Dell Optiplex 790 SFF upgrade

Question

Hello,

I am trying to build my own gaming desktop. It is my very first time building one so I am new to a lot of stuff. These are what I have right now: Dell Optiplex 790 sff, Samsung 8 GB ram, Kingston 480 SSD, Cool master 4o0 watts power supply, AMD Radeon HD 7570 low profile GPU, and i5 3230M CPU. Now, I am aware that the cpu I have will not fit into the socket, and that I need to buy a new one. Which cpu should I buy? Which ones are compatible? Also, is my desktop going to be a decent gaming desktop? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

fireberd · Answer

This is not a 'gaming' PC.  It was designed for business and is limited on power upgrades.  Suggest you reconsider with this model.  It is a 2011 model and thus 8 year old technology.  Dell does not support Win 10 on this model.

Jon tolbert · Answer

Are you staying with the 790 sff mother board?

speedstep · Answer

CPU is totally un related to gaming performance. You cannot use a 75W video card. If you have USFF you cannot use any card at all because there are no slots.

GT1030 is the only model GPU that actually works.

Newer RX series video cards will not work due to requiring UEFI bios.

Low profile cards are required. Max out the Ram and use GT1030

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/pny-geforce-gt-1030-graphics-card-2-gb-gddr5-low-profile/apd/a9763687/graphic-video-cards

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/msi-gt-1030-2g-lp-oc-graphic-card-2-gb-gddr5-pcie-30-x16-low-profile-hdmi-displayport/apd/aa362018/graphic-video-cards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9cO5skSC6M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ixUz4cLcCI

eubea999 · Answer

As for video cards, I've had the MSI GTX 1050 TI 4GT Low Profile running in mine for about a year. Nothing else was touched to the stock Dell SFF 790. Wonderful little gaming pc.

bradthetechnut · Answer

Hi @speedstep, Why is it thought that the CPU has nothing to do with gaming?  The CPU sits idle as long as there's a GPU card?

bradthetechnut · Answer

Not supported doesn't always mean not working. Many 790 refurbs are sold with Win10.

Anybody that says certain Optiplex's can't be used for gaming should check out the "Optiplex gaming rig" videos on YouTube. A "Star Wars" version is one of my favorites.

Since Optiplex's are business class, there's already some power for gaming as compared to many home PC's. This is not to say Optiplex's are all out gaming rigs.

A list of CPU's are in the tech guide. Search by "processor."

Optiplex 790 Tech Guide

speedstep · Answer

Games are about the GPU more than the CPU.

Doesnt mean its not working just means INTEL Graphics is not known for gaming performance until you get into IRIS PRO that has dedicated ram for the GPU rather than stealing from system ram.

eightsixofakina · Answer

I have an Optiplex 790 for gaming. Specs are as follows:

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Intel Core i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
ASUS AMD Radeon 7800 GPU (I had to remove the hard drive cage in order for this to fit.)
12 GB RAM
WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB (WDS500G2B0A)

Dell optiplex lover · Answer

Hi!

dell optiplex 790 is a great pc for gaming upgrade. It support intel core i7 2600,intel core i5 2400,intel core i5 2500 and intel core i3 2100. I have 16 gigabytes of ram 120 gb ssd and 2tb hdd the best graphics card for this pc is gtx 1050ti.

Dell_user_961 · Answer

My Optiplex 790 SFF build that already works for a year: Intel Core i7-2700k Nvidia GTX 1050 ti LP 16 GB Crucial DDR3-1600 WD Blue 3D Nand SATA SDD 1 TB Win 10

Dell_user_961 · Answer

Update: 1650 ti low profile works as well

bradthetechnut · Answer

Cool.  And it fit with no issues?

Optiplex Desktops

Dell Optiplex 790 SFF upgrade

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