Professional fabricator here if you want a cleaner cut with your cut off wheels. Hold your grinder upside-down facing away from you and for Pete's sake clamp your work piece down securely. Great job in the end though. Looks amazing.
100% on the clamping it down; not only will it be safer you will get straighter cuts a couple of blocks to raise it will also have less cuts into your worktop. very cool project.
I really like how you explained the reasoning for all the parts and it made sense. A lot of pc build channels just kind of throw parts together and the reasoning is just because of the budget or because it’s really powerful. This felt a lot more down to earth
A year late, but that just comes down to the fact that most builders use standardized equipment that requires little to no modding and is modular. Any person could build a system now and it wouldn't be terribly expensive; there's also upgrade options without having to worry about proprietary sizes, mounts, etc.
Well done. Not the cleanest work, but at least it is more relatable this way. Everyone with access to a basic workshop for an afternoon or two can manage a good looking mod like this. $450 for an SFF build with 4C8T and a 3060 is wild! Most of us won't get bargains like you did, but the important part is to show you don't need all shiny new stuff to have fun.
@@DLMtechgarage Get a large cobalt drill bit, and drill out the corners before cutting the rest. The radius corners will be much stronger than straight cuts.
The fan mod hugely inspired me to do something similar with my upgraded 7040. Did slightly smaller fans at a horizontal mount. Made a 10deg difference.
on the GPU, I think you can try get an unused Dell GPU bracket. A lot of people throw them around. It should work for most if not all desktop optiplex models.
Awesome build! I'm doing something similar with an optiplex 5050 I found for cheap, and a spare GTX 1070 I have from my main pc. Building mine for my girlfriend to game on. Was searching around for a solution to the psu issue for the card and found your video. Extremely helpful and yours turned out really nice!
@@DLMtechgarage I've actually managed to get an old Xaser III case in a similar shade of blue for my next build. Really hyped because some of the upcoming Intel Arc graphics cards actually come in blue, though they may be CN-only which I've got my fingers crossed against.
@@scrubscrub4492 I LOVE those cases. I had the red / silver all-steel one for a while as my main PC's case. Absolute unit. Way ahead of it's time in terms of features and support. I treasured that case :D
Solid work there bud! I don't think I've ever seen an Optiplex look so good. If I can make one suggestion, tho, it would be to affix mesh where the fans would have been in the side panel for dust mitigation; otherwise great planning and execution.
Outstanding work. I love it when people get creative with old Optiplex! Wish I got your drive and creativity, and most importantly, tools and an actual workbench.
Damn, this was somehow a really wholesome process as a whole. It makes me wanna build a budget rig just so I can do a mod here and there and see what I can come up with. You earned a sub, cheers!
I've been watching your videos for the last hour or so, this one earned a sub from me 👍 I've done a couple of these office PC upgrades myself for personal use over the years, and I think everybody who's done one would have liked to do it up like this. This was incredible, pushing the limits & finished with a clean paint job & fit. If the cuts were cleaner & add proper mounting for the GPU, this would be perfect. Very well done and entertaining to watch. Respect!
I came across this video today. It’s my first time seeing any of your content. Instant fan. I subscribed to your channel. About to build a new computer and it’s been a long time. Last PC I built was when the Visiontek Ti4600 was released.
Great video, I just picked up a 5050 off of ebay & I found your video when I searched for what mods I oculd do to it. This was perfect, love the color & the fan setup on the sidepanels. Damn nice job bro - You got a follower right here!
That Chrysler blue paint job is amazing. I really like it a lot. I don't know if anyone remembers but there was a time when a person could order from Dell a PC with a custom paint job. Many colors. I remember there was a cherry red and a purple one. This was back in the Windows XP or Vista days. I'm new to seeing your channel. I want to say you did a great job with that computer.
So I inherited a few cases of top tier 650w PSUs, and watching folks like you upgrade old optiplexes got me thinking of trying it out. The 7020 does not require cutting to get a normal ATX PSU in it, YAY! A 6 to 24 pin adapter is all that's needed. I managed to remove the drive cage to fit longer gpus in there with just a drill and some pliers, and now I have a MSI full sized 1070 in there and a 120mm intake fan and I highly recommend upgrading the built-in speaker as well; this Boston Acoustics speaker blasts and Dell has a built in speaker boost app that makes it LOUD, perfect for a kid's room or dorm/studio where you have zero room for a speaker setup. Thanks for the cheaper Xeon upgrade suggestions, much better value and still enough to push 1080p gaming in most cases. Keep up the great work in your garage man!
I am really impressed with the fact that you actually explained in depth how to do these mods, and various problems, etc. I recently purchased one of these optiplexes and was wondering how to make it work with some better parts. This video and part 1 gave me all the answers.
Hi, I have the same Dell Optiplex 3050, now after seeing this video you have given me a few ideas... I'll think about what I'm gunna do.Thanks for the Info it is a Brilliant job you have done. Thanks from the UK.
i just had to leave a comment man i love videos like these and there isnt enough of them on yt..im so glad i stumbled upon this video im only 8 mins in and im in lovee with whe whole concept good work man a sub was earned
Great build, just 2 comments that may have been pointed out already, but I am not reading 800+ comments. RGB Ram and SSD - invisible in the build, so no need to be RGB. And about drilling - always better to drill before you cut the base, it will be much safer and steady when drilling.
So, update: what i thought I ordered wasn't what showed up. I thought i got a Optiplex 7040 and what showed up was a 3040 SFF. I'm not 100% sure what I can do with it cause I know Dell likes to use proprietary parts and the mobo only goes up to DDR3L. I ordered off of eBay and the dscription didn't specify what Optiplex I was getting, I just took a gamble
You remind me of me like 20 years ago! Only it was dell 8330's I think some was or something like that. Back in pentium 4 days lol. But modding old computers/ part bashing to make the best of what you could find.
I did something like this with a slim profile DELL cheese grater - the empty cases are real cheap to buy. I put my own components in it and everything was great for a few years- and then the thermal paste totally dried up which caused the PC to shut down repeatedly a few minutes after logging onto the desktop. I had to go in and re-goop it. That's when the pain-in-the ass session started - all of the original install: - struggling to fit in the tight fitting MoBo - had to remove it and re-install it. - the tedious attaching all the I/O cabling - the tedious and time consuming forming into shape (cable flow mgmt) and doing all the zip lock tie downs for all the cabling ... all up in smoke - Had to it it all over again.!!! All of that extra work - just to get at four screws on the back of the MoBo to be able to pop-off the CPU Fan block - for the re-goop. Why? because all of these cases only have just one side panel to pop off. Never again!!! - I don't care how cool and sexy the old or new PC case looks like. If it doesn't have a second back side panel to pop-off - not interested. Great build /Mod you did there BTW!
This is exactly what I did back in 2008 when I had no money and wound up with a decent gaming rig. Think I spent about $800 in all upgrading an office PC. It worked. Today I have a 2 rigs one I spent $4,500 on and the other $2,500.
I have that same dual 120mm grill from AC Infinity but the white version. They have worked great in my case modding I've been doing and have provided much more airflow!
Most of the older OEM cases were designed with the knowledge that some folks would put a heavy CRT monitor on top of the side of the case. The Dell T series even lists the weight rating. So yeah, they are definitely overbuilt!
Welcome back man! Not sure why I didn't get any notifications, I see you have been back for awhile now. Great video man ! Get yourself one of those new cut off tools I have the Milwaukee m12, Ridgid, DeWalt, and Ryobi have one as well.
I've done some mods in the past and when doing smaller cuts use a drill bit for the corner and cut from there . Use both hands on the Dremel, tape your cut lines they will be cleaner . If you have cutting discs that are smaller due to use keep them for curved cuts as it's easier to turn with a smaller disc than a larger one. Final tip and the most important use is a metric ruler and tape . The machine was built using a metric scale the fans are in mm it will give you more accurate measurements . Example the width of the two fans plus the gap in the middle it's easier to know 240mm plus the width of the gap over 3 3/4 + 2/16 + 3 3/4 =7 10/16 maybe ...
@@DLMtechgarage I ended up with several of the SFF Optiplexs. I don't remember their exact model at the moment. But I did manage to upgrade one of them a little bit. i3 replaced with an i7-2600 ($20). 8gb (2x4gb) 1333mhz RAM upgraded to 16gb (4x4gb) 1600mhz. (Free, salvage from another pc) 260watt PSU replaced with a 435watt unit $35. Nvidia Quadro K1200 $50. 1tb Sata SSD 2.5". $80 2tb Sata HDD 3.5". $20 ... Needs some better ventilation, but it's surprisingly good. Planning to upgrade the GPU to an RX-570 I have but I need to make a bracket and get a rizer cable for the GPU to sit flat in the case and I will need to install a vent for the GPU to breathe. But the K1200 is better than an APU. lol
You deserve more subs, also I heard Xeon Chips work on these if you plan on making another video in the future. What a PC, damn good video and its going to help me in my project as well!
hey man, nice modding and video. I think the bottleneck with your rtx 3060 and the i5 7500 will be bad. Let me know how it is. Except for that nice video!! keep it going!
Here I was thinking about buying a dremel to customise my case and you pull out that yellow DeWalt. I guess I'll just buy some small cut disks for my drill..
Professional fabricator here if you want a cleaner cut with your cut off wheels. Hold your grinder upside-down facing away from you and for Pete's sake clamp your work piece down securely. Great job in the end though. Looks amazing.
appreciate the info!
100% on the clamping it down; not only will it be safer you will get straighter cuts a couple of blocks to raise it will also have less cuts into your worktop. very cool project.
I really like how you explained the reasoning for all the parts and it made sense. A lot of pc build channels just kind of throw parts together and the reasoning is just because of the budget or because it’s really powerful. This felt a lot more down to earth
Thanks!!
very true
A year late, but that just comes down to the fact that most builders use standardized equipment that requires little to no modding and is modular. Any person could build a system now and it wouldn't be terribly expensive; there's also upgrade options without having to worry about proprietary sizes, mounts, etc.
This is the kind of stuff that I did back in the early 2000s that made me a pc enthusiast. this video took me back.
Well done. Not the cleanest work, but at least it is more relatable this way. Everyone with access to a basic workshop for an afternoon or two can manage a good looking mod like this.
$450 for an SFF build with 4C8T and a 3060 is wild! Most of us won't get bargains like you did, but the important part is to show you don't need all shiny new stuff to have fun.
Thanks!! still learning and hoping to get better!!
My only concern is the motherboard bottleknecking the graphics card
@@damine4740 yea it def does, I mostly used that card to add flair to the build!!
@@DLMtechgarage Get a large cobalt drill bit, and drill out the corners before cutting the rest. The radius corners will be much stronger than straight cuts.
The fan mod hugely inspired me to do something similar with my upgraded 7040.
Did slightly smaller fans at a horizontal mount. Made a 10deg difference.
Thanks!
Greatly appreciated
on the GPU, I think you can try get an unused Dell GPU bracket. A lot of people throw them around. It should work for most if not all desktop optiplex models.
Awesome build! I'm doing something similar with an optiplex 5050 I found for cheap, and a spare GTX 1070 I have from my main pc. Building mine for my girlfriend to game on. Was searching around for a solution to the psu issue for the card and found your video. Extremely helpful and yours turned out really nice!
Thanks!!
This is objective proof that a little bit of actual color will always look cooler than RGB on a boring monochrome box.
Great job!
Thanks! I agree, the typical black white and gray is boring, a little custom paint really give it a fresh look!
@@DLMtechgarage I've actually managed to get an old Xaser III case in a similar shade of blue for my next build.
Really hyped because some of the upcoming Intel Arc graphics cards actually come in blue, though they may be CN-only which I've got my fingers crossed against.
@@scrubscrub4492 I LOVE those cases. I had the red / silver all-steel one for a while as my main PC's case. Absolute unit. Way ahead of it's time in terms of features and support. I treasured that case :D
The "RGB = more FPS" always gets me, all the times!!!
Solid work there bud! I don't think I've ever seen an Optiplex look so good.
If I can make one suggestion, tho, it would be to affix mesh where the fans would have been in the side panel for dust mitigation; otherwise great planning and execution.
appreciate the suggestion!!
Solid build my man. Been hotrodding optiplexs for a while and I have to say this video is giving me the itch to do another.
Thanks!
Outstanding work. I love it when people get creative with old Optiplex! Wish I got your drive and creativity, and most importantly, tools and an actual workbench.
thanks!!
Damn, this was somehow a really wholesome process as a whole. It makes me wanna build a budget rig just so I can do a mod here and there and see what I can come up with. You earned a sub, cheers!
Thanks 👍
AMAZING BUILD! Great project and thanks for showing that anything can be fun to mod, no matter what you start with!
words cannot descibre how awesome this one turned out, congratulations my man!
Thanks a ton!
You gave me some great ideas for my own 3050 project. Thanks.
Great to hear!
Been waiting for this specific video. Looks great just from the thumbnail
thanks!!
I dig it. One of the better optiplex builds I’ve seen
Awesome to see this old stuff getting modded and repurposed instead of becoming waste! Old school PC case modding FTW!
Well done. Best looking Optiplex I've ever seen.
thanks!
I've been watching your videos for the last hour or so, this one earned a sub from me 👍
I've done a couple of these office PC upgrades myself for personal use over the years, and I think everybody who's done one would have liked to do it up like this.
This was incredible, pushing the limits & finished with a clean paint job & fit. If the cuts were cleaner & add proper mounting for the GPU, this would be perfect. Very well done and entertaining to watch. Respect!
thanks greatly appreciate it. Love modding and flipping these!!
this is the channel ive been looking for
I came across this video today. It’s my first time seeing any of your content. Instant fan. I subscribed to your channel. About to build a new computer and it’s been a long time. Last PC I built was when the Visiontek Ti4600 was released.
Thanks!!
Great video, I just picked up a 5050 off of ebay & I found your video when I searched for what mods I oculd do to it. This was perfect, love the color & the fan setup on the sidepanels. Damn nice job bro - You got a follower right here!
thanks. much appreciated!!
Really enjoyed watching the process!
Only thing i'd suggest it taking a file to those rough cuts, smooth them out to save your hand in the future
Dude. Your videos are awesome!
I appreciate that!
That Chrysler blue paint job is amazing. I really like it a lot. I don't know if anyone remembers but there was a time when a person could order from Dell a PC with a custom paint job. Many colors. I remember there was a cherry red and a purple one. This was back in the Windows XP or Vista days. I'm new to seeing your channel. I want to say you did a great job with that computer.
Thanks!! did not know dell offered that
First time came to this channel ✌🏻
• watch from Melaka, Malaysia 🇲🇾
thanks!!
I was waiting for this !!!!
that paint job is on point!
WOW VERY CREATIVE!! It turned out great man!!
Thanks a bunch!
This is gonna be EPIC!!!!!!!!!!
What a beautiful potato. It is gorgeous. It went from a boring office PC to a custom, entry level, gaming PC. All for $440.
So I inherited a few cases of top tier 650w PSUs, and watching folks like you upgrade old optiplexes got me thinking of trying it out. The 7020 does not require cutting to get a normal ATX PSU in it, YAY! A 6 to 24 pin adapter is all that's needed. I managed to remove the drive cage to fit longer gpus in there with just a drill and some pliers, and now I have a MSI full sized 1070 in there and a 120mm intake fan and I highly recommend upgrading the built-in speaker as well; this Boston Acoustics speaker blasts and Dell has a built in speaker boost app that makes it LOUD, perfect for a kid's room or dorm/studio where you have zero room for a speaker setup. Thanks for the cheaper Xeon upgrade suggestions, much better value and still enough to push 1080p gaming in most cases. Keep up the great work in your garage man!
Thanks!!
Dude i love how you take cheaper pc's and do your thing to make them look and run better. Keep it up mmy dude👌👌👌
I love this dude! You said "You won't see that" about as many times as I do lol!
lol... thanks!!
I am really impressed with the fact that you actually explained in depth how to do these mods, and various problems, etc. I recently purchased one of these optiplexes and was wondering how to make it work with some better parts. This video and part 1 gave me all the answers.
thanks, glad it helped
That bright blue paint looks amazing. - very very close to the same color as your pcie x16 slot.
Very nice work and great paint job! It looks killer! Great video!
Thanks
Hi, I have the same Dell Optiplex 3050, now after seeing this video you have given me a few ideas... I'll think about what I'm gunna do.Thanks for the Info it is a Brilliant job you have done. Thanks from the UK.
that is some serious case modding
Looks freakin awesome good job.
Thanks!
i just had to leave a comment man
i love videos like these and there isnt enough of them on yt..im so glad i stumbled upon this video im only 8 mins in and im in lovee with whe whole concept good work man a sub was earned
Greatly appreciated!!
dude that looks so damn clean!
I really love this video. Great job man. You've inspired me to do something I've wanted to do for a while. Thank you.
Go for it!
Wow looks so good!
Thank you
Like your videos dude. Hope you come back soon. Get that back healthy!
Thanks!! slowly getting back to normal!!
If I was you I would just buy new case but it looks really nice I'm inspired
the blues colors look good the fan grill on the side panel also looks good
Love the custom build !.. keep them coming!
Thanks, will do!
Great build, just 2 comments that may have been pointed out already, but I am not reading 800+ comments. RGB Ram and SSD - invisible in the build, so no need to be RGB. And about drilling - always better to drill before you cut the base, it will be much safer and steady when drilling.
Good point!
now that is sick good job!
thanks!!
Im glad I saw this....i just got into PC gaming and I wanted to get something cheap for now, and I saw this on ebay....definitely gonna get it
So, update: what i thought I ordered wasn't what showed up. I thought i got a Optiplex 7040 and what showed up was a 3040 SFF. I'm not 100% sure what I can do with it cause I know Dell likes to use proprietary parts and the mobo only goes up to DDR3L. I ordered off of eBay and the dscription didn't specify what Optiplex I was getting, I just took a gamble
Super awesome build man! I loved your reasoning behind everything. This video just gave me so much motivation to show my 7010 sff some love. ❤
go for it!!
You remind me of me like 20 years ago! Only it was dell 8330's I think some was or something like that. Back in pentium 4 days lol. But modding old computers/ part bashing to make the best of what you could find.
I have a Dell tower that I want to turn into a sleeper too and you gave me some ideas.
cool!
This was cool sir!
Brilliant, super cool mod!!
Thanks!
Great Modding Video . . . :-)
it does actually look good, well done.
thanks!!
Wow, I like it!
love this kind of build a little work and knowlegd you can 1080p game on the cheap
it's what its all about!!
Awesome bro !!
Thanks
I love this video, 27 minutes felt like 8 very amusing. I wish I could build a pc myself
You can do it!
@@DLMtechgarage I can't unfortunately. I don't have money I'm 15
@@RayLuvsCats64 at your age, I use to find thrown out computers and thats how I got started.
@@DLMtechgarage I love old pc stuff like that but I live in the middle of nowhere plus there are other personal problems going on rn-
Nice work man! I love modding...
Bro, killer build !! Thanks for the ideas
thanks!!
I did something like this with a slim profile DELL cheese grater - the empty cases are real cheap to buy.
I put my own components in it and everything was great for a few years- and then the thermal paste totally dried up which caused the PC to shut down repeatedly a few minutes after logging onto the desktop. I had to go in and re-goop it. That's when the pain-in-the ass session started - all of the original install:
- struggling to fit in the tight fitting MoBo - had to remove it and re-install it.
- the tedious attaching all the I/O cabling
- the tedious and time consuming forming into shape (cable flow mgmt) and doing all the zip lock tie downs for all the cabling
... all up in smoke - Had to it it all over again.!!!
All of that extra work - just to get at four screws on the back of the MoBo to be able to pop-off the CPU Fan block - for the re-goop.
Why? because all of these cases only have just one side panel to pop off.
Never again!!! - I don't care how cool and sexy the old or new PC case looks like. If it doesn't have a second back side panel to pop-off - not interested.
Great build /Mod you did there BTW!
Awesome mod! Looks good!
That is such a SHARP looking case by the way.
There are adapters for regular power supplies to fit into the oem stuff...
This is exactly what I did back in 2008 when I had no money and wound up with a decent gaming rig. Think I spent about $800 in all upgrading an office PC. It worked. Today I have a 2 rigs one I spent $4,500 on and the other $2,500.
I have that same dual 120mm grill from AC Infinity but the white version. They have worked great in my case modding I've been doing and have provided much more airflow!
those things are great.... and def work in hiding my poor cuts lol... but the temp improvement is great for such a small case.
This looks so clean...
Love optiplex mods. Nice work!
thanks!!
Thank you so much for the education and new ideas.
Most of the older OEM cases were designed with the knowledge that some folks would put a heavy CRT monitor on top of the side of the case. The Dell T series even lists the weight rating. So yeah, they are definitely overbuilt!
yeah
Thanks for the video.
Welcome back man! Not sure why I didn't get any notifications, I see you have been back for awhile now. Great video man !
Get yourself one of those new cut off tools I have the Milwaukee m12, Ridgid, DeWalt, and Ryobi have one as well.
Thanks, yea I need to use some more sensible other then an over kill grinder lol...
how does this have dislikes -.- great video! great build!
Thanks!
I've done some mods in the past and when doing smaller cuts use a drill bit for the corner and cut from there . Use both hands on the Dremel, tape your cut lines they will be cleaner . If you have cutting discs that are smaller due to use keep them for curved cuts as it's easier to turn with a smaller disc than a larger one. Final tip and the most important use is a metric ruler and tape . The machine was built using a metric scale the fans are in mm it will give you more accurate measurements . Example the width of the two fans plus the gap in the middle it's easier to know 240mm plus the width of the gap over 3 3/4 + 2/16 + 3 3/4 =7 10/16 maybe ...
thanks for the info!!
I love the customization. Taking a cheap workstation and modding it with ventilation and paint is awesome, unique, and a great budget build.
Thanks! I enjoy doing these!!
@@DLMtechgarage I ended up with several of the SFF Optiplexs. I don't remember their exact model at the moment. But I did manage to upgrade one of them a little bit.
i3 replaced with an i7-2600 ($20).
8gb (2x4gb) 1333mhz RAM upgraded to 16gb (4x4gb) 1600mhz. (Free, salvage from another pc)
260watt PSU replaced with a 435watt unit $35.
Nvidia Quadro K1200 $50.
1tb Sata SSD 2.5". $80
2tb Sata HDD 3.5". $20
...
Needs some better ventilation, but it's surprisingly good. Planning to upgrade the GPU to an RX-570 I have but I need to make a bracket and get a rizer cable for the GPU to sit flat in the case and I will need to install a vent for the GPU to breathe. But the K1200 is better than an APU. lol
@@DLMtechgarage you've inspired me to mod them and make them look cool. I'm thinking about a cold war era military vibe maybe.
@@Bearthedancingman that would be sick!!
Man your are genius . I also has planing for this kind of mod but i don't have the instrument like you have
You deserve more subs, also I heard Xeon Chips work on these if you plan on making another video in the future. What a PC, damn good video and its going to help me in my project as well!
thanks!! share the channel!!
Great job 👍
Only thing I would request is a better list of the parts you used in the description.
hey man, nice modding and video. I think the bottleneck with your rtx 3060 and the i5 7500 will be bad. Let me know how it is. Except for that nice video!! keep it going!
yea it was a slight bottneck, putting in that card was more for show then anything, When I flipped this PC I went with a 2060
That's so cool!
Love the blue box, great idea!
Thank you! 😊
Awesome Work & Great Video
👍👍🖖
thanks!
Love the paint job
25:57 Those 512MB M.2 SSD's area really crazy!
yea the prices have been awesome!!
Megabyte?!?!
I’ve thought about doing this like a year ago you can get a silver stone sfx psu thats 700 watt
The apex of modded dell optiplex. great job dude
thanks
I Just bought a 3050 my after this video. Imma copy you😅
This is a fun build. Subed
thanks!!
Here I was thinking about buying a dremel to customise my case and you pull out that yellow DeWalt. I guess I'll just buy some small cut disks for my drill..
i really like your content.why are subscribers are only 10.9k?. i like to see 1millon because your content is very awesome
Maybe one day! def share the channel. It helps a bunch, and thanks for the support!!
@@DLMtechgarage yes one day it will be 1M because your content talk🥰
i'd take thre mesh off the front and mount one of those fan surrounds inside the steel work to add a fan to the front