Microsoft 365 Personal

The Dell Precision T1500 is an entry-level workstation that's no slouch. It has AutoCAD certification and is available in a wide range of system configuration options. Our Intel Core i7-870-based system produced some great performance figures. There is also plenty of internal room for expansion.
The Dell Precision T1500 is an Intel Core i7-based workstation aimed at professionals who use computer-aided design programs. You can get the T1500 in all sorts of configurations, ranging from an Intel Core i3-based system to a Core i7 one. Our review model came with an Intel Core i7-870 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, an NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 graphics card and two 320GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array.
For all its gargantuan number-crunching power, the T1500 workstation is actually quite a small and light PC that uses a mini-tower case rather than a larger mid-tower. The Precision T1500's styling is similar to the Precision T3500's, with a two-tone silver and black colour scheme. It's attractive in a businesslike way. Two front-facing 5.25in drive bays can house a pair of optical disk drives — our test system used a single DVD-RW drive. We liked the four USB 2.0 ports on the front of the workstation, which are easily accessible and more than typical desktop cases offer — if you're going to be connecting and unplugging multiple external hard drives or flash drives frequently, two ports is simply not enough.
Inside the case there's a surprising amount of space. There are three 3.5in hard drive bays, two of which are angled vertically. The system's memory slots are easy to access for expansion or replacement, and there are two free PCI slots and one free PCI Express (PCI-E) slot for adding internal cards. The free PCI-E slot is of the x1 variety though, so you won't be able to fit another graphics card, for example.
The rear of the Dell Precision T1500 workstation is an unexciting place. It has six USB 2.0 ports, two PS/2 connectors (for legacy keyboards and mice), a Gigabit Ethernet connector, a serial port and a pair of 3.5mm audio jacks. The NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 graphics card in our system had a DVI port and two DisplayLink ports, which can be used to drive monitor resolutions up to 2560x1600.
The Dell Precision T1500 packs a very impressive amount of computing power into its mini-tower case. When it comes to raw number-crunching, the Intel Core i7-870 is one of the most powerful processors available before you step into Intel Xeon territory. In Blender 3D, the T1500 took a mere 26 seconds to render our 3D test image, resoundingly beating the older configuration of the Dell Precision T3500, which we tested a year ago. The iTunes test was also very fast; the PC encoded 53min of WAV audio to 192Kbps MP3s in only 45sec. So don't be fooled by the T1500's diminutive size — it's got plenty of power.
Our test system had 4GB of DDR3 RAM, but as this is a workstation for computer-aided design, it would benefit from much more. Thankfully, you can install up to 16GB of RAM.
We compared the results of the Dell Precision T1500 to some high-end consumer systems to see how it performed. Our test system had Windows Vista Business installed, but Dell does also offer Windows 7 with a downgrade to Windows XP.
Performance Benchmarks | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Price | WorldBench 6 | iTunes Encoding |
Blender 3D rendering | |||||
Dell Precision T1500 | $2922 (approx, tested) | n/a | 45s | 26s | ||||
HP Pavilion Elite HPE-190a | $2799 | 141 | 49s | 34s | ||||
Dell Studio XPS 8000 | $1999 | 124 | 52s | 36s | ||||
Acer Aspire M7720 | $3699 | 104 | 1m 1s | 24s | ||||
Acer Aspire Predator G7770 | $4900.11 | 103 | 60s | 35s | ||||
Altech NRG Storm | $4999 | 103 | 38s | 22s |
The Dell Precision T1500 is a very powerful workstation without the pretension of a high-end gaming or consumer PC. It's small and unobtrusive, but our performance benchmarks prove that it can handle high-end tasks with ease. If you're looking for a powerful business workstation but don't need the extra capabilities of something like the updated Dell Precision T3500 (which uses a Xeon CPU), the Dell Precision T1500 is a good performer with few flaws.
Become a fan of PC World Australia on Facebook
Follow PC World Australia on Twitter: @PCWorldAu
Stay up to date with the latest news, reviews and features. Sign up to PC World’s newsletters
MSI has long pushed the boundaries of invention with its ever-evolving range of laptops but it has now pulled off a world first with the new MSI Creative 17.
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G
Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
MSI P65
This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
MSI GT76
It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
MSI GS75
As the Maserati or BMW of laptops, it would fit perfectly in the hands of a professional needing firepower under the hood, sophistication and class on the surface, and gaming prowess (sports mode if you will) in between.
MSI PS63
The MSI PS63 is an amazing laptop and I would definitely consider buying one in the future.
Brother RJ-4230B
This small mobile printer is exactly what I need for invoicing and other jobs such as sending fellow tradesman details or step-by-step instructions that I can easily print off from my phone or the Web.