Dell Optiplex computer good for capturing?
 

Hi Lord Smurf.
I think we have decided on a computer for our digitization project. You recommended XP, and we wanted to check with you to make sure this machine will work with the gear.
It comes with XP installed.

[link removed by request] -LS

For your own sanity, no, don't do it.

Technically, yes, those cheap Dell systems will "work", but with lots of limitations. You'll end up hating capturing, and wrongly thinking capturing is a hellish experience.

HDD: It's good that it has SATA, but that model Optiplex only has a single SATA drive slot. Due to swap/temp files, you cannot capture to the OS drive, it will induce dropped frames. 250gb is also insanely small, an a capture system should also capture to 2tb (no more, no less) SATA drives in XP. And no, you cannot capture to USB drives, not sustained, not even USB3.

Build quality: Those Dell boxes are a proprietary PITA to open, and to remove anything. So even if you've managed to capture a file, then what? You cannot easily remove the HDD, or transfer the files to another system. ("No problem!", you're now thinking, right? "I'll just use the USB!". Wrong...)

USB2: Realistically completely useless to transfer files, it's only good for the USB2 capture card and mouse/keyboard. A single file will take at least an hour to transfer, whereas USB3 would take minutes. We had to do that 10+ years ago, but it's unacceptably slow now.

Loud: These Dell systems are wind tunnels, tiny fans, often even buzzy. You want to hear your audio, not a fan.

Proprietary: The Dell systems use proprietary near-everything inside. You cannot swap out to quieter/better fans, or power supply. You're stuck with the cheap junk inside. And make no mistake, those are cheap computers, mostly used for education (school libraries, etc) or government (the DMV, etc). For simple tasks, minimal hardware, all cheap and corner-cutting for costs savings (but edu/govt still vastly overpaid, mostly lined Dell's profit margin).

There are better systems possible. Easily.

The only thing going for the Dell is that it's insanely cheap. But there's a reason for it. Nobody wants it. Sadly, you can't even gut it for parts, upgrade some pieces to the better system. Some Dells allow for this, but cost too much ($200+) compared to outright just buying better parts (~$200 comparable useful Dell parts + the upgraded fan/heatsink/case, and another 2tb HDD). Or just forget the lower-end Dell altogether, build something better.