Dell OptiPlex Q&A Pt. 1: OptiPlex vs. New, CPU & Mobo Upgrades, GPU Upgrades & More

[@TheGameBench]

Happy Holidays everyone! Please let me know what you thought about the Q&A video. If you guys like this, perhaps we can open it up to more subjects.

[@reaganl.5113]

Thank you for answering my question, I hope you are doing better!

[@TheGameBench]

@@reaganl.5113 No problem, and slowly but surely.

[@thedungeondelver]

Best wishes of the season, man. Hope you get better in 2021, in all ways. Your channel should have 100k subscribers, I tell you what.

[@flankingfoxtrot]

You return

[@Mascotabaco]

Hi. Just found this channel... Apparently You don't cover SFF Dell's. Besides the very obvious limitations, is there any other particular reason? Merry Christmas everyone! Stay safe!

[@jbxplayz7357]

One of the most informative channels on the topic of Dells. I appreciate your work

[@VentureWayward]

100%

[@TheGameBench]

Wow thank you! That's high praise from all of you.

[@BenPisarik]

Take your time man! Remember you can’t make great videos when you aren’t feeling good. Your health should over feeling like you are responsible for making videos. Take your time and we will wait

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks, I really appreciate that.

[@Shiesty2Sorcerer]

I recently rewired an OptiPlex 790 MT front panel to standard and put a ryzen 9 7900x3d with a AMD rx 7900xt and dude I love this system. Definition of a sleeper build

[@dologany]

I am just writing this comment to show my absolute appreciation for this video series you did about Optiplex-es. I'm an IT tech, but after having my 2 boys (who are now 6 & 8 years old, and autistic), let's just say that playing video games (or thinking about setting up a basic gaming PC has been out of my mind for a while. Now, the only PC we have at home happens to be an Optiplex 3020. Imagine my joy, seeing your videos, showing how it is absolutely possible to turn my PC into a potable gaming build. 🙂 My aim has always been to emulate PS2 games (maximum) and Minecraft, Fortnite, etc. The kind of games my boys will be thrilled with. Thanks to your videos, I removed the hard drive bay, used your template to position my SSD and HDD. Got most of my parts, now waiting on my 500W PSU, an Asus 970 GTX and an i7 4770k to replace my i5 4590 (because I wanted to match the GPU as much as possible). Videos like yours are really uncommon and I'm convinced they give a new purpose to lots of people having those Dell computers. 😁

[@douglomax7461]

YO BRO! Good to see you back at it!

[@RyanMinardovic]

YO! Optiplex people unite!

[@Harryd06]

thank you i subbed your channel is very helpful

[@saurondp]

Glad to see you back! Take care of your health, it's the most important thing you have.

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[@rayesalnasra3108]

Great to see you back after so long.

[@kekistanifreedomfighter4197]

6:55 yeah the terribly placed SATA & USB 3 ports almost make me wish I got an ITX sized rx 5500 instead of an rx 580 just to net deal with the hassle of the special cables & right angle adapter.

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, it sure can add up getting all the cables to clear. Especially of you go with the Silverstone cables.

[@franciscourioste4783]

@@TheGameBench is "Silverstone" the brand of SATA cables that you used? Are they good? Is it there any other brand, just in case?

[@physxme]

I really like the optiplex 7010 "DT" (desktop) case. Its combination of a slim (about 2U) form factor and M-ATX motherboard support is extremely rare in today's case market. Its competitiors are mostly "HTPC" cases (like Silverstone ML11) and their build quality is lightyears behind this 10 year old Dell case. Working in it is just so satisfying with Dell's toolless design. You don't need to turn a single screw when removing the side panel, swapping out a 3.5 HDD or adding a pcie card.

[@Random12347]

How did you sleeve the 8 pin to 24 pin? 7:29

[@TheGameBench]

I've sleeved full power supply cable kits, so I just applies the same principals here and just took apart one that I bought off Amazon and sleeved it. Singularity Computers has some good sleeving tutorial videos.

[@physxme]

I tinkered a bit with the optiplex 7010 DT's front panel connector, and it (mostly) works with a standard motherboard now. You can find pinout diagrams for dell's proprietary connector online. With those I was able to adapt the two front audio jacks and the two front usb 2.0 ports into standard connectors. The only issue is that dell's audio jack "sense" function works differently from modern motherboards and I had to turn off audio jack plugin sense in my motherboard's audio driver utility, which means when you plug in headphones in the front audio jack, the system can't switch to it automatically. Otherwise the usb2.0 and audio ports all work normally with my Gigabyte B450 motherboard. While Dell's front usb3.0 connector have the same number of pins as normal usb3.0 connectors do, it appears to have an exotic locking pin which will probably tear up the motherboard usb3 socket if you force it in. I don't want to drill or cut either the connector or my motherboard socket. So I ordered some 90 degree usb3 connector adaptor online and planned to try drill on those so they could fit Dell's exotic locking pin. Those haven't arrived yet.

[@monovengclan]

good to see you back. I hope you'll get better soon. in general I feel optiplexes are a good thing for people who live in countries were there is not much pc gaming hardware as I do. with 4 cores becoming obsolete, I feel like it's really budget AAA gaming that is going away.

[@TheGameBench]

Maybe... maybe not. I've heard that sentiment a lot lately, since the release of CP 2077. It all depends, is CP an anomaly, of is it a trend? There's a lot of arguing that it's simply demanding vs. unoptimized, and I think it's a little of both. I've heard that it's severely broken at it core. So, time will tell, but I think it's too soon to call the budget AAA gaming scene.

[@nahpets2345]

Welcome back ! Btw I'm planning to upgrade my Optiplex very soon so my decision is over. I'll get 2TB HDD for data, 120GB SSD for Windows, I'll keep my CPU, my power supply will be a 500W or greater and a GTX 970 or RX 580 8GB. I hope my upgrades are good. So merry Lockdown and a happy new year !

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, 120GB should be fine for most people for the O/S drive, and a hard drive will only effect load times and 2TB can hold a lot of games, so long as they're not Modern Warfare sized games.

[@GreyWolfTowers]

You and me both have been left out of the reviewer sample group. But you will get there eventually. Awesome video. Happy holidays, hope you feel better soon

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! Happy holidays to you. Yeah, eventually. I'm guessing I won't see review samples until around 100k.

[@jessicabruno2820]

Second channel ever I have intentionally turned notifications on. Thanks for making these great videos and I hope whatever took you to the emergency room is gone and you feel better soon!

[@TheGameBench]

Thank you so much. It mysteriously stopped and hasn't come back. It's kinda' worse, not knowing what happened. But it seems to be fine.

[@adamafseth4675]

Excellent work and be well. Looking forward to the next one!

[@TheGameBench]

Thank you very much!

[@TheClahey]

Good stuff.

[@venialivelizard]

hope you're feeling better, you've been such a big help!

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! I'm happy to help.

[@alextab25]

I have the 7020 and i ordered the moddiy 24 pin to 8 pin adapter. but what i'm wondering about is the other HDD port which is a 6 pin port with one pin blocked off that sits right next to the power port. before the was a cable hooked up to it and running to the hard drive and even the dvd rom i think. but with my new evga power supply do i still uses that that HDD port and its adapter cable to power the hard drive and dvd, or do i just use my new power supply's connectors to power those components?

[@aaronmayhem2062]

Hi using advice you gave me I built a budget gaming optiplex pc for my son and he loves it .just wanted to thank you 👍

[@TheGameBench]

That's awesome! Glad I could help.

[@thabisontsuntsha1478]

Big up Clinton, very informative video as we are wrapping up the year, enjoy your holidays Bro

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! You too.

[@johnrogers-thorn6504]

Hi, I just bought an Optiplex 710 with an i5, 16 gigs ram, GTX 760 4gig gpu, 1TB hybrid ssd, running w10 professional. It seems excellent. Are these good machines?. Greetings from England.

[@ghostemane85]

why don't you use dell workstations? like the precisions? I bought a T5810 for 120 bux

[@TheGameBench]

Mostly because they're not as flexible as an OptiPlex. You can't replace the power supply with off the shelf components. They're more complex. Just navigating the CPU upgrade options for socket 2011 is going to be rather confusing for the average person. Not to say I wouldn't consider working with one, but $120 is a pretty good deal. Still seem to be going over $200 on eBay, and I'll never find one locally. My local market is pretty trash unfortunately.

[@JohnPaulBuce]

question: what is the oldest optiplex you may recommend? is it still the 4th gen? are there any other office pc brands that are comparable to optiplex?

[@TheGameBench]

The 7010/9010 with an i7 3770 is the absolute oldest I suggest at this point for a gaming PC that's playing anything somewhat recent. Anything older, and I would consider that going the way of a retro gaming PC. MIght still be fine for some games like Dota and CS Go with the right GPU paring. Ideally though, I suggest the xx20 models with an i7. I wouldn't suggest any of the quad core i5's at this point for anything other than a general use PC.

[@crecca2]

What's that white case at 15:10? Quality content as always. Get well and Merry Christmas.

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks. It's the Phanteks P300 Elite. Used it for a few builds an I'm a big fan of it for a budget case. Has tempered glass and a slight RGB accent. Plus, it's only about $50 to $60.

[@animegirl3069]

can you do a video on upgrading the motherboard on one of these

[@TheGameBench]

So, like a sleeper PC?

[@animegirl3069]

@@TheGameBench yes, im a beginner and i would swap the case but i just love it so much

[@TheGameBench]

@@animegirl3069 Actually... I've been planning on doing one of these at some point. Thinking about a 12th Gen Intel i5 system with a B660 board. I'm thinking about keeping it pretty much stock looking on the outside. Power button and LEDs would all work, so would the front panel. I've just been trying to find a 7020 or 9020 case in good shape.

[@IamJay02]

Hey welcome back man glad you're feeling better.

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks!

[@RespekfulFungus]

I’ve said this already. I’m piecing together a super budget build. You can get a 3020 Mobo for 20 bucks, $50-100 case, I found cheap 16g Corsair Vengeance DDR3 locally $35. 450w psu $35. Gtx 970 $50. Xeon E3 1240v3. This is mainly just for World of Warcraft, so I don’t need much Gpu power, but this build would easily be upgraded with a motherboard swap and processor upgrades down the line. The after Christmas used market is fantastic right now.

[@TheGameBench]

Save for the GPU market. It's pretty bad right now. It hasn't hit the 900 series as hard. But man, for get getting a 1060 right now.

[@johnhealy9231]

Hope you get back to full health soon ,love the info in your videos,merry Christmas and a happy new year from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years as well over there in Scotland.

[@sbfotome]

The GeForce GTX 970 4GB SC will fit in a dell 990 MT but you need the low profile SATA cables with about .5 inch clearance.

[@TheGameBench]

Good to know. I used to have a couple of those and I recall them being under 10 inches.

[@cheftomcruise8735]

I have a dell optiplex 9020 with an i5 4590. Just a bit unsure if I should buy a new PSU for my 570 I have on hand. does the 8 pin to sata cable work with the 570? and with the 570 and the components go above the 290 watts on the stock psu. (btw I have an 80+ bronze stock psu rated at 290 watts) if you could answer this question that would be great. Thanks! BTW: The 570 I own is an MSI Armor RX 570 4GB OC

[@zellar1]

I am glad you're feeling better and I am looking forward to Part 2! What is the community channel you mentioned? Happy Holidays!!!

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! It's my community page. If you go to my main channel page on KZbin and then click on the community tab, it will take you to community posts. kzbin.infocommunity

[@loveall2044]

Welcome back

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks!

[@gregleizl27]

very informative video, every answer is straight to the point. very relaxing and chill to watch. looking forward to the next one. more power to You and Your channel. happy hollidays!

[@TheGameBench]

Thank you very much! I hope you had an excellent holiday season too.

[@luisehermann8577]

Hello, great video. I have to ask if it's possible to run an ASUS DUAL-GTX1660S-O6G-MINI on the original 290 W psu?

[@dmitrybayer]

I would also like to know... Coincidentally one of my dearest friends is facing the same hurdle.

[@luisehermann8577]

@@dmitrybayer Ok so that seems to be a quite common problem.

[@TheGameBench]

Yep, it's on the edge of what I'd be comfortable with, but it'll be fine. Hell, Linus put a 1660 Ti on the xx10 series 275 watt power supply. Just be sure to use a dual SATA to PCIe adapter to keep from drawing too much current from the SATA power.

[@tensebeastgaming8527]

Ive said this before on another vid, but the HP Z230 is a good step up for gamers from these optiplex units. I've got an almost 13inch 3 fan Gigabyte GTX 970 in mine with zero mods required. It came stock with a 400w psu that feeds the 970 which can peak at roughly 240-250w from the GPU alone, something no stock optiplex could ever hope to do. Note the z230 only comes with one 6pin so you may need a dual sata to 6pin to feed really power hungry cards like mine.

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, I'm really liking the Z series. I finally got my hands on one and it was the same price as the equivalent Opti, and with the 240/440 coming down in price, I have to recommend those before the, even more constricting, Opti xx40 series.

[@chipsandsalsa2520]

Hello, I have a Dell Optiplex 9010 with a OM9KCM motherboard using Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz , my question is can my CPU be upgraded ? In addition to that I use a Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB, 450 W powers supply, Micron 8JTF51264AZ-1G6E1 4x4GB RAM, Kingston A400 240GB SSD, Intel Raid 1 Volume 500GB HD (used for storing photos) and stock cooling (while I mostly operate with the side cover removed). If the CPU cant be upgraded do you have any advice on mods you would make to get the most out of what I have. I love your contend as it covers far more than any other channel in regards to these units. Cheers (Subscribed)

[@Mascooo]

what is the strongest cpu that is compatible with the dell optiplex 9010 motherboard??

[@TheGameBench]

Strongest? Definitely the Xeon 1290v2. But as I understand, quite expensive. I would just stick with the i7 3770, or if you can find it for less, the Xeon 1270v2.

[@JosephAlanMeador]

You are a champ. Wishing you a speedy recovery and happy holidays!

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! I hope you had a nice holiday season too.

[@bobbymcdobson2153]

hey man! thanks for all the videos and will keep your health in my thoughts. just got an optiplex setup for christmas (i7-4790 w/ gtx 1660sup) and am super excited. no more crappy laptop gaming!

[@hp5469]

I got the same thing for my son for his b-day back in September. I think its a perfect combo

[@TheGameBench]

Just built one for my brother's family for Christmas.

[@theboy2777]

@@TheGameBench got the same specs but I slapped in a rtx 2060 . It’s a beast of a gaming pc

[@hagar2167]

I got two of these MT Dell Optiplex 9020's. They work great. I'm not needing to game play at extremes, so upgrading the GPU, and PSU is really all I feel I need to do. However, the PSU needs to be addressed as to which PSU will fit. Not all PSU's like not all GPU's are all the same size. Or at least I found when I went upgrade mine. Great channel and thanks for the leg work. You do it well.

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, I do need to do a PSU upgrade guide. Probably do that as well as a separate video talking about the minutiae of power supply specs.

[@RPGtourguide]

Hey, glad to see you are back to making videos! I was surprised to see this pop up on my subscription page. I will have to check out these videos in more detail when I have some cash. My computer setup is in desperate need of an upgrade. I’m going to start saving up to build my own. Hope you are doing well! Happy holidays! 😁

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, man... it's been a hot minute. If you have any questions when it comes time to build it, feel free to reach out.

[@DeepakKumar-lv4te]

here's one for you. Could I take a mini tower 7060 that doesn't have room for a gpu and doesn't have the harbin adaptors and.....put the internals into an old optiplex mid-tower CASE ? Would this give room for the GPU that isn't there in the mini tower? thx

[@TheGameBench]

Be about the same amount of work and have the same issues as re-casing it in a DIY chassis, which if you're going to do, would be better than putting it in an older Optiplex chassis. I would ask what GPU you want to use that won't fit? You can absolutely add GPU's to these. You just might have to do some cutting for larger cards. Best to look for a standard height, dual slot, card that isn't too long.

[@DeepakKumar-lv4te]

@@TheGameBench thx for the response. I have an rx6600 3 fan gigabyte eagle gpu I picked up, 282mm long. So the case front would have to be cut to accommodate its length. Also sfx psu are expensive here in England, not easy to find used either. This is the killer. So would need a standard psu located outside or a weird cutout. Serious Frankenstein stuff! It would look as bad as me!!! Seems harbin does do the Power switch and led adaptor so the 5pin header I guess could be modified as with others if it's the same. There is also a 9pin labelled usb header on the mb and my other case has a 9pin plug from its front usb ports, i wonder if i can just plug it in, would it damage anything? Would you like a photo? Hope you're well. Cheers

[@horsepowerfc337]

Paired my i7 4790 with a RTX 3050... The most annoying thing with my build is the rear fan. Sometimes it sounds like I am in an airport... Is it safe to just remove the dam thing...?

[@paulhillbeats]

You have returned!

[@Gravel-79]

Great video! hope you are feeling better soon man.

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@steve37uk]

hope you get better soon buddy, love all your videos

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[@Random12347]

Very helpful

[@TheGameBench]

Glad it helped!

[@arsalixxl]

Hi how tedious was the process for sleeping your 24 to 8 pin power connector. Also would you ship one out if i would pay?

[@TheGameBench]

The adapter... not very, but I've done some incredibly tedious sleeve jobs. For a first timer, it could be a little tedious, but not too bad. There's certainly a learning curve to sleeving cables, and that can vary on the materials you use as well as your tools. As for making one, cost would depend on what I would have to buy. I don't sleeve for other people. I only sleeve my own cables, so it's not like I have all the materials I'd need to do it right now. I made that one with scraps. However, there's some I can suggest that does this professionally for other people and his work is top notch. Plus, he'll get you your cable in a timely manner. He typically does full PSU cable sets, so I'm not sure if this is something he'd take on, but he's who I'd recommend. His name is Michael Braaten and he runs MB Sleeving.

[@joeymasarateii3417]

I have a problem. When i inserted a gpu (gtx 1050) to my pc (opiplex 9020), the screen oftenly flickers began randomly black screen? What could be the possible problem?

[@stevenwilliams6638]

Glad to see you back man! Hope your health returns to 100% soon!

[@TheGameBench]

You and me both. Thanks man!

[@stevenwilliams6638]

@@TheGameBench I've been working with these dells for about 5 years. I'm offloading the last 10 I have of them. I think their days are close to an end, at lest for modern gaming. Again , hope to see you feeling better soon

[@TheGameBench]

@@stevenwilliams6638 I don't know, I starting to think that things may not be too bleak. I'm starting to think that AC Valhalla and CP 2077 are anomalies, and not trends. Still, I wouldn't have overspend on these systems if I could help it. I plan to get all the ones I have on hand moved before summer, when the new GPU's start to stabilize on stock. However, tariffs might present a further issue for the new market and keep the used market pretty inflated.

[@stevenwilliams6638]

@@TheGameBench it's a shame that Dell made their systems even harder to case swap. I mean it's possible but it's to much of a pain. Really crappy of them honestly, as they are just going to end up in landfills quicker, as they can't be swapped. (Not as easily as 4th gen and older)

[@TheGameBench]

@@stevenwilliams6638 I'm actually considering grabbing a 40 series to overhaul. They do make it a PITA but it's not an entirely lost cause. Still, I think the Z series is the more viable option.

[@JeffWaynee]

Be well, and I hope you feel 100% ASAP.

[@TheGameBench]

Thank you!

[@visualrobin1719]

If anyone is still interested in this project (Dell Optiplex 9020) An I7 4790k does work (probably can't overclock it though but the base and turbo boost clock speeds, 4ghz-4.4ghz respectively is pretty decent) The MSI and Palit storm x rtx 2060 should be able to fit in without the hdd cage removal mod (although I have removed the HDD cage)

[@DaRyteJuan]

Congratulations on growing your channel. It’s interesting to see a KZbinr focus on niches like you do. Of course, JayzTwoCents is great, it’s definitely a different flavor of ice cream.

[@cdcroc]

Here's the path I took since I was gifted an Optiplex 9020 i7 4790 (non k) 3 years ago. I've been using it stock since I had it for a home work station but decided recently to build my own pc since the new AMD product came out. I bought my psu, fans (rgb for my fps), case, 65 gaming Ducky keyboard, and b550 MB. Then covid hit and I a really patient person since I game exclusively on console (so does all my friends). I did however catch the build bug and started digging since I figured I won't be able to build my "new' AMD pc for a while and my son just recently took up and interest in building pc's so here's what I did: Purchased a used msi Z97 mb, 16 gb of ram (at 32gb already, and before I started my AMD build years ago) and decided to throw everything into the case rgb fans and all for the AMD system I paln to build when the world returns to sanity. Here's what I have:z97 mb matx, 32gb of ddr3 ram 1600, ssd 128 (OS), 500 hdd storage, New case DLM21 mesh with rgb fans, Corsair psu 600w mod. Here's my dilemma, what gpu should I buy? I was strongly considering a rx 580 as I don't plan on using this as a gaming pc with plans on my AMD build. Also: The used z97 board I bought came with a i3 4170 and 8 gb of ram I plan on letting my son build his own pc just to play around with and learn so bought him a used mb but conflicted on the gpu. I was thinking a 1050ti. Sorry for the book lol but I'd appreciate the feedback from you or anyone in the comment section.

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, I say if you're not looking for something high end, it's hard to argue with an RX 470/570 4GB. They're the best value right now as you can find them under $100. RX 580's are way too expensive considering their level of performance right now. And I'd go with that over the 1050 Ti as well since you'll pay more for the same amount of VRAM and a slower GPU.

[@jakeeames725]

Good info. Thank you for your time good sir! Love from Alaska!

[@TheGameBench]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnpbriggs]

Thanks as always Clint :)

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks John, I appreciate it.

[@hussenmazen8036]

Is the asus strix rx 570 good for a dell optiplex pls

[@TheGameBench]

Maybe... I've been playing with a Strix 470 and it consumes about as much as a 1060 6GB. However, the 570 has an 8-pin, so it might draw more power. So it might be on the edge of what I would consider safe on the stock 290 watt power supply.

[@TheLinkhawkins]

Thanks for all the great info!

[@TheGameBench]

You bet!

[@nickgomez28]

I bought my son the Dell precision T1700 and I paired it with a Asus Dual Radeon 5500 XT. When the GPU is installed, it covers the SATA ports for the hard drives on the motherboard. Does anyone have any ideas for a work around?

[@TheGameBench]

Interesting... the T1700 shouldn't have that issue with any dual slot GPU. The Dual must be a little thicker than two slots. Thankfully, the solution is pretty simple. Just use some low profile cables. There are some 90 degree SATA cables you could use, but you'd have to get a left/right angle so you could use both ports. Also, most 90 degree SATA cables are tall... so it's a crap shoot if they'll be short enough. Silverstone makes some low profile cables that work perfectly, but they're a little spendy as far as SATA cables go. For the USB3 header there are some low profile cables as well. Silverstone 300mm: tinyurl.com/ybhreyms Silverstone 500mm: tinyurl.com/ydzaw942 Low Profile USB3: tinyurl.com/ycd9e8vy

[@nickgomez28]

Thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted after I receive the Silverstone cables. Your channel has been huge in helping me put this Dell together for my son. I hope your back to full health soon and I look forward to more content from you!

[@DaRyteJuan]

It’s pretty cool this channel exists. I came b/c I’m upgrading my dad’s old *Lenovo H430 Core i3-2130 3.4 GHz w/4GB* (2 core w/ hyperthreading) to a *T1700 4790 16GB RAM* which I got off eBay for $270 including shipping. My dad doesn’t do anything besides surfing the web and watching the occasional KZbin videos. We already upgraded the7200 RPM 1TB HDD in the Lenovo to a brand new Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SSD, and by itself that made a hell of an improvement. But after I went back home and looked up the specs on that Lenovo, I felt bad for talking my dad into spending $140 on it, haha. So I’m getting him him this T1700 for Father’s Day. This old T1700 comes stock with a Sapphire R7 240 which pretty much everyone says is absolute shite. But like I said, this rig isn’t intended for gaming. Of course, I’m gonna slap that 1TB Samsung we just put into the Lenovo into this box. It’s kinda funny how a used 1050 TI is about what I paid for the whole computer. haha. For this T1700, I could see maybe slipping in a GTX 750 TI w/GB for about $140. Even though you upgrade the RAM to 32 GB for about $115, I’m pretty sure my dad would never need more than 16 GB. I guess if I upgraded the video card, I’d probably go ahead and upgrade the PSU to a Corsair 650W.

[@ncrikku]

Heyoo. Welcome back!

[@papachigly3799]

Will a GTX 1060 6gb Mini fit into a Dell Optiplex 9020 mid tower?

[@TheGameBench]

Absolutely. Won't even have to modify anything. Do you have a particular model in mind? The Zotac mini will fit for sure as will any single fan models out there.

[@papachigly3799]

@@TheGameBench ​ I can't close the clip on the back holding in PCI exit slots? The little black click-in tab pushes up against the GPU plastic housing - It's a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 Mini ITX OC 6G 6 GB GDDR5.

[@ramimr1701]

Hey so I bought an Dell Optiplex 990 i5 2500T for £60 it has 350 watts what sort of gpu do you recommend please ?

[@TheGameBench]

For the 2500T I'd suggest something like the 1060 3GB/6GB, RX 470/570, 1660, 1650 Super and maybe the 480/580. Much more than that and the 2nd gen i5 is going to start to become a serious bottleneck.

[@DaRyteJuan]

Back in 2019, my buddy bought an XPS Special Edition with a 9900 Xeon that can clock up to 5Ghz for about $2,500. Two years later, I’m finally jealous, haha.

[@abubakarriaz8937]

Hi, A small question I have enough money to buy I5 4590 ( may be i5 3570 because of availability and current price hike along with gpu stock also) with rx 470 4gb with 12gb ram. I have to mainly used for gaming and game streaming, for gamez like GTA V Warzone PUBG Apex Legends Fortnite As I am planning to start a youtube channel. My question is will this build will be good enough to drive me this way with gameplay along with streaming.

[@TheGameBench]

Playing those games? Yes. Gaming and streaming? Nope. You'd need at least an i7 for that. Or an nVidia GPU that could encode the stream to take the load off the CPU. But there's nothing reasonably priced from nVidia that's up to the task right now. My suggestion would be an i7 4790, at the very least. If OptiPlex systems are running to expensive, try branching out and look at the HP Z230, or even the Z240 with an i7 6700.

[@Zemi.Andersen]

I have an optiplex 980MT from 2010, with an i5 660 dual core, 3.33ghz, 8gbs of ram and a 2gb msi gt 1030. Ive never complained, since i mostly play runescape 3, and after doing some research about hardware usage, i feel like ive tuned it to perfection (ingame settings etc.) - (If youre courious, its high to ultra settings, set to 60 fps locked) Just bought 16gb of used ram, a used 128 gb ssd, a 550w psu. I aso had a gtx 1650, but it didnt fit... So I stripped the case today, drew some lines, and took it to my fathers workshop, where I let him cut it for me. Now there is basically room to fit any gpu in here, so im very interested to see its peformance. Cant say thanks enough for your videos about the optiplex systems. It has been a ton of fun, a fairly cheap way to get my machine to feel brand new again. Also this has really sparked a new hobby for me!

[@whitesmoketv6737]

love the vid

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks!

[@tonymartinez4552]

Hell yes brother, love the vid. Get well!

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks!

[@complifunnynation]

How long will optiplex gaming PC be?

[@TheGameBench]

Are you asking how long they'll be viable as gaming PCs? Well, the OptiPlex series still exists, but if you're wondering about the 9020, I still think it will be viable for a few more years. The GPU market is only extending out the life of these older machines.

[@cdog13headgamer22]

hey can u put a i7 4th gen k series in a optiplex 3020

[@TheGameBench]

Yep... and if you've seen my video about the 4790k in the 9020, you might run into a similar problem I had with the 9020, but it's easy to get around. And in my testing in the 3020, the performance was close to the same, so my conclusion for the 4790k in the 3020 is the same.

[@cdog13headgamer22]

@@TheGameBench thanks what kind of promblem though i wont face the same issues in my 3020 will i am trying to build a budget build with a 780 geforce founders in 16 gig ram in a ssd i curlenty have a i5 which is y im asking

[@TheGameBench]

@@cdog13headgamer22 The problem I ran into was that it gave me an error after putting the 4790k in the 9020 and when it got into Windows it worked, but with some quite odd behavior. The fix was entering the BIOS and exiting, and then it functioned normally. Other people have had issues and it could be because their BIOS was older and they just needed to update the BIOS. If you're curious, I'd suggest watching that video to get an idea of how it will perform.

[@cdog13headgamer22]

@@TheGameBench bios is updated though the 9020 in the 3020 are completly difrent from each other i just want to put a k in it

[@trza49er]

So I have a 7020, and I'm really just looking for 60 FPS on 1080p. Currently looking at a GT 1030 and an Intel i5 6600K. Think that'll get 'er done? I'm new to this stuff, apologies if this question is dumber than dumb. Been watching a lot of videos the past few days, still soaking it all in. Oh, and I hope you feel better man.

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks, I appreciate that. Well, if you've got a 7020, you can't install a 6600K in it. You can only install the 4th hen Haswell CPU's in the xx20 models. You'd probably pay about as much for a 6600K as it would be to get an i7 4790 which will drop right in, you'll just have to enable hyperthreading in the BIOS. I would suggest that over even a 6th or 7th gen i5. Games are just using more and more cores and the four extra threads really helps going forward. As for the GT 1030... depends on the game. Some, you outright won't be able to do it. Some will require serious compromises. I would suggest something like the RX 460/560 over the 1030. You could even get something like the XFX RX 470 4GB or Asus Strix RX 470 4GB for under $100 that will run on the stock power supply and easily manage over 60 FPS in most games with some compromises here and there.

[@trza49er]

@@TheGameBench That's really great advice, thanks again. I have the i5 4590 currently, any thoughts on that guy? I just watched a vid of someone getting pretty good FPS with that CPU, using the RX 470. Really surprised me, has me thinking about just upgrading the RAM to 16 and buying a decent GPU to see where I stand. I'll do some looking for the i7 4790, appreciate the tip.

[@TheGameBench]

@@trza49er The 45xx and 46xx i5's are still pretty good. Just depends on the game since there are newer AAA titles out there that just aren't happy on quad cores regardless, and it doesn't matter what GPU you put on them. But that's a pretty small percentage of games right now. And the 470 is the best value in entry level right now. And they perform a lot better than most people think. Costs less than a 1050 Ti, and it's faster. And if you go with something like the XFX 4GB model, you can easily run it on the stock power supply. The Asus Strix model looks like it would be good to go on the stock PSU as well.

[@AndyShen]

Would an OptiPlex 390 with an i5-2400 bottleneck an RX 570?

[@TheGameBench]

Yes, and no. It really depends on the game and the settings. It also matters what you have running in the background and if you're playing online or not. I have a video testing out several GPU's with the 2nd gen and I saw the 2500 be a slight bottleneck is some situations with the 570. Keep in mine that my testing was done on a clean install with nothing running in the background.

[@kasonlamb5847]

idk if The Game Bench will see this but im looking at an dell xps desktop 16gb ram i-7 7700k 1Tb hdd for at the time of the comment the bid is at like 177$ ??????

[@TheGameBench]

That seems pretty low. But it's odd that an XPS would have a 7700K. I didn't think they put Z series chipsets in those systems. That being said, the 7700K will sell for more than that on its own. What did it end up going for?

[@kasonlamb5847]

@@TheGameBench it went for about $410 with shipping $380 without. sry for the delay in response it had been relisted, so i thought i should get/show the new price. :)

[@jamesgaffney7480]

I love that I have an optiplex 9020 and I’m playing cyberpunk with relative ease.

[@TheGameBench]

Really? I don't have CP yet to do any testing with. What settings are you running? Feeling like I'm going to need get it for some testing.

[@theboy2777]

Specs ?

[@muhammadsyafiq8508]

have done optiplex 7020 i7 4790 with 450w psu,ssd,hdd,24gb ram,1660 super triple fan and 2 add on 120mm fans cable tied... so janky lol

[@TheGameBench]

Janky... but effective.

[@muhammadsyafiq8508]

@@TheGameBench love my sleeper hahah.. yeah in my country quite cost effective compare to new parts of i3 10th gen or ryzen 3100 full build

[@TheGameBench]

@@muhammadsyafiq8508 Man... I completely forgot that aspect. Yeah, outside the U.S. getting a new system could be a VASTLY more expensive prospect than going with a used OEM build, depending one where you are.

[@redjar69]

Great video, DOOG gang represent

[@austin_94gt18]

Does anyone know what the max cpu you can put in an optiplex 990 is? I bought a 4790k and it didn't fit.

[@TheGameBench]

Hopefully you didn't bent any pins. No, the socket is completely different for the 4th Gen Haswell CPU's. the x90 models will only work with 2nd Gen Skylake CPU's. So, your best option is really the i7 2600. I've heard people get the 2700K to work with mixed results, some say they couldn't get it to work. If you do some research you'll find that 3rd Gen (Ivy Bridge) could work in 2nd Gen boards, and that is true, but they won't work in the x90 OptiPlex models because Dell never released a BIOS to make them work... unfortunately. There are also desktop Xeon models that are even faster than the 2nd Gen i7 models that will work, but they're incredibly expensive and would make no sense when you can buy an i3 10100 for about $70 these days on the used market and it's SUBSTANTIALLY faster than anything from the 2nd Generation.

[@austin_94gt18]

@@TheGameBench No, didn't bend any pins. I have an i7 2600 in it now. Looks like I'm gonna be on the lookout for a 9020 mobo

[@bloxinbloxin1041]

how to install rgb fan in dell optilex 7020

[@TheGameBench]

Your best option is some of the cheaper Chinese RGB fans that are controlled via a remote.

[@olrax1072]

My i7 4790 rx480 PC still works like a charm!

[@carbonismute]

I've been waiting on this

[@imtiazahmed2147]

what budget power supply, should I buy for my 1020 so I do not have to deal with the SATA connector

[@TheGameBench]

Yeah, EVGA is a good source for budget PSU's that aren't trash. I suggest avoiding the 80+ models. That 500 BQ for $45 is a really good option.

[@bxtboii]

If u switch the case and motherboard don’t you need a new windows?

[@TheGameBench]

Case, no... but if you replace the motherboard, yes. Granted, if you installed Windows using an MS account, the activation will follow your account and not the board. If not, the activation follows the board. But you might be able to use the same Windows 7 or 8 key to activate on the new board.

[@bxtboii]

@@TheGameBench can you buy a motherboard with windows already on it

[@TheGameBench]

@@bxtboii Possibly. A new one? Definitely not. A used one? Maybe. If they activated Windows 10 on the board, you could install Windows and as soon as you connect to the internet, it should activate. If you buy a modern used board, it's likely that it will have had Windows installed on it. As long as they didn't install with an MS account, it will already be activated.

[@monrayandrews8989]

Hey, i have a 3020 ive change the cpu now my ram slot 2 not working. Any info on how i can fix this?

[@TheGameBench]

Does the second RAM slot start working again if you put the old CPU back in? Check to make sure none of the pins are bent in the socket. If none of the pins are bent and it works with the old CPU, there's a problem with the new CPU. If it's a bent pin, you might be able to bend it back and be back off and going with the new CPU.

[@monrayandrews8989]

@@TheGameBench thanks for the response, pins are fine got it to work with a cmos reset and the old cpu, but then i tried the i5 again and slot went dead again, not working with the old cpu even doing the cmos reset.

[@oldmanluffy309]

Is more ram better for performance??

[@TheGameBench]

Yes, depending on the game. These days I wouldn't say 8GB is the minimum for gaming and a lot of games are going to use more than that. Especially newer, more AAA titles. When you run out of system memory, the system will resort to using the main drive. Even if that drive is an SSD, it's much slower than system memory and it's going to kill performance.

[@oldmanluffy309]

@@TheGameBench Thank you for responding... I've been getting different responses and I just wanted to ask before I bought some more ram. But what about for a non gaming computer.....will it help with other tasks?

[@saltygamer5042]

I stuffed a msi 580 armor in my 9020 after removing the hard drive cage. Paired with the 4790 it is a beast! Have not had any issues with playing any game on high settings!

[@TheGameBench]

I feel like people discount the Polaris cards. They've aged much better than their nVidia counter parts. Which is typically the case with AMD drivers.

[@kashiflaiqkashif7348]

hi i, want to know dose nemv m.2 ssd work in it's full speed on dell optiplex 7010 tower pc in pcie 16x4 slot

[@TheGameBench]

Are you talking about the lower, black x16 slot that runs at x4? If so, no. It will only run at half it's rated speed because it's a Gen2 slot. If you were to put it in the top x16 slot, it's a Gen3 slot and the it could run at it's rated speed.

[@kashiflaiqkashif7348]

@@TheGameBench thanks for the information tell me more one thing can i make this PCI slot 3x16 nvme drive make bootable drive? i mea can i boot the PC with 3x16 pci slot

[@TheGameBench]

@@kashiflaiqkashif7348 Booting from an NVMe drive is possible on these system with a boot loader, but it's a PITA and I'd tell you that it's not worth your time. The difference between an NVMe and a good SATA SSD as a boot drive is going to be pretty negligible. Even as a game drive, you're not really gaming much.

[@kashiflaiqkashif7348]

@@TheGameBench please make a video nvme drive in optiplex 7010 as bootable drive with the help of pcie 3x16 slot

[@sargentman1640]

Im trying to build on of these rn but its really hard looking for a decently priced 9020's or 1060 6gb. So far I've only been able to find a 9020 at $159 (total) with the i5 4590, 1tb HDD, and 8gb of ram. I've also found GTX 970 at $110. I've only got around $250 rn so finding a better psu is pretty hard. You got any tips where I could find cheaper 9020 or 7020's? Or even a 1060 6gb.

[@TheGameBench]

Honestly, right now I'd forget the 1060 6GB. They're just so over valued. I feel like a 1070 could be found for not much more. Otherwise the RX 470 or 570 is a better option at around $150. The 4GB models can be found for under $100. If you don't want to replace the power supply the XFX and Asus Strix models don't consume a lot of power and you don't even need to remove the HDD cage. Sadly, the GPU market is pretty bad right now. As for the Opti, I wouldn't pay more than about $120 for one with an i5 and 8GB of 1600 MHz DDR3. I'd suggest seeing if you have for sale locally, maybe look at computer recyclers. At $150, I'd suggest looking at a 7010/9010 with an i7 3770 for around the same price. That or try looking at the HP 600/800 G1 systems as an alternative. There's also the HP Z 220 and 230 that would be great options to look at.

[@sargentman1640]

@@TheGameBench Yeah found a guy selling a 1060 6gb for $200, I explained to him that you could find a 1070 for that price and if he could knock it down a bit but basically said that 1070's are still selling for much higher so he's not going any lower :/. I did find lots of great deals on offer up like a rx 580 8gb for $75, but most of the sellers haven't responded.

[@TheGameBench]

@@sargentman1640 Yeah, it's absurd and I don't understand people. And I can't blame him, he'll get it, or close to that. Just keep on, you'll find something. You just gotta' be patient. Sadly, I think it's going to get worse.

[@sargentman1640]

@@TheGameBench yeah I took your advice and instantly found a bid for a 7010 i7-3770 8gb and 500 HDD at $73, max Im bidding is $95-$110. If that doesn't turn out well there's also a bid for a 9020 i5 4590 16gb ram but no HDD, Was thinking to bid for that and just buy a 240gb or 500gb SSD since I don't need that much space.

[@controller_player3868]

My dell optiplex has 8gb ram. I want to have 12 gb. Should i buy one 4gb ram or two 2gb ram sticks?

[@TheGameBench]

Just curious... why not 16GB. Either of those options isn't ideal. two 2GB sticks would be better than a single 4GB stick for sure. But even then, you'll be running in mixed channel mode which will mean that 4GB of RAM will be running in single channel mode rather than dual channel and that could impact performance. I highly suggest getting two 4GB sticks.

[@trollmctrollington3693]

Man you are saying it how it is these days but the availability of parts shrinking and value proposition aswell next year gonna suck even more since noone can get parts for this year anyways, such as gpus or budget processors

[@TheGameBench]

Hell, I'm even seeing people starting to scalp motherboards. It seems people are using GPUs to mine again, so that might get worse. Not planning on this being a great year for anyone buying. Might get better around the middle of the year... if we're lucky.

[@markfinnerty3975]

Best Optiplex builder by far. I hope to upgrade my optiplex and maybe sell it. It's a 9010 MT with 3rd gen i5 3470 12gb and GTX 1050 ti. I built a ryzen system this year with 1070ti. When I upgrade that graphics card, I want to put it in the optiplex and maybe find a cheap i7 3770. Thanks for your work it is the best showcase for what older dell pc's are capable of achieving in the gaming space

[@TheGameBench]

Wow! That's some high praise. Thanks!

[@markfinnerty3975]

@@TheGameBench Serious man you've earned that title.

[@farhanrijvi9169]

Nice vid. I've two Ques. Currently, my optiplex 7020 build is showing below- Cpu: i7 4790 4th gen. Ram: 32gig (8+8+8+8) ddr3l Ssd: 250 (2.5inch sata III) for boot drive Hdd: 1tb for data storage (5400rpm) Psu: dell stock (290w) 1. Which gpu should I use best value for performance? 2. Which psu (how much watt) will you recommend for best performance? N.b: I've already bought a 24pin to 8pin converter from Ali express. And kick out the hdd caddy for free the gpu space. 😁 Thanks in advance. I'm from Bangladesh watching you from very earlier and really love your channel. ❤️❤️

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! I guess it all depends on where you want to be. Right now is a bad time to buy a GPU. The used market is pretty bad. At least here in the U.S. so it might be better in Bangladesh. The 4GB RX 470/570 is hard to beat at the entry level, and if it's not much more, the 8GB. Same goes for the 480/580. However, keep an eye on the 1070 and 1660 Super. If they're close in price, they'd be better than the 480/580. For anyone of these cards, a 500 watt would be adequate, and the 160 Super can run off the stock power supply. I like the EVGA BQ series on the budget end, or the Corsair CXm models. I hope that helps.

[@hotfinder3214]

Hi I think I might need your help again I think I got given a bad gpu I bought this gpu off a local source it’s a evga 1060 6gb ssc but it looks like it doesn’t work when I contacted the seller he told me to figure it and deleted his WHOLE ACCOUNT at his video card seems to turn on fans spinning and all but even with all the right drives it wouldn’t display signal do you thing this is a fixable issue or should I not waste my time?

[@TheGameBench]

I'm sorry... that sucks. It's possible, it just depends on what's wrong. You could start by taking it apart like I did in my used GPU video, and give a good cleaning and look for any obvious dead components. You could try booting the system with the card installed and using the onboard video for signal, and try flashing the proper BIOS on. As a lost resort you could try reflowing the solder. Some people like to put in an oven at a low temp, just DON'T use an oven you plan to ever eat out of again. That or use a heat gun, but if you're not careful, the heat gun can destroy the PCB.

[@thedungeondelver]

Can a GT1030?

[@memelord705]

3:08 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nV62lmyNm7KHibc this optiplex shows that if you're committed you can get this amazing beast

[@TheGameBench]

That's pretty impressive. Wish he would have shown the build process a little more.

[@jimcachero]

Very informative

[@TheGameBench]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@exotic4dix585]

Can I upgrade the cpu to i5 6th gen?

[@TheGameBench]

Which model do you have? If it looks like the one in the thumbnail... no. You would need to have a 40 series, like a 3040, 5040 or 7040 model to run 6th gen.

[@Sugar-gp2re]

I'm running a 4790 + 1050 ti, it runs really well with almost no bottlenecking. (games like SW battlefront 2 form 2017)

[@TheGameBench]

You shouldn't be having any CPU bottlenecks with the 4790 with a 1050 Ti.