When I upgraded my main PC from an RX7600 to an RX7800XT, I put the RX7600 into a spare machine with an ASUS Z97-K motherboard, an i7-4790, and 32GB DDR3. It certainly does not make sense at all as a combo, but I had all of that hardware spare inside a pretty nice Antec case. I use it as an HTPC, and if my main build suddenly dies, it can be my backup.
Thanks! The capture card issue is probably just the fact that I'm using the cheapest one I could find on amazon... I just really don't want to shill out 100 bucks or something for an EVGA XR1 or some Elgato card haha
I did a similar upgrade with an OptiPlex 7010: i7 3770, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD, RTX A2000 (used, from eBay). I'm able to play the games in my Steam library at 1080p, low to medium settings. I'll admit I overspent, but tinkering with PCs is my hobby so it was worth it to me.
Just curious where you saw that the x4 slot is limited to 50 watts? According to the Dell spec sheet, the x16 slot in the SFF 7020 is rated to 50 watts and the x4 is rated to 25 watts. That being said, I know several people running GPU's in the x4 slot pulling 70+ watts with not ill effects for well over a year at this point. Those ratings seem to be arbitrary and outside of your speculation that the traces are smaller in the board... I can see zero reason for them to say that. Regardless, it seems that it runs just fine and there's really no risk to running a 70 watt card in the x4 slot.
Woops, might have gotten my numbers mixed up! But yeah, I do agree that there's pretty much no risk with running a 75W card in the x4 slot, they seem to handle it just fine.
Xeon E3 1270v3... Could have shaved another $20 off that CPU with a Xeon instead of a Core. These SFF Optiplex builds only make sense if you were already given the bulk of the PC for free. Considering you can build a beast of a gaming rig for even lower price, if you simply don't limit yourself to office junk. Start with a used Socket 2011-3 Workstation instead, like an HP Z440 (or Dell T5810, etc.)... Drop in a Radeon RX 5700XT. Done. Monster gaming rig that competes with modern consoles, and puts these SFF builds to shame, for only about $200. More cores, more faster DDR4 RAM, more PSU power, way more expansion and upgradability.
Dell's Optiplex line is designed for businesses, not gaming. Another problem with older Optiplex PCs is that they do not support Windows 11 and Windows 10 End of Life is October 2025
Yes, they aren't designed for gaming, but they can be repurposed into budget gaming machines which is pretty fun. The Windows 10 EOL is certainly a problem, though.
@@CHWTT That's why I'm looking at Mint, and I'm surprised at how well my Steam games are running. I have a SFF OptiPlex 7010 with 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD (dual boot Windows 10 Pro and Mint), i7 3770 cpu, and RTX A2000 gpu.
so what any light linux distro is as good as windows anymore for gaming thanks to all the support Steam has given wine. A gaming PC doesn't have to run windows anymore if they don't want to.
When I upgraded my main PC from an RX7600 to an RX7800XT, I put the RX7600 into a spare machine with an ASUS Z97-K motherboard, an i7-4790, and 32GB DDR3. It certainly does not make sense at all as a combo, but I had all of that hardware spare inside a pretty nice Antec case. I use it as an HTPC, and if my main build suddenly dies, it can be my backup.
Nice video!
Have you figured out the capture card issue?
Thanks! The capture card issue is probably just the fact that I'm using the cheapest one I could find on amazon... I just really don't want to shill out 100 bucks or something for an EVGA XR1 or some Elgato card haha
I did a similar upgrade with an OptiPlex 7010: i7 3770, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD, RTX A2000 (used, from eBay). I'm able to play the games in my Steam library at 1080p, low to medium settings. I'll admit I overspent, but tinkering with PCs is my hobby so it was worth it to me.
Nice build! And yeah, hobby PCs can end up being a little more expensive than they might be worth, but at least we're having fun with it :)
Just curious where you saw that the x4 slot is limited to 50 watts? According to the Dell spec sheet, the x16 slot in the SFF 7020 is rated to 50 watts and the x4 is rated to 25 watts. That being said, I know several people running GPU's in the x4 slot pulling 70+ watts with not ill effects for well over a year at this point. Those ratings seem to be arbitrary and outside of your speculation that the traces are smaller in the board... I can see zero reason for them to say that. Regardless, it seems that it runs just fine and there's really no risk to running a 70 watt card in the x4 slot.
Woops, might have gotten my numbers mixed up! But yeah, I do agree that there's pretty much no risk with running a 75W card in the x4 slot, they seem to handle it just fine.
What happen if you mix a new CPU with an old GPU. For example, an I9 with a 980Ti?
I'm actually doing that, but with a 12 years old cpu.
camputrrrrrrrrrrr
ViDiEoWWWWWWWWW
Try Optiplex 5055 With rtx t1000
Has First Gen Ryzen Pro
That's a computer that's been interesting to me for a while now, it's for sure on my list!
Xeon E3 1270v3... Could have shaved another $20 off that CPU with a Xeon instead of a Core.
These SFF Optiplex builds only make sense if you were already given the bulk of the PC for free.
Considering you can build a beast of a gaming rig for even lower price, if you simply don't limit yourself to office junk.
Start with a used Socket 2011-3 Workstation instead, like an HP Z440 (or Dell T5810, etc.)... Drop in a Radeon RX 5700XT.
Done. Monster gaming rig that competes with modern consoles, and puts these SFF builds to shame, for only about $200.
More cores, more faster DDR4 RAM, more PSU power, way more expansion and upgradability.
A2000 Just A PowerHouse Version Of RTX 3050
Dell's Optiplex line is designed for businesses, not gaming. Another problem with older Optiplex PCs is that they do not support Windows 11 and Windows 10 End of Life is October 2025
Yes, but they can still game. I just started experimenting with Linux Mint, running Steam with Proton enabled. So far so good.
Yes, they aren't designed for gaming, but they can be repurposed into budget gaming machines which is pretty fun. The Windows 10 EOL is certainly a problem, though.
@@CHWTT That's why I'm looking at Mint, and I'm surprised at how well my Steam games are running. I have a SFF OptiPlex 7010 with 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD (dual boot Windows 10 Pro and Mint), i7 3770 cpu, and RTX A2000 gpu.
so what any light linux distro is as good as windows anymore for gaming thanks to all the support Steam has given wine. A gaming PC doesn't have to run windows anymore if they don't want to.