The G5 is clearly made for those people who don’t have the time or money to build a gaming desktop but still want a reliable desktop with tonnes of ports and good performance. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
Gaming PCs have become more powerful and affordable over the years. They are portable and are great to run high-intensity games. But gaming laptops cannot beat a custom-built desktop in terms of specifications, components, and scalability.
My biggest concern, however, with a desktop is the cost and time spent on building your own gaming machine. Finding the right graphics card, motherboard, processor, memory, computer case, gaming monitor, power supply, CPU cooler, and peripherals can be a daunting task.
Sometimes you don’t want to get into the trouble of building a custom machine and instead need a ready-to-go gaming desktop that can be picked up from a nearby electronics store. That’s where Dell’s G5 5090 gaming desktop comes in. This is an affordable gaming desktop that comes in three different hardware configurations, so it is easy to find one of your choice and budget.
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I have been using the top-end variant of the Dell G5 5090 gaming desktop for the last week now, and here’s my detailed review.
Dell G5 5090 Gaming desktop specifications: Intel Core i7-9700 (9th gen)|NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060|16 GB RAM|) 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s|460W power supply|Microphone jack; Headphone jack; 2x USB 2.0; USB 3.0; USB 3.1 Type-C (front| Audio in; Surround line-out (Left/right); Center Line-out; 4x USB 3.1; Ethernet jack; 2x USB 2.0|HDMI; DisplayPort; DVI|Dell G5 Gaming Desktop case
Dell G5 5090 Gaming desktop price in India: Rs 1,10,490 (exclusive of taxes)
Dell G5 5090 gaming desktop: What’s good?
The G5’s tower chassis is compact and doesn’t take too much space in my tiny room. The desktop’s façade is made of metal and features a zig-zag pattern and a bright blue glowing LED strip. The tower measures just 14.5 x 12.1 x 6.7 inches, making it smaller than most other enclosures used in other gaming desktops.
On the left side of the tower is a single plastic window. You can see the internals inside which are lit with blue LEDs, giving the impression that the G5 is a premium gaming desktop.
The tower measures just 14.5 x 12.1 x 6.7 inches, making it smaller than most other enclosures used in other gaming desktops. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
What I also liked about the G5 desktop is the bevy of ports on the front. On the front, there is a 3.5mm audio jack, 3.5mm mic jack, one USB-C port, and three USB-A ports. On the rear, you will find six USB-A ports – four USB 3.1 and two USB 2.0. In terms of connectivity, the desktop comes with Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, and Qualcomm DW1810 chip for 802.11ac wireless on the internal side. Additionally, there is an HDMI port, a DVI port, an Ethernet port, a DisplayPort.
Another good thing about the Dell G5 gaming desktop is how easy it is to upgrade the internals of the machine. All you need to do is remove screws from the backside and add additional components on the desktop. However, you need to remember that a ready-made gaming desktop has some limitations as far as space is concerned.
You can add additional RAM or switch the GPU on the PC. My review unit has two extra RAM slots, so it could go up to 64GB. But the G5 gaming desktop is limited to just one fan and you don’t get mounts for adding fans.
On the left side of the tower is a single plastic window. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
The G5 is a gaming beast and that means the desktop’s performance is on the higher side. The entry-level model starts at Rs 67,590. My test unit, which comes with Intel Core i7-9700, 16GB RAM, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card, costs Rs 1,10,490.
The internals of the model I tested is impressive. In my week-long testing, the desktop went through moderate to high workload (Full disclosure: I am working from home these days due to the nationwide lockdown). I primarily used the G5 desktop to web browse, edit documents, watching YouTube and Netflix, and of course play games.
I primarily used the G5 desktop to web browse, edit documents, watching YouTube and Netflix, and of course play games. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
I was able to play popular games in 1080p like Fornite and PUBG without seeing any dip in graphics performance. The GTX 2060 graphics chip is powerful enough to run VR, though I haven’t tested VR-compatible games due to the unavailability of the headset. The desktop did get pretty warm on some days but this was when I pushed the G5 to the limit.
In terms of software, the Dell G5 desktop runs on Windows 10. But Dell has also added a software called Alienware Command Centre which will be useful to monitor system performance.
Dell G5 5090 gaming desktop: What’s bad?
Not everything is perfect with the Dell G5 gaming desktop, though. The desktop comes with a regular keyboard and mouse, and the monitor is missing. Given the PC is designed for gaming, I was expecting Dell to pack a gaming keyboard or gaming mouse in the package. Well, that’s not the case. The G5 desktop also does not come with the monitor, so you have to shell out extra to buy a gaming monitor on your own.
The Dell G5 is a powerful desktop but you need to buy a monitor on your own. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
I also found that the Dell G5 desktop is equipped with a 460W power supply unit (PSU). While a 460W power supply will be fine for its existing hardware, I doubt this PSU will be sufficient for those users when they add more components in the desktop in the future.
Dell G5 5090 gaming desktop: Should you buy?
The Dell G5 is a well-rounded gaming desktop — but of course, it’s far from perfect. Although the G5 desktop offers plenty of power, the machine has its limitations as far as upgrading all other components besides the CPU, GPU, and RAM.
The G5 is clearly made for those people who don’t have the time or money to build a gaming desktop but still want a reliable desktop with tonnes of ports and good performance. It’s fine for extreme gaming and everyday use, but if you are an obsessed PC gamer and have a big budget, I would still insist you build your own gaming PC.