Is 7010's PCIe x16 slot only Gen 2.0? Can I upgrade to 3.0?

I'm the OP.  More info:

I have discovered that the various Intel CPUs for the Optiplex 7010 might not all have PCIe 3.0. My test 7010 has an i3 3220 CPU, and Intel’s specs for that CPU say it has only PCI 2.0, which is probably why my new NVMe M.2 SSD speeds are initially 1,700 GBs rather than 3,500.  (But is there anything I can do?)

My OTHER 7010 machine has an i5 3470 CPU, and the Intel specs say it can handle PCIe 3.0. But I can’t tell for sure that its PCIe slots would actually provide 3.0. (Nothing is in those slots yet.) And HWINFO64 says "Slot Designation: X16, Slot Type: PCI Express Gen2" 

What do you all think?

A 5040 or 7040 will have all your requirements and an M.2 slot for SSD on board.  If you know how to shop, for a couple hundred bucks, you can get fully loaded one with i7 6th gen, 16gb RAM, 4gb GTX dedicated graphics, ssd storage, win 10 pro...and the benefit of saving up all that time to concentrate on your family business.

Gen isn't upgradeable on PCIe slots.

@glnzglnz   Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge is max.

You cannot upgrade the Q77 chipset or use 4th gen cpu Haswell so there is NO upgrade to the PCI-E bus.

Q77 PCH

Ebay, may be even newegg.

Chino - that is very interesting!  Could you point me to some possible sources?  Maybe in a PM (and let me know here that you sent it)?  My own search didn't find such rock-bottom prices for all the good parts you describe.  Thanks,

@glnzglnz , just PM you some info.  I'd learnt from my previous posts if anything that considered good deal, it would be gone as soon as I post here, before OP even read the post.  Any good priced computer I posted for US, UK, CA, IN, they were gone within minutes.  So I just point you to some direction and leave the shopping for you to do.  Remember, this is the option when you can't upgrade due to existing hardware limitation.

Don't forget my earlier response to the main points of your thread:

#1 and #2, it's the hardware specs of your system.  It is what it is, can't do anything to upgrade.

#3 is the 5040 and 7040 which have pcie gen.3 on both x16 and x4 slots.  It also has m.2 slot on board for nvme ssd.  

Although Chino de Oro''s posts are wise, I just wanted to notify the world that, in my test Opti 7010 Mini-Tower:
- I have FINALLY replaced the original i3 processor with a used i7-3770 that I bought on eBay,
- I now have PCI-E 3.0 in the x16 PCI-E slot, and
- my M.2 NVMe is showing the full expected speed of 3,400 MBps per the article I linked to above.

It's alive !!!

This is on my test used Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, which might become a fourth computer in my wife's mini-office.

Now, my personal computer is also an Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower with its original i5 3470 and HDD.  I wonder whether it would also provide PCI-E 3 in the x16 slot. 

On the now-fast i7 NVMe M.2 test machine, CPU-Z's Motherboard tab says "Bus Specs. PCI-Express 3.0 (8.0 GT/s)"
On my personal normal i5 HDD machine, CPU-Z's Motherboard tab has "Bus Specs" greyed out with no info showing.

Questions: 

1) Any thoughts on whether an i5 will already provide the needed PCI-E 3 in the x16 slot?

2) Are my power supplies enough to handle the faster i7 CPU?  I imagine yes because that i7 was always listed as an option for the 7010, but what do you think?

One 16x port is hooked directly into CPU PCIe bus and others are connected via PCH/Chipset,

Q77 chipset supports only PCIe 2.0, CPU support for PCIe generation depends on i3/i5/i7 line,
all i3 CPUs branded as PCIe 2.0, all i5 and i7 are branded as PCIe 3.0.

i7-3470 natively provides PCIe 3.0 support as described by intel documentation (under "Expansion Options" -> "PCI Express revision")


As for PSU power sufficiency - you're not really saying what Wattage is currently installed but generally (depending on peripheral installed) it should handle all supported (as per Dell specification, unless additionally noted under extra requirements) CPUs out of the box.

In was getting my post ready at the same time as sam55todd.

A couple of screengrabs below showing PCIe 3.0 support from the i5:

I have a 7010 MT with i7-3770.  DT & SFF with smaller PSU's can also support the i7.  Looks like you also have that figured out with the use of your wife's 7010.

The 275w PSU in the 7010 MT can also support up to 75w graphics card.  But it looks like you're already getting good use out of the PCIe x16 slot.

sam55todd - does my i5 3470 natively provide PCIe 3.0 on my x16 slot?  (You wrote i7-3470, but maybe you meant i5-3470?)

If yes, do you think it supplies PCIe 3.0 also to my x4 slot?

Thanks!

Sam and Brad - super helpful!

But (with an i5 or i7) is the PCI-E 3.0 capability limited to the x16 slot?  If I were to put the NVME M.2 adapter into the x4 slot, and no other card is in any of the other slots, would it still get PCI-E 3.0?  I think not, but please advise.

Thanks.

Only one x16 PCIe slot is bound to CPU bus (therefore version depends on on CPU i3/i5/i7),
all other slots are going via PCH/Chipset - so all other slots are PCIe 2.0.

You can use NVMe adapter in x4 slot but it will be limited to PCIe 2.0 (assuming your drive and adapter are backward compatible).

Also:

• I5-3470 tdp = 77w
• I7-3770 tdp = 77w

So upgrading those don't know take more power.  They also don't take max power always, it depends on what apps are being done on them.