7010 USFF CPU & RAM advice needed

Question

Hi everyone, im an owner and avid fan of the pocket rocket 7010 USFF which I use for music production but am in need of a bit of advice regarding processor and memory compatibility. I currently have an i5 3470s installed which has served me well over the years but would now like to upgrade it as I am now using a lot more cpu and ram hungry plug-ins. I would like to upgrade to the i7 3770s at some point which from after a lot of reading many pages of info have discovered IS possible but is there another better/powerful cpu available for the usff or is this the limit? In the mean time I am thinking of switching to the i5 3475s ... From what I have read there isn't any difference between the 3470s and 3475s accept the graphics, so is it worth the bother and would there be a substantial gain graphics wise? Will I notice the difference at all? Would I be getting clearer, more defined graphics while using a Samsung 27' CH580 monitor via a DisplayPort 1.2 4k 60hz cable? Secondly, I am currently using 2x4gb memory sticks which again really do need to upgrade ... I read that 16gb is the max I can upgrade to which is perfectly acceptable for my needs but do I have limited options in this area? For instance, could I use 2 x Kingston hyper X 8gb sticks or will I need to stick to a certain kind such as the basic Crucial kind? As I cannot afford to buy the expensive memory only to find it won't be compatible. I really would like to take the 7010 usff to its best possible performance and hope you experienced Dell users can help me out and make the most of what I have. Apologies for the lengthy post but couldn't really ask any other way. Hope to get a useful helping hand.   Mark

speedstep · Answer

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dell/optiplex-7010-%28ultra-small-form-factor%29

16 gigs is possible. USFF has only 2 Ram Slots.

The ram is VERY specific and LOW Density and INTEL compatability is required.

There isn't a better processor than the 3770S for the USFF.

BIOS should be updated to latest A29 BEFORE changing cpu.

https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER05066036M/1/O7010A29.exe

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/optiplex-7010/drivers

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-3770S-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B007SZ0EOM

65w is max for cpu for USFF.

https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/optiplex_7010_technical_guidebook.pdf

https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/optiplex-7010_owners-manual_en-us.pdf

ALL drivers are in a single cab file

https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/how13354/optiplex-7010-windows-10-driver-pack?lang=en

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03631140M/1/7010-WIN10-A01-GR1XM.CAB

You download cab file and move to the MY documents folder.

Then EXTRACT HERE using 7ZIP in the my documents folder.

https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Then update my drivers from my pc instead of from the internet.

7010-USFF-OWNER · Answer

Hello, thankyou for the info and links.

With the matter of the processor now dealt with, there still remains a mystery regarding the memory. I gather from your reply that high performance ram is out of the question.

If it has to be VERY SPECIFIC memory, may ask which memory I should be looking for with good performance in mind for music production (applications with very heavy loads)

I know its the DDR3 12800 1600mhz variety, but is Kingston even an option in my case having the USFF?

One more thing I mentioned in my previous post regarding the switch from the 3470s to 3475s ... is it worth it? Will I see better, noticeable improvement in the graphics domain?

7010-USFF-OWNER · Answer

Anybody know about the 7010 usff and upgrading the memory or differences between the HD 2500 and HD 4000 and whether its worth the effort to switch from i5 3470s to 3475s just for the graphics improvement if there is any?

There must be someone who wants to help out a fellow usff Dell owner surely ...

Optiplex Desktops

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