Processor Upgrade for Dell Optiplex 780

[Isaiah Wright]

Almost all of this info is from Cpu-Z
Timers
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Timers

ACPI timer 3.580 MHz
HPET timer 14.318 MHz
Perf timer 2.922 MHz
Sys timer 1.000 KHz


Processors Information
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Processor 1 ID = 0
Number of cores 2 (max 2)
Number of threads 2 (max 2)
Name Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Codename Wolfdale
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz
Package (platform ID) Socket 775 LGA (0x0)
CPUID 6.7.A
Extended CPUID 6.17
Core Stepping E0
Technology 45 nm
TDP Limit 65.0 Watts
Core Speed 2996.1 MHz
Multiplier x Bus Speed 9.0 x 332.9 MHz
Rated Bus speed 1331.6 MHz
Stock frequency 3000 MHz
Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, EM64T, VT-x
L1 Data cache 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 6144 KBytes, 24-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control yes
FID range 6.0x - 9.0x
Max VID 1.275 V



Chipset
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Northbridge Intel Q45/Q43 rev. 03
Southbridge Intel 82801JB (ICH10) rev. 02
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR3
Memory Size 8 GBytes
Channels Dual, (Symmetric)
Memory Frequency 532.6 MHz (5:8)
CAS# latency (CL) 7.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 7
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 7
Cycle Time (tRAS) 20
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 60
Command Rate (CR) 2T
MCHBAR I/O Base address 0x0FEDA0000
MCHBAR I/O Size 4096
MCHBAR registers

Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model 0C27VV (0x00000188 - 0x004A26C0)

LPCIO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware Monitors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware monitor ATI I/O
Temperature 0 44°C (111°F) [0x2C] (TMPIN0)

Hardware monitor AMD ADL
Voltage 0 0.90 Volts [0x384] (VIN0)
Temperature 0 44°C (110°F) [0x2B] (TMPIN0)
Memory
4x 2 GB Samsung PC3-8500F
DDR3

 

[william p]

My E520 HAS 4 phase VRM MB# 0WG864. My BIOS I believe is 2.0.4 My QX6800 is recognized as a Q6800 which I think doesn't exist. Cooler D9729 bolts in and T9303 works with slight mod. They would both work In a 780 MT. I'm sorry you had problems. I made a tutorial about my project "Overclocking Dell BTX". My result is in my sig. Water cooling leaves the VRMs without airflow per Intel.
Back to the 780 question. QX9650 should work and could be overclocked as described in my tutorial. I don't know how far it would go with 3 phase VRM maybe only 3.33Ghz. Q9550 at $40 is most bang for the buck. GTX750Ti is a good GPU because you don't need to buy a PSU If a bigger PSU isn't an issue ITX cards can be made to fit. If it needs a low profile card then it's back to the 750, unless there's a low profile 950 available (with PSU required).

I'm glad you posted back John. I don't get much feedback on this forum.

 

[justajohn]

Oh both my e520's are able to run and overclock to the X13 multi with a qx6800 easily thanks to your post about throttlestop and the info you outlined. Very good stuff btw.

But that's in the Dimension E520's.

What I am referring to here is the fact that the qx6800 won't post in the Optiplex 780.
I think it should just fine as the other 1066 cpu x3230 works great and even overclocks with setfsb in the Opti780 quite well.

That's why I believe Dell purposely excluded the 130w TDP chip from the Bios and I think that more than likely the other 130w TDP Extreme chips won't work either (including 1333 FSB models)... but as I said this is merely speculation on my part.

The fact is the qx6800 will not post in either of my 2 dell opti780's and I believe that they should.
I have put it back into the e520 and it works as usual there so I know the cpu didn't burn out or anything.

So it gos much deeper than the 3 phase VRM being an issue to watch out for.

I wouldn't run the opti780 with a qx6800 I just wanted to see how far I could get with it performance wise before I got the x3370 to put in it and unfortunately I determined that's not very far. I'm just glad I didn't purchase a qx9650 to test the theory first... but until someone tests it thoroughly by doing just that or posts their findings to the contrary elsewhere that is what I'm thinking. Otherwise the qx6800 really should work, but it don't.

I dunno my best general guess being that's as much as I can do with what I currently have available to me.
Just thought I'd post my initial findings to help anyone else.

-John

 

[william p]

I'm sorry I have to edit out most of my post I thought you had X6800.
I think the problem with the QX6800 130W on the 3 Phase board is that it has a 95W limit. Most 3 phase boards do. Delidded.com lists this in their MB specs. X6800 would probably work. I saw one board that was 120W though. Still not enough for QX6800. Nice to Know Xeon and Setfsb worked for you.
Is your QX6800 SLACP?

 

[justajohn]

Unfortunately I have the B3 core stepping SL9UK.
I would hope that the opti could do at least 120w chips.
But then it is a dell. 😛

A 95w TDP limit would still allow for an x3370 to be run and that's what I'm shooting for anyways.

I figure if I can get the x3230 to pick up a nice little overclock using setfsb then I should have a pretty good shot at getting the xeon x3370 to hold a good stable OC as well. Being it should be a higher binned chip than the consumer grade q9650 I may have better results doing an fsb bump on it anyways.

I'll post back here with further results when I have them.

If somebody want's to give me a qx9650 I'd be happy to test it as well.
LOL

-John

 

[william p]

Did you have to do the Microcode BIOS mod. for the Xeon. The Core2X worked for me so I never tried it. I was wondering if the Q9550s/9505s 65W quads could be used with the microcode mod . Then you would have some headroom for an O/C. CPU World shows some interesting volt and temperature limits.
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_2/Intel-Core%202%20Quad%20Q9505S%20AT80580AJ0736MG.html 76*C max temp limit on 65W chip looks interesting. I don't know if the 95xxs chips are supported in BIOS or not.

 

[justajohn]

So a quick update for anyone interested.
The x3370 swaps right in without any fuss. It fires up and pretty much gives you the performance I am able to get from the QX6800 Overclocked to 3.45 in an e520 with the added benefits of up to 16GB DDR3 and much less power consumption or any worries of overheating due to not having the best cooler in your machine.
My comparison of passmark ratings of each CPU has the qx6800 running an unlocked x13 multi putting it at 3.45Ghz pretty much evenly matched with the xeon x3370 running at 3.05Ghz except in Prime Numbers and Physics. In these 2 categories the xeon has the extreme processor beat by 25% or so. I was able to get setFSB to give a slight bump... very slight at only like 10Mhz before freezing up. I have knocked it back to only 7Mhz where it's stable bringing the CPU to 3.05Ghz. This results in a smidge better performance(>3.3% Passmark CPU rating).
So the xeon is much cooler runs much more efficiently and is pretty cheap to get one. I bought mine for $55 bucks on ebay. Probably could have waited for a better deal... but meh wanted it now.
I am surprised that the newer Xeon did not smash the QX6800 completely. I am also saddened by the fact I wasn't able to push the FSB up much if any. That older 1066fsb xeon x3230 I have Overclocked like a champ that way.
But it is what it is... and for a Dell it ain't too shabby.

P.S. I have done quite a few tests with my machines and games including Fallout 4, Grid 2, Sniper Elite 3. Games I regularly play on my personal built machine in my siggy and know what running perfectly should look and feel like. I haven't tried ARK or the battlefield series yet... but so far the Optiplex 780 loaded even with the low end x3230 running @2.66Ghz stock clock and using the GTX750ti2GB and 4X2GB RAM is able to play everything. And by playable I'm talking not dipping anywhere lower than 25fps on the more demanding titles and more than 40fps average on ultra settings at 1080p. The FPS gos up a smidge like 5-10fps with the better processors and OC's and all... but that's about it. On a little lower setting like 1440X900 V-sync enabled Grid 2 is giving me a solid 60fps maxed out settings and perfectly smooth control. That one can get a little choppy if it's under 50fps so lowering the res is the best answer.

And yes despite GameDebate and others saying a 2.66Ghz quad (q6700 or x3230) is inadequate and simply can not play this or that newer title... it does great.
Better than an Xbox one as they say.
Fallout 4 I can tell you this for a fact.
Take that GameDebate!
I wonder who they're really working for?

-John

 

[william p]

Thanks for posting the results of your tests. This info on Gaming and Overclocking Dells is hard to come by. My 4 phase E520 is at 3.72Ghz so it can probably keep up with the 3 phase Xeon 780, The extra cache and faster fsb are probably why it's faster clock for clock. Nice to know the 3 phase 780 can get up and run with the right chip. I'm waiting for a QX9650 to arrive. It starts at 3Ghz. but I don't have a 780 to test it in. The regular Q6950 is a better stepping than the X chip though. It remains to be seen what an Optiplex 780 can really do.

 

[justajohn]

One further bit of insight.
I purchased a QX9650 SLAWN and it does not work in my Opti780.
My motherboard is 0C27W and yes I have updated to the very latest bios offered by dell way before I even started doing all the other madness.

WARNING! INCOMPATIBLE PROCESSOR!
SYSTEM HALTED!

I guess I should have stated I have the mini tower version for those wondering.
I got the QX6950 CPU for another dell project so it was not a loss in the least.

When testing the x3370 vs qx9650 at it's stock 9X multiplier giving it stock q9650 performance I am noting a slight like 3-5% margin in favor of the q9650 over the x3370 xeon in core power. The xeon wins in temps staying real low and it's initial cost being on average almost $20 less. So very dependable and evenly matched in multiprocessing with the q9650. Overall I'm happy with the x3370 performance.

I still have not tested an actual q9650 in the optiplex780 so there is no telling if it will take a better fsb bump or not using setFSB.
Only way to know for sure is someone to try and report back.

Until then I am happily reaching 4.16Ghz easily using the QX9650 in the Dell T3400 I am now toying with.
-Cheers

 

[jeffshead]

@justajohn
I may have missed it but did you see a decent drop in temp when you installed the copper heatsink? Is it a RW134?

I bought a Q9650 for an OptiPlex XE but the stock heatsink can't handle it. I would like to put the Q9650 in my OptiPlex 780 DT but it has the aluminum heatsink so I'm worried about core temps. I somehow missed this thread before purchasing the Q9650. I wish I would have purchased a X3370 instead.

 

[justajohn]

@justajohn
I may have missed it but did you see a decent drop in temp when you installed the copper heatsink? Is it a RW134?

I bought a Q9650 for an OptiPlex XE but the stock heatsink can't handle it. I would like to put the Q9650 in my OptiPlex 780 DT but it has the aluminum heatsink so I'm worried about core temps. I somehow missed this thread before purchasing the Q9650. I wish I would have purchased a X3370 instead.

Oh yes adding the Dell Copper heatpipe/aluminum fin cooler is the only way to go. The solid block chunk of aluminum is woefully inadequate to be able to run just about any core 2 quad out there.
The x3370 zeon is pretty cool but even it starts getting into the hot zone if you run it with that chunk aluminum heatsink. Though it could run with it I wouldn't.

As far as the optplex 780 Desk Top case is concerned I do believe that the RW134 heatsink is the part that you need, though I have done no research on this myself.
I'm not 100% sure how well it will handle temps as it's smaller but it appears to be the chopped down counterpart of the t9303 cooler that I used in the full mini towers I upgraded. So it should be what you need to run the q9650 within tolerant levels.

You could always add an aftermarket fan behind the shroud on the inside of the case to suck air in across the heatsink a bit faster then the stock dell fans ever seem to be able to. Just be sure to have it sucking the air in the same direction as the stock fan is blowing so you have a push pull through the heatsink. I have learned that can help drop temps quite a bit in my experience.

Dell part number t9303 is the heatsink for a full sized mini tower case optiplex 780 like mine. That I am sure of.
Just research that RW134 to make sure it's the one you need. It looks like it will do the trick though.

 

[jeffshead]

Oh yes adding the Dell Copper heatpipe/aluminum fin cooler is the only way to go...

Thanks for the great response

I ordered the RW134; fingers crossed.

 

[jeffshead]

I ordered the RW134; fingers crossed.

30-34C on idle and 59-66C with Prime95.