13 Posts
0
3507
question similarities optiplex 3020 SFF vs. optiplex 3020 Mini tower
Hi,
I have the SFF version of this PC. I have been looking at upgrading the PSU and GPU and just realized (due to how small the SFF case is) that I am very limited in what upgrades I can do and what products (PSU and GPU will fit in this case).
so I would like to get a bigger case before I do upgrades.
QUESTION: my SFF optiplex (i5-4590) is stock (other than an upgrade I did from windows 8.1 to windows 10 pro (did this last year when microsoft offered this free upgrade online). can I PULL MY HD out of this PC and put it in a STOCK optiplex 3020 MINI TOWER and run it without any hardware of software problems? this would be a good easy fix if it will work. otherwise, I will be looking at buying an empty case (larger than the one I have) and attempting to transfer all the components to the new case. I did not anticipate ever doing any upgrades with this SFF computer when I bought it. but things changed and now I realize what a disadvantage it can be to have a extra small case.
all comments are much appreciated
blyth
bradthetechnut
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.2K Posts
0
July 4th, 2020 18:00
Either of your 2 questions are fine.
First, Dell is very proprietary. You wouldn't be able to transfer 3020 SFF to an off-brand case easy-peasy. Dell's wiring is also proprietary from the from front case panel down to the fans. It's not entirely impossible, but one really has to be an expert to do it.
Yes, you can transfer HDD to 3020 MT. PC might run through the phase of "detecting new hardware" since PC's tell HDD's what hardware is on it.
HDD won't be plug & play, but it'll be close. Use Dell Support Assist to scan PC. At worst, you might have to download chipset driver and possibly graphics driver since the MB's aren't exactly the same. Sound driver also. Support Assist takes a little patience, but it works. Both MB's have the same chipset, so you should be in for a pretty easy time.
Your software may detect new hardware. For example, MS Office may detect it's in a different PC, and it will have you reactivate online. OS may do the same.
I put an HDD in a 790 DT (backup PC) from a 755 MT. Those are the things I encountered. If an HDD transfer were to not work, that probably should've been it.
In case of the worst case scenario, always keep your files backed up.
You might consider checking out the options the 7020 & 9020 have. A little more expandable, starting with RAM. And consider switching to an SSD. Them things really make PC's fly.
Please let us know how it goes.
bradthetechnut
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.2K Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 00:00
At 10.5" in length, the Visiontek 7750 6M won't have any trouble fitting in a 7020/9020 tower.
bradthetechnut
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.2K Posts
0
July 9th, 2020 21:00
Screengrabs will show above when approved by moderation.
https://www.dell.com/community/Optiplex-Desktops/Optiplex-3020-SFF-support-i7-4790-CPU/m-p/6071480 The catch with this thread is that it mentions ECC unbuffered RAM in one of the posts. I don't know for sure that would work. Needs to be non-ECC.
If you want to transfer CPU and RAM, it should work fine.
A business would order PC's without RAM or HDD's? Would Dell sell them that way, non-working? Or bought that way as refurbs? - Which might make a little more sense. So a bit of caution. Hopefully you're getting a good deal.
While it can be nice to buy locally, I bought my refurb 7010 from the Blind Center of Nevada tbrough ebay and am quite happy with it. The catch? No 3020's. They really sold down on Optiplex's during the pandemic.
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 4th, 2020 02:00
or maybe a simplier question would be, what stock dell desktops could I install my HD in (from my optiplex 3020 SFFF) and run the PC straight out of the gate with no problems?
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 6th, 2020 11:00
thanks
the 3020 MT I was looking at buying has the same CPU.... i4590.
you mentioned 7020 and 9020 optiplex MT. could I do the same thing with either of those (just swipe out hard drive for the one in my 3020 SFF)? it sounds like from what you are saying those come in a bit bigger case (than the 3020 MT) so I would have even more options to upgrade.
I bought a visiontek 7750 (X6) eyefinity video card. and I need to install it in something so I can run 6 monitors. I am not sure it will fit in the 3020 MT or not. I think it will if I move the hard drive and mount it up higher (possibly just remove the CD drive and install it there).
bradthetechnut
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.2K Posts
0
July 6th, 2020 23:00
The 3010/3020/7010/7020/9010/9020 are all the same size tower. The 3020/7020/9020 have 290w PSU's. The difference of course being the MB. The 3020 doesn't have a blue PCI-e x16 indicating that it can take a 75w card max. Long black slot = 25w max. Vistiontek 7750 = 70w.
I can't guarantee anything, but you can certainly try your 3020 HDD in another 7020 or 9020 tower. Remember the things I mentioned above. Patience will be a key. Also keep in mind if you need to download a new graphics driver, graphics on your monitor might look a little funny. Mine did, task bar wasn't even the right color, but was still usable to download the right stuff.
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 11:00
oops. I guess 7020 and 9020 are the ones that will fit the visiontek 7750. thanks
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 11:00
so which optiplex's will fit a full size pci E X16 video card?
I think I will try and get one of those, stick my hard drive in it and see if I can get all the hardware to work.
if not, no big deal. I will just use the hard drive it has and transfer all the data.
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 11:00
actually. here is the important question. so I buy a 9020 and put my hard drive in it. obviously when I boot up, I will probably get some errors and if I go into the control panel/device manager, I will see a lot of items will yellow or red exclamation point. at that point, do I delete all these items and then reboot to see if windows 10 will install them correctly, or do I just install the drivers from dell. and is there a certain order to install the drivers in when I am doing it from the dell website.
thanks
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 13:00
UPDATE:
I think I will go buy an optiplex 7020 MT this evening and then stick my HD in it and see how many errors I get when I boot up. the 7020 does have the same CPU (i5-4590) as my 3020 sff.
hopefully any problems I have won't be to hard to fix.
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 14:00
I had read that on the 3020 MT, if u relocate the HD that u can fit just about any size PCI express video card in it you want. I know the visiontek would not fit a 3020 MT without relocating the HD. but it sounds like you're saying it still wouldn't work.
bradthetechnut
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.2K Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 19:00
https://www.dell.com/community/Optiplex-Desktops/Optiplex-3020-GPU-upgrade/td-p/7551592
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_jyRnlWZ3Gc
https://amp.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/6j1ul0/selecting_a_graphics_card_for_dell_optiplex_3020/
What I found is indication that the 3020 can too take 75w cards. Not meant to cause confusion, but it's from a Rockstar I read that black slot = 25w max and blue slot = 75w max. What I don't have is Dell documentation to indicate that or otherwise. Remember, the Visiontek 7750 is 70w.
Again, the 3020/7020/9020 are all the same size tower. The Visiontek 7750 6M will too fit in an MT without moving the HDD.
I'm leaving it up to you as to what PC you want. The 7020 or 9020 is the safer bet for powering the 7750.
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 8th, 2020 22:00
thanks. the visiontek website says the 7750X6 video card uses a max watt of 55 W (not 70). at 70W, I would be a bit more worried that I would overload something.
I am not gaming. I will be using this video card for day trading (setting up used six 24" ws 1080p monitors which I paid $35 each for). I have been told daytrading with a video card typically uses much less power than if gaming. I am looking for a 3020/7020/9020 locally. I will buy whatever is cheapest (probably the 3020). I am basically setting up a poor man's day trading setup. once I make some money, I will sell everything and get a much better setup (probably use 3 or 4 larger monitors instead of 6 smaller ones (as I now have)).
I looked through the 3020 MT users guide and it mentioned 2 discrete video cards than can be used (AMD brands). and I noticed one of them had a max wattage of 48W. that is almost as high as the 7750 X6 (55W).
if I was doing gaming, I would be much more worried about overloading something (especially if I didn't upgrade the stock PSU (290 W). visiontek recommends 300W PSU minimum to use this video card.
bradthetechnut
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.2K Posts
0
July 8th, 2020 23:00
You're right about the wattage. When I first Googled the card, the "6M" part wasn't included yet. Ironically, it's the 4M and the 5M that's 70w.
Good luck with your setup!
blythea
13 Posts
0
July 9th, 2020 21:00
thanks. it looks like I will be buying an 3020 MT from a business tomorrow for $60 (i3 cpu, all stock but no HD or memory). I guess they were EXTRA that the business never used (actually new, still in box). the business owner said they ordered them from dell without the HD or memory.
so this may be a stupid question, but the CPU from my 3020 SFF (i5-4590) will have no problem going into the
new system right (replacing the i3)?
and would there be a much faster CPU than the 4590 I could run in it? from what I have read, I think that is about as fast as u can get for this motherboard.
thanks