Dell Optiplex 3020 SFF Graphics card, harddrive and RAM

[magnus.thomsen1994]

Hi everyone.

I just bought a Dell Optiplex 3020 SFF.



I want to upgrade the graphics card. Can I for a Gtx 1050 ti low profile in there? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01N33SOXU/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1_1_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

I want to upgrade the memory to 8gb from 4gb. What kind of sticks do I need to buy? https://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-HX318C10FB-1866MHz-Memory-Module/dp/B00J8E92I0/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1534026015&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ddr3+ram+8gb&dpPl=1&dpID=41Te3BFU4cL&ref=plSrch

I want to upgrade the harddrive to an SSD. Do I need to buy a 2.5 to a 3.5 tray or is this one good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01N6JQS8C/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1_1_5?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

If some guru could please link me to the right items on amazon UK that would be very helpful.

Magnus

 

[magnus.thomsen1994]

Sorry. Could anyone please help?

Is the graphics card a low profile / single slot?

 

[william p]

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/optiplex-3020-smal-form-factor
The X64 in the part number is important. This signifies low density RAM.
The graphics card must be low profile single slot. The PSU is right next to the GPU slot. All of the 1050 LP I've seen have a hard mounted DVI connector on the 2nd slot. GT1030, or GTX750 is probably as good as it gets for that.
Unless of course you're willing to ge an ATX PSU, and a Dell 8 pin to 24 pin MB adapter and run the PSU outside the case like a giant wall wart. Then you could cut the case to make room for the DVI port. GTX1050 is still as good as it gets in Low profile.

 

[dontlistentome]

On the SSD, I just use double sided tape. The SSDs are very thin and light. You can stick them anywhere convenient. In fact, the SATA cable is more annoying to deal with than the SSD.

Single slot 1030 would be my recommendation on videocard. Small and doesn't demand much power, both important things in a SFF card.

edit: DDR5 1030 only, avoid the DDR4 version

 

[magnus.thomsen1994]

On the SSD, I just use double sided tape. The SSDs are very thin and light. You can stick them anywhere convenient. In fact, the SATA cable is more annoying to deal with than the SSD.

Single slot 1030 would be my recommendation on videocard. Small and doesn't demand much power, both important things in a SFF card.

edit: DDR5 1030 only, avoid the DDR4 version

Perfect. I picked up the low profile ddr5 1030 last night.

Is there a spare sata connector or how does that work? Do I need to unplug the optical drive? I won’t be using it anyways

And also from the ram it looks like there are two brackets so I would just add the stick recommended above for a total of 8gb

 

[william p]

Turn off Auto Defrgamentation in System Tools for the SSD. Dell has it on by default.

 

[magnus.thomsen1994]

I managed to get my hands on a low profile GT 1030 from Asus from ebay(https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-GeForce-profile-graphics-brackets/dp/B0716JTSRW). However the heatsink cause into the power supply so I need a card with less height or the fan/heatsink above instead of below.

I tried to take the heatsink off, and the computer starts up, but after a few minutes the monitor says no signal. The rest of the computer is still running cause I can hear sound and I can pause/unpause a video. I assume thats cause the GFX card is running too hot? Is there a tool to check the temperature I can have pre installed?

 

[william p]

They come in sigle slot low profile. There's no real reason for a 2 slot cooler on a card that draws so little power.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500424&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Video+Card+-+Nvidia-_-N82E16814500424&gclid=Cj0KCQjwquTbBRCSARIsADzW88wuXq9s0kHYNtLD3NrkCwXW1BQX7CaeWEaNoGF2HhusuIR_NwHE1CAaAmd-EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
The silent PC thing is bogus uness you have a silent CPU cooler, and fanless/silent PSU anyway. That sort of thing doesn't fit in an SFF.

 

[ChrisWouldBeANerd]

Sorry. Could anyone please help?

Is the graphics card a low profile / single slot?

I got a pcie ribbon cable, a reverse pcie riser and some pcb mounting posts and just mounted my gpu onto the removable case cover. Only running a gtx 750ti I had knocking about but works fine. Make sure you put some grommet strip around the slot you cut into the case to prevent shorting the pcie connections. That would be bad.