Optiplex 9020 MT i7-4790k Upgrade !!

Thanks for the update on this combination.

You mention constant Turbo mode. Does the CPU never throttle down in light load? Like throttle down to 800MHz to save power and lower CPU temp. It appears that way even though CPU-Z shows a multiplier range of 8-44. Maybe I'm not reading this right.

If I select Dell's Balanced Power Plan, the 4790k does indeed throttle down to 800 MHz. And, yes, it does save power and lower the cpu temp. I'm running Windows 10 Pro.

The x8 - x44 on CPU-Z are the available multipliers the 4790k can support. The operating system can select a subset, thereby controlling the cpu, based on the power plan profile.

Checking Intel's XTU, the Core Frequency (average of all 4 cores) is 4.37 GHz and the graph -- red line -- remains constant for 5 minutes. Individual Core Frequencies are shown in the HWiNFO64 data table with similar results. So, the cpu is in a steady Turbo Boost state. This is in accordance with Samsung Performance Power Plan.

The lowest multiplier I see is x40 -- the base frequency. Most of the time the multiplier is at x44 with occasional (very short duration) drops to x43. Again, looking at XTU, CPU Utilization -- blue line -- is at 1% (idle) and Package Temperature is 36C... very comfortable even at 4.37 GHz.

(Sorry, duplicate post)

Thanks  Rgon_Amps and I am planning too upgrade my optiplex 9020 mt. I did not get what you said about the fan. Did you used the stock i5 4570 fan or did you buy a new one or is there fan that comes with i7 4790k?

Hello nattyd,

Yes, I used the stock Dell fan/heatsink. The i7-4790K box includes Intel's fan/heatsink, but the heatsink is half the size of the Dell unit. I strongly suggest using the larger Dell heatsink.

My 9020 MT is working perfectly with Windows 10 Pro Build 10586. I'm very pleased with the 4790K performance. Good luck with your upgrade.

The Intel heatsink uses plastic push pins.  IMHO its a bad design.  Stock dell heatsink works fine with 4790k.

Hi Rgon,

Do you think if this processor works on the SFF (Optiplex 9020) model? I saw on your CPU-z print that the model of the main board is the same. Is Q87 model.

I currently running with the i5 4590.

Did you recommend this upgrade?

Best Regards!

Hi Sergio,

Yes, Intel does support an i7-4790k on a Q87 motherboard. The 4790k was a drop-in replacement for the i5-4570 in my MT machine. Make sure your bios is current. Notice A13 rev on XTU.

I run the 4790k in continuous Turbo Boost and the performance is excellent. Even with no OC support, you'll see a considerable performance improvement over an i5.

Glad I upgraded. Hope you are encouraged to upgrade as well.

Cheers,

Rgon

I have  classic Optiplex  model , do change classic model to this new Optiplex 9020 MT i7-4790k

Thanks a lot for answering Rgon,

My current version of Bios is A16 is the most recent version, i think that is not a problem. I will try this upgrade, and come back with the details!

Best Regards!

Just to update to you guys,

I recently upgraded my Optiplex 9020 SFF with the amazing i7 4790k.

Follow two links with the diference before <> after the upgrade

Using i5 4790:

https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/895173

Using i7 4790k:

https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/1363403

I running constantly in 4.3Ghz tunned by Intel XTU.

No issues of temp at all. The coolers that came with this dell is good.

Congratulations, Sergio, on your successful i7-4790k upgrade. I'm still enjoying my 9020 MT with the same cpu. Not many desktop users would consider doing this upgrade... only technically savvy cats.

Again, well done!!

Rgon

Does this combination still work ? And if it does how do you get the cpu to run in constant turbo moce @ x44 multiplier ?

Thank's

Yes, the Optiplex 9020 MT I'm using now has been running in constant turbo mode since the 4790k upgrade. I'm running Windows 10 with a Samsung SSD.

To run in constant turbo mode, go to control panel and select POWER OPTIONS. Select a high performance power PLAN. The default power plan is BALANCED which allows the cpu to idle at slower speeds, then accelerate under load.

Thanks for asking... I'm still very pleased with the 4790k performance.  

Hi Toxi,

I use the Intel XTU utility, on the Advanced Tune tab you can set the CP Multipliers, i set all to 44x and m processor runs at 4.25Ghz all the time.

Bellow follows my recently benchmarks on the geekbench 4

browser.primatelabs.com/.../1363403

Best Regards!