It's been about a month since our new Dell Optiplex 740 SFF desktop computer arrived at the office, and I thought that a couple of comments would be worth mentioning about it. First of all, this computer was bought solely based on its energy-saving, quiet operation and small form factor features. Optiplex 740 was also the only computer we could find with the aforementioned features that could be custom-built with the hardware parts we wanted.
Its performance is average, being a little slower than the machine it replaced - which was a P4 Celeron 3.0, failing repeatedly with blue screens (indicating some unspecified hardware error) that we did not have the time or zest to pursue further. We opted for the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 processor (one model above the standard AMD supplied). There were other choices for a faster processor (the list of available ones by Dell goes up to the 5200 model), but we did not care so much to make it faster, since it would only be used for office work which does not require any significant processing power. Now, for the important part: the computer IS small (well, not like the Mini-ITX-based ones, but still small). Its energy saving features did not really need any test - they are up to the task. But what we greatly appreciated was its noise level (or lack thereof). The Optiplex 740 IS quiet. Even operating for several hours under a non-airconditioned room with a cruel ambient temperature of 34 dergees C, nothing could be heard. No fan sound. Only the SATA disk would sometimes make a spin that was detectable, but that's not a Dell part. It is amazing. All-in-all, we had a very pleasant experience with this machine up to now. It peformed as expected with no big initial cost.
Actually, I was so impressed with this one, that our next office PC will be the Dell Optiplex 745 Ultra Small Form Factor - but this time fully loaded, as it is going to be used as a server and not as a desktop. Stay tuned, we are waiting for a mid- to late-September arrival and then we will see how small this one is!