Dell OptiPlex 5070 MICRO 2019, Core i5-9500T, 16GB, 2TB SSD

A tiny office box with a shockingly big 2TB SSD and a CPU that's just along for the ride. Great for storage hoarders, useless for gamers.

The i5-9500T is a low-power chip, and it shows. CPU performance lands in the bottom half of our database, which means it'll handle Office, web browsing, and video calls without breaking a sweat, but don't expect it to chew through video edits or heavy multitasking. The integrated graphics are a weak spot, sitting near the bottom of the charts, so gaming is basically off the table. The 2TB SSD is the real star here. It's one of the best storage setups we've seen in this category, and it makes the whole system feel snappier than the CPU would suggest. Boot times and app launches will be quick, even if the processor itself is a bit long in the tooth.

Stacked against the Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS or the HP OMEN GT16-0364, this Dell looks like a toy. Those machines have dedicated GPUs and CPUs that actually show up to work. But they're also full-sized desktops that cost more and take up real estate. The Apple iMac M4 is in a different league entirely for performance and display quality, but it's also a completely different price bracket. The real comparison is with other refurbished micro PCs, and in that niche, the 5070's 2TB SSD is a genuine differentiator. Most competitors in this size class ship with 256GB or 512GB drives.

At CAD 735, this is a tough sell unless you specifically need a tiny Windows box with a huge SSD. The storage is the only thing that justifies the price, because the CPU and GPU are nothing special. If you can live with a slightly larger machine, you'll get way more performance for the same money. But if you're dead set on the micro form factor and want a ton of local storage, this is one of the few options that delivers both.

The Dell OptiPlex 5070 Micro is a tiny refurbished office box that knows exactly what it is, and it's not trying to be anything else. The headline here is that 2TB SSD, which is genuinely impressive for a machine this size and puts it well above average for storage. But the rest of the package is a mixed bag. You're getting a 6-core i5-9500T and 16GB of RAM (despite the listing saying 8GB, the spec sheet shows 16GB), which is fine for spreadsheets and email but nothing more. This is a machine for people who want a small, quiet desktop that disappears behind a monitor and handles the boring stuff without complaint.

If you're looking for any kind of gaming or creative performance, this isn't it. Go get a machine with a dedicated GPU instead, like the HP OMEN or ASUS ROG. And if you don't need the 2TB SSD, there are cheaper refurbished micro PCs with similar CPUs that will do the same job for less money.

Buy this if you want a tiny, quiet Windows machine with a ridiculous amount of storage and you don't care about gaming or heavy workloads. Skip it if you need any kind of graphical horsepower or plan to do more than basic productivity. The 2TB SSD is the only reason to pick this over other refurbished micro desktops, but it's a pretty good reason if that's what you need.