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@Netherprovinc3 wrote:

 

Maybe what ties all of the variations together is the chipset?  

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Basically, yes.

Why do you ask?

If you are looking to buy an old one, I suggest the large tower model.

I am just curious.

There are usually feature differences based on which model as well as what size

The old numbering was GX360 GX760 GX960

Then  3010  7010 9010

Newer models like 3020 7020 9020 and up have an additional size called Micro.

I never recommend the 3 series but the 7 or 9 series are fine.

390 and 3010 are horrilble,

790 and 990  as well as 7010 and 9010 are good machines.

Older than 790 will work but will not have mitigations for Spectre and Meltdown for the CPU micro code.

Windows 10 works and installs on machines as old as the GX620.

the 7010 is the transition machine in that you can install XP on it.

The GX620 is the ancient transition machine that runs EVERYTHING from MSDOS 6.22 all the way thru WINDOWS 10.

Models from 2005 and earlier will not EVER work with windows 8 or 10.

Models from earlier than 2003 will not work with windows 7 let alone windows 10.

HOWEVER  with 2 gigs of ram and a DVD drive you can install UBUNTU 18.04.2

and it works fine. Does internet browsing,  plays DVD movies,  plays youtube videos etc.

You would want at least an Optiplex 620 or better for this.

The older models also work with UBUNTU but they are very slow and cant keep up with youtube ztreaming video.

http://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04/ubuntu-18.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso

Thanks for all of the info.  That's a great rundown on things.  I think I am a bit disappointed in the ability to quickly figure out what's in a machine based off of the model number.  But, I think that's the way of the world in non-server computers that come packaged with Windows.  

I am surprised at how many Windows operating systems each of these machines can run.  I recently bought a Lenovo Thinkcentre M82 Az6 Machine type: 2929, which is comparable to an Optiplex 7010 that I'm considering, and it doesn't seem to support Windows 8.1, but it does support Windows 7 and Windows 10.  Perhaps it could support 8.1 but you would have to dig deep to find drivers (motherboard manufacturer or Intel).  I seem to have "exhausted" Lenovo support and the peer forum.  

How can you know the date of a certain Optiplex?  I have an Optiplex 960 and an Optiplex 9010, both MT size.   WinXP running on each one.

It seems that the Optiplex 960 has the Core 2 Quad processor.  That came out around quarter 1, 2007. 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/desktop-and-all-in-one-pcs/optiplex-960-desktop/spd/optiplex-960

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/29765/intel-core-2-quad-processor-q6600-8m-cache-2-40-ghz-1066-mhz-fsb.html

So, your machine was probably first sold in 2007 or 2008.

The 9010 seems to have 2nd and 3rd generation processors.  So, you can find your processor on this list and then assume that the computer could have been sold something like within 2 years after that

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/series/79666/legacy-intel-core-processors.html#@Desktop

The model years are fairly well known and documented.

The GX620 is the transition machine that works from MSDOS to Windows 10.

The 3020 7010 9010 is the last machine to support XP

Windows 98 , XP  was 1997 to 2002

Windows Vista Started in 2007

Windows 7  Started in 2009

Windows 8  Started in 2012

Windows 10 Started in 2015.

2013 9020
2012 7010, 9010
2011 390, 790, 990
2010 380, 780, 980
2009 360, 760, 960
2008 755
2007 745
2006 GX620
2005 GX280
2004 GX270, 170L
2002 GX260
2001 GX240