Optiplex 755 CPU compatibility

@SmokyGutGouger 

Please press the blue Accept as Solution button below if this answers your questions.

"8GB I can upgrade to needs to be 4 x 2GB sticks "

Some Small non tower models only have 2 slots so that's a problem for 8 gigs. MUST BE low density, MUST NOT BE ECC or Registered or buffered etc. 

You can still find working ram but the ram is very specific LOW Density 533 MHz parts.

OptiPlex 755 PC2 5300 Ram 

I've been told it's okay to replace the HDD

It is fine to replace HDD EXCEPT that Advanced format drives REQUIRE AHCI or F6 Mass storage Drivers to be seen. (Advanced format drives are ANY HDD NEWER than 2011 AND larger than 120GIGS) SSD drives came out a lot later so ANY size SSD is Advanced format. Older 80 Gig drives are 512e and work with all os including WIN95 and WIN98 etc.

and I've been told the Optiplex won't run without the factory HDD.

This is false any Sata HDD or SDD works.  HOWEVER Larger than 2TB requires special drivers and or Host bus adapter.

I've been told to replace the HDD with the bootable SDD in the SATA slot it currently boots from and move the HDD for storage to the next SATA slot.

This will be a problem.  The BLUE sata 0 connector is for the HDD the next sata connector is for the Optical drive.  If you want to use your old drive put it in a USB DOCK.

And I've been told to leave the HDD in the first SATA slot that it boots from and plug the bootable SSD in the next SATA slot, then change where it boots from in BIOS.   This advice is wishful thinking at best.  Bios is not a boot selector.

So, yes, bro, I've absolutely gotten conflicting information. 

Again all of said issues are known and well documented. You may have gotten conflicting information but you didn't get it here from me. Especially in regards to OptiPlex, Inspiron, Vostro, Dimension, Precision, desktops, laptops, tablets, etc.

WASN'T THE SOLUTION. I ACCIDENTLY CLICKED THAT. 

Now we're talking about DVD drives, I have no idea why I'd need one, even if I wasn't leaving the optical drive out. I simply wanted to install a SSD as the bootable drive, that simple. I understood it's supposed to be one of the most common and simple upgrades, now here I am. I thought I could clone the HDD to the SSD, then unplug the HDD from the boot SATA slot, and plug in the SSD, then bingo! But apparently it isn't that simple, I do understand going into BIOS to change some setting, though. If a simple step is going to be a pain, I should just forget about it. The only waste is the RAM, I can use that 2.5" SSD somewhere eventually. I thought It'd be neat to tinker with it and upgrade it, but it was for fun, it's just aggravating now. I just need to find one person who I trust is knowledgeable, who I can chat with and get their input. When asking several different people, I get different answers, but we're all mistaken sometimes. I truly appreciate the help, bro, thanks for taking the time to share some advice. I'm just slightly frustrated, due each little, supposedly simple step being an issue. I'm sure it'd be relatively simple, with just one persons correct advice, instead of everyone throwing in their two cents. But, to be fair, they're just trying to help. 

No blame to the ones that linked them, but I'd ignore a couple of threads that were linked.  Go with the advice you got in this thread.

If you do clone the HDD, you should ne able to unplug HDD and boot from SSD.  Just to let you know, neither Dell nor Microsoft support 3rd party cloning software.  But that doesn't necessarily mean not working.

As speedstep suggested a Win10 OEM DVD, that's the way I did it on my previous 755 MT.  With only the SSD plugged in, Win10 loaded on it in almost no time at all.  Definitely not like the old days when it was a half an hour just to load XP then another half an hour to load the service packs on them slower PC's.  (I did have it down to half an hour total on a rebuild though.)

"If you do clone the HDD, you should ne able to unplug HDD..."  of course should be "If you do clone the HDD, you should be able to unplug HDD..."

If the size 2032 CMOS battery is more than 5 years old, replace with new one so you don't run into any bizarre problems.  Some refurbishers don't even remember that.  First thing I had to do on one refurb I bought is replace the battery.

@SmokyGutGouger 

"Now we're talking about DVD drives, I have no idea why I'd need one, even if I wasn't leaving the optical drive out. I simply wanted to install a SSD as the bootable drive, that simple. I understood it's supposed to be one of the most common and simple upgrades, now here I am. I thought I could clone the HDD to the SSD, then unplug the HDD from the boot SATA slot, and plug in the SSD, then bingo! "

If you have a Raw board instead of an actual complete 755 model then you do not have a DVD drive.  Afaikt all 755 models come with a dvd drive. Some really early models do not have dual layer dvd drive but those can easily be replaced for $20.

If you have any PC with 4.7 gig regular DVD burner you can make a boot DVD for WIN10 21H1 with the media tool.  Choose the ISO download option so that when its no longer available you can still burn another disk iso thats copied from an offline usb hard drive. Older DVD drives need DVD-R media burned at 1X 2X 4X max speed to avoid errors.

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

The reason for DVD Drive OEM recovery disk is 2 fold.  DVD boots and works fine for AHCI. SSD drives require F2 SATA OPERATION to be AHCI.

Real non burned DVD will not break down chemically or detrap like usb flash drives do.  Its a forever disk.  DVD install works offline everytime meaning you do not need internet connection or to download or install.  You can use it to troubleshoot and get data back.

There are Various Sizes and ALL 755 come with AHCI DVD drive built in.

MT (Mini Tower)
DT (Desktop)
MFF (Micro Form Factor)
SFF (Small Form Factor)
USFF (Ultra Small Form Factor)

Changing drive from RAID to AHCI on original or cloned drive will blue screen STOP 7B Inaccessable boot device.

Cloning is not supported by Dell or Microsoft.  This has been the case since WINDOWS NT in 1995.  

Microsoft policy for windows disk duplication

Cloning does work but SSD's require AHCI mode and secure boot off during install to be seen and not crash with STOP 7B inaccessable boot device.  It is possible to change a HDD from RAID ON (Default) to AHCI BEFORE cloning. 

Many programs that worked for years like AOEMI , Acronis and Ghost do not appear to work now.

Macrium Reflect Free does still work. Reflect free has an option to make a boot recovery DVD so that you can image the drive on network share or external usb drive to recover from a crash. It is not however supported by Microsoft or Dell.  So if you have issues you have to go to them to resolve problems.

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

https://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v8/ReflectDLHF.exe

If it makes a difference, it was just purchased through WalMart a couple years ago as a refurbished unit. So it came with Windows 10, and I'm not sure if that could mean it has a newer BIOS version on it already. If I can't clone Windows, can't I just install a fresh version of Windows onto the SSD? I did that when I built that gaming PC, I'd just have to refresh my memory. And to make sure it has the latest BIOS, what do I do? If it doesn't have the latest, do I just go to the Dell site on the PC and download it? I'm sorry, men, remember, I literally just started learning anything about building PCs about four months ago. I've learned a bit, but I have a long way to go. 

Remember, through all the noise, speedstep and I both suggested using Win10 DVD to do fresh install on SSD.

To see what BIOS version you have, upon turning on the PC, repeatedly press F2.  Don't wait for Dell logo or keyboard light to press F2.  Once BIOS comes up, it will show you the BIOS version on top of the screen.  Lets start there and see if you even need to update it.

So, I can't can't just clone the HDD to the SDD, huh? A part of this PC upgrade isn't as simple as I thought. Imagine that! That's just par for the course concerning this project. I'm just going to put it away for a while, we don't need it. I just wanted to upgrade it because I thought it'd be a fun little project, after I built that gaming PC. I'm just kinda over it right now, though. Again, thanks for all the advice from everyone!

I don't have a Win 10 DVD, I suppose I could purchase one. I still have that optical drive that I took out of it around here somewhere. I was just going to do away with it, they're a thing of the past. I can't remember the last disk of any kind that someone had in this house. Can't I just download a fresh version of Windows from the internet? That's what I did for the boot drive in this gaming PC. I can't remember the exact steps, but I followed some persons instructions on YouTube. I'm constantly reading that the number one upgrade to an older PC is installing a SSD as the bootable drive, because it speeds up boot time and also due to the fact that it's so simple. OF COURSE the one I happen to attempt to upgrade isn't simple. I've got to just put it away for a while. It kind of wasn't really worth upgrading anyway, I just wanted to do it because I wanted to tinker with PC stuff, for the fun of it. I past having fun a while back. I thought upgrading to an SSD, more RAM and a faster CPU would be a breeze. Wrong!  lol! ............Anyway, you seem like a smart cat, thanks for the help, bro. 

Again, tolerate my ignorance on the subject, if you would. So, a Windows installer on a usb drive or DVD is different than simply booting the PC from a usb drive or DVD with Windows on them? With the Windows installer on usb drive you actually install Windows on the drive you plan to boot from? When I built my gaming PC, I seem to remember downloading Windows onto a usb drive, then booting from that. But I can't recall the process of getting Windows to the boot drive. I followed YouTube videos. lol

"Cloning does work but SSD's require AHCI mode and secure boot off during install to be seen and not crash with STOP 7B inaccessable boot device.  It is possible to change a HDD from RAID ON (Default) to AHCI BEFORE cloning" 

Things like "AHCI and RAID ON" are lost on me. I guess I need to do some homework.

I swear, I feel like I'm over thinking this. Simply putting Windows on a SSD and putting it in place of an HDD to boot from couldn't be that complicated.  

@SmokyGutGouger 

Please press the blue Accept as Solution button below if this post answers your question.

Sata Operation AHCI vs RAID vs IRRT  Intel Rapid Restore Technology is a Setting in F2 BIOS under system configuration.

Intel IRRT IRST RAID Rapid Recovery technology

If it helps, here's an Optiplex 755 BIOS screengrab with setting set to RAID Autodetect / ACHI.  It's the setting you want to load Win10 in.

Sorry if there was any confusion.  755 Legacy BIOS does not have Secure Boot.

@bradthetechnut 

The cable is labeled sata data splitter but no such device exists.

That cable is for SAS Drives in a precision workstation.

755 towers have 4 sata connections. If you do not want to lose your 5.25 inch DVD drive there is no reason to buy a splitter cable because there are 3 or 4 separate sata ports depending on size of model.  BLUE is Port 0, Black is Port1, White is Port2,

There is a specific part NR95F that allows laptop style drive and card reader in the 5.25 bay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353684080762

where it uses the sata port for the dvd and the flex bay port for the

0G7V21 Card Reader

0NR95F Bracket  5.25 with 3.5 card and Laptop DVD drive.

01YMGT SATA power to mini 6 pin for DVD

DS-8A8SH  DVD Writer

SATA data cable

GH483 - Cable Assembly for Flex-Bay Media Card Reader for Dell Computers

G7V21 = Media Card Reader module (Includes cable) The 3.5 Floppy bay to 5.25 bay adapter NR95F (Bracket Assembly, F5 to F3 Conversion) is a separate part number.

Call Dell Spare Parts 1-800-357-3355 and ask for price and availability of the Dell part number. Or simply search the web for the part number.

Compatible Models: Dimension 210, 9200C C521 OptiPlex 740 745 745E 755 760 960, Precision T3500, XPS 210 400 410 etc.

Does not work in an SFF, which is what we're working with.

MB photoed in post above doesn't appear to be for a 755.  MT has 4 SATA ports (which you said) with smaller models having 2.  USFF has 1.

SFF MB has SATA 1 and SATA 0:

Alright. Thanks. I was gonna go with the Q9400. It isn't listed as "compatible" by Dell either, but I found a YouTube video in which the dude used it and it booted up right away. Although, if you say a more powerful Q9650 will work, then that's what I'll try to find. I know updated bios are important. I'm running Windows 10 on it already. So, it's safe to say the bios have been updated, right? Forgive my ignorance. I just built my first gaming PC, so I'm kind of upgrading the old dest top for the fun of it and the experience. lol