceptions. It is nice to see that the Dell OptiPlex 390 MT comes with one. In case your monitor supports another interface, which this model doesn’t have, you can always use an adapter.

SATA slots are located on the system board and it is where HDD, SSD and Optical Disk Drives are connected. The Dell OptiPlex 390 MT comes with 265 SATA slot(s). Keep in mind that having too few SATA slots might restrict your options for connecting additional memory drives. Think about your use case and decide if the SATA slots provided by this model will be sufficient.

The M.2 SSD interface allows you to transfer data with higher speeds compared to the old SATA interface. Sometimes the M.2 interface will be 5 times faster or more. Unfortunately, the Dell OptiPlex 390 MT doesn’t come with one and you will need to rely on the good old SATA.

Side note: It is good if the available M.2 slots support the PCIe/NVMe interface. Sometimes the M.2 slot will only support the inferior SATA III interface. For comparison, the SATA III has max speeds of 6Gb/s, while the PCIe 3.0 x4 can go as high as 32Gb/s!