Dell XPS Desktop 8960 review: Powerful for work and play

Dell’s XPS brand is very well known by this point. XPS laptops have always been on the cutting edge with new and innovative features, but if you’re more fond of the latest desktop CPUs, and the best desktop GPUs, then Dell also has something for you with the XPS Desktop 8960.

The model number might have been bumped for 2023, but this year’s XPS desktop isn’t built too differently from last year’s. What matters most in the new XPS Desktop 8960 is the internals. The jump to the latest 13th-generation Intel CPUs and Nvidia’s RTX 40-series graphics card help make the XPS Desktop 8960 a really beefy tower. This desktop is good enough for work and play, and everything in between and far beyond what you can imagine.

Just keep in mind that you might want to pick a configuration of this tower that suits your needs. It might not shape up to be the most upgradable system for some people. In my case, the upgrades like the liquid cooling Dell made on my unit make working inside the system a bit tricky. I still enjoyed this system, though, and pushed it to its limits.

 

Dell XPS Desktop 8960

Powerful pre-built desktop

$2710 $3160 Save $450

The Dell XPS Desktop 8960 might look similar to the last generation model, but it got a bump to the latest 13th-generation Intel CPUs and the latest RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 series graphics. This makes it a really powerful desktop PC for gaming, video editing, and anything beyond.

Brand

Dell

Memory

32GB RAM

Graphics

Nvidia RTX 4080 16GB GDDR6X

CPU

13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700K (24 MB cache, 16 cores, 3.40 GHz to 5.30 GHz Turbo)

Storage

1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

Ports

Front: 3x USB Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Type-C, headset jack, Sd card slot. Rear: 2x USB Type A, 1x USB 3.2 Type C, 3x Display Port 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x 7.1 channel audio connector

Motherboard

Dell motherboard

Case

27.1L case

Networking

Intel Killler Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, Killer E31000G Eternet

Dimension

14.68×6.81×16.8 inches

Weight

29.4 pounds

Pros

• Great performance
• Solid port selection for a desktop
• Runs really quiet
• Great design

Cons

• Upgrades are hard, depending on configuration chosen
• Very expensive

Dell XPS Desktop 8960: Pricing and availability

The model of the Dell XPS Desktop 8960 that I have here is one of the higher-end units. Dell upgraded my rig with a few parts that cost extra. The base price at Dell.com is $2,809 at the time of writing. But adding the 13th-generation Intel Core i7-13700K CPU, keeping the stock RTX 4080 GPU with 16GB GDDR66, adding 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD bumps the price up a bit to $3,160.

If you want a cheaper XPS Desktop, there’s the 8950 model from last year with 30-series graphics and 12th-generation Intel CPUs. Dell tells me that more configuration options will open up at lower price points for the XPS Desktop 8960 until it completely replaces the 8950 overtime. There are currently no affordable options, with the Core i5 CPU, or with slower graphics cards. Dell is also working on AMD RX 70000 GPU options, though this will come at a later point.

In terms of bundled accessories, a base-level MS116 mouse and KB216 keyboard are included in the price. Dell upgraded me to the premium KM7321W keyboard and mouse combination.

Case and design

Fit for the office or home

The Dell XPS Desktop 8960 doesn’t look too different from its predecessor. In a way, it really reminds me of the old-school desktops I used to have in my home in the 1990s, but with some modern touches that you expect from the XPS lineup. Unlike gaming towers, there’s no RGB, and there’s no see-through glass panels. Rather, the case of the XPS Desktop 8960 is straight-up plain-looking, in a good way.

The tower has an aluminum tone-on-tone look, in either Platinum or Graphite color. I have the Graphite model here, and it blended right in with my setup in my living room. I love the steel sides, with the minimalist ventilation holes, and the cool-feeling aluminum front grill. Even the subtle XPS branding that blends right into the chassis is a nice touch.

If you’re the technical type, this desktop PC is standard-sized. It’s a 27.1L case. Measurements have it coming with a 14.68-inch height, 6.81-inch width, and 16.8-inch depth. It’s pretty much the same size as the Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 that I’ve recently reviewed, and it will fit nicely on any desk, or even on the floor. Though I think putting such a beautiful tower on the floor will shame its design. You’ll want to look at it every day.

Dell did make some tweaks to the XPS Desktop 8960, though. There’s now extra ventilation near the GPU, which is why you’ll see the mesh-style grille on the left side door. You also can add up to 1000W PSU for future upgrades. And, there’s now a liquid cooler standard for K-series CPUs. Inside the case, Dell also is moving to two DIMM slots instead of four, with support for speeds up to 4800MT/S.

Ports

Connections for all your needs

The XPS Desktop 8960 is one well-connected machine. Unlike some other desktop PCs, which sometimes lack ports on the front of the chassis, Dell has gone above and beyond with the port selection in this area of their flagship desktop. The front has an SD card slot, a headset back, three USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 1 ports, and a USB Type-C port. I used those ports on the front for my mouse, keyboard, USB drives, and even charging my phone.

The good port selection on the front meant I didn’t have to worry about using the rear ports on the back of the system. There’s even more to enjoy there. There’s the 7.1 channel audio connector, Display Port 1.4 port (from the integrated graphics on the motherboard), two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, two USB-A 2.0 ports, a USB 3.2 Type-C port, and a Gigabit Ethernet jack. The graphics card, meanwhile, offers three DisplayPort connections, and HDMI 2.1.

Customization

Not for big hands

There’s some room for upgrades on the XPS Desktop 8960, but this desktop isn’t easy for everyone to work inside. You can remove the left side panel pretty easily by just unscrewing a thumbscrew on a lever on the back of the case and then pulling it forward. Once you do that, you’ll see the spare M.2 SSD slot, and the two HDD bays on the top, with the ready-to-go SATA cables. The unit has 3 PCIe expansion slots for sound cards and other peripherals. There’s one PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and two PCIe 3.0 x4 slots.

Unfortunately, though, working inside the case isn’t easy. Dell upgraded my unit with the liquid cooler, and it makes accessing the dual RAM slots (both are occupied on my unit with two 16GB sticks), and even the SSD slot slightly tricky. I had to be careful when putting the parts in as my hands are pretty large and the CPU cooler got in the way. Other than that, the GPU is secured pretty strongly with a large bracket, so it’s not easily removable. Dell offers a 1,000W Power supply option, though, which means you can upgrade to beefier components, should you have the expertise to build your own PC. You can add up to 450W graphics, and the motherboard supports next-gen PCIe 5.0 graphics, too.

The point is, this isn’t a system for novice users to upgrade. You can’t even remove the right-side panel to route cables, so you’ll have to be very careful should you want to upgrade your rig in the future. I suggest considering a unit with standard CPU air cooling, since it will free up a lot of space and make moving around the chassis easier.

Performance

The sky is the limit

The XPS Desktop 8960 comes with some pretty beefy components inside. My unit sports The Intel Core i7-13700K CPU with liquid cooling, 32GB dual-channel DDR5 RAM, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU with 16GB GDDR6X memory, and a 1TB SSD. In my tests, which involve hooking this unit up to a 4K monitor, playing a few games from my Steam Library, running three virtual machines at once on top of browsing the web, and even editing photos in Photoshop, this system never slowed down. It’s a super powerful desktop PC, almost like a gaming desktop in disguise.

Cooling and thermals are efficient too, and the system was always comfortable to the touch, never feeling too hot. There’s even no pre-installed bloatware (like McAfee) which means you have few background tasks running with less of a chance to impact system performance.

The Intel CPU in my unit is a 16-core CPU. It was 8 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores. It runs at 5.40 GHz and has a 30MB cache. More importantly, the CPU also supports Intel Quick Sync, since there are Intel HD 770 integrated graphics onboard. Thanks to that, the CPU can boost its performance by using integrated graphics and dedicated graphics at the same time in certain compatible video editing or photo editing apps. You can see the CPU performance in the table below. Note that liquid cooling is a plus, too, since it means you can overclock your CPU with little risk.

As you can tell, with the extra added cores on my Core i7 CPU, the Cinebench multicore scores (a test that really stresses the CPU) are close to 25,000. That score makes it roughly as fast as — or even faster than — one of the top-end 12th-generation Intel Core i9 CPUs. Even in a benchmark like PC Mark 10 (simulating everyday productivity), this desktop outpaces even the Legion Tower, which has an F-series CPU.

So, how about the GPU performance? Well, as you can sell, the 3DMark scores top out at 25,000, which, is one of the highest in a desktop that I’ve reviewed. In a test like VR Mark, meanwhile, the benchmark scored this system as VR ready, with 2,742 in the Cyan test. Even in the Ray Tracing test, the system hit 82 FPS. And when gaming? On Ultra settings, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at about 60 FPS on 4K, and Forza Horizon 5 ran at 123 FPS on 4K Ultra settings. I even downloaded F1 2021 and tried the game, and it ran at 110 FPS on 4K Ultra settings.

The point is, this is a very capable system, both for gaming and content creation. If this desktop can punch out amazing frames in those most demanding games, it will have no issue with coding, video editing, or anything that needs raw GPU power.

Dell XPS Desktop 8960: Should you buy?

You should buy the Dell XPS Desktop 8960 if:

• You want a minimalist-looking desktop PC to fit with your setup
• You’re a fan of Dell
• You want a powerful desktop PC

You shouldn’t buy the Dell XPS Desktop 8960 if:

• You’re on a budget
• You’re not an expert PC builder with experience removing GPUs, etc

If your budget is big the Dell XPS Desktop 8960 will be amazing. It’s a really powerful desktop PC that can handle any task you can think of, be it gaming, coding, or content creation. There are just a few things that make me not like it, like the liquid cooler impacting upgrades, and the GPU being hard to access. Otherwise, this is a future-proof desktop for the ages.