DELL Optiplex 7020 Small Form Factor (SFF) - Airflow upgrade

[@RetroPlus]

This is JUST what I needed!

[@yahyar6616]

A suggestion: to show before and after temperatures. Thanks for sharing.

[@silverraven6]

With stock CPU cooler from Dell (designed for 65W TDP) the temperatures reached around 90C under heavy load (before this modding). So it did help.. a little. However, it is clear that this "tuning" did no miracles, I would say it looks better than it works. In my opinion the limiting factor is the chassis design. What also helped imo is replacement of the DVD drive bay's plastic cover with a wire mesh - allows more air inflow from the front. To answer the question directly: temps before (heavy load, prime95 stress test) were reaching around 90C.. after only slightly exceeding 80C.

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

I wonder if leaving the stock cooler on but just adding the rest fans would’ve helped more to create some negative pressure. Or if you just drilled holes in the panel across from the large CPU fan to directly suck in fresh air.

[@silverraven6]

@@VAULT-TEC_INC. I did not try this (keeping the stock fan + adding just the two small exhaust fans). In my opinion, the best solution would be to cut out an opening on the side panel and put there a mesh, so the inside is still protected, but air flows better. This would lower the temperature by 10C. For this solution, one would need a laser cutter or something similar, so the result still looks good.

[@jsfneruda4323]

Nice upgrade!!!👍👍

[@silverraven6]

Thanks🙂

[@ranveerdhillon6533]

you could have released the fan from the heatsink, would have made the installation easier.

[@krovosystral8564]

first and best what im searching for thx but my sff is an dell 790 with i7 so it will be neccessary to do that stuff im glad to see that video =) good job but for intrests how much is the difference about the temp at the end?

[@silverraven6]

Temp. diff is not much, its questionable if the whole "mod" is worth it :) see more info in the comments + video description

[@Grommet2007]

Interesting modification! Are the fans in your build run at 100% all the time? I'm curious about the use of fan-splitter cable to power two different sizes and types of fans...

[@silverraven6]

Hello Brian, the fan splitter cable (1to3) which I used carries over the PWM signal to only 1 of the 3 outputs (in fact it is 4pin split to 1x4pin, and 2x3pin). This results in: the CPU fan running with PWM according to the temperature and the 2x 40mm rear fans running at 100% all the time. For sure its louder a bit, but given the very low air throughput of the small fans its maybe better if they "do the max" all the time. Unfortunately I don't have experience with what you are planning to do.

[@Grommet2007]

@@silverraven6 Ok, that's interesting, because from what I've seen it's usually the "Tach" pin, not the "PWM" pin, that's not shared on a splitter cable. For example, a 1 to 3 cable would have two connectors with four pins (one female for connection to the motherboard and one male connector for a fan) and two male connectors with three pins (for connection to the other two fans). The PWM signal is still passed to the fans, but there's no pin for the "Tach" signal, which makes sense because that pin is used by a fan to send RPM information back to the motherboard, and you can't really have three fans sending that data back to the motherboard on one connection.

[@silverraven6]

@@Grommet2007 your reply made me unsure, so I checked it. The 2 small 40mm fans are just 2pin (no pwm), connected to the 3 pin end of the splitter. The 3 pin splitter end looks like this | . _ . . I that means pin, no-pin, pin, pin and the little fan's 2pin connector is connected to the last two (those on the right). So based on this, I think both of us were right: my small fans run always 100%, because they dont support pwm and have only 2 contacts. If they were 3pin pwm fans, they would be running according to the pwm signal, but as 1 pin is not there (apparently the "report back" Tach pin as you say) the motherboard would have speed information only from the CPU fan (which is 4pin connected to the only 4pin end of the splitter). I think this design must be on purpose, because there is no way 3 fans could report back their speeds to the motherboard on the same cable. So I was wrong saying that the pwm signal does not go to all the three fans (it does, if they are pwm fans, just only one can report its own speed to the mobo). Question is, how would this behave, were the two other fans with pwm support.

[@Grommet2007]

@@silverraven6 Ok, that makes sense. The missing pin would be the "Tach" pin, Pin 3. Pins 1 is ground, Pin 2 is power, Pin 3 is Tach and Pin 3 is PWM. 3-pin fans use Pins 1-3 and 4-pin fans use Pins 1-4. Pin 3 is used by a fan to "tell" the PC what RPM it's spinning at, and I believe that PC use that information to adjust either the voltage (Pin 2) or PWM (Pin 4) accordingly to meet a designated temperature control target, or jost to tell if the fan has failed, for example). A two-pin fan has no feedback path to the PC, so probably would run at one speed, unless perhaps it was in a string with at least one other similar voltage-controlled fan with that pin, i.e. a 3-pin fan. Ultimately though, I think those 4-pin splitters are meant to work with identical fans, with at least one providing feedback to the PC (pin 3). In your case, it looks like the feedback is being provided by the CPU fan, but there's no voltage control going on, so the smaller fans are running at full speed. Does the CPU fan speed vary, or does it run at one continuous speed as well.

[@silverraven6]

@@Grommet2007 Yes the CPU fan does change speed based on CPU load/temp

[@basook6116]

best ways to save money

[@PHGAMERYTBR14]

My friend, I'm from Brazil and I found this video of yours and I'm doing the same thing with a new air cooler for my dell 7010, the 4 pin to 3 pin adapter for the processor fan works well?

[@silverraven6]

hi, if you mean the cable which is used in the video and referred to in the video description, there are no issues with it, works without problems.

[@libertine2273]

I have a DELL Optiplex 9020 SFF with an i7 4790, with the stock cooler I have good idle temps (for summer) but when playing games or doing heavy work the system rises to 85-95 celcius, I suppose it is normal... I thought about removing the side panel but I fear that it will become a dust magnet and that the air flow will not be ideal...

[@silverraven6]

in my experience the temps were best when the side panel was removed. Best idea in my opinion is to cut a nice hole in the side panel right above the cpu cooler and put a grill on it for safety. However, dont know yet how to cut that so it remains “nice” (laser or water beam cutter(?))

[@kokokid24]

That plastic frame you removed from CPU in the beginning of video, wasn't it suppose to direct hot air away from other parts like Ram and motherboard surface , was it? Is it dangerous now to blow the hot air all over the board? I have Optiplex 3080 .. and wonder what will happen if I removed the air director 🤔!

[@silverraven6]

Hi, yes the frame's purpose is exactly as you say, however, as I upgraded the CPU from a 54watt Pentium to a 84watt core i5, I thought a fan upgrade would make sense too (see also my description under the video). The computer is used on a regular basis, mostly for gaming, and there are no issues (no overheating). For further information about temperatures, see the comment thread started by "Yahya R".

[@jaaten]

Might try this on a my SFF. Before I start buying parts though, is the PCIe x1 slot still useable? Hard to tell from the video, I can't tell if a card might contact the heatpipes or not.

[@silverraven6]

Hi, I have read on forums, people saying the 1x slot works with gpus. I never tried it myself. The 1x slot does not provide the same data speed as the other slot, so I didnt even consider using it as my goal was to make it work for gaming. So unfortunately, I can not answer this for you (based on own experience).

[@jaaten]

@@silverraven6 I meant for a card in general. It's hard to tell from the video if the heatpipes overhang it. I was curious because I have a wifi card in that slot.

[@silverraven6]

@@jaaten sorry, I totally misunderstood your question. yes the slot is useable, I opened up the computer, removed the single slot GPU from the blue slot and put it into the 1x slot. It did fit and there was still room between the card and the cpu cooler's heatpipes. See photo here: imgur.com/a/gFQNPHC

[@santoshkiran_u]

Thank you so much can you recommend similar fan for dell 3020 tiny pc?

[@silverraven6]

maybe you could use the same, but as I have no 3020 around, unfortunately I can’t confirm this, sorry

[@VW-emann]

Can’t you just leave the side panel open?

[@silverraven6]

for sure, if it doesnt bother you to have it like that

[@Killbwoy]

czesc, mam pare pytań odnośnie doboru chłodzenia CPU. Jakie brałeś jeszcze pod uwagę, które udało by sie zamontować?

[@silverraven6]

translated by ChatGPT: Cześć, szczerze mówiąc, najlepszym rozwiązaniem jest po prostu zdjąć pokrywę obudowy komputera, a wszystkie problemy z chłodzeniem zostaną rozwiązane. Próbowałem także innych chłodnic (jedną z nich było to: AKASA Vegas Chroma LG, Intel LGA115X). Problem polega na tym, że komputery Dell mają specjalną kontrolę wentylatora, co może skutkować komunikatem o błędzie podczas uruchamiania systemu. Innymi słowy, jeśli zainstalujesz wentylator spoza firmy Dell, system wyświetli komunikat o błędzie podczas uruchamiania, i będziesz musiał nacisnąć F1, aby kontynuować (mimo to wentylator będzie działać poprawnie). Jedynym wentylatorem spoza firmy Dell, który nie generował tego błędu, był wentylator Gelid Slim Hero, który jest pokazany na tym filmie.

[@HairyScrambler]

3:40 just take the board out lol why go through this hassle and you’re probably not getting good mounting pressure hand tightened. I love the cooler upgrade but I think the cooler is a little overkill for the 4460. Also if you game you should upgrade to a small form factor gtx 1050 ti or rx 560 or if you can get a deal gtx 1650 or rx 6400

[@silverraven6]

- re hassle: yes, taking out the board is an option. My opinion is it is easier the way I did it. Note: I "modded" 3 computers like this. With the first I took the board out - that meant a complete disassembly of everything (a "tear down"). With the second I tried the way what you see on the video and sticked to it, as it seemed easier to me. But yes, it is about personal preference (patience and skill too maybe..). - re mounting pressure: point taken, however I checked the cooling (by monitoring the temperature) under load, and it is stable, based on this I hope the mounting pressure is OK - re overkill: I bought the computer with a 54 Watt pentium processor, so wanted to change the cooler because of this too (I think the stock cooler was just for this wattage, not for 84 Watt i5 which I upgraded to). Tried different coolers from other brands, all of them came up with an error message at boot saying something about "cooler error" in spite of the fact, that the coolers was running. This brand - the one you see in the video (see parts list in description) - was the only one which did not make the system to throw this message. I didnt want to click "continue" on every boot because of this issue, so this is also a reason I chose this particular cooler. - re gpu: thanks for the hints, yes the computer is used for gamig, currently with nvidia gt 1030 2gb - this card was available for around 70 eur at the time when I did this modification. I plan to get an rx 6400 low profile when it gets a little cheaper (currently costs 180 eur here)

[@SanHydronoid]

@@silverraven6 Hope you didn't get the 6400 due to it having PCIE4.0x4 and performing poorly on older PCIE gen. A low prof 1650 is a better choice. Also nice video :)

[@silverraven6]

@@SanHydronoid Thanks. In fact I did get the amd rx 6400, as it was the only card which fit. I did not find a single slot low profile nvidia 1650 (only dual slot). But, the rx 6400 is very good even in pcie 3.0 imo. Some games suffer of it, but those I dont play :) more details here www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6400-pci-express-30-scaling/

[@jsfneruda4323]

I am an It technician from high school

[@TheSicWolfGaming]

Will this work with a Dell Optiplex 7040 SFF 6700k

[@silverraven6]

Hello, unfortunately I can’t confirm this as I have no 7040 SFF to try this on. Try to compare the inner structure of the 7020 SFF on the video with that of your computer. If it is similiar enough, it should work.

[@1980humbe]

I have a Dell Optiplex 7050 SFF and the space is not the same, by the way, I need to modify it to get installed the heatsink fan if I wanna keep the cd/hdd bay in the right place.

[@johnbob4545]

Where exactly is that hot air being pumped out? This is the exact issue I am facing right now.

[@silverraven6]

The two 40mm SilentiumPC Zephyr fans are supposed to do that (see 3:57), unfortunately nothing larger fits in there nicely. And these small fans have very limited airflow :( The big CPU fan maybe does some “exhaust” work too as it pulls air in on top, pushes it through the aluminum fins&heatpipes and as the air hits the motherboard the largest open area it can go is the rear (where the two small fans are). I think the case is too small for a “great airflow setup” without extreme moddig (cutting holes or so..)

[@TindahanPampalipasOras]

is it gonna hurt the psu? with those 3 fan you install?

[@silverraven6]

Hi, I believe that the PSU is not going to suffer because of the fans. This build runs almost ever day since I posted this video, without any issues.

[@jsfneruda4323]

I don't know with the graphics right next to the CPU cooler and power supply it won't overheat?

[@silverraven6]

Hi, it does not seem to be overheating, it is a Nvidia GT 1030 2Gb, has its own heatsink and fan. It is used to play Fortnite, Apex Legends, CS:GO, Minecraft and alike. Unfortunately there is no other place to put it, its a small pc case..

[@jsfneruda4323]

@@silverraven6 I managed to get a gtx1650 into that computer

[@silverraven6]

@@jsfneruda4323 Hi, now that is something I would like to know more about :) I believed this forum is true: www.dell.com/community/Optiplex-Desktops/Optiplex-7020-SFF-best-graphics-card/td-p/7418444 hence I thought that there is no better option than the GT1030. How did you put the gtx1650 in? is there a low profile version of it? What about the watt limit on the gpu slot?

[@jsfneruda4323]

@@silverraven6 yes i bought low profile gtx1650 the card is very tight inside

[@jsfneruda4323]

@@silverraven6 78w from pc psu

[@VDUDE01]

What is that plastic thing that he pops out from around the cpu fan?

[@silverraven6]

If you mean the plastic part which I take out on the beginning of the video (00:27), that is an original part from Dell, I believe it is an airflow guide. The original Dell fan has it around itself, so the air flows inside the chassis and around the CPU as intended (ideally exiting the chasses after heated up).

[@VDUDE01]

@@silverraven6 ah okay. That makes sense. I wasnt sure if I should've left mine in since the instructions on it make it seems as if I was supposed to take it out lol. Thanks and have a great weekend!

[@Rossy1995]

Do you guys know which gpu will fit

[@silverraven6]

yes, check this out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2O0YqVjd91gp7M

[@prsrhe]

where did you bought this wire mesh?

[@silverraven6]

In tool and material store called Hornbach. See here: www.hornbach.de/shop/Streckmetallblech-Aluminium-silber-300x1000x1-6mm/8319521/artikel.html

[@adhamxgeeh7292]

Changing thermal paste 👉🏼mission impossible

[@silverraven6]

yes, you are right. it will be difficult.

[@keneil8505]

Can I do this for a Dell optiplex 3020 sff?

[@silverraven6]

Hi Keneil, wish I could give you a proper answer. Unfortunately I have no access to a 3020, so cant tell :( If the space inside the chassis is sufficient, it probably can be done, if not the same way, then with slighty different components (I tried 3 cpu coolers until I found the right one for the 7020).

[@keneil8505]

@@silverraven6 Ok👍

[@cheapet50]

what is the name of that fan power splitter?

[@silverraven6]

updated the video description with a full parts list

[@irvinperalta3647]

how did you do with dell bios alerts

[@silverraven6]

Hi Irvin, please read my reply to Hairy Scrambler’s comment

[@irvinperalta3647]

Am referring when you boot the computer the bios alerts how do you do to skip that? Or there is no way to skip that alert.

[@irvinperalta3647]

Because i upgrade my dell optiplex intake fan and the cpu cooler and when i boot the computer i have an alert fan an to skip i need to press f1. I want to know is there a solutions for that

[@silverraven6]

@@irvinperalta3647 Hello Irvin, I had the same problem. I do not know if it is possible to "switch off" this message. I think I had luck, becasue I found a cooler which does not give this message. Quoting from my previous post: "Tried different coolers from other brands, all of them came up with an error message at boot saying something about "cooler error" in spite of the fact, that the coolers was running. This brand - the one you see in the video (see parts list in description) - was the only one which did not make the system to throw this message. I didnt want to click "continue" on every boot because of this issue, so this is also a reason I chose this particular cooler." The cooler which works (no message, no F1..) is this: 1x Gelid SlimHero CPU Cooler (with PWM), web: gelidsolutions.com/product/cpu-cooler-slimhero/ I hope this helps.

[@youngjessinald9774]

will this work on a 9020?

[@silverraven6]

I am sorry, can’t give an answer to this. Never had a 9020. If the dimensions, interior of the chassis is similar enough it could work however.

[@rahman671]

How abt make litle hole on case?

[@silverraven6]

Hi, best solution (in my opinion) would be to cut out a circular opening right above the cpu fan. This way the cpu fan would directly take in fresh air - best for cooling. I wanted to keep a "clean" and reversible design, so I didnt do this. Not speaking of the fact that cutting a nice round hole is not so easy. I would try this if I had a spare chassis cover.

[@animaxedits]

Thermal paste 🙄

[@KH_1]

Too much 😂

[@silverraven6]

@@KH_1 @ANIMAXEDITS what method, way of application do you suggest guys? I am happy to learn. note: used the “credit card” method: spread a thin layer of it as evenly as I could

[@TEPONGOEN42]

Lo haré en mi dell 3040 sff

[@silverraven6]

buena suerte :)