Question Switching p.s. in Dell Optiplex 9020 MT

[Jeff H]

Guys,

I recently picked up an Optiplex 9020 MT (Core i7-4770, 16GB RAM, 500GB 7200RPM HD, stock p.s.). After the holidays I'm going to replace the p.s. with a Corsair 650w unit I have around. I'm waiting delivery on a MODDiy 24 pin to 8 pin adapter.

My question is this: does the system/mobo require you to use the on-board SATA power connections (as currently set up), or can you use the SATA power connections from the p.s.?

TIA,

Jeff

 

[Steltek]

You should be able to use either the existing connectors or the power supply connectors, whichever way you want to do it. All the MB connectors do is allow Dell to simplify assembly and save money on cabling.

I assume you've checked the measurements of the power supply to ensure the one you bought will fit in the Dell case? Due to the placement of the motherboard, there is a limit on the height of the power supply that will fit in the case.

In addition, if you are installing a video card, are you installing a mini length video card or full length card? If you intend to use a full length card, you'll probably have to drill out all the rivets and remove the hard drive cage (which will probably require you to temporarily remove the motherboard from the case).

 

[Jeff H]

Steltek,

Thanks for the reply, all good points. The p.s. I have is a standard size from Corsair I've had around for about a year. It should fit, if it doesn't I'll pick up another one.

I read somewhere that running the SATA power from the Dell mobo provides cleaner power, but I'm not buying into that. My p.s. is modular, so it should result in a clean wiring job.

Video card will come later. I'm not running games, so I have a lot of options (1050, 1060, RX 560, RX570) that will fit. I've measured and there's 10.2" of clearance between the back of the case and the drive cage.

First order of business is SSD and switching from legacy BIOS to UEFI. I've not done a UEFI setup before, so I've been gathering a lot of input from around the web on the best way to attack this.

This unit is one I picked up from the Amazon renewed program. The company that did the renewal did a nice job of cleaning up, both inside and out. 16GB of memory is Mushkin 4GB sticks. CPU is Core i7-4770. I thought $300 for the unit was reasonable, considering a Windows 10 Pro 64 bit license is $140.

 

[Steltek]

Yeah, lots of folks buy Optiplex 7010/7020/9010/9020 mini towers to make cheapo gaming rigs (or, at least they did before the price of power supplies went through the roof). The xx20 models are obviously better as they are newer. You can also buy them off-lease directly from Dell Financial Services at www.dellrefurbished.com in A/B cosmetic grades. Perodically, they have really good % off coupons (BF coupon was 45/50% off everything, with new coupon codes weekly depending upon inventory -- for $39 DFS will even warrant the desktops for a full year).

 

[Jeff H]

Thought I'd give you an update on updating my Dell Optiplex 9020MT. First thing I did was get a Moddiy 24 pin to 8 pin ATX adapter. Swapped out the Dell 290w ps for a Corsair modular unit I had laying around. Swap went fine. Oddly, Dell powers the drives from motherboard connectors. I went with the ps connectors. Second, I picked up a 4GB RX570 graphics card. That install also went smoothly. Since this unit has DDR3 RAM (4 - 4GB sticks), I wanted to max out the board RAM capacity. I picked up some Atech 8GB sticks from Amazon, and swapped out the sticks. Lastly, I had picked up a Crucial 2.5" SATA3 SSD, and with Macrium Reflect 7 did a clone from HDD to SSD. I knew this would make a difference in performance, but I didn't expect what I saw.

Lastly, I picked up a refurb Dell 24" LED IPS monitor. So, I now have a system that should meet my meager requirements for a while. It's currently my " play system," when I want to try something out, and don't want whatever I'm looking at to potentially screw with my main desktop system.

OK, did I need to do any of this, since I'm not a gamer, and don't run any graphics intensive apps? No, but it provided me a way to put together a back up system to my main desktop, on the cheap. I'm still running an AMD Phenom II system, with a Gigabyte board, 16GB of DDR3, a Crucial MX500 SSD, and a 4GB RX560. Windows 10 Pro runs quite fine on this system. The Gigabyte/Phenom system is of an age, that I fully expect one day to have it go poof! When it does I'll have a system to swap in its place.