
Much has been written just lately concerning the supposed loss of life of the “High-End Desktop” (HEDT) idea. The OG “HEDT” methods again within the day have been in all probability dual-socket Pentium Pro rigs utilized by hardcore fans who merely wished the quickest PCs potential. In newer instances, “HEDT” usually referred to methods based mostly on platforms that shared extra in widespread with server {hardware} than typical desktop machines, just like the Cascade Lake-X Core i9-10980XE.
External connectivity on the Precision 7865 is reasonably robust. Around back, there’s a single 3.5mm audio jack, a pair of RJ-45 connections for the 1-Gbps and 10-Gbps Ethernet connections, and then six USB ports. The triple Type-Cs are 10 Gbps-rated, while the Type-A ports are 5 Gbps connections. You also get an old-school DB9 serial port and optionally, a pair of PS/2 connections for mouse and keyboard.
The front panel I/O is only slightly less impressive. Another pair of 10 Gbps USB Type-C ports and another pair of 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports are present, but you also get an SD card reader, another 3.5mm combo audio jack, and then whatever you put in the two locking drive bays. There’s also a tiny space for an optional 9mm optical drive that supports DVD±RW recording at up to 8x speed.
Unfortunately, today’s just the product announcement; the Precision 7865 isn’t quite ready for prime-time yet. Dell says it will be ready this summer, though, and that it’ll be available worldwide. Naturally, pricing will have to wait until the actual product premiere, so keep an eye out if you need a monster workstation.