Dell Precision 3260 Compact Review

Dell Precision 3260 Compact Power Consumption and Noise

The power adapter is Dell’s 180W unit. There are configurations that include a 240W PSU. Given the fact that the new Apple Mac Mini M4 is smaller and has an internal power supply, this certainly feels older. Still, Dell has plenty of safety and regulatory markings and even little rubber feet that differentiate its power solution from those of smaller players.

At idle we saw 8-13W of power consumption and very low 34-36dba operation. That was great. For the short duration 100% load spikes, we saw a 110-115W limit and slightly increased fan noise to 36-38dba. Longer-term 100% load the system settled into an 84-86W range and 38-41dba. Of course, with a larger cooler, the noise profile could be different, this is just what we had.

Key Lessons Learned

Our key lessons learned is an interesting one. When Bryan #2 setup this system originally in the summer of 2023, support for 96GB of memory did not exist. The other question, and perhaps why we did not prioritze a review was what to do with it, given it only had 1GbE and was twice the size of the standard OptiPlex Micro.

One of the big challenges is that, even though Dell has great features like tool-less latching for the low profile expansion slot, without the riser, it was hard to see a win for this over the Micro systems.

Once we installed the IOCrest 5GbE M.2 Adapter and that solution worked well, it made more sense. We also have another version of the Compact with a low profile card and one of these M.2 5GbE adapters, and that works really well.

Perhaps the key lesson learned was that these systems have a lot of potential, but in their lowest-end configurations, the 1L OptiPlex Micro sytems probably make more sense. If you want to expand, then perhaps this is a better form factor. We cannot wait to show you the Precision 3240 Compact as we have been doring a lot of work on that.

Final Words

Although not technically a Project TinyMiniMicro machine, the Dell Precision 3260 Compact is like a taller OptiPlex Micro with a still small footprint, but with a bit more room to reasonably expand a system. At $700-1000 you really have to want a 12th Gen or 13th Gen core to want this systme, but in the next 12 months we expect these to get a very nice price drop.

The overall serviceability was good. We would have liked to see screw-less M.2 installation since that is something companies like Lenovo have had for generations. Compared to many of the smaller brand mini PCs, you can tell Dell has a team of engineers that have a lot of experience making systems that are quick to service.

Overall, this was a cool system, but also one that could have been better if we had a richer, albeit more expensive configuration. Still, we wanted to bring this system into the Project TinyMiniMicro umbrella as we revamp that series for 2025.