Dell Inspiron 3880 Review: A Durable Business Desktop Computer

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Dell Inspiron 3880: At First Glance

Over the years, Dell has been one of the major pacesetters in the world of desktop computers. This is because they offer durability and excellent performance with their desktop computers.

Thus, to add to its list of excellent desktop computers, Dell released the Inspiron 3880 in 2020. This desktop computer offers a lot of amazing features and specifications that should deliver optimal performance.

Moreover, the desktop is available in various configuration options, and its price isn’t too expensive. Speaking of price, in June 2022 (when this review was published), the Dell Inspiron 3880 had a starting price of $737.99.

Having said all that, I know you are curious to know more about what this desktop computer has to offer. Well, you will have to read on as I unravel everything about the Dell Inspiron 3880 in the other sections below.

Dell Inspiron 3880: Design, Display, Ports, and Connectivity

In terms of design, the Dell Inspiron 3880 looks quite basic and simple. However, the desktop is not void of style.

Notably, the Dell Inspiron 3880 offers a rectangular body that is made of a mixture of solid plastic and metal. As a result, the desktop appears really sturdy and durable with no flex around its body.

Furthermore, this desktop has a mini-tower form factor, and it features a matte-black finish all over. Due to this matte finish, the Dell Inspiron 3880 is not prone to fingerprints or smudges.

Besides, the body of the desktop is beautifully patterned with slanted stripes on the front panel. This slanted stripes pattern is highlighted in black and subtle gray, thereby giving the desktop a stylish premium look.

To make the desktop more stylish and less bland, Dell included its logo in the middle of the desktop’s front panel. This logo has a reflective silver finish that shines blissfully when exposed to sunlight.

That aside, the front panel of the Dell Inspiron 3880 features some of the desktop’s ports. These ports include an SD card reader, an audio jack, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, and two USB 3.1 Type-A ports.

Moreover, at the top of the desktop’s front panel, there is a DVD+/-RW drive as well as a power button. Meanwhile, the back panel of the desktop is mostly characterized by cooling vents and the remaining of the desktop’s ports.

These ports are a VGA port, an HDMI port, and two USB 3.1 Type-A ports. In addition to that, there are also two USB 2.0 ports and an Ethernet port on the back panel of the Dell Inspiron 3880.

Combining the number of ports on the front and back panel, it is fair to say that the Dell Inspiron 3880 has a good port selection. Overall, the desktop offers a total number of 11 ports.

Having said all that about the desktop’s exterior, let us proceed to discuss what the interior looks like. Before you can have access to the interior for maintenance or upgrades, there is something you need to do.

Basically, you have to loosen the two thumbscrews with a screwdriver in the back in order to take off the right side of the desktop. When you are done doing that, you should have access to the interior of the desktop.

However, upon seeing the interior, you will notice that it isn’t flashy or attractive. Nonetheless, since this is a performance-based desktop, looks and appearance aren’t much of a concern.

Besides, the desktop offers a good deal of specifications on its interior that delivers nothing but the best performance. Notably, inside the Dell Inspiron 3880, you’ll find a metal cover enclosing the power supply down below.

You will also see a black plastic ventilation funnel over the processor. This funnel creates a direct route to the rear fan, allowing for good ventilation distribution to the inside of the desktop.

Impressively, the funnel can easily be removed by pinching and pulling the two blue clips on its sides. In doing so, you will have a clearer view of the desktop’s hardware specs which we will be discussing in other sections of this review.

Moving on, Dell equipped the Inspiron 3880 with a keyboard and mouse. However, Dell doesn’t offer a monitor, which is quite disappointing.

Hence, you will have to buy a monitor separately for the desktop. On a positive note, the keyboard as well as the mouse that Dell offered work well without issues.

Specifically, the keyboard offers decent tactile feedback with well-spaced keys, making typing a fun experience. The mouse, on the other hand, isn’t too big and should fit into most palms.

Moving to the dimensions and weight, the Dell Inspiron 3880 measures 154 x 293 x 324.3 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 6020 g. Compared with most of its closest counterparts, this Dell desktop is lighter and more compact.

For example, the Velocity Micro Raptor Z55 measures 184 x 521 x 446 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 8164 g.

In conclusion, the whole look and appearance of the Dell Inspiron 3880 befit its price and purpose. Furthermore, this desktop weighs less than most of its rivals.

As a result, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 3880 an eight out of ten in this design review section.

Dell Inspiron 3880: Processor (CPU) Performance

Coming down to the processor, the Dell Inspiron 3880 offers an Intel Core i7-10700F processor. This processor is an octa-core CPU, meaning it has up to eight cores.

For this reason, the Intel Core i7-10700F has the ability to perform better and faster than CPUs with a lesser number of cores. In addition to its eight cores (octa-core), this processor offers 16 MB of cache memory.

That’s not all; the CPU delivers a base frequency of 2.90 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.80 GHz. Moreover, the Intel Core i7-10700F is a high-end processor that delivers nothing short of optimal performance.

Thus, with this CPU, the Dell Inspiron 3880 should be able to handle most computing tasks. To further evaluate the desktop’s CPU performance, let us briefly discuss its Geekbench 5.0 benchmark test results.

In brief, Geekbench 5.0 is a benchmark test that checks the processing abilities of a computer when its processor’s cores are put to use. Therefore, Geekbench 5.0 consist of two tests – the single-core test and the multi-core test.

For better understanding, the single-core test measures the processor’s ability to perform tasks efficiently with one of its cores being utilized. Meanwhile, the multi-core test estimates the processor’s abilities when all its cores are put to work.

Moreover, a high score is preferable on these tests because it shows that the processor has a good performance. On that note, based on the test results, the Dell Inspiron 3880 scored 8903 points on the single-core test.

On the other hand, the desktop scored 1368 points on the multi-core test. In comparison, the Acer Aspire TC-895-UA91, which uses an Intel Core i3-10100 processor, performed below the Dell Inspiron 3880.

Precisely, the Acer Aspire TC-895-UA91 scored 1200 points on the single-core test. Furthermore, this Acer desktop scored 4772 points on the Geekbench 5.0 multi-core test.

In summary, the Dell Inspiron 3880 offers an impressive high-end processor that can handle most computing tasks. Moreover, the desktop outperformed one of its counterparts on a processor benchmark test.

Therefore, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 3880 a nine out of ten in this processor review section.

Dell Inspiron 3880: Memory (RAM) Performance

In terms of memory, Dell equipped the Inspiron 3880 with two UDIMM memory slots and a 2666/2933 MHz DDR4 memory type. Furthermore, the desktop comes with a standard memory of 4 GB and supports a maximum memory of 64 GB.

Therefore, with the help of the memory slots, you should be able to upgrade the desktop’s memory up to 64 GB. However, this review focuses on the Dell Inspiron 3880 with 8 GB RAM.

With this size of memory, this desktop will be able to multitask decently. To give more details, the Dell Inspiron 3880 should be able to run up to 15 Chrome tabs simultaneously without slowing down.

Moreover, transitioning between these tabs should be easy for the desktop. Having said that, let us consider the desktop’s result on a PCMark 10 test to further verify its memory performance.

PCMark 10 is an app-based cross-platform benchmark test that measures the memory performance of a computer by simulating office-related tasks. These office-related tasks include word processing, web browsing, emailing, and other basic tasks.

Furthermore, the desktop with the highest score on this test is the best performer. So, according to the test results, the Dell Inspiron 3880 scored 7512 points.

Comparatively, this Dell desktop performed way better than the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58p. To be more specific, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58p was only able to score 5083 points on the PCMark 10 test.

Thus, to wrap up this memory review section, I will rate the Dell Inspiron 388 an eight out of ten.

Dell Inspiron 3880: Storage Options and Performance

For storage, the Dell Inspiron 3880 comes with multiple configuration options to choose from. Therefore, you can purchase the desktop with a 3.5″ SATA AHCI HDD or an M.2 2230 SSD.

Notably, with the HDD storage drive, the desktop supports a maximum storage capacity of 2 TB. Meanwhile, with the SSD storage drive, the desktop supports a maximum storage capacity of 512 GB.

Impressively, the Dell Inspiron 3880 allows users to combine both storage options. Hence, with the combination of the HDD and SSD, you get a maximum storage capacity of 2.5 TB.

Besides, Dell included a multi-format SD card reader on the Inspiron 3880 that allows for storage expansion. Hence, with these various storage configuration options, you should find the one that suits your preference and budget.

However, for the sake of this review, we will focus on the Dell Inspiron 3880 with a 512 GB SSD. To evaluate the desktop’s performance with this storage drive option, I will highlight its CrystalDiskMark test result.

In case you don’t know, CrystalDiskMark is a benchmark test that calculates the read and write speed of a device’s storage drive. By read and write speed, I mean the duration it takes a storage drive to open and save files, respectively.

Additionally, a high “MBps” value on the CrystalDiskMark test means fast read and write speed. With that in mind, at the end of the test, the Dell Inspiron 3880 delivered a read speed of 3350 MBps and a write speed of 1930 MBps.

In comparison, this Dell desktop delivered a faster read and write speed than some of its counterparts. For example, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58p, which also uses an SSD, offered a read and write speed of 2571 MBps and 2465 MBps, respectively.

Thus, the Dell Inspiron 3880 deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this storage review section.

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Dell Inspiron 3880: Graphics Card Performance

Similar to the storage, Dell offers multiple GPU options for the Inspiron 3880. Thus, you can get the desktop with an NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 or an NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 graphics card.

The good thing about the above-listed GPU options is that they are both dedicated graphics card and features 2 GB of dedicated VRAM each. However, in terms of speed, they differ.

Specifically, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 has a standard frequency of 902 MHz. Meanwhile, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 offers a base frequency of 1228 MHz and a maximum frequency of 1468 MHz.

Performance-wise, with either GPU option, the Dell Inspiron 3880 should be able to handle graphics-demanding tasks. Also, the desktop will be able to play a handful of high-end games.

This is because the graphics card options are dedicated graphics cards with dedicated VRAM, as mentioned earlier. However, this review is based on the Dell Inspiron 3880 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 GPU.

With this graphics card, the Dell Inspiron 3880 is able to deliver a smooth frame rate of 73.4 fps while playing Back 4 Blood. To take a deeper dive into the desktop’s graphics performance, let us discuss its 3DMark test result.

Briefly, 3DMark is a graphics-based benchmarking tool that assesses the 2D and 3D graphics rendering abilities of a computer’s GPU. Moreover, a high score on this graphics-based benchmark test equates to good GPU performance.

Therefore, based on the 3DMark test results, the Dell Inspiron 3880 scored 18847 points.

When compared with some of its opponents, this Dell desktop surpassed most of them. For instance, the Lenovo IdeaCentre 3, which uses an AMD Radeon RX 560 GPU, scored 13162 points on the 3DMark test.

All things considered, I will be rating the Dell Inspiron 3880 an eight out of ten in this GPU review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell Inspiron 3880 is an efficient desktop computer that is basically designed for business purposes. Moreover, this desktop features a durable build and an impressive port selection.

Furthermore, the desktop is available in various configuration options and comes with a keyboard and mouse. There is almost nothing to dislike about this desktop aside from the fact that it does not come with a monitor.

Nevertheless, the Dell Inspiron 3880 delivers an overall excellent performance that makes it worth its $700+ starting price tag. Thus, if you need a durable business desktop computer with adequate performance, I suggest you consider the Dell Inspiron 3880.

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