Dell Tower Plus review: A hybrid desktop for work and gaming

I like the I/O on the front panel. You get three USB-A ports (5Gbps), plus a 10Gbps USB-C port. The inclusion of a headphone jack and SD card slot is also very convenient. On the back, you’ll find the usual assortment of ports, including another USB-C port. This should cover all the bases, depending on which peripherals and accessories you’re using.

In addition to the video ports on the back of the GPU, you’ll get a better selection of ports on the back of the PC. For PC versions without discrete graphics, you now get HDMI 2.0 and a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, which lets you connect up to two 4K displays. You also have the usual array of four USB-A ports, an Ethernet jack, stereo audio ports, and a Kensington lock.

The Dell Tower Plus doesn’t exactly use off-the-shelf parts, but it does give you fairly good upgradeability, which is one of the main reasons to buy a desktop in the first place. As for additional expansion, there are two empty top storage slots for 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, as well as an additional M.2 for an additional SSD drive. There are two DIMM slots, allowing you to pack up to 64GB of DDR5 memory, if desired. My review unit came with two sticks of DDR5 RAM, each at 16GB, as well as a 1TB M.2 SSD.

Adding or replacing these components is fairly simple, and there are even some instructions printed on the inside of the side panel. No, it’s not Framework Desktop in terms of ease of use, but there’s a lot more room for your hands when repairing or troubleshooting components. This is not a system inherently designed for true DIYers. A custom motherboard makes upgrading your motherboard or CPU more difficult, but for the basics, Dell has done a good job of giving you a foundation from which to build.

Performance for professionals

Photo: Luke Larsen

My review unit is one of the most powerful configurations, with both an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and an unlocked RTX 5070. (You can upgrade to the Core Ultra 9 285K and RTX 5080.) This desktop depreciates as you move down the configurations. The cheapest is $800 for Intel graphics, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to buy that when you can get a Dell 14 Plus laptop with better specs for less money, especially given the added advantage of display and portability.