Question dell optiplex 380 mt compatible heatsink

arajigar

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2016
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HI.

I did receive as a gift one Optiplex 380 mt , and I want to make it a backup pc from it. The problem came when, after looking at the motherboard, I see that the CPU heatsink it mounts is kind of a proprietary model, so I wonder if there´s an aftermarket CPU heatsink that could be mounted instead and, transplant all the guts from the orginal delll case to another most modern one.

Thanks in anticipation.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
There aren't any aftermarket heatsinks available for the OptiPlex. If anything you will need to conform to their manual's CPU support list to meet the TDP capability of the heatsink. Don't bother with transplanting anything either since the front panel headers polarity aren't labelled there.
 
There aren't any aftermarket ones, as mentioned; however, Dell made several different heatsinks for various different TDP ratings and many of them were interchangeable so you can get enhanced cooling that way. :)

I also would not even attempt to transfer this to another case as this was the era of the btx format and no cases were really made for that format.
 

arajigar

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Jun 1, 2016
211
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18,715
Thanks to both of you!!. Pity I cannot pick both answers as the winner, sorry :(
I discovered that it will be impossible to transfer anything because the MOBO is designed to be installed in the right side of the case instead of the left side. The only way to have another case is to modify the original Optiplex 780 case.
 
https://forums.tomshardware.com/members/william-p.409522/ is the real expert on these systems--he's an unreal resource with so much information on these that Dell probably doesn't even know.

The best bolt in heatsink for the 380 is Dell t9303 or d9729 and should work with your current shroud if there are the holes for the heatpipes--otherwise you need to get the shroud too. But it will bolt right in and improve cooling a ton.
 

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