[SOLVED] Dell Optiplex 3050 Micro - very poor CPU Benchmarking

[tomtc01]

So, bought the above to be a cheap to run as a media server, but I thought it a bit more sluggish that I expected. When I benchmarked (CPU-Z & UserBenchmark) it had terrible CPU scores (single core described as barely able to handle email and light browsing - 24% - on UserBenchmark). 6% Graphics. On CPU-Z the single thread was 92.5 and multi-thread 351.4.

I wasn't expecting a rocket ship but with an i5-7500T and 8GB RAM onboard I at least expected a decent return. I am using an NVME M.2 stick as my boot drive. I repasted the CPU in case it was a dust build-up that might have caused throttling (?) but made no difference.

Does this suggest the CPU is on its way out, or is there something I could do?

Thanks for any assistance/ advice

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If it was possible I'd have shut down Userbenchmark since it's been known that their results are biased/skewed. My question in turn would be, does it get your tasks done, meaning does it do what you intended it to do when you decided to purchase it? The form factor and limitation introduced due to it also mean you can't extract much out of the platform, outside of going with a dual channel 2x16GB DDR4-2400MHz ram kit and maybe a larger capacity 2.5" HDD/SSD(SATA based). The M.2 slot on that OptiPlex is PCIe3.0x2 as well.

None of that will offset the fact that your motherboard can't support a processor higher than 35W due to the formfactor's cooling solution.

I at least expected a decent return.
Please elaborate what your definition of decent return is.

 

[tomtc01]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If it was possible I'd have shut down Userbenchmark since it's been known that their results are biased/skewed. My question in turn would be, does it get your tasks done, meaning does it do what you intended it to do when you decided to purchase it? The form factor and limitation introduced due to it also mean you can't extract much out of the platform, outside of going with a dual channel 2x16GB DDR4-2400MHz ram kit and maybe a larger capacity 2.5" HDD/SSD(SATA based). The M.2 slot on that OptiPlex is PCIe3.0x2 as well.

None of that will offset the fact that your motherboard can't support a processor higher than 35W due to the formfactor's cooling solution.

I at least expected a decent return.
Please elaborate what your definition of decent return is.

Thanks for your quick reply. Very helpful.

I take onboard all of your points and you are right, it seems to pretty much do what I want it to do, but I got spooked by the terrible scores (not just Userbenchmark of course, but CPU-Z as well) so was thinking that either it was throttling or failing. I'll look to replace the RAM with a better kit and see if that helps. I already use the M.2 for booting etc and external drives for my libraries. I liked the very small size, but as you say that will impose limits on it. Many thanks for your response