Let’s be real for a second. In the world of tech, a computer from 2013 usually belongs in a recycling bin or a museum. It’s ancient history. But if you head over to forums like Reddit’s r/buildapc or the Dell Community boards, you’ll see one name that keeps popping up like a persistent ghost: the Dell XPS 8700. It’s weird, right? We are talking about a machine that shipped with Windows 8. That’s a lifetime ago. Yet, there’s a reason this specific tower has outlived almost all its contemporaries.
It was basically the "Goldilocks" of pre-built desktops.
Dell didn't try to be too fancy with the 8700. They just built a solid, expandable mid-tower that used standard enough parts to make it a tinkerer’s dream. If you bought one back then, you likely got an Intel "Haswell" 4th Gen processor—usually the Core i5-4440 or the legendary i7-4770. Even now, that i7-4770 holds its own for basic 1080p gaming and office tasks. It's honestly impressive.
What made the Dell XPS 8700 a sleeper hit?
Most people bought these at Costco or Best Buy because they wanted something that just worked. But the secret sauce was the motherboard. Unlike many modern proprietary "small form factor" machines that use weird power connectors, the XPS 8700 used a standard 24-pin ATX power supply connection. You have no idea how huge that is. It means if the original 460W power supply dies—or if you want to slap in a beefy graphics card—you can just go buy a standard Corsair or EVGA power supply and it actually plugs in. No adapters. No headaches. No soldering.
The case is also surprisingly roomy. It’s a classic tool-less entry design. You pop one thumbscrew, slide the side panel off, and you have access to four DIMM slots for RAM. Back in 2013, 8GB was plenty, but this board supports up to 32GB of DDR3. While DDR3 is definitely slower than the DDR5 we see in 2026, for a budget Linux server or a dedicated plex box, 32GB is plenty of headroom.
There is a catch, though. There is always a catch.
The BIOS on these machines is… well, it’s dated. If you’re trying to run a modern NVIDIA RTX 40-series card in here, you might run into UEFI compatibility issues. Some users have reported success by disabling Secure Boot, but it’s a gamble. Most folks sticking with the Dell XPS 8700 today tend to pair it with something like a GTX 1650 or an AMD RX 6400 because those cards don’t require extra power cables and play nice with the older architecture.
The storage situation and the mSATA "hidden" gem
One of the funniest things about the Dell XPS 8700 is the mSATA slot. Remember mSATA? It was the awkward middle child between the old 2.5-inch SATA SSDs and the modern M.2 NVMe drives we use now. It’s a tiny little slot tucked away on the motherboard.
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In the original factory configurations, Dell often used a tiny 32GB mSATA drive as a "cache" using Intel Smart Response Technology. It was supposed to make the spinning hard drive feel faster. Honestly? It was a bit of a gimmick. But today, you can buy a 512GB or 1TB mSATA drive for pennies on the dollar. You can install Windows directly onto that tiny card, leaving all the other SATA ports open for massive 10TB or 14TB hard drives. This makes the 8700 a top-tier candidate for a DIY Home Media Server.
Expansion and Ports: A Time Capsule
- USB 3.0: You actually get six of them. Four on the back, two on the top.
- Top Tray: There is a weird little recessed tray on the top of the tower. It was meant for charging your phone or holding an external drive. It’s one of those "2013 problems" solutions that is actually still pretty handy for holding thumb drives and screws while you're working on the machine.
- WiFi Card: It came with a Dell Wireless 1703 or 1704 card. These are notoriously flaky on Windows 10 and 11. If you're reviving one of these, the first thing you should do is spend $20 on a modern Intel-based PCIe WiFi card. Your sanity will thank you.
Real-world performance in the mid-2020s
You might be wondering if this thing can actually handle a modern workload. Let's look at the Core i7-4770 version. It’s a 4-core, 8-thread chip. In 2026, that's the bare minimum for a "smooth" experience. If you’re trying to edit 4K video or do 3D rendering, forget it. You’ll be waiting forever. But for everyday browsing with 50 Chrome tabs open? It’s fine. Totally fine.
The real bottleneck isn't the CPU; it's the lack of NVMe support. Since the motherboard doesn't natively support booting from PCIe-to-NVMe adapters without a BIOS mod (like Clover or DUET), you are stuck with SATA speeds. You're capped at around 550MB/s. Compare that to modern drives that hit 7,000MB/s, and yeah, it feels a bit sluggish when moving huge files. But for opening Word or launching a browser? You won't notice the difference.
Common failures to look out for
No machine is perfect, especially one that’s been running for over a decade. The Dell XPS 8700 has a few "known issues" that keep the eBay parts market alive.
First, the power button. It’s a proprietary cable that connects the front panel to the motherboard. They tend to fail or get "sticky." If your 8700 won't turn on, it's often the physical button assembly, not the motherboard itself.
Second, the CMOS battery. This is a 3-volt CR2032 coin battery. If your system time is wrong or it refuses to boot until you hit F1, just replace the battery. It’s a two-minute fix.
Third, the thermal paste. If your fans sound like a jet engine, it’s because the factory thermal paste on the CPU has turned into dry, crusty chalk. Wiping it off with some isopropyl alcohol and applying a pea-sized drop of Arctic Silver 5 will usually drop your temps by 10-15 degrees Celsius.
Why it beats modern "deals"
You see those $200 mini-PCs on Amazon with the N100 processors? They're cool, sure. They use very little power. But they are essentially tablets in a box. You can't upgrade the GPU. You usually can't add more than one or two drives.
The Dell XPS 8700 is a real computer. It has a beefy heatsink. It has room for a dedicated sound card or a 10GbE networking card. It’s a physical manifestation of the era before everything was soldered down and "disposable."
Maximizing the life of your Dell XPS 8700
If you've got one of these sitting in a closet or you just found one at a garage sale for $50, here is the exact path to making it useful today.
Don't bother with the i5 version if you can avoid it. If it has an i5, go to eBay and find a used i7-4770 or even a Xeon E3-1230 v3 (which is basically an i7 without the integrated graphics). These chips are cheap now.
Next, max the RAM. DDR3 is practically free. Get it to at least 16GB. If you want to use it as a server, go for 32GB.
Finally, the operating system. Windows 10 is losing support soon. Windows 11 technically requires a TPM 2.0 module and an 8th Gen Intel CPU, neither of which the 8700 has. While you can bypass these checks with Rufus, the better move for this specific hardware is Linux. Throwing Ubuntu or Pop!_OS on an XPS 8700 makes it feel like a brand-new machine. It’s snappy, secure, and doesn’t have the background bloat that eats up an older CPU’s cycles.
Actionable Steps for XPS 8700 Owners
If you want to keep this machine running for another five years, follow this checklist:
- Check your BIOS version. Ensure you are on version A14 (the last official release). This fixed several GPU compatibility issues and improved system stability.
- Inspect the Capacitors. Open the side panel and look at the little cylinders on the motherboard. If any are bulging or leaking brown fluid, the board is dying. If they're flat, you're golden.
- Upgrade the Boot Drive. If you are still running on a mechanical HDD (the loud, clicking kind), stop. Buy a cheap SATA SSD. It is the single biggest performance jump you can make.
- Clean the Front Grill. The 8700 breathes through the bottom and front. Dust accumulates there like crazy. A can of compressed air will save your components from heat death.
The Dell XPS 8700 isn't a powerhouse by modern standards, but it’s a testament to good, standard engineering. It’s a workhorse that refuses to quit, providing a bridge between the era of truly DIY desktops and the modern age of locked-down hardware. Whether it's a first PC for a kid, a garage computer for looking up car parts, or a dedicated home server, it still earns its desk space.