Product Notes: Dell OptiPlex 745

Important Note: this product is no longer current. Dell's OptiPlex 780 and OptiPlex 980 occupy the equivalent place in their current product line.  [July 7, 2010]

September 21st, 2006

Multiple vendors have announced workstations based on the Intel Q965 chipset over the last few weeks. New workstations with this chipset from Dell are branded as the OptiPlex 745 (tower, desktop, small desktop, and ultra-small desktop).

Several notes when ordering an OptiPlex 745:

1. The OptiPlex 745 will eventually replace both the OptiPlex GX520 and GX620 lines.
2. The OptiPlex 745 retains the same enclosures as the OptiPlex GX520 and GX620. As in those lines, there is significant variance in size, ranging from 1.16 cubic feet for the tower, 0.56 cubic feet for the desktop, 0.35 cubic feet for the small desktop, and finishing with a mere 0.21 cubic feet for the ultra-small desktop.
3. The OptiPlex 745 ultra-small desktop emphasizes Dell's position that their smallest desktops can use the same disk images as their larger desktops. However, the 745 ultra-small desktop retains the same limited expandability (no PCI slots of any sort) and higher-priced laptop peripherals that were present in previous ultra-small desktops from Dell. It also has two RAM contraints - memory must be higher density to achieve the 4.0 GB maximum and 800 MHz memory is not supported. Information Systems & Computing (ISC) believes that the small desktop is a better choice for many Schools and Centers trying to reduce the size of their desktop footprint - it has none of the ultra-small desktop's limitations and is only 0.14 cubic feet larger.
4. OptiPlex 745 configurations are offered in standard and 64-bit mode. ISC strongly suggests purchasing the standard mode - we believe that 64-bit versions of Windows will not begin to approach maturity until they ship as variants of Windows Vista.
5. ISC believes that the Core 2 Duo is an extremely important and well designed processor, but is still a substantial uptick (more than $100) from the capable Pentium D. At this point, ISC is comfortable with either the Pentium D or the Core 2 Duo as a Performance PC configuration - sometime within the next six months we will transition completely to the Core 2 Duo.
6. It costs about $65 more for 2.0 GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM than 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM on the OptiPlex 745, but 800 MHz RAM can more effectively utilize the bus. Purchase the 800 MHz RAM if possible.
7. With the OptiPlex 745, ISC continues to strongly suggest a video card instead of the integrated video.
8. Dell's new Energy Smart technology is an extension of previous Energy Star compliant settings. ISC believes that including these settings will be a good idea for some Schools and Centers.
9. Though Dell has made it part of the default configuration for the OptiPlex 745, ISC does not believe that Gold Technical Support is the correct choice for all Schools and Centers. ISC intends to follow up on this particular issue in a more detailed communication.
10. Overall, ISC believes that the OptiPlex 745 is a good choice going forward. The cost delta between an OptiPlex 745 and an OptiPlex GX620 with the same general configuration is about $5.

--John Mulhern III, Senior Project Leader, ISC Technology Support Services (September 21, 2006)