Adding Some Airflow To A Dell OptiPlex
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- Опубліковано 5 чер 2024
- Are you having temp issues with the GPU you added to your Dell OptiPlex? Let's fix it by modding it to add a front fan for some better airflow in part 2 of this OptiPlex budget PC project. You can check out the other video here. And don't forget to check out the buyers guide.
OptiPlex Cheap Gaming PC Buyers Guide: tinyurl.com/uc3w2uh
Part 1: Adding A Larger GPU: tinyurl.com/uj82olm
Part 3: 4th Gen i5 GPU Selection Guide: tinyurl.com/sal243q
Part 4: The Build: • Dell OptiPlex Budget G...
Part 5: Windows 10 For Free: tinyurl.com/roazlrv
#dell #optiplex #pcmods
Timestamps:
Is This Necessary: 0:00
Tools: 1:32
Mod Prep: 2:58
Modification: 4:09
Optional Clean Up: 7:43
Optional Tools: 8:11
Optional Mod: 9:23
Conclusion: 13:55
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Gamers Nexus Mod Mat: tinyurl.com/y3dujatt
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The only guy who knows everything about optiplexes
ooooh yeah the only one
MXkdi also does some pretty extensive tutorials.
he knows every inch of his optiplex, inside and out
Dell whisperer
@@nativenation3296 i seen him talk one out of a black screen.
I want to see the full build for sure because this is exactly what my computer looks like.
Well, it's looking like people want to see the GPU video, so I'm going to start working on that and then I'll be focusing on the budget build, and I'll be doing a few different builds in these with some more mods.
Sir I Just got your reply on PS and cooling. I have opted to keep the optical drive , I figured getting rid of it wouldn't really get me much. I bought an Asus 450 along with the GPU and it came with a 1tb SSD with windows 10 and drivers for the card. I have to learn mirroring Drives and will swap this onto a 250 as you say and use the 1tb for games? I have a Dell 8250 that has a dying drive on I just got for free I thought mirror and set up for windows 95 98. I also got a Thermaltake Smart 700 on sale . I have some old parts boxes around here so I pulled a front emblem off the front and fit it in the top to give a wire feed hole out the top In case I want to use some of the extra power for an Arcade cabinet or something. I spent the last couple days doing your mods with the 140mm Thermaltake like yours and added alot of opening up the case airflow holes. If it was a bike I would say I ported the shit out of it. I also took a 4pin 120mm and got it fit in the back today along with cutting a side panel window, plastic to fit tomarrow I hope, Ordered and received 5 to 4 pin adapters that I hope will work with the Motherboards pin set output derect. Figured to use them and solder them together and use rpm controls from the rear fan. I have a rear grill on order, also another 8gb ram should be here any day. I'm going to have to figure out a better front gill, the restriction of air is horrible ain't it.. I really appreciate the work you have done and are willing to share. I'm really hâving fun and the blue front fan might take this into an Atari multi colored computer inside and out. So sorry I'm so late answering your reply. If I have I'm old and short term memory is going. Lol , really I wish it was a joke.
Sir , can I do anything to assist you ?
Your videos on the optiplex mt case mods are just what I have been looking for . Can't tell you how much help these have been so keep them rolling
I'm glad you found them useful so far. Still got quite a few more planned.
some of the best, well shot, videos i saw. for is this guy at only 1.5 k subscribers and paid for broadcast channels (say jazzy 2 cents) have millions watching? food for thought
I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. It's that kind of production quality that I'm striving for. Nice to know that's coming through.
To my mind your initial optiplex 7020/ 9020 gaming PC is the best "upgrade optiplex" video on the web. If you manage to upload daily ( I think this is key), I think you can live out of this. Makes one envious...
@@dragos-alexandrusofronie1482 That's the plan. If my health would cooperate, I would like to be uploading every week. Right now, I'm shooting for every other week and failing. Hopefully I can work up to that point soon.
The slow motion drilling has a "How It's Made" feel to it. Awesome vid! Thank you!!
Haha, now I can hear that background music in my head.
It made me horny for some reason
ahahahaha it was like a porno soundtrack!
Do you want my next video to be a breakdown of the best GPU to put in these? Be sure to vote to let me know.
Yes.
Why are you using the one you chose and are there other options for "lighter" games like Minecraft and such?
@TheLastBugatti Those are two of the GPU's I have on hand that are good options. However, the 1060 3GB cards are marginally cheaper than the 6GB cards TBH.
gtx 1070
@@johnsnyder8939 Okay... perhaps I need to grab some lower end cards like the a 1050 and an RX 560 to test with too.
I'm of the belief that for a gaming pc the gpu should be worth at least 40% of the total cost. What can beat the price performance of 1070/ 2nd hand/ ebay buyer guarantee?
Excellent video, you go above and beyond here.
Thanks. I really appreciate it.
On point. Very detailed. Thanks! keep em coming.
Thanks. I really do appreciate the support.
I am so going to do a 9020 i7 build, I got a GTX 980 OC and a GTX 1080 just living in a box. Found a MT here in my home town for $80. PSU, RAM, fans got extra as well. This will go great in my travel rig. Just binged watched these videos, thank you for the information.
how did it turn out? I have the dell 7010.
I removed the HDD cage (and ugly back plate) and flattened the front chassis using this guide. I only had standard drill bits, but I was still able to get the rivets out without any problem, but with patience. I did have a metal step bit, although it was a little larger, I still managed to grind it down and smooth it out.
Love the attention to detail, safety tips, and alternative methods. Excellent guide.
Thanks! I'm glad I could help.
Airflow is important to help reduce the inside temperature and to keep the components from overheating.
A lot of excellent advice. Another great video!
Thanks for covering the Optiplex. 🤘
Keep coming back to your channel. Keep up the good work. Subscribed
Thanks! I appreciate it.
Dude I am making this build for someones birthday thank you!
That's awesome!
bought everything needed and did what you did in both videos to my optiplex 3020 MT these videos helped a lot gonna get a RTX card and power supply!!!!
That's awesome man!
Your videos are awesome. Love the content. Thanks for making these optiplex vids🤘💯
Glad you like them! And thanks for watching.
Awesome video, and yes, please do an Optiplex ideal CPU breakdown video! Thank You
Thank you!
I do a lot of these and I use a jigsaw to cut a hole in the front of the case the size of the fan. I have done 120 and 140's. This allows for even better airflow and looks much more ascetically pleasing from the front with fans that have lights. It is a little more work but well worth the professional look. I do enjoy your videos regardless and like to see others modding these..
Thanks! And yeah, that's how I do them as well. I'll admit this is severely impeded for airflow, but it's the difference, on same cards, between throttling and not throttling. Not to worry, I'm going to be going over that in another video. It's so much better from every aspect besides being a bit harder to do... .well, for a beginner.
Good Info, Thanks for posting !
You're welcome. I'm glad you found it useful.
Awesome video boss!!! I bump into you on FB computer pages, here and there. Your a beast on modding these awesome dell Optiplex. Keep pumping out your videos. 👨💻🖥📱🎮👩💻💻❤👊🤙🔥🔥👊👊
Thanks! I really appreciate that!
Another great Optiplex video. I moved from an i3 390 to an i5 7010 to currently a "actual" gaming pc that i got a great deal on, but I was quite happy with the optiplex budget builds while i was using them. Currently using the 390 as a freenas/plex server with 2 drives. Looking forward to the build video to see your solution for adding two additional 3.5" drives to the top part of the optiplex (don't need dvd) while keeping the tool less caddies, so I can fit 2 additional drives to the server. Keep up the good work!
That's awesome. This is exactly the reason I'm doing these videos. These are a great way to get people into PC's. I've been working on the build video at the same time as the GPU selection, so it shouldn't be three or four weeks between the two.
4 years later, and people are still using your videos as a guide for upgrading their Optis. I just today removed the HHD bay from a 9020 that I picked up on E-Bay for €75, and I did the prep for a front fan. Haven't decided yet whether I'll be installing one, but at least I have the option. A tip from me to anyone who tries removing those two metal flanges below the optical drive bay: Don't try bending them out of the way. I did, and it was a mistake. That long slot just above where you were cutting is the mounting guide for a second optical drive, or in my case, the aftermarket caddy for my SSD and HDD drives. I don't have one of those nifty rotary tools, so I tried bending those flanges up and out of the way, immediately distorting that outer guide slot. When I realized what was happening, I managed to bend them back, but the grooves aren't quite as straight as they were before. So, either cut 'em clean, or leave 'em be. 😉
Very good. Thanks for sharing this method with us. I am surely going to take this route after i remove the drive cages as shown in your last video. My rx570 really is being held back by the lack of airflow in this case. I have just 1 90mm fan stuck on above the drive bays. It helps but its too high to cool the gpu. Im also going to fit a perspex side panel as it seems easyish to do and looks real nice with a couple of cheap led strips.
Well, I will say that this method is just for adding some minimal airflow. There's still a lot of material in the way, restricting the fan. It was the difference between throttling and not throttling on an MSI Armor RX 480 for me. I've done a couple of these with 570's and this worked well enough and they didn't throttle. However, I'm going to be doing an updated video for optimal airflow. If you have access to rotary tool, or something similar, I can tell you how to do it. A jigsaw with a metal cutting blade would even work.
I did this today with the help from your video. Thank you
The safety suggestions are right on point. Good Vid
Thanks! I appreciate it!
So, this is a way to add some minimal airflow. It was literally the difference between throttling and not throttling on some of the GPU's I tested, like the MSi Armor RX 480. I'll be covering how to cut out the front panel for optimal airflow in a later video. Also, this was one part in a multi-part series and I go over how to wire up the fan in the build video. There's a link to that in the description.
So is this fan you installed blowing into the case or pulling air out of the case?
@@EliteHunting1911 It's blowing air in. If it were exhausting, it would be fighting with the rear fan creating a negative pressure scenario.
@@TheGameBench since there are 3 fans in the mod how do u connect the optional fan
@@aryan.a1z511 I'm really sorry it wasn't made clear in the video. I go over this in the final build of this system and this was just one part of a series. That being said, I just use a SATA to 4-pin fan adapter. That means the fan will spin at full speed, and that might be fine, depending on the fan, if it's too loud I like to use 4-pin fan resistor cables that will slow the fan down and they work nicely, and they tuck up above the optical drive nicely too.
@@TheGameBench thanks and also can you use a 4 pin to 5 pin dell propriety adapter to go in ur motherboard for example www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085S2H6BF/ref=ewc_pr_img_4?smid=A1IATA7Q1SZGCE&psc=1
Came because my friend picked up one of these for a discount and we're trying to make it more viable
Stayed because rotary tool goes brrrr
10/10 glad I found this channel
Professional optiplex modder
I died when the music started. So good!
7:00 Man, that was satisfying to watch. Thanks for the tip!
This is a great content! the quality of the video is superb. All details are well explained. i have the same case for my optiplex 9020. Planning to do the same case upgrade but i realise that if you have all the tools already available then go for this upgrade but if not, better buy a new gaming case with better air flow and cheaper cost.
Thanks. And yeah, getting a decent case would be preferable. Especially if you don't have the tools. Good news is that, at the bare minimum, you can do all this with a few drill bits and a drill.
nicely done sir!
Thank you!
Hi. I really enjoyed your video, it's the basis for my new PC. Just want to suggest to use some lubricating machine oil to your bits when cutting metal, this prolongs the life and sharpness of your tool, diminishes the heat by reducing friction and makes your cutting faster and easier. Thanks and looking forward for more videos.
Absolutely. The reason I didn't bother with lubrication here was that the metal is so soft that it didn't seem to matter with the bit I was using. I should have mentioned it with the cheaper bits and it would help with those. And thanks for watching.
Thought I was the only one with tool knowledge AND PC knowledge. I'm building my OptiFlex 790 (i7) right now and its so much fun. Would've been a lot more difficult if you hadn't made all these videos, being that this is my first PC build so... thank you! Easy sub.
That's awesome! I'm really happy I could help.
thanks for the video, really inspirational! I plan to make the same project with my 7020 pretty soon! Intake will be a bequiet pure wings 2 140mm. I hope I can air a video about it as well :)
Great video man! I recently did my first Optiplex build and was looking for ways to include a front intake fan.
Thanks! If you've got a rotary tool, I'd suggest cutting the material in front of the fan out. Which is how I do all of these. This video was really about the simplest solution that wasn't janky. But really, it made very little difference. It was the difference between throttling and not throttling. I really need to get around to doing a video on that method.
The Game Bench yeah I noticed mine really wasn’t getting overly hot in gaming or other bench marks so I didn’t bother.
PC Tech Hustle so did you get the front fan or not
To avoid a whole lot of drill work, you can just use wire snips and snip around the front bracket holes and cut out them out leaving enough for a 140mm fan. The plastic front case shroud has holes in it to allow good airflow. The metal case front metal is easily snipped away.
Man I expected to see you put it all back together at least bro. Since these are old videos I guess I will have to find the next video after this. Cheers anyway though I'm invested in this subject at the minute with building my own 7010 case mods to fit my upgrades.
Yeah, I apologize for that. I made these as a series and I didn't make that very clear. If you want to see what I did to get the fan to work, I do all that in my $300 build video shortly after this one. But, the gist of it is that I use a SATA to 4-pin fan adapter to power the fan, but it will run at full speed, so if you need it to spin slower, use a resistor cable to slow it down.
Great video man. I still find the easiest way to do it , is by cutting out a square with a rotary tool for front intake, as the front panel will cover the hole. Also allows for much more airflow. This is is definitely good too though. Just giving my take on it. Love these Optiplex videos. Ive been buying these and modding them for years now so much fun, and they really are great options.
Thanks! I think I would call that method more straight forward, but don't know if I would call it easier, at least not for beginners. For people like us... sure, but I think it would be more difficult for a beginner. That being said, I have a higher end build planned and I was thinking of doing it this way as an alternative that's far more functional.
@@TheGameBench - well, since you have a step bit, so you could drill out the 4 corners of the opening and Dremel, OR show people how to use offset tin snips, OR just plan out a decent grid of larger holes with the step bit. That alone would make a good short video, and you could drill out a grid of large holes, then do two sides with tin snips, and two with the Dremel, to cover all 3 methods with one hole.
@@TheTalonts That's certainly something to consider before I do make that portion of the video. The rotary tool take about 10 minutes to do.
Another great useful video! I'm making a NAS out of this PC and with your tips I managed to create 8 bays case with proper air cooling for the HDDs
Post a pic on Instagram or FB or...
Yeah, I'd love to see an IG post or something. Getting eight HDD's into an Opti case would be quite a feat.
I’ve seen people used a 4-bay 3D printed cage in place of the original. I’m assuming that you made a 6-bay that fits with the area deleted below the 5.25” bays then used adapters for the remaining 5.25” bays? Are we talking 2.5” or 3.5”?
Here is my upgrade use this id in homeserver subreddit eVDhJ1Ku5I
My comments keep disappearing, how can I show you?
Cut some intake holes with offset tin snips so none of the metal turned inwards towards the blades. Obviously looks ugly, but can’t see anything under the front panel and it made the system quiet again.
Under stress testing with only one intake fan my undervolted/OC XFX 480 hovers around 63C and my E3-1270 V3 hovers around 67, compared to 70 for the GPU and 77 for the CPU without intake. Adding a second intake soon.
I'm glad you talked about how the metal gets warm and letting it cool down. Would you also recommend putting something like an ice pack on the area that you were drilling? Would that help as well? I managed to get my hands on an Optiplex 9010 and I'm going to upgrade it for my son so he can play Fortnite.
Hi! I have purchased an Optiplex 9020 i7-4790. I have removed the hard drive cage, but did it with most components still in the PC. I know, bad move, but I wasnt comfortable removing everything, as Im new to all this! I have a GTX 1080 FE I will be installing in this PC, and want to put a fan on the front like you did...but do I really need to drill out the metal that sticks out? Or, could I just install the 140mm fan with spacers to keep it away from the face? Thanks for your advice! This video was definitely informative!
the Dell has a cooling fan in front of the case behind the grill. it also leads to the heatsink for the CPU. if you have the Dell in a cabinet (I do to shield me from the electrical emmisisons) then you need a blower fan inside the cabinet, not the case. just allow the air to flow freely inside the cabinet from front to back. cut a hole in the floor of your desk/hutch cabenet(where the PC is) intake then place a shoud over it and channel the air to the front of the Dell's case(without touching it as the case fan(inside the case front) can take the job of bringing in the air to the PC's innards. also the cabinet intake shroud can inake and flank air around the sides of the case and force hot air out at the same time as bringing cool air in.
Great stuff man! Not enough people are doing serious budget builds nowadays, least not in this quality. Maybe another build but for us Plex heads?
Thanks! Hmm... a budget Plex build with a Quadro and a butt load of HDDs.
@@TheGameBench That would be great! I wouldn't mind hearing you talk about RAID/UNRAID and when you should or shouldn't. Keep the good stuff rolling!
Did a Dell Precision T1700 (much nicer looking machine than the Optiplexes that use the same chassis) using this method with an RTX2600, dropped temp by a useful few deg C, helps if you have a good quality drill and bits, which I did not have, so I did two more T1700 using rubber spacers instead of removing the raised mounts, seems to work just as well with a 2 deg C temp drop with GTX1080 and RTX2060 under heavy loads, used 140mm Cooler Master fans from ebay for £14. Great videos by the way, really enjoy watching all the Dell stuff. thanks
Yeah, the T1700 uses the same chassis as the 9020. Even the motherboard is almost identical. Pushing the fan out from the front panel probably also helped with noise as well. If you could cut the metal out in front of the fan, you'd really help with airflow and reduce that even more. That's what I've been doing for a while now. Might have to do an update to this video.
If you're worried about fan sound, I'd think you'd want to crack that Dremel back out and cut out most of the case in front of the fan, those tiny slots are going to be a restriction.
Thanks to the faceplate, you don't need to waste time on a fan guard. (YES, I know the faceplate has the same small slots, but TWO layers of them isn't going to help, and I've seen plenty of Dells pull air from the gap around the faceplate because of the slot restrictions).
Yeah, no question. I'm actually going to show that in a separate video. This was intended as the minimal effort for a beginner for what's, let's be honest, minimal airflow. This is literally the few degree difference for some cards where without the fan you're throttling and with, you're not... barely. When I do these, I cut out the front. Minimal noise and maximum airflow.
i like that Mopar Alley street sign :)
Hello, it’s me again. What cpu cooler do you think I should get for the optiplex? Am I able to install a new one?
I paid 160 on amazon for a Optiplex with a i5 3470 2tb Hdd 270w psu and added a gt 1030 gddr5 and it performs pretty well
Do you have benchmarks? I'm thinking abt doing the same
He seems like a pretty chill dude 😎
Osm video
Love your vids when will you bless us with that build video I have an optiplex Im building myself.
Thanks! I've started editing on it this weekend and I'll be uploading it next week.
i was wondering if you can just put all the stuff inside to another pc case, would that work? or is it specific?
Great video, do I apply some form of pressure during this drill 7:06 ?
Yeah, you'll need to apply pressure to the drill. How much depends on how sharp the bit is. I wasn't apply a ton of pressure here, but that stepper bit is really sharp. Some of the cheaper ones might not dig in as easily as that one. Just take it slow and watch how much material is coming off and adjust your pressure as needed.
i really would have liked to see the finished product breifly at the beginning and then again at the end, have a hard time comprehending the big picture without seeing it.
After i saw your video i actually upgraded my rig. I changed the motherboard into asus b250m-basalt and the cpu to i5-7600 at the moment might change the cpu to i7 later with the case and water cooling cuz i'm using the default stock cpu fan. Also changed my rams to 2 pieces of ddr4 8gb rams, 600w power supply unit and i put 2100rpm standard size (120mm i think) fan in front smaller than your one but i didn't take out those 2 bumps. Also i bought gtx 1080ti gigabyte oc used for 300$ and noticed the fans were damaged not working properly so i took it out and put only 1 standard size fan with 1800rpm just put it there on the gpu with cabble tie. So far for gaming gtx is heating to over 70°c so it might make the psu hotter and it might get damaged so downloaded gpu tweak software and put the gpu power to 50% and now the gpu temperature under 60°c it doesn't go higher than that even when i'm playing Rainbow Six siege and Battlefield 1 on ultra graphics. And i see that you placed your ssd on the side looks nice but i just put mine lose sitting on bottom
Nice! I've actually had the thought to do an all out crazy build in one of these. Pretty much gut it and replace all the components with high end stuff.
I was wondering if you sell them later,and you are very informative,I didn't listening and started a build with the optiplex 990 big mistake but I got it for 80 bucks, so I'm still not mad
Yep, absolutely. I think I've sold close to 15 of these now.
Thank you for this guide !
Is there any problem to connect this fan to motherboard ?
You will need some kind of spliter ...
Also how I understood dell fan connectors are different.
Can you explain please
Sure, some OptiPlex models have a standard 3-pin fan connector, like the 3020, for example. However, it doesn't carry enough voltage to run two fans, at least not an extra 140mm fan. It works, but sometimes the fan would just stop spinning or wouldn't spin up at all. The ones with a proprietary connector have adapters, I haven't tested, but I'm assuming you would have the same issue. The easiest way is to use a SATA splitter and a SATA for 4-pin fan adapter. Now, if the fan is spinning too fast and you need to slow it down, you can get a fan resistor cable too, and you can even double those up if you have to.
So, I just removed the the hard drive cage and drilled out the metal with a step bit. Lessons learned are... Use olive oil on the chassis and step bit. He was right cheaper step bits work, but not that well. I did need a decent drill with plenty of torque. I forgot to remove the power button and almost smashed it while drilling with the step bit. I used a brake clamp on a work bench with a small piece of wood to stabilize the chassis. A set of work horse stands would work better. I used a shop vac to periodically clean up the aluminum(update: it's steel not aluminum, I sticks to magnets) pieces- It worked well, rather than blowing. The vac also helped keep me and my area clean. I wore gloves and safety goggles - a must. I've had a small metal piece of chrome surgically removed from my eye in the past, and it's not fun. It was difficult to remove the back plated behind the drive cage, the inner rivets wouldn't let go right away. I need to get some small round files to deburr and get rid of the sharp edges. I'm not going to remove the upper hd brackets, I don't have a Dremel to cut them out. I would like to cut a window and paint the case a different color, but that requires a cutting tool and more time and materials. I would also like to try a case transfer, it may have been the better route to go, but for now I'm looking forward to finishing this case mod. After all the drilling was done and a week later, I bought a round fill to deburr in addition with some fine to medium grade sand paper.
Ok so my GPU has the extra power plug. I'm going to get a new PSU but could you recommend a PSU that is compatible with the 3020. Adapter, etc...thanks man
A request - note at the beginning of each video which Optiplex you are using. That cage covers a wide range of them, and while for THIS video it doesn't matter, it might for others (especially, as you know, the PS plugs).
This is a good point. I've been making these videos under the impression that people would be watching them in order, but that's certainly not being the case.
If you are not gonna remove the HDD cage could you use a Dremel to cut the front off and replace it with thick rabbit cage wire and a PC fan filter?
You could, but with the hard drive cage in, the biggest fan I was really able to fit was an 80mm fan, which is a bit noisy. Regardless, you can just cut the material away in the front panel so the fan could breath better and then put a fan filter in front of it. Not need to put a cage in front of it.
Hope to see that build video soon. I really enjoy your vids. Also are you from utah?
Yep, I'm i Utah. And thanks, I really appreciate it.
@@TheGameBench that's awesome im also from Utah. Also, love the mopar signs in your garage!!
I think adding 16gb at least 1650 or 1050ti that needs no extra power a dram ssd and as you did intake fan is what most others miss. Plus another sub man you should try 2 fans 1 above the added once since most pc's dont use cd drives and ssds can be anywhere and hdd screwed to bottom of the case with some holes while the drive bay tabs as raised support.
Thank you Doctor Optiplex, I've thought about buying one of these for a project, and here you are with all this helpful knowledge. Thank you very much. 👍🙂
hi i have dell optiplex 7010 and have installed windows 11 pro but i have problem for widgets and search bar is not working so plz. helpme out of this problem how can i fix these, give me a solution of these problems.
Could the 5 pin adapter to 4 pin adapter work with the Y Cable from the Noctua Fans?, I want to connect 2 Noctua fans for the case airflow.
Could? Maybe. The OptiPlex fan controllers are super picky and I haven't been able to find a commonality of what could be the reason why, but a lot of fans will work, but still throw an F1 error. I've tested a couple of Noctua fans and got the error. The other thing is that I don't know how it will react with two fans vs. one. The 3020 did NOT like that.
There is a temperature sensor at the front where did you install it if fan is going at the front? Any help would be appreciated.
Yeah, I go over that in the build video where I put this thing back together. You can check that out to see, but the gist of it is that I use a couple of zip ties to bundle that main run of wires together and then I use some zip tie mount to hold them to the chassis. Then I run the temp sensor with the front USB/header panel wires and just let it hang out there. Alternatively, if you want the GPU to dictate the speed of the CPU and exhaust fans, you could place it under the GPU.
I have the default cooling system(optiplex 980 mini tower). I want to change that with a better one but i don't know If i can do that. Have the same width like yours. Do you know if I could put in another cooling system without changing the motherboard? I want to put a better one. If it works, what cooling system do you recommend? PS I don't want it to be liquid cooled
I can't say for sure, but the cooler mounting doesn't look to be standard, I don't think changing the heat sink is going to be an option, but that cooler should be adequate for any CPU you would install in a 980. Is it overheating? If so, you might want to try some fresh thermal paste. That being said, if you feel you need to, it would be possible to add a front and/or rear fan for some more airflow. Also, it is worth mentioning that the system is BTX, so changing the motherboard is realisticaally out of the questions as well.
Can I use anything besides a drill? It's not that I don't have one, I just don't wanna spend so much on a bit. Also, is painting it all black or white a good idea?
You could use a rotary tool to cut them out, but then I would suggest cutting out a hole for the fan in the front panel for better airflow. You might be able to use some tin snips, but then again, might be easier to just cut out a large hole... once again, and it won't be pretty. There's a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade, but they're hard to control and will probably bend everything up.
If you want a tool less approach, I would use some standoffs tall enough to avoid the bumps, and secure those to the fan. Then secure them to the front panel. Then use something like some construction paper to fashion a vent to make sure it's pulling in air from the outside, otherwise it's just recirculating warm air inside the chassis like a convection oven.
the method I used is instead of cutting only the raised parts out. just use a dremel and cut a giant circle the diameter of the fan youre using then use screws on 2 corners of the fan to hold it in. the front plastic covers any messy cuts and having it open gives better airflow
I cut out the metal now as well. I still use the stepper bit, just so I can mount the fan to get a good straight cut for the fan when I draw out the lines.
Is there a way to add a small intake fan to the case without removing the drive cage?
You could add an 80mm or 92mm fan above the HDD cage, but you'd want to make a shroud to make sure it's pulling air in from the outside. You could do something basic, like make something out of paper. Otherwise, it will just be recirculating the warm air in the case like a convection oven.
Is there a lead for the front fan on the MB? You never mentioned or showed installed and/or connected.
Sorry, I didn't make it very clear that this is just one part of a five part series, and I cover that in the build video. The gist of it is that I use a SATA to 4-pin fan adapter cable. If you need to slow the fan down, since it will spin at full speed, you can use a fan resistor cable.
one can use a sheet metal nibbler to cut those parts of the case. it's less messy
Absolutely... and I'd love to have a nibbler.
How did you power the fan I building one of these for my son and that fan would be great to finish it off thanks great videos
Sorry, I wasn't very clear that this was one part of a multi-part series of videos, so I covered that in the build video when I put it back together. Anyway, all I used was a SATA to fan adapter. That will just run the fan at full speed, so if you need to slow it down and fan resistor cable works well. If you don't have an open SATA power connection, just grab a SATA power splitter. If you look down in the description there should be a link to the build video and the link to all of these can be found in it's description.
@@TheGameBench oh cool I must have missed that video il give a look and like ....thank you so much for reply
A 1060 does well in my 9020 with i7 4770. The GPU and CPU run good together, no bottlenecks. I do have 32GB ram / SSD.
Yep, you would be hard pressed to see a bottleneck even on the 4770/4790 still. I'd be curious to test a 2080 Ti on one to see how they do.
@@TheGameBench I wish I had the money to experiment. Looking forward to the next video
Putting a 1660 Ti in my 9020 build that has an i7-4790K, will be interesting to see how it turns out. :)
@@victorcoss2600 how did it go and does a K variety offer any benefit when on an optiplex mobo? I am thinking of a 1660ti or a 1070 ti
@@ThespianKila Slightly higher base clock speed. I have the 1660Ti in conjunction with it. With these specs you will definetely want to replace the power supply.
What upgrades would you recommend for a optiplex 7010 i7 16gb ram 0r 9020 i7 32gb ram for gaming and steam VR
I'd suggest the 9020 i7, if you can get it for the right price, at around $200 to $250. The IPC gain is more than marginal from the 3rd gen i7.
i have one, and I installed a 92mm fan w/o removing the hard drive cage. It fits fine, and it is providing plenty of air flow into the case through the front panel. this to me seems to be excessive.
Perhaps. However, I didn't remove the HDD cage to install the front fan. I removed it to be able to stick a larger GPU in here. Even so, you could run a 92mm without doing anything I did in this video, but I'm all about function AND form. I'm not saying this is the best way to do it, in fact... it's not, but I've got the tools and this looks a lot better than a 92mm fan. That being said, I'll be doing an updated video about how I prefer to do this in the systems I sell.
my dude looking like he from borderlands
In this episode, I learned how to use a dremel more efficiently.
And the previous HDD bay delete video, I discovered what the quick chuck is and how it works.
Now I feel like an idiot. I have one in a screw driver set I have, and I always have trouble with bits not being tight enough.... (round piece doesn't grab as nice)
So this should solve that problem.
I have a empty dell optiplex case and I want to add 2 HDD the first one is 3,5 inch and the other drive is 2,5 inch and I don't know were to put them if I remove the hard drive cage ? Maybe I can put the 3,5 HDD in the empty DVD drive holer? ( Idk what it's called)
yeah you can get a 5.25 inch bay adapter to mount hard drives and SSDs, if you want multiple drives it's best you remove the DVD drive and put a 5.25 inch storage bay adapter there too
Can you put newer mother boards in an optiplex case?
Sure. The x90, xx10 and xx20 series OptiPlex use standard Micro ATX, so you can stick any normal Micro ATX board in there.
9:35 I ended up just bending both of those pieces flush with the bottom of the tray they’re protruding from. Out of sight and available if I want to add another drive to my Optiplex. Just bend it back in place and your good to go 😊
Just be careful... the metal is super soft. Each time you bend it, it fatigues. You can literally bend them back and forth and they'll eventually break off.
What is the best upgrade cpu cooler? Can you help me please. Thanks
What CPU do you have? Just curious why you want to upgrade the CPU cooler. You won't really gain anything with the CPUs that come in these. If you're set on it, then I'd suggest the Zalman CNPS 9500. It will work with some M3x20mm screws. The Veetro V3 with the stock rear case fan adapted to it is a good option as well.
You're biggest problem is finding one with fans that don't throw an F1 error. The two options I gave you won't. The other is adapting it to the stock mounting, or having to modify the existing backplate, depending on the model. Some have removal backplates. And unless you've swapped in a 4790k, there's not much of a functional reason to do it.
thats ok if you have some of the newer optiplex cases like that , wont work for the older Optiplex cases like the 745, 755, 760 and, 780
Of course not. It wasn't meant to be universal. It won't work this way in an xx40 model, or newer either.
Can you paint case inside? i mean this silver metal to black, will be looking awesome I think
That is on my list of mods that I'd like to videos on.
What adapter do I need for the motherboard for the fan? 3 pin to 4 pin by a chance?
Sorry, I didn't make it clear that this video was part of a series, so I showed how to hook up the fan in the build video. I feel like I really need to do a new video. Anyhow, there is an adapter, but then you'd not have an exhaust fan which is an issue of it's own. It also opens you up to F1 errors at startup since the fan controller in the older Optis is pretty picky.
So I end up just using a SATA to fan adapter, which will run it at full speed. Some fans are quiet enough, others aren't. If not, I use a resistor cable to slow the fan down. Anyhow, here's the link to everything, and I included the fan adapter cable as well, in case you decide to experiment with it.
SATA to Fan Adapter: tinyurl.com/f6pj23sf
Fan Resistor Cables: tinyurl.com/yf3unye2
OptiPlex Fan Adapter: tinyurl.com/4633kyw3
ive been doing research,here are my thoughts...(1) i wanted to put two 120 mm fans upfront, (because i have a few of them )but not enough room obviously,so 140 mm is the best option(you already told us this lol). (2) a pressure optimized fan would give the lowest temps, but you would most likely end up with a PC that sounds like a vacuum cleaner lol. so my question is how do you control the 140 mm fan speed?. correct me if im wrong but these motherboards dont have pwm fan headers?. (3) what ive found to MAYBE be the best solution to this issue is a 140 mm fan that has a temp. sensor on a wire you can position wherever you think is the best/hottest place in your case. this is the one im probably gonna get unless i find a better option...ARCTIC F14 TC - Temperature-Controlled 140 mm Case Fan | Standard Case Cooler | Intelligent Heat Detector regulates RPM | Push- or Pull Configuration.(4) im getting ready to swap out my i5 4590 for a i7 4790k. yes i know i cant overclock it but with its high clocks already it is the best CPU upgrade option we can put in these 9020's. ive read i dont need to get a better CPU heatsink,(not saying i agree with or believe this),but i will find out soon enough. i understand positive air pressure is what to shoot for and i think with a 140 mm fan that should be achievable but, with only one exhaust fan and it being only 92 mm im afraid thats not gonna be enough exhaust so might have to add another 92 mm fan on the side maybe? ....or am i just overthinking everything? i have a tendency to do this lol ...also it is vital to cut out the circle or atleast a square of the front metal so the fan can move the optimal amount of air......peace!!!!!
Wonder if I can do much of this with a hammer, metal file and hand saw.
Won't look as pretty, but this stamped sheet metal looks soft enough
I don't see why not, so long as the saw has a metal cutting blade. The metal is pretty soft and cutting a big hole is more ideal since you'll get more airflow in the end.
how do you power the new fan? i want to do this to my optiplex 7020
I just use a SATA to 4-pin fan adapter. If you need to slow it down, I just use a fan resistor cable.
Regarding the front fan, how do you connect it to the motheboard? I only see two fan options on the 9020 board for case fan and cpu fan.
Edit: I just saw the new video where you used a SATA Power Splitter Cable and Sata to 4 pin fan adapter. Did not know a Sata to 4 pin adapter exist. Ordered parts now :)
Are you going to get a dust filter for intake fan/case?
I'm not going to bother with a dust filter since the front panel is so restrictive as is, this fan mod is honestly... very minimal sue to all the material in the way. I am going to be doing an update to this for people that want to go the extra mile and cut out the front panel, which is what I do with all of these, but even then I still wouldn't bother with one... personally, but I don't have a lot of dust in my house. However, it would be easy enough to add one and that's something I'll definitely cover in the video now that you mention it.
@@TheGameBench Thanks for the reply. The Sata to PWM fan adapter worked great! Great channel!
Is there a way to add a dust filter on a optiplex case?
Sure, just use a magnetic air filter.
www.amazon.com/MoKo-Filter-Computer-Magnetic-Dustproof/dp/B07R4XZK52/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=140mm+dust+filter&qid=1613787905&sr=8-3
Is the fan to be mounted to draw air into the case, or exhaust it?
These OptiPlex cases are best designed for neutral pressure to slightly positive pressure, so I'd mount the front fan as an intake.
I love the format and the explanation of stuff, but hate how the end unfinished. Like did you use a splitter ? or molex adapter ? , can u show a 120mm and a 140mm for reference. Mines goes mental with the back fan when gaming, is there anyway to control the fan, or fans if you add another ?
Yeah... I know. I really dropped the ball and didn't make it clear that this was one part of a series. I go over how I connect it in the final build video. But to save you some time, I use a SATA to 4-pin fan adapter. Then I use a fan resistor cable to slow the fan down. If you need to add a SATA connection, the easiest way is a SATA splitter.
Also, if you're rear fan is going mental, I would fist ask with model you have? Some use a thermal sensor at the front and some use the CPU temp. Make sure you CPU temps are under control. If you have a temp sensor and it's sitting down under the GPU, move it to the front panel and the rear fan will slow down. And, the front fan should help some, but I will say this mod is really the difference between throttling and not throttling. About three to four degrees. Your GPU as well as your CPU might need some fresh thermal past.
All that being said though, I'm going to do an updated video with different options for adding the fan as well as how everything is connected.
@@TheGameBench thanks for reply. Cpu had fresh mx2, it's a 3020, no sensor , gpu is rx480 flashed to a 580, hits about 84 , but haven't undervolted it yet to try drop temps , however new mx2 was added to it as well. Cage us now removed doing the step bit today to be able to add the fan , will need to look for these resistor things
@@barraclough0205 This is the one I use, yeah... there are 10 of them, but it's the same price as the single Noctua adapter, so...
www.amazon.com/Yootop-Female-Extension-Reduce-Resistor/dp/B07DGRQ2WB/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?cv_ct_cx=fan+resistor+cable&dchild=1&keywords=fan+resistor+cable&pd_rd_i=B07DGRQ2WB&pd_rd_r=7a98db73-39cc-47d6-a6ee-0906e67444c6&pd_rd_w=l8WLC&pd_rd_wg=Keqf6&pf_rd_p=e7ea7987-56a0-4822-adda-f67db5e22b16&pf_rd_r=HNCKS7PPBP8HSGAMB3RV&psc=1&qid=1599886357&sr=1-1-791c2399-d602-4248-afbb-8a79de2d236f
@@TheGameBench awesome thank you , I'll source some similar ones here in the UK, pc is pretty much done. Overall cost £30 for the PSU. More competent at 1080p than I thought
@@barraclough0205 No problem. Yeah, they're pretty simple. Basically a short fan extender with a resistor on the 12v lead. You should be able to find them pretty easily.
Hi. I recently acquired an Optiplex 9010 with core i5 3rd gen 3470, 8GB RAM DDR3, Seagate 500GB HDD 7200rpm, without a graphics card. Now, I saw one for sale. It is MSi GT630. Is it any decent amount of GPU for this PC that I got? Im wondering is Call of Duty: MW and PUBG, and GTA 5 would run in this PC. Please let me know what you think about this setup. Thanks in advance.
The GT630 was a low end GPU when it was new and it's four generations old at this point. I wouldn't be viable for playing any of the games you listed really. Also, the 3470 is much more capable than that GPU. How much are you looking to spend for the GPU?
Can you recommend a toolkit with a drill for a beginner from amazon
I would ask if you plan to get a lot of use out of the drill or not? You could get something for $50 that would suffice, but you could spend $50 more for something that will last a lot longer.
How do you connect the fan to the actual computer? There's only one header on the motherboard for case fans... Use a splitter?
I'm going to cover that in the build video, but what I do is use a SATA splitter and then I use a SATA to 4-pin fan cable and run it to that. Depending on the fan, I'll add a resistor cable to slow it down. With the 3010 and 3020 you have a standard 3-pin fan connection for the rear fan and there are ways to adapted the proprietary 5-pin on the other models. While that seems to be the most straight forward solution, I found they they don't supply enough voltage and sometimes the front fan would just stop spinning or wouldn't spin up at all.
That's why I started using the SATA adapters.
Sir , I got a Thermaltake Pure A14 led mounted in the front pulling in as you show. I have 5 pin to 4 pin splitters now and have Squeezed a 120 in the rear 4 pin just a little lower than the stock fan mount holes. I was wondering for having a slight pressure in the case should I have done the 120? .. And with the adapters, should I only have one sending the rpm signal? I presume the rear? . Fans more than a week figuring. Today is cutting the side panel and eleminating the metal blocking the fan intake. And 120mm exhaust?. This help would truly be appreciated.
Bob H
I wouldn't overthink it, if you're thermals are doing well. If you didn't cut the front, you're actually not pulling an a ton of air since the metal block much of the fan's airflow. In my testing, it was the difference between throttling, and not throttling on some GPU's. I've never run into temp issues on these locked CPU's Anyhow, now I remove the material in front of the fan since it's makes it quieter and more effective.
Getting as close to neutral pressure as you can, with this case, might get you slightly better performance, it might not. So you can try playing with things, but rather than swapping fans, you could always control the RPM of the fans to get closer to neutral pressure. But if you haven't cut out the material in the front panel for the A14, you're more likely in a negative pressure situation with that 120mm rear fan.
@@TheGameBench Thank you. Oh ya I cut the metal in the front to the max by enlarging all the air holes to wire thin between them and opened any blocking area with new holes. Wired both fans the 120 and 140 all 4 wires connected or I was getting an error. Not sure why but my 120 might not be very young as it was in a box in the shed.
I have a slight smoke pushing out of the case side and not pulling in from the edges. I will order a new fan now that I know the 120 wasn't a mistake altogether and try that.
Thank you I do overthink things.
My memory is giving me fits and this wifi card and new untouched 9020 has given me the ability to try to update the bios. Time to see if any of this reading and you tube time has gotten me the ability to do some software challange.. I have the Dell 8250 that has an Win. 2000 home licence and diying drive and these 2 Optiplexs that no shop around will touch for any reason so if I want the old game Arcade it's on me, so All your help has been appreciated. Thanks, Bob
@@TheGameBenchSir I did the 140mm and a 120mm conversation. I would like to send a picture of the case to you. Would it be ok and do you know how if it is ok..
Thank you Bob
Now is the hard part. Trying to mirror my hard drive then set it up for all the Games I can before 2000.
I have thought about a Facebook add to try to find a collage computer kid to help me..
Since you have the stepping bit, why not make the holes in front of the fan larger to improve airflow?
If I were going to do that, I would rather just get the rotary and completely make a cutout for the fan to open it all the way.... and I'm actually planning on doing that with the next build.