Question Need some help upgrading the video card for an Optiplex 9020 Mini tower

[jamesdsimone]

I picked up a Dell Optiplex 9020 for a pretty good price. I got the mini tower with an i7-4790/16 GB ram/1 TB SSD drive. I have a EVGA 750w power supply on hand and got the 24 to 8 pin adapter. It has a PCI slot and I have a ASUS Xonar DG for sound. It has a PCIe 16 3.0 slot for video. It is currently using the on horrible on chip 4600 graphics. The problem is the slot is limited to a card about 10 inches max. The drive cages obstruct anything bigger. Without taking a cutter to the cages I'm stuck with that limitation. So what are my options? Maybe an RX 6600XT? I've looked and the RX 580/590 won't fit nor will an RX 5700XT. Unless some one makes a small form factor card.

 

[In2Photos]

There should be several cards that would fit. Newegg allows you to select the max length. I used 254mm given your 10 inch measurement.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007709%20601291995%20601291993%20601303829%20601291994%20601405796%20601341816%20601292089%20601292087%20601299681

 

[MrTeal]

The 9020 is actually not terrible to fit cards into. I had a 9010 and it was a nightmare because all 4 SATA connectors are close to the PCIe slots and are in line with the second PCIe slot, so even a short card would block them if it had a double slot cooler.

If you do have a 2.5" 1TB SSD and not a 3.5" HDD though, you can always mount it in the top 2.5" slots under the 5.25" bays, and remove the HDD cage. That would allow you to use pretty much any you can power.

 

[jamesdsimone]

The 9020 is actually not terrible to fit cards into. I had a 9010 and it was a nightmare because all 4 SATA connectors are close to the PCIe slots and are in line with the second PCIe slot, so even a short card would block them if it had a double slot cooler.

If you do have a 2.5" 1TB SSD and not a 3.5" HDD though, you can always mount it in the top 2.5" slots under the 5.25" bays, and remove the HDD cage. That would allow you to use pretty much any you can power.

The SSD is 2.5 but I want to add a second HD. I was thinking about removing the HD cage and trying to remount it higher so I can add a longer card. I could put the video externally if I absolutely have to but that would be a lot of work.

 

[jamesdsimone]

There should be several cards that would fit. Newegg allows you to select the max length. I used 254mm given your 10 inch measurement.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007709%20601291995%20601291993%20601303829%20601291994%20601405796%20601341816%20601292089%20601292087%20601299681

I've been looking something used on ebay and amazon but getting specs like card length from ebay good luck. I have to search every listed card for dimensions.

 

[MrTeal]

The SSD is 2.5 but I want to add a second HD. I was thinking about removing the HD cage and trying to remount it higher so I can add a longer card. I could put the video externally if I absolutely have to but that would be a lot of work.

Remounting it higher wouldn't be that tough, if you want to keep the cage you could do that. Alternately if you only have one 5.25" drive bay populated you can buy a 3.5" to 5.25" bay converter for a couple bucks off AliExpress, or just attach it with some longer screws.

 

[jamesdsimone]

The 2nd 5.25 bay has a multiple card reader in it. I don't absolutely need to keep it but I'd like to if possible. I'll have to figure out how to mount it. I looked for modding videos but can't find any so far.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Shoe horned a new power supply in and it's working fine. It's a 750w EVGA which is over kill but that is what I had laying around. Plenty of power for any potential video card. Had to cut the side panel retaining latch but that is no big deal.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Are you looking for as much gaming power as you can fit, or just something for 1080p casual stuff?

 

[jamesdsimone]

Are you looking for as much gaming power as you can fit, or just something for 1080p casual stuff?

Looking to get as much gaming power as possible. Might gift it to someone when I'm done. The i7-4790 is not too bad a CPU for gaming.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Looking to get as much gaming power as possible. Might gift it to someone when I'm done. The i7-4790 is not too bad a CPU for gaming.

Yeah it can still game, but it'll be the bottleneck in CPU heavy titles. I wouldn't spec anything over the RX 6600 you were thinking of. I had the 6600 Pulse and it's a great choice for that Optiplex and more than compact enough to fit.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Yeah it can still game, but it'll be the bottleneck in CPU heavy titles. I wouldn't spec anything over the RX 6600 you were thinking of. I had the 6600 Pulse and it's a great choice for that Optiplex and more than compact enough to fit.

Looking at RX 580/590/5700XT's also but most are too big to fit unless I move the hard drive cage. RX6600/6600XT would work too.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Looking at RX 580/590/5700XT's also but most are too big to fit unless I move the hard drive cage. RX6600/6600XT would work too.

I'd just pull lt and buy cheap adapters so you can use the optical bays for storage.

 

[jamesdsimone]

I'd just pull lt and buy cheap adapters so you can use the optical bays for storage.

I might have to pull the MB because I think the ram slots are bad. If I do I might pull the drive cage. Having to check the dimensions every time I look at a video card is making it a pain finding something. I need to DVD drive but there is a spot for one more drive. The SSD doesn't really need to be mounted.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

That's a solid plan. There are always cheap USB powered DVD drives as a fallback too.

 

[Shmee]

I might have to pull the MB because I think the ram slots are bad. If I do I might pull the drive cage. Having to check the dimensions every time I look at a video card is making it a pain finding something. I need to DVD drive but there is a spot for one more drive. The SSD doesn't really need to be mounted.

Wait, you mean the Dell you bought has a faulty board? If so then I would return it. Also keep in mind the board may be proprietary Dell FF.

 

[jamesdsimone]

That's a solid plan. There are always cheap USB powered DVD drives as a fallback too.

Wait, you mean the Dell you bought has a faulty board? If so then I would return it. Also keep in mind the board may be proprietary Dell FF.

Yup looks like the board is faulty. I bought it as a project to put together a budget gaming computer. There are a bunch of videos on Youtube using these old Dells as a basis for budget gaming computers. It does use a proprietry MB which is why I usually avoid Dells except for basic cheap office work. I hate Dells because they go out of their way to make them difficult to upgrade. I replaced the power supply with a 24 to 8 pin adapter cable so I can power a video card. I posted another thread about it. Two of the ram slots don't seem to work. I'm really pissed with the vendor because whoever "refurbed" this computer knew or should have known the ram slots were bad. They used the two functioning ones but that arrangement only gives single channel memory which I assume would tank the gaming performance.
They probably assumed anyone buying this computer would be using it for office tasks or for basis net surfing and never notice the memory was only single channel. I contacted the vendor and going to complain. I've already modded the case. I had to do some cutting to get the PS to fit.