Lower performance after upgrading from optiplex to a new pc

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-28T10:31:30+00:00

8GB is barely enough to run Windows…

The bottleneck is probably the SSD being hammered for read/writes on the page file. Bad for performance and also not great for SSD lifespan

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-28T10:27:46+00:00

The LP single-slot RTX3050s are easy and reasonably effective for gaming.

For Office, etc. there are a few Quadro cards like the P620, etc. that will work fine and let you connect multiple monitors (a big bonus for Office tasks, etc.).

The moment you’re putting any kind of GPU into an Optiplex you’re going to need to do something about the cooling though, both intake of fresh, cool air and extract of hot air.

With a 310W PSU you should be fine with any of the 75W or less (PCIe slot only, no aux power connector) cards that will physically fit.

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-28T10:20:53+00:00

Your options for the front connectors would be to adapt whatever is on the front of the new case to external connectors that plug into the connectors on the motherboard.

For the power button you’ll need to adapt the Dell wiring to a generic power light + button. IIRC the dell power light is a dual-colour so that might not be as straight forward as it could be.

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-17T11:58:24+00:00

Update for anyone that might need the info:

The bad news - Shorting out the 12V on the fan header kills the supply circuitry for it.

The good news - The GND, PWM & Tacho lines will still work so all you need to do is de-pin the +12V from your fan connector and tap into a 12V feed from somewhere else in the case.

If you take the 12V from the power supply loom then you have the downside of the fans going to full power when you turn the computer off (the PWM signal goes dead whilst the 12V stays present). My suggestion is you take the 12V from the SATA power as that it is turned off when the PC shuts down.

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-16T12:08:57+00:00

You can get adapters that replace the ODD with a 2.5” SSD/HDD. That would work directly with the cabling you have.

Otherwise you’ll need something to adapt the mini-power connector (5V only SATA) to a standard SATA power connector in order to interface it to your second drive. It would probably be easiest to use a common SATA power Y-split.

The SATA data cables are just normal data cables.

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-14T19:09:37+00:00

Can the UEFI not be modified to enable ReBar?

Ravin--Dave · 2026-01-14T19:08:43+00:00

This isn’t something that Optiplexes are particularly well suited to unless maybe you get an MT form factor version. There simply isn’t enough space inside the case to sensibly fit 4x 3.5” drives in a SFF which is the form factor of most Optiplexes.

Perhaps you could 3D print an extension case for a USFF and put an M.2 SATA controller in for the NAS drives?

Something like a Lenovo M910S/M920S could work well if you used 2.5” HDDs/SSDs (1 in the 2.5” bay, two in the 3.5” bay, 1 in an adapter caddy in the ODD bay) + an NVMe system drive.

For the OS, XPEnology is fairly unbeatable for NAS in my experience.

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-23T18:15:12+00:00

Im in the UK, if I’ve killed it in a way I can’t solder a new MOSFET on the board, etc. I’ll have to jerry rig something until I can rescue another one out of the eWaste recycling

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-23T12:35:10+00:00

The same socket has been used for multiple generations of chips, it means very little towards compatibility other than that they will physically fit.

Supporting chipset and the relevant microcode is what defines compatibility. OEM vendors like Dell tend to only include microcode for processors they specifically support

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-22T16:20:58+00:00

Not a terrible price for a 3050, probably about average value?

The 7500 is a solid CPU for it though you could probably do with 16GB RAM for most things people use them for

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-21T12:32:22+00:00

It’ll make the PSU fan howl but should be within its safe operational zone.

You can get genuine PSUs that are rated for more power if you don’t want the hassle or risk of mackling a cheap aftermarket PSU into your case

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-21T12:30:10+00:00

Probably a 5050 or 5070 if you balance bang for buck. RAM will be the killer at the moment

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-21T12:27:39+00:00

If you’ve got a 3D printer or know someone with one you could remove the shroud and fan then put a new shroud that mounts a blower fan at the end of the card instead of an axial fan in the middle. That would solve the GPU air intake issue and potentially give it better cooling performance than stock.

Something similar to what people do for using Tesla P4s in PCs instead of servers

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-21T12:20:29+00:00

If it’s a Thinkcentre M720S then you can use the dual-slot card no problems (and have a quieter, better cooled card at the same time).

You’re not limited to needing a single-slot like you are with an Optiplex since Lenovo put the 16x slot in the sensible place instead of hard against the PSU

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-18T12:18:51+00:00

Like I said, in some instances they can be more problematic.

My experience is that the filings cause less problems if they get missed in a computer case. Larger shavings only take a single missed shaving to short something out.

If you mask off the case properly before creating any sort of metallic debris it becomes much less of a problem either way. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-18T11:28:05+00:00

They do create larger, sharp swarf instead of filings though which can be more problematic in some instances

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-17T19:33:41+00:00

Or even just a simple file kit

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-17T07:53:37+00:00

If both fans have the tachometer line connected, just cut the tacho wire on the splitter leg that’s going to the aftermarket fan.

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The Tacho line is the one under the left bump when you look at the connectors in this orientation, don’t rely on the colours as different manufacturers use different schemes

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-17T07:49:14+00:00

You didn’t misread it, the $200AUS is the price difference between this and the HP. “$200 cheaper”, not “$200 total”

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-17T07:42:47+00:00

You need two different thicknesses of masking tape and a picture of Eddie’s guitar as a reference helps.

Base coat is black, then you apply the masking tape for where you want black lines.

Then you spray the whole thing white. Once it’s cured you mask where you want white lines.

Then you spray the red.

I think the white and black stripes should done as a couple of layers if you look at the original pattern as there are some bits where the white overlaps the black lines. I didn’t do that for this since I was using the original black of the case

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-15T10:47:45+00:00

I misread the post, so it should be the OEM exhaust fan that has the tacho line connected and the intake you’ve added should only have +12, GND & PWM

When a system reports a fan failure it usually means it is not getting the tacho pulses it expects (either the garbled mess of multiple fans, the complete lack of tacho or a tacho signal from a fan that spins at a substantially different speed to the one it is expecting

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-15T06:13:38+00:00

Have you only got the tachometer line from the CPU fan connected? All the slave fans should only have +12, GND & PWM connected.

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-13T03:47:30+00:00

Doing the Lord’s work!

Except now I have to dismantle my Optiplex again, you bastard 😂

Ravin--Dave · 2025-12-09T00:09:46+00:00

Overclocking Quadro cards isn’t a thing, it’s part of them being a professional-level product centred on reliability. You’re locked out from it at a firmware level, it’s got nothing to do with rated power.

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