Adding a SSD to Dell Optiplex 760 SFF

Hi chris,

You can install SSD on your OptiPlex 760 SFF. But you would need an optical drive caddy to place the hard drive intact. Please connect the SSD to blue SATA port (SATA0) on the system board and second old hard drive to the black SATA port(SATA1).

Hi Chris,

You can buy the optical drive caddy depending on your SSD. You would not be able to find it in Dell website. But you would definitely find them on third party sites.

Optiplex 760 SFF comes with two Sata ports as you know. You would be connecting the two HDD’s to the respective ports. You would be left with optical drive. Please have a look at this picture where it is labeled as (11) you will find an internal USB connector. So you would need a slim line Sata to USB adapter (second picture) to connect to connect the optical drive. It would detect as an external drive.  

(Note: Dell does not recommend part upgrades apart from the one that came factory installed)

This is the adapter you would need for the optical drive.

Yes it will work, see:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/upgrade/Dell-memory/OptiPlex/OptiPlex+760+Series+(Desktop,+Mini+Tower+and+Small+Form+Factor)-upgrades.html 

You can use a 120 GB SSD or superior for example. If you got by so far on 80 GB then the 120 GB drive would probably do you.

The 120 GB SSD or superior then it would be superior to your current 80 GB drive in every way. 

If you really want an adapter for the Optical Drive to the SSD this one can be used (it is for Notebook drives but the SFF has this type of optical drive anyway):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LEICKE-Universal-Adapter-Notebooks-Height/dp/B004MLWFRE/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1380927723&sr=8-18&keywords=optical+drive+caddy+to+3.5%22+hard+drive

If I'm honest however I don't think its worth the time replacing the optical drive for only a 80 GB conventional hard drive. The price for the caddy would be better put towards an external hard drive as you can get a 500 GB external hard drive for about £40 (and the caddy is £20).

For the 2.5" SSD to fit in the 3.5" hard drive bay you can use a 3.5 " to 2.5 " adapter which can be found for really cheap or might even be provided with the SSD:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-to-3-5-SSD-to-HDD-Black-Metal-Adapter-Mounting-Bracket-Hard-Drive-Holder-/290958406164?pt=UK_Computing_Case_Accessories_Tool_Kits&hash=item43be78f214 

For Windows 7 installation on the SSD follow Windows Reinstallation Guide/A Clean Install of Windows 7:

http://philipyip.wordpress.com/dell-community-forums/ 

Note I would advise bringing the BIOS to the latest revision A16: http://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER01655581M/1/O760-A16.exe before installing the solid state drive. See Step 17 of A Clean Install of Windows 7 for more details on updating the BIOS.

Hi EByrne001,

You can check with any local computer store (staples) for this adapter. It is called as Slim line sata to usb adapter. You would also find it online.

Hi,

I am adding a SSD to my Optiplex 760 SFF and I am going to keep the HDD.  If I want to keep the internal DVD I guess I will need this adaptor, right?  Where can I buy one?  What's it's official name?

Thanks

I am contemplating doing something similar to this to update my Dad's ancient Dimension 2400 for under $200. Am I to understand that the intent of the caddy is to put a 2.5" drive in place of the existing slim DVDRW drive, and the SATA to USB adapter is so that the slim DVDRW can be operated externally by connecting one end to the internal USB header and routing that cable outside the case? What about power connections to all 3 drives?

That system uses the IDE interface and not the SATA interface. This interface is slower and IDE hard drives are hard to come by as they are obsolete. IDE SSD drives are even harder to come by and are quite expensive per GB.

Given that the system has only DDR RAM with a supported maximum of only 2 GB:

http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Dell-memory/Dimension+%2f+Dimension+XPS/Dimension+2400+Series-upgrades.html

I would say its not economic or worthwhile performance wise in buying any major upgrades for such an aged system. Bare in mind it will be running Windows XP which reaches End of Life in 6 months and a new Windows license is quite costly. See: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx

A new Inspiron 660 is available for $299 and will be superior to your ancient Dimension 2400 in every way:

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660s/pd?oc=fdcwsx387&model_id=inspiron-660s

However you specified for less than $200 and this model has no SSD. So back to the OptiPlex 760, these are also highly superior to the Dimension 2400 and many businesses are selling them second hand with Windows 7 licenses for cheap as they perform their next hardware upgrade cycle:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=optiplex+760&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.Xoptiplex+760+windows+7&_nkw=optiplex+760+windows+7&_sacat=0

This is again vastly superior to the Dimension 2400 even without the SSD upgrade.

natakuc4: Appreciate your lengthy reply but I apologize. Had I not used the word "update", you would have understood me. I plan to "replace" his ancient Dimension with an SFF Optiplex 7xx/3xx or HP dcXXXX system that has USB or eSATA motherboard header, or external eSATA. These are typically available for $40-$120. I have already invested $79 in 120GB Kingston V300 SSD.

I'd prefer a 3.5"-to-double 2.5" HD caddy and cabling solution which leaves the internal slim DVDRW operational but was confused by reference and link provided in this thread which suggests a slim DVD-to-2.5" caddy. Was that solution intended to eliminate the DVDRW entirely, or by connecting the SATA-to-USB adapter to USB header and somehow routing a cable through the chassis the DVDRW could be used externally? If the latter was the case, I wondered how power would be provided.

Since asking the question, I find that the Optiplex 755 motherboard has eSATA header, and the 760 has external eSATA so I'm considering the viability of going that route, as well, but may still need USB for 5V/12V power.

Can anyone confirm whether the external eSATA provided on the Optiplex 760 provides power, or is data only? I cannot find specs but assume it does. Judging from the shape of the connector on rear diagrams I've found, it appears like the fully powered type. Couldn't this provide power and data if eSATA-to-SATA (22 pin) adapter cable were routed inside the chassis to a secondary 2.5" HD (as long as BIOS was configured for AHCI)?

The SFF has only 2 SATA and only space for one 3.5" drive and the optical drive is slim in this model.

The solution was to replace the optical drive with the SSD and to use its SATA connector and power cable.

You could look for a OptiPlex 760 MT opposed to an OptiPlex 760 SFF which would be far easier to seat more drives and graphics cards.

Hi all, I recently obtained an Optiplex 760 SFF. It's a couple of years old but still runs pretty well. It has a Core Duo 2.5ghz processor, 4GB DDR2 ram and a 80GB HDD. I was hoping to use it as a home computer and to speed it up slightly was thinking of adding a SSD to the unit. Have any of you done this? Do you know if it'll work? From what I see there are two SATA ports on the motherboard, one of which is currently being used for the system hard drive. At present the unit does not have a disk drive, so I was going to put the extra storage drive there. Ideally I'd like the Windows OS on the SSD and all my documents/pictures on a standard HDD. If any of you have had experience of this, or know if it's possible, I'd love your comments.

I did that with an OptiPlex GX620 SFF, using a Silverstone 2.5-to-3.5-inch adapter. The Silverstone adapter allows a pair of 2.5-inch storage devices to fit into a single 3.5-inch bay, and thus you would be able to fit an SSD and a spindle drive into a hard drive caddy without having to deal with the optical drive bay.

I suggest a 128gb SSD and a 750gb laptop drive; naturally, you use the SSD for the OS and have the spindle drive reserved for storage.

Hi Shrikanth,

I checked the cable(4pin female to usb female) in the picture to attach to motherboard(9 pin) & SATA adaptor.

Can we attach 4 pin to 9 pin internal usb port on motherboard to make it work?

Thanks