Dell OptiPlex 3080 Review and Compared to 3070

Welcome to our review of the Dell OptiPlex 3080 desktop computer. If you need some additional technical data, check out the detailed technical specification on the Dell website.

What’s new about Dell OptiPlex 3080?

• The Dell OptiPlex 3080 Tower has a new chassis design, it’s running a faster 10gen Intel Core processor complemented by the new B460 chipset, supports up to 64 GB of RAM, and has a DisplayPort version 1.4. However, it’s missing the optional SD card reader.
• The Dell OptiPlex 3080 SFF is equipped with 10gen Intel Core CPU based on B460 chipset, will run up to 64 GB of RAM, and the two DisplayPorts are now running the newer 1.4 version. Unfortunately, there is no option for an SD card reader.
• The Dell OptiPlex 3080 Micro comes with a 10th generation Intel Core processor, is using the newer B460 chipset, can have up to 64 GB of RAM, and the DisplayPort supports the newer 1.4 version.

Read on for a more detailed comparison between the three form factors of Dell OptiPlex 3080 vs. 3070.

Review: Dell OptiPlex 3080 MT (compared to OptiPlex 3070 MT)

The Dell OptiPlex 3080 Tower (also called Mini Tower) is comparable to the previous model – the 3070 MT. However, there are some important improvements.

The most obvious one is the chassis. The OptiPlex 3080 MT has a redesigned chassis that is missing the hinging drive bay. Apart from the PSU which has a non-standard ATX form factor, the chassis looks very much like any other Tower on the market. It’s important to mention that you will be able to fit the same amount of drives like in the older model. Also, the motherboard has the same amount of SATA ports (3) as the older OptiPlex 3070.

Because of the new chassis design, the OptiPlex 3080 MT is lighter than the old 3070 MT. The two models are also different in size.  The dimensions are as follows (H x W x D):

• 35.0 x 15.4 x 27.4 cm (13.8” x 6.10” x 10.80”) – OptiPlex 3080 MT
• 32.4 x 15.4 x 29.2 cm (12.8” x 6.06” x 11.50”) – OptiPlex 3070 MT

The 3080 MT is using 10th generation Intel Core CPU and is able to accommodate up to 64 GB of RAM. The old 3070 was able to run up to 32 GB only.

We also find improvement with the supplied DisplayPort. Now it supports the version 1.4 vs. 1.2 for the older model. As an example, the new DP version 1.4 will allow you to drive a 5120x2880 monitor at 60 Hz.

Next let’s have a look at the PSU. In case you need more graphics processing power, you will be disappointed. The Dell OptiPlex 3080 MT is offered with a 260 Watt power supply only. This PSU is only capable of driving a 75 W GPU – e.g. NVidia GeForce GTX 1650. The older OptiPlex 3070 MT was also offered with a 260 W power supply.

For some people it might be important to mention, that the OptiPlex 3080 MT is running on a new Intel B460 chipset. The old OptiPlex 3070 was using the H370 chipset.

One thing we don’t like about the new 3080 MT is the fact that the optional media card reader has been removed. If this is a feature you need, you will need to get the more expensive OptiPlex 5080 or 7080.

* Dedicated GPU warning: Check if your model’s power supply has enough power. Additionally some PSUs don’t have an auxiliary PCIe power connector and you may need to use a SATA to PCIe power adapter.

You can find Dell OptiPlex 3080 MT XCTO (build your own) options on Dell’s official site. OptiPlex 3080 MT datasheets is available here.

Review: Dell OptiPlex 3080 SFF (compared to OptiPlex 3070 SFF)

Unlike the Tower, the new Small Form Factor (SFF) chassis is almost the same to the old one. If you are to find any differences you need to look inside.

The OptiPlex 3080 SFF is running on a new Intel B460 chipset. This is of course nice, but it won’t give you any significant gains compared to the old H370. What is more important is that the new OptiPlex 3080 SFF is featuring a 10th gen Intel Core CPU. On average it should give a performance boost of around 10%.

On the port side there is only one improvement and this is the new 1.4 version of the DisplayPort. The old Dell OptiPlex 3070 had DP v1.2.

Here are some of the new DisplayPort v1.4 features:

• 50% more bandwidth than the old version 1.2 – resulting in greater resolutions
• 32 audio channels vs 8 channels in version 1.2
• Support for Display Stream Compression (DSC)
• Support for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)

It would be also nice if there was at least a single USB 3.1 port (10 Gb/s). But this was not intended to be. What you get is only USB 3.0 ports. If a faster transfer speeds to your peripherals is a must, either the buy the OptiPlex 5080 or the 7080 model.

Just like with the MT model, you can get only 2 RAM slots which limits your RAM at 64 GB. If in a need for more RAM, you will need to again jump to the higher class models which have 4 RAM slots.

The OptiPlex 3080 SFF has a single PSU option and it is a 200 W one -a big limiting factor when it comes to upgrading your system with a more powerful dedicated GPU. The only option in this case is a 35 W low profile GPU of the like of GeForce GT 1030 LP. Of course this is not a machine that one would purchase specially for playing games. Have a look at this article if you are into gaming.

If we were to look at the motherboard, you would notice that it’s very similar to the old 3070 SFF system board. You get the same amount of SATA ports (2) and the same set of PCIe slots. As it is usual for the SFF Dell OptiPlex, the PCIe x16 is close to the PSU, so installing there a “fat” or a double slot PCIe card is not an option.

The following table lists Dell OptiPlex 3080 SFF specs:

* Dedicated GPU warning: Check if your model’s power supply has enough power. Additionally some PSUs don’t have an auxiliary PCIe power connector and you may need to use a SATA to PCIe power adapter.

You can find Dell OptiPlex 3080 SFF XCTO (build your own) options on Dell’s official site. OptiPlex 3080 SFF datasheets is available here.

Review: Dell OptiPlex 3080 Micro (compared to OptiPlex 3070 Micro)

Just like with the Small Form Factor Model, the new Dell OptiPlex 3080M chassis is virtually the same as the old 3070M. The set of ports is also left unchanged without any improvements.

The most significant improvement for the new Dell OptiPlex 3080 Micro is a new 10th gen Intel Core processor and a new chipset – B460. You should expect anywhere from 5 to 15% improvement in processing power.

Another progress is the increased max RAM size. Now a 64 GB of RAM can be installed using the two available SODIMM slots.

The new model, just like the old one, comes with two video ports – a DP and HDMI. However, the DisplayPort is now upgraded to version 1.4 which should allow you to run higher resolutions.

There is no optional PSU, thus your only choice is a standard 65 Watt power supply. Note that the Micro form factor comes with a laptop like external power supply.

The 3080 Micro supports a single M.2 2280 SSD drive and a single 2.5 inch drive.

All in all, the 3080 Micro is a very nice machine, but if you need a Mini PC with monster processing power, you ought to get the Dell OptiPlex 7080 Micro. It has the option for a 180 Watt power supply and is capable of running the 10th Generation Intel Core i9-10900 CPU. There is more! You will be even able to buy the 7080M with an AMD Radeon RX 640 (4 GB, GDDR5) dedicated GPU.

The following table lists Dell OptiPlex 3080 Micro specs:

You can find Dell OptiPlex 3080 Micro XCTO (build your own) options on Dell’s official site. OptiPlex 3080 Micro datasheets is available here.