# Dell OptiPlex

21 Hacker News commenters recommended Dell OptiPlex and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Cheap used Optiplex desktops offer Core i5 and i7 power for self-hosting and Linux. Critics say they draw more power than ARM boards.

## Why people recommend it

- Cheap used units with good specs (7 comments): "You can buy a lightly used Dell Optiplex with 8gb RAM for like $40 which will cover all your self hosting needs today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46417467)) "I bought a couple of these in that price range that not only worked, but had a GPU of some kind" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49577525)) "The other day I got a used optiplex for $20, it had 2TB hdd, 265gb ssd, 16gb, and corei7." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47873360))
- Strong performance for the money (4 comments): "You can get a far more capable small form factor or ultra small form factor used Intel Core i5/i7 something corporate desktop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49562255)) "newer ewaste like Dell Wyse thin clients or Optiplexes would absolutely smoke those boards on performance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48973820)) "Buying a second hand Optiplex would give you 10x the performance at the same price" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47598261))
- Reliable and easy to open (3 comments): "I do miss just being able to pop the lid open when I needed to troubleshoot something instead of having to lug the Optiplex into the office" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46673347)) "Dell business machines are pretty reliable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49582826)) "Optiplex's used to be my go to the SFF" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149675))
- Runs Linux and self-hosting well (2 comments): "You can buy a lightly used Dell Optiplex with 8gb RAM for like $40 which will cover all your self hosting needs today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46417467)) "I like running Linux on older Dell Optiplex systems that you can buy off of Ebay." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48700145))

## What people warn about

- Higher power draw than ARM boards (1 comments): "the power consumption of an x86 box is magnitudes higher than an embedded-ARM box" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47506818))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-mac.md): 453 recommend
- [Apple Mac Studio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mac-studio.md): 319 recommend
- [Apple M1 Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-m1-mac.md): 48 recommend
- [Apple II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-ii.md): 46 recommend
- [Apple Macintosh](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macintosh.md): 34 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Dell+OptiPlex+5070+small+form+factor+desktop&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.dell.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Dell OptiPlex", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dell-optiplex/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).