Dell Optiplex 780 sff UPGRADE

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HexGaming5

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Apr 20, 2016
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Hey Guys
so i have an optiplex 780 sff case and i found a guy with a motherboard for one for $15 and i have a spare Q6600 and 8gb of ddr3.
Now according to CNET the board supports 16gb of ddr3 which i find suprising and has a Q45 chipset which i checked and that supports Q6600's but i just wanted to check here and see if anyone can tell me otherwis.
My idea for this build was o find a used low profile graphics card on ebay or gumtree and make a budget CS:GO machine.
And if your about to say "Erh dont put money into such old hardware its crap save" i dont care i like old Dells like this alot and love finding them a good use so yeah deal with it.
 
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Well it looks like the system supports DDR3, from this PDF. The only thing that is confusing with the Guidebook is that it lists DD2 for memory configurations, so it could be a bit misleading. Also you have to remember that the SFF is limited to 2 gb's/RAM slot, so you would need 4 x 2 gb's of RAM (you mention you already have 8 gb's of DDR3 RAM) and I'm not sure if you know that is a possible limitation.

I'm not seeing the Q6600 on the list though...Not sure if that is all of the specs for the system, but appears to be. If the Q6600 is supported, then I don't see why you shouldn't have any issues.
 
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Ah ok thank you very much for the info and yeah i have a set of 2x4gb corsair ddr3 ram now because my main pc's second ram slot isn't working so i might as well put the ram to use instead of just having it sit on top of my tower. if ts DDR2 then i have plenty of 2x2 ddr2 and i can find some 2x4 ddr2 later on.
If the Q6600 isn't supported which im fairly certain it is cause if seen a few things about people upgrading their 780's to the higher core 2 quads and if in the end it doesn't support it then oh well ive got a bunch of good core 2 duos that could go in it and it'll do.
 
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Remember the RAM is limited to 2 gb Sticks, not 4 gb Sticks that you mentioned that you have. So either you typed it wrong or you didn't see that I mentioned that you can only have 4 x 2 gb's sets (that is 4 sticks with the maximum of 2 gb's for each stick). Just so we are clear with that :) I'm betting that the Q6600 is supported, so you probably should be fine there. The big issue is making sure you have a decent cooler for that thing, because they can run on the warm side and especially with a SFF you might not have as good cooling as with a normal desktop setup.

Have you decided on a SFF GPU yet?
 
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ohhhh ok i see i thought you meant the board only has 2 ram slots but i probably should have known that since ive been looking at a picture of the board on another tab xD.
ive got 3x2Gb sticks of ddr3 so itll be fine.
im going to be putting fans in wherever i can and i know the old core 2 quads can get pretty warm i love lga 775 i have tons of parts from that socket so yeah i know itll be getting an aftermarket cooler.
As for gpu im on a pretty damn tight budget so i was looking at something like a gt 620 i found on gumtree for $20 AUD.
I need to get this pc a new psu first though because the stock (240w i think it is) isnt big enough. Im fairly certain it will but just for a second opinion: Do you think an SFX PSU will fit in the case?
 
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It is possible that a SFX PSU might work, it would take some research to see if there is room for it. Depending on the Mobo layout (if not proprietary) you could possible transplant the system into a bigger case, so you can save $ on the PSU, because the SFX PSU's can be a bit spendy.

I'm not sure if the GT 620 is going to handle CS:GO or not (it will take some research there too).
 
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Ah ok, i was actually looking at a dell dimension 9100 for $30 (something for a project) which also takes a BTX motherboard and now that i think about it maybe i should put the motherboard in that instead since it can take ful size graphics cards and i already have a spare 550ti and i can just get it an ATX psu. And i actually need to buy this board because my lan party pc which currently has the 550ti and q6600 has an MSI 7529 and that only supports 4gb of ram so this will b a good upgrade.
And my old dell dimension 2400 case which is what the lan rig is in can go ack to being my pentium half life machine.
 
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Haha yeah seems we have, maybe i should mod the 780 case to have a swing open door and use it as like a drinks cabinet that might be cool :) .
Anyway thanks very much for all the help and yeah ill be sure to give you best answer.
 
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Haha its great to see someone who is actually really humble and wants to help people. thanks mate.
 
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Ah ok Awesome.glad to hear that.
 
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I have also built computer for myself, friends, and family over that period of time and "I'm the one" that they all call when they have issues (I'm that guy). :) I do have a degree in Electronic Engineering and work at a well know tech company too (can't say who they are).
 
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Haha im the exact same here except i dont have a degree or work for a company (still in high school) but apart from those 2 things i can relate to that xD. its just mainly Dell OEM stuff that i have trouble finding any kind of specifications for thats why i ended up here haha. that said i do still love my dells (depending on the model)
 
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Oh don't get me wrong, my first laptop was a Dell Inspiron w/a Core 2 Duo w/AMD x1300 dGPU :) I bought it in 2006 and used it for 5 years :) Dell's desktops are okay, better than some (i.e. Packard Bell, Compaq, etc.), so I know where your coming from there :)
 
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Oh Ok awesome, my main laptop still has a core 2 duo xD.
and yeah i just like Old Dells, ive always had a knack for seeing older hardware play new games that people said wouldn't work on these pc's. like my main pc is an i3 2120 with a gtx 780 and i love it but i still like playing games on a Q6600 and a GTX 480 because i just find it cooler to see older hardware play games, there's less of a sense of achievement seeing newer hardware do it because you knew it would. xD bit of a long story but yeah.
 
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My last desktop (relegated to paying bills online) is a AMD PhII x4 965 BE w/AMD 6850 GPU & the all important 128 gb SanDisk SSD! So I haven't used a desktop for gaming in about 5-6 years. I game on my Lenovo G780 w/GTX 635 GPU :) It is about 3-4 years old and is in dire need of an upgrade (yes I do have a 256 gb Corsair SSD in it though).
 
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Oh ok, id like to get a laptop that can do some level of gaming at some point because plane flights to other countries are horrid when you have nothing to do but damn their expensive that's why ive never bothered with laptops
EDIT:
i was just looking at the 9100's motherboard and they dont have integrated graphics so the io shields is smaller than the 780's so im going to have to cut the io shield out of the 9100 case when i get it
 
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Are you sure?, it doesnt look like it would fit at all in the io shield of the case and since it isnt removable i was just going to hack it out and maybe make a custom io shield if i can be bothered. i just remembered that the motherboard wont use normal 24 pin connectors it takes those smaller ones so im gonna have to get an adapter (fairly certain theres an adapter for that)
 
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It is probably a 20 pin power connector for the Mobo, if it is what I think it is. We used to get PSU's with a 20/24 power connector, but I think they haven't made those in years.
As far as the I/O shield, you can just install the Mobo without it. It looks different, but most systems have the I/O shield facing in the back, so you really don't see it. It is up to you, but I wouldn't worry much about it.
 
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no im fairly certain its a 24 pin mini, i have the psu out of a 780 sff and its motherboard connector is a 24 pin mini. adapters are pretty cheap i found on ebay.
I know i can install the mobo with out the io shield my surveilance pc doesnt have one but what i mean is the io shield in the 9100 case is physically built in not a pop out one and a 780's connectors are different to a 9100's so it wont fit so i have to cut the io shield out of the case
 
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