Question 1

Based on Dell's specifications, is this considered a Mini-Tower or a Desktop? I ask because the picture offered shows a mini-tower, the description simply refers to is as a tower, and the name says it is a desktop.

Accepted Answer

It really depends on what you are used to calling what size tower. This tower is about 15 1\2 inches long by 15 1\2 inches tall. It is not a full size tower, like your gaming and server rigs. It will fit a full atx motherboard and a full sized power supply. It will also accept any full size PCI-E card, giving some limitations with Dells plastic cover that covers more than half of the motherboard. So to answer your question i would call this a tower. Larger than this is a full-size tower and smaller than this (computers that can sit on your desktop and need low profile cards) I call micro-towers. I just think that Dell goes by a different naming convention than newegg. I believe Dell considers Servers as towers, this computer a mini-tower and then really small ones that sit on your desk micro-towers or just desktops. Hope that helped.

Question 2

Which company handled the refurbishing process?
ie., Blair Technology Group, Front Source tech, etc.?

Accepted Answer

Mine came from Joy systems. Make sure you load the drivers. These are not Dell system loads

Question 3

What type of memory does this have? DDR2 or DDR3?

Accepted Answer

DDR2. The Dell site has all the user manuals.

Question 4

what size or kind of video\graphics card and will it support games like civ 3,4 or 5?

Accepted Answer

It comes with the intel q43 or q45 chipset, which can probably run that, but it also has a pci express slot, so you would be better off with a graphics card. If you go that route, make sure to choose one that does not require auxiliary power, because there are no free power connectors available. It has only the power connectors needed by the hard drive and dvd drive that it ships with.

The ati radeon hd 7750 is such a card. Probably overkill for Civ. I put an old radeon 9850 in my wife's and it's great.

Question 5

How many memory slots and what kind?
How many empty agp and pci slots (for adding a graphics card)

Accepted Answer

4 Slots, DDR2, 1 PCI-E slot for a graphics card

Question 6

I want to ad a wireless network card and a graphics card.  Is there room (enuf slots?)

Accepted Answer

Yes you should be ok.

Question 7

Is this a dvd r/w. In other words, can I create a bootable DVD on this pc? Can I create a rescue CD with this?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you may need a software.

Question 8

Does the on board video support dual monitors?

Accepted Answer

i bought a $30 GeForce 8400 and put that in it before I ever fired it up the first time, so I can't say, and I don't have it anymore, bought it for my brother.

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