Choosing the Best Desktop for Small Business
Maximize your team’s focus and creativity with modern small business desktop computers.
Achieve More with Powerful, Versatile Desktop Computers
When you and your team need a dedicated, reliable, and powerful computer that can support a variety of work demands, consider a small business desktop PC. As the most versatile computer form factor, desktop computers provide an ideal mix of power and expandability to support everything from multitasking to the most graphical and data-intensive projects.
Modern small business desktop computers offer built-in security features, premium and immersive experiences, fast and responsive connectivity, increased power efficiency, and the ability to collaborate seamlessly. They typically deliver excellent performance at a great price, and with low life-cycle costs, desktops can also be readily repaired or upgraded.
When you need to maximize results per machine on a small team, the small business desktop computer is a good fit. So what exactly is the best desktop for your small business? It all depends on your unique needs.
What to Look for in a Small Business Desktop Computer
Security Protections to Prevent Business Interruptions
Small businesses without full-time IT staff are often an attractive target of cybercriminals because of their perceived vulnerability. As the sophistication of cyberattacks continues to evolve, software-based security alone is no longer enough to protect your employees, data, and assets.
To stay one step ahead of advanced and diverse threats, look for small business desktop computers with integrated hardware-based security features, such as desktops built on the Intel vPro® Essentials platform, to protect your devices below the operating system without compromising system performance or interrupting productivity. These extra layers of protection help keep your business safe from the negative impacts of a cyberattack, which can result in reduced productivity, missed opportunities, and lower revenue.
More Connections for More Possibilities
Small business desktop computers come with a variety of ports—including USB-C, HDMI, and Thunderbolt™ 4—for connecting to monitors and other peripheral devices. This also includes Ethernet, which can be a crucial connectivity option for any small business desktop used for bandwidth-intensive tasks like videoconferencing or file uploads.
When an Ethernet connection isn’t available, computers with the latest wireless connectivity standards help ensure a fast, quality connection, even in environments where more than 30 users are connected to the same Wi-Fi access point.
Business desktops built on Intel vPro® Essentials platform provide integrated Wi-Fi capabilities for a seamless connected experience, translating into maximum uptime for your small business.
High Performance That Doesn’t Sacrifice Efficiency
The processor, or central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the small business desktop computer. The more powerful the processor, the faster it can receive instructions, perform calculations, and get projects done. The latest Intel® Core™ processors provide the reliability and power your employees need to succeed, whether they are multitasking, videoconferencing, or wrangling a massive spreadsheet.
The latest Intel® Core™ processors also include Intel® Dynamic Tuning Technology, which optimizes energy efficiency. The result: your small business desktop computers will automatically conserve and regulate power consumption for better efficiency.
Memory and Storage to Build Modern Digital Experiences
In the small business world, a desktop’s versatility may make the difference in smaller teams getting more done. Small business desktop computers generally provide more scalability for the most-memory-intensive tasks—like storing and accessing large files or using multiple, demanding applications at the same time.
A PC’s random access memory (RAM) stores data that its CPU can call up almost instantly. When users turn off the computer, the data is cleared from RAM. Most desktops come with 8 GB of RAM, although it’s possible to buy a 16 GB system or add memory if applications need it.
Storage is your desktop’s data bank, holding your operating system and all your programs and files. Turn off the PC, and the data persists. Hard disk drives (HDDs) typically hold more data and cost less, while solid-state drives (SSDs) are much faster and today’s preferred solution for the primary drive. Solid-state drives provide high performance with extreme stability and power efficiency. Some desktop users opt for both—an SSD to run the primary operating system and an HDD for expanded local storage.
There are many storage and memory options, but determining the best combination will depend on what users intend to do on their desktops. Consider adjusting memory and storage options based on each employee’s role so they can work and create without running into system-related interruptions.
A Powerful GPU to Elevate Creativity
To create images for your display, a graphics processing unit (GPU) performs complex calculations—and some modern computer applications can harness that mathematical prowess to accomplish additional intensive tasks. GPUs can be integrated (embedded alongside the CPU) or discrete (a distinct chip on a graphics card). Many desktops use a graphics card to provide performance for high-end visual applications. For example, workstations.
need top-performing graphics to accomplish intense calculations and display complex images.
The Latest Operating System to Maximize Full Benefits
Windows 11 Pro is Microsoft’s new perspective on the future of PC operating systems (OSs) for today’s businesses. Its new features and modern, clean design make it easier for small business employees to be creative and focused.
When considering a new small business desktop computer, Windows 11 is intuitive, easy to manage, and secure. Learn more about updates you can expect with Windows 11.
As the latest Microsoft OS, Windows 11 Pro is currently prioritized as the go-to operating system for new desktops. Windows 11 Pro has specific system requirements, so check before purchasing to be sure that your new small business desktop computers will use Windows 11 Pro out of the box.
The Right Desktops for Your Focused Team
A major determining factor for each small business desktop computer you buy is its size and shape. Each popular desktop form factor has its own strengths, and different employees will have their own tasks and preferences to consider. Begin by reviewing each employee’s computing needs to determine which form factor will be ideal.
Computer Towers
Computer towers often include significant interior space, which can be useful for employees who need to add or swap important physical elements like the CPU, RAM, and storage. This makes tower desktops ideal for more-intensive, stationary tasks like data management. If employees are on a hybrid or staggered schedule, a single tower desktop can be used by multiple employees at different times of the day or week—and offer flexibility for each staffer’s computing needs.
Small Form Factor PCs
Small form factor PCs pack high performance into tight spaces. Mount them against walls, behind monitors, or underneath conference room tables to elegantly hide significant computing power in useful spaces. Or use them in smaller offices where space is at a premium.
All-in-One Desktops
All-in-one (AIO) desktops streamline an entire computer— touchscreen, microphone, webcam, speakers, and input/output (I/O) ports—into an elegant system with a sleek profile. You can likely skip the usual desktop wires for your favorite peripherals, like headsets, keyboards, and mice, as AIOs commonly include built-in Bluetooth support.
Workstations
Workstations offer power and performance that can manage resource-intensive applications and heavy graphical or computational workloads, including data analysis, video and audio creation, and 3D workloads like rendering and animation.
Big Results for Small Business with Desktops Built on the Intel vPro® Platform
Small businesses run better when teams can scale and react to emerging digital needs on the fly. Look for the Intel vPro® platform on your next small business desktop computers, complete with powerful performance and integrated security capabilities.
Intel vPro® Essentials
Desktops on Intel vPro® Essentials are designed for small businesses without a dedicated IT team.
Intel vPro® Enterprise
Companies with dedicated IT support should consider desktops on Intel vPro® Enterprise, which include expanded fleet management features and security capabilities.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Small business desktop computers come in various sizes, each optimized for particular use cases. Larger form factors, like workstations or computer towers, generally offer more power for anyone running intensive applications during the workday. These larger desktop PCs may include more space inside the computer to add specialized hardware that supports particular company roles. If physical space is at a premium, an all-in-one desktop or small form factor PC may better fit into an environment like a retail kiosk or shared office, while still providing powerful, flexible performance.
The ideal storage capacity of small business desktop computers depends on what tasks your employees are focused on during the workday. Any role that revolves around creative production will require greater storage, in the form of either hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs), than work that revolves around data entry, email, web browsing, and other text-focused applications. If an employee needs a larger, more powerful computer, they will likely need greater storage capacity—along with a combination of faster SSDs and slower HDDs, since the latter often offers more storage for a lower price.
Small business desktop computers may be better suited for offices, retail locations, and other places where computing power, expandability, and security are a higher priority than portability.
Yes. Thanks to their generally larger form factors, nearly every element of small business desktop computers can be more easily configured when ordering from a retailer. As an example, the exterior and form factor of a fleet of PCs may look identical, but each can be customized to have different types and capacities of CPUs, GPUs, storage, RAM, networking solutions, operating systems, preinstalled software, and other crucial factors. If you need to update or add to a small business desktop PC later, larger form factors like workstations and computer towers are generally better suited for such expansions or additions.