Strangely enough, that processor has a pretty good PassMark score: 7160. (And it came out in 2013)
240gb SSD and 8gb ram is passable with Windows 10 Pro. Probably could do worse with $189 than this. 
The corollary is that for most folks, software and usage demands have leveled and Intel has stagnated on increasing processor performance enough that 7 years later, it’s all still relevant.
These computers have 4 DIMM slots and can be upgraded up to 32gb of DDR3. The 240w power supply is a limitation for those who want to build a cheap gaming computer, though; HP doesn’t state the max power for this series, but on the 3rd gen machines (6300 Pro or 8300 Elite), the slot was only designed for 25w.
And even the humble GT 1030 takes 30w.
This is what I call the “magic 4th gen Intel processors”. They had a substantial jump in performance (and USB 3.0 support) but were a little power hungry. Not such an issue with a desktop computer. A Passmark of 7160 is plenty for a business machine and/or light gaming. Pair that with one of the discounted monitors here and you’ve got yourself a decent desktop computer.
One of the reviewers said he had changed out everything except this processor because it was still working so well and another said he had had no problem running games on the machine. I’m sure he wasn’t maxing out the parameters, but still, like you said, for a business machine or light gaming, it’s more than enough.
I’ve seen so many machines on Woot that have newer processors that are in the 3-4k range in PassMark that are way more expensive. Of course a lot goes into price, but I was pleasantly surprised at the specs on this one for the price.
Yeah, gaming definitely makes it a different equation. You would have to be happy with less than max settings or figure out some way to upgrade the video. Never thought about the PCIe slot, although, one of the cards mentioned at the link you posted has a spec of 30w, so maybe not all is lost. 
USB 3.0 started getting common in 3rd gen Ivy Bridge, so nearly all 4th gen Haswell based computers will have them.
Some folks have handily ignored that limit and used higher performance GPUs, but it’s on the user to attempt this, as even a 1050 or 1650 takes 75w. These have a proprietary power supply, both physically and with its connections, so it’s not like a “just replace it with an ATX” is an option.
Office and productivity? Excellent. A base for a gaming PC build? Probably not an option.
Yeah, if I’m doing a gaming build, I usually just start from scratch so nothing would be proprietary and I’d make sure I would have at least a 750w power supply to give me options for later (I think I used a 1300w in my last…Yes, overkill, I know, but it was cool looking 
).
hi - didn’t see wireless anywhere in the specs. does this need to be hardwired or an adapter need to be purchased?
Ethernet only, no Wi-Fi included. Business-class desktops like these tend not to include them.
Not a horrible deal. But if you’re looking for a refurb, Dell Refurbished is having a 45% off sale till Tuesday morning. Got me an optiplex with the same cpu and 16 gigs of RAM for under $150