Dell - DT1265 Desktop - AMD Ryzen 100 Series Ryzen 5 2025 - 16GB Memory - AMD Radeon 660M - 512GB Storage - Black

Very nice desktop computer. It came with an included keyboard and mouse (wired, and the keyboard has low profile keycaps). The tower itself is very compact and light weight. It comes with plenty of USB ports (4 type A on the back, 3 type A and 1 type C on the front). There is also a HDMI and DP ports on the back for video out from the integrated APU. There is also an 1gb ethernet port and although it does not have a Wi-Fi external antenna, it does have a Wi-Fi adapter. The motherboard is a custom one, but it does have a full size PCIe empty slot to be able to upgrade to a discrete video card (check sizing, not much space, so I would say a compact or mid range one). The RAM is actually one Sodimm of 16gb DDR5 4800mhz, and there is an empty slot to be able to add more. Setting it up was plenty easy, just plug and play. I plugged it via the HDMI port to my 4k TV to use it a as fast an snappy media center PC. The HDMI port does support VRR and is max 60hz, I have not tried the DP port. The CPU is a 6 core 12 thread Ryzen 5 and is fast and snappy, also thanks to the included 512gb solid drive. Its one of those NVME style ones (the size is a 2230, however there is space and a mount to upgrade to a regular 2280 one). Plenty good for a home office, student or light media entertainment. As a media center PC, is perfect and silent. I have not heard its CPU fan at all (only when the bios was updating). Everything starts fast and have not had any issues. The integrated Radeon graphics APU is more than enough for a media center PC. For gaming, I would say very few very light weight games on low would run, like indie games. It does have the benefit of the empty PCIe slot to upgrade to a discrete video card. I may do that in the future.

I have been evaluating this Dell desktop in my home office here in North Las Vegas. It is a compact black tower aimed at everyday home office productivity, web browsing, light editing, and casual gaming. While it runs quietly and stays cool, the overall package feels quite basic for the price. The AMD Ryzen 5 150 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a 3.3 GHz base and boosts up to about 4.6 GHz. It handles standard multitasking, multiple open browser tabs, Office apps, and streaming adequately. A little research online shows it is a rebadged Ryzen 5 7535HS on Zen 3+ architecture with a 35-54W TDP, which accounts for the efficient, low-noise performance. It is competent for light workloads but to be honest, it feels sluggish next to a newer Ryzen 7000/9000 series option that I have that cost about the same. In my testing, the integrated AMD Radeon 660M graphics (RDNA2) managed some casual 1080p gaming, such as Fortnite and Counter-Strike 2 at medium settings with playable frame rates. It also supports decent video playback and multi-monitor setups (HDMI and DisplayPort). However, when I pushed it to higher refresh rates or resolutions while playing games, it stuttered and struggled noticeably. It has clear limitations, outclassed entirely by a couple other PCs and laptops that I have on hand with inexpensive, dedicated GPUs. The 16GB DDR5 RAM keeps basic tasks responsive, and the 512GB NVMe SSD seems quick enough. But storage capacity is pretty limited. The chassis is space-efficient with Wi-Fi 6 and standard ports, and Windows 11 operates smoothly. It does offer some upgradeability, including RAM (up to at least 32GB) and additional storage via the M.2 slot plus a SATA option, with tool-less access making it relatively straightforward. For me, a notable shortfall was the wired-only keyboard and mouse. When I opened the box and saw the wired mouse and keyboard, I just shook my head. For a modern desktop at this price, wireless peripherals should be included. In my view, this Dell offers reliable, average performance for very light use but lacks any kind of excitement or strong value for what is being asked for it, price-wise. Better options exist in the current market with stronger components or dedicated graphics. It earns a 3.0 out of 5 from me. Solid, but overpriced for what it delivers.

The ’official’ name of this desktop minitower is the ‘Dell Desktop AMD Ryzen 5 150 2025’, but I’ll refer to it here as the DT1250. Dell does a lot of things really well, but naming doesn’t seem to be one of them. The DT1250 is positioned as a mid-tier desktop but it exceeds expectations. While I wouldn’t recommend it as a gaming rig or as a video/graphic editor without some upgrading, it’s more than capable of handling anything else you toss its way like web research, productivity or managing your finances… the things real people do. You can get the base model from Dell itself, but that comes with only 8 gigs of RAM, and the Best Buy config includes 16 gigs of RAM (on a single stick) so it’s a much better value. I feel like 512 gigs of storage is the absolute minimum for running Windows, and I understand that SSD sticks add a lot to the baser cost of any configuration these days, but if you work with a lot of large files or like your storage local, you’ll need some options. Fortunately, the DT1250 has plenty of USB ports of all flavors; there are four on the front (2 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.2 Type A and 1 USB 3.2 Type C) as well as four on the back (2 USB 3.2 with Smart Power features and 2 USB 3.2) so it’s easy to add external storage. Internally, there is a single SATA port and power jack for a SATA HDD. (There’s no obvious mounting slot, but from the pattern of holes on the front of the case it appears as if that’s where Dell intends that you mount it.) Once Windows was fully provisioned and updated, I was able to get a better feel of the overall performance and I was impressed, especially at this price point. Apps opened quickly and smoothly, browser performance was snappy in both Chrome and Edge. I then ran a few benchmark runs resulting in a respectable 47% rating – pretty much right in the middle as you would expect. It rated high in CPU and disk access and a bit lower in memory and 3D benchmarks. Again, this is not positioned as a gaming rig; Dell does that too and if you want to see a monster rig, look at my review of the Dell - Tower Plus EBT2250 Desktop. This is a solid desktop for everything else. But you CAN produce some higher scores by simply adding some RAM. I purchased a second 16gb DDR5 SODIMM. After a second run of benchmark tests, the overall score rose to a 60% rating (higher numbers are better) and it also measurably raised all of the other categories of tests as well, so there IS some room to grow. I have an SSD I am testing next and it will be interesting to see how that affects performance. If you need a reliable, solid performer desktop for your home or office you would be hard pressed to find a better all-around value. With Dell’s enterprise offerings with similar specs showing up in the $1200 range at the time of this review, this is a great deal if you don’t need all the Enterprise ‘extras’. I’m a big fan of Dell and HP desktops and my last primary desktop was an old Dell tower (which is STILL running as a Linux box) so I feel confident in recommending this tower. No notes, Dell. (Except, maybe snappier more consistent names??)

The Dell desktop is a run of mill desktop computer that is solid for casual browsing or simple office tasks. I had no issue when running any of the Office programs and everything was quick and snappy. There are plenty of ports and the 660M integrated GPU lets you run dual displays without issue. The built 660 iGPU was able to handle 4k and even high refresh rates without any hiccups, however it could not do HDR and high refresh rate. The built in WiFi 6 card does a great job with connections and even with Bluetooth devices connected there was no drop off. As mentioned, the performance for office task is plenty, I was had 12 tabs open with YouTube and Spotify playing along with all the Office programs running on a 165 htz 4k display and there was no issues. For these types of task the Dell desktop is a champ. The desktop struggles opening games and compiling shaders, however for some not so demanding games I was able to play them at medium settings. I played Haydes 2 and I was getting 47-70 FPS on my 4k monitor, it still did take about 2 minutes for the game to open. You can do some light photo edits without issue but video editing is a no go and this will apply to any heavy applications. The best thing about the Dell Desktop is that you can upgrade the RAM and SSD and its got ports a plenty. To upgrade all you have to do is remove 2 screws and there is plenty of space to easily upgrade RAM/SSD and even the WiFi card. The tower is relatively small and light weight and I didn’t really hear the fans kick on unless I was doing a BIOS update. Its able to handle high-end displays for the casual user but I wouldn’t recommend it for programing/creative heavy work flows. The reason I give it a 3/5 is because while it can do most things well it’s a bit underpowered in todays time.

The Dell Tower DT1265 is one of those desktops that doesn’t look particularly exciting on paper, but after actually using it for a while, it ends up being a really solid all-around machine for everyday users. My configuration came with an AMD Ryzen 5 150 processor, integrated Radeon graphics, 16GB of DDR5 memory, WiFi connectivity, and an NVMe SSD running Windows 11. After benchmarking, thermal testing, and general day-to-day use, I came away impressed with how balanced the system feels for a mainstream home or office desktop. Right out of the box, the system feels quick and responsive. Boot times are fast, applications open almost instantly, and multitasking is smooth thanks to the Ryzen processor and DDR5 memory. Web browsing with dozens of tabs, Office apps, streaming video, media playback, and general productivity work all run effortlessly. For the average home user, student, or office setup, this machine honestly feels faster than most people will ever need. The compact tower design also strikes a nice middle ground. It’s smaller than a full gaming tower, but not so cramped that upgrades become impossible. Dell includes modern connectivity like USB-C, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and PCIe Gen4 support, helping the system feel more modern and future-proof than many older entry-level prebuilts. Performance & Benchmarks I ran Cinebench 2026 to see how the Ryzen 5 150 handled heavier workloads, and the results were respectable for a productivity-focused desktop: * CPU Multi-Core: 2184 pts * CPU Single-Core: 432 pts * CPU Single-Thread: 350 pts * MP Ratio: 6.24x In real-world use, those numbers translate into a PC that feels genuinely snappy during normal workloads. This obviously isn’t designed to compete with gaming rigs or professional workstations, but for browsing, productivity, media consumption, light content creation, and even some casual gaming, performance is very solid. The integrated Radeon graphics were also better than expected. Older or lighter games, emulation, and media tasks all run surprisingly well without needing a dedicated graphics card immediately. RAM Configuration One thing worth mentioning is that my configuration only included a single 16GB stick of DDR5 memory instead of two sticks running in dual-channel mode. Interestingly, Dell uses laptop-style DDR5 SODIMM memory in this system instead of full-size desktop DIMMs. That helps keep the tower compact internally, but it’s something buyers should know before ordering upgrades. While 16GB is more than enough for normal use, running in single-channel mode does leave some performance on the table, especially for integrated graphics performance since the Radeon GPU shares system memory. For everyday productivity work, the difference honestly isn’t very noticeable. The system still feels fast and responsive. However, adding a second matching DDR5 SODIMM stick would likely improve gaming and graphics performance quite a bit. Thankfully, this is also one of the easiest upgrades you can make to the system. Thermals & Noise Thermals were probably the most interesting part of testing. Using HWiNFO during Cinebench runs, the Ryzen 5 150 briefly peaked at 99.2°C under full synthetic load before settling back down. Idle temperatures stayed excellent in the low 30°C range, while average temperatures during testing stayed around the mid-50s overall. This tells me Dell tuned the system aggressively for short boost performance instead of prioritizing ultra-low peak temperatures. During normal everyday use, the PC stays quiet and cool, but synthetic stress tests definitely push the compact OEM cooling solution close to its limits. The good news is that the system never felt unstable, excessively loud, or heavily throttled during testing. For the workloads this desktop is actually intended for, cooling performance is perfectly acceptable even if benchmark temperatures look high. Upgradeability One thing I appreciate is that Dell didn’t completely lock the DT1265 down. The side panel is easy to remove, storage upgrades are straightforward, and there’s still PCIe expansion support available for future upgrades. That said, this is still a Dell prebuilt system. The included 180W power supply and proprietary design choices limit how far you can realistically push upgrades compared to a custom-built PC. If you plan on installing a large dedicated gaming GPU later, this probably isn’t the ideal platform. Final Thoughts The Dell Tower DT1265 ends up being exactly what most people actually need: a fast, quiet, modern desktop that handles everyday computing extremely well without requiring custom PC knowledge. It’s not a gaming monster, and enthusiasts will probably wish for better cooling and a stronger power supply. But for families, students, office work, streaming, browsing, and light gaming, it’s honestly a very solid machine. What makes this system work so well is balance. The Ryzen processor, DDR5 memory, fast SSD, WiFi connectivity, and modern ports all come together to create a desktop that simply feels quick and responsive in daily use, and for most buyers, that matters far more than benchmark bragging rights. Pros * Fast everyday performance * Quick boot and application load times * Quiet during normal workloads * Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth * Easy RAM and storage upgrades * Surprisingly capable integrated graphics * Modern port selection Cons * Single-channel RAM limits maximum performance * Uses laptop-style SODIMM memory * CPU temperatures spike high under stress testing * 180W PSU limits future GPU upgrades * Proprietary Dell components