Dell Optiplex 3020 mini tower CPU upgrade

If the SSD is a true clone, the machine may not online the old drive because it will have exactly the same disk identifier. If this happens, use disk management to online the drive (I think it will automatically assign a new ID), or use DiskPart from command line.

@Arty1543,

You said you cloned your HDD to your SSD.  If you can do that, the rest is easy.

Your PC should already see the SSD as the bootable drive.  However, if you have 2 bootable drives hooked up, you'll get a message at startup to pick which drive to boot from.  If by chance it doesn't do that, restart.  Then at startup with Dell splash logo onscreen, hit F12.  You'll then get a screen asking which drive to boot from.  And of course, pick the SSD.

With Windows loaded up, you should be able to repartition your old HDD to blank it out and then it can be used for storage.  You won't be able to simply use it for storage with OS on it.

Dell Video Partitioning HDD 

YouTube List Partition HDD 

Delete HDD Partitions YouTube List  The first video that comes up might be the best one.  For some reason, I couldn't link it directly.

One more:  Delete HDD Partitions Using Disk Management in Win10 

Good morning.

I have taken out the HDD & installed the SSD in its place using the same connections as the HDD was using, everything works fine, i just need to re-install the HDD using the spare power cables & a new SATA cable, then do i just boot up & delete everything on the HDD? (re-format)?? as in YouTube videos?

Apologies for being a pain in the Butt but i am new to this

You're not a pain.  Sounds like you're getting the hang of it.

As donm4599x cautioned, and I'd caution too, since the HDD was cloned, the SSD might show up as the same name.  Remember also what I said about if 2 bootable drives are plugged in and using F12 to boot from the correct drive.

If the same name thing happens, it might be easier to use a fresh HDD for storage.  Because it's entirely possible for your SSD to show up 2nd on the list and the HDD first.  And of course, we don't want to repartition the SSD.  It's possible others might have tips also just in case that happens.  And if it does happen, please let us know.

Gentlemen.

Update: -  I removed the HDD and installed the SSD in its place, re-booted the pc & everything was fine, i then switched off, powered down & then installed the HDD in the tray below the SSD, re-booted and checked in Disk management,,,,  SSD was the Boot drive (yeeha), i then re-formatted the HDD within Disk management to erase everything & now it all seems to be fine, i changed the storage destination in Steam for downloading any games to the HDD & not the primary SSD drive (all ok).

I just have to install new power supply & processor and that should be it.

Thanks a million gents for your assistance & advice

Hello folks.

First of all,  ' THANKS A MILLION ' for the great advice on upgrading my Dell Optiplex 3020 mini tower, I am now looking to upgrade a Dell Optiplex 9020 mini tower & i,m looking for some advice/inspiration.

I am planning in replacing the stock i5-4590 cpu with possibly the i7-4790k, upping the ram from 4gb to16gb & throwing in an ssd to run as as Boot, along with the stock HDD for storage.

i am mainly looking for advice on which graphics card to use (which will fit) combined with a power supply upgrade & the 24pin to 8 pin adapter, i am looking for good gaming performance.

Any sound advice welcome (as before)

Thanks.

Arty.

Also, it just so happens PC Builds recommends 16GB RAM to go with the GTX 1660 ti.

Graphic card and processor will work great together:

Intel Core i7-4790K (Clock speed at 100%) with 120w NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (Clock speed at 100%) x1 will produce only 5.92% of bottleneck.

I take it you have the PSU thing figured out?  Nvidia recommends 450w minimum.  Speedstep regularly recommends the EVGA 700BR.  The catch?  Speedstep may have sold out everybody of the 700BR thru his recommendations.  At least get something above the minimum if you can't get a 700BR or B1.  BR is a little newer than B1.

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-BRONZE-Warranty-Tester-100-B1-0700-K1/dp/B018JYHBE6 

https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Adapter-Compatible-Optiplex-Precision/dp/B06XGWRTHC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=24+pin+to+8+pin+adapter&qid=1590707029&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQ0lQMzlON1VIS0o0JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzIyOTc3M0Q5VkRYQ1A4MU9LMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTAyODcyM1M1MFVPSEc5TDMwSiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl 

Gentlemen.

A question regarding RAM: -  as i wrote previously, i am looking at upgrading the RAM to 16gb in the Optiplex 9020 mini tower, is DDR3 @ 1600mhz the max for this desktop?

(i know it can have max of 32gbs RAM ) it is the 1600mhz i am querying

Thanks.

Arty.

Yes, 1600MHz is the max speed.

Optiplex 9020 Spec. Sheet 

The ram cannot be quad rank or HIGH density or ECC or Registered or buffered.

Ram that works is dual voltage 1.35V/1.5V low density non ecc non registered non buffered single or dual rank.

CT102464BD160B

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Single-PC3L-12800-Unbuffered-CT102464BD160B/dp/B008KSHQBU

DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V • 1024Meg x 64 •

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr3/ct102464bd160b/CT4506041

I purchased a Dell OptiPlex 3020 MT i5-4590 3.30GHz 500GB HDD 8GB RAM Which I am upgrading to 16GB... I have upgraded the PSU to 500W and the GPU to Radeon AMD R9 380...I would like to upgrade the processor... My question is Should I upgrade the Cpu or should I upgrade the whole motherboard at a very low-cost price ???? I just want to increase the usher benchmark for gaming which now is at...Any Help would be appreciated.

Robert P

Though starting a new one would've been best, I did find your post.

I couldn't get a PC builds quote without it adding an "X" to the R9 380.

Graphic card and processor will work great together:

Intel Core i5-4590 (Clock speed at 100%) with AMD Radeon R9 380X (Clock speed at 100%) x1 will produce only 0.21% of bottleneck. -.PC Builds

What this means is you already have a great pairing.  If you want even more performance, you'd have to upgrade GPU and CPU.  If you upgrade GPU without upgrading CPU, then the CPU becomes the bottleneck.

The only thing I'd question at this time is the 500w PSU.  Reason being is even though it's what is recommended for the R9 380, aftermarket PSU's often shortchange the 5v/3.3v rails as compared to Dell PSU's.  So please make sure you have enough power on those rails as compared to the original PSU.  If you're not having any power issues, good deal.

Thank you just what I was looking for...