[SOLVED] Upgrading a refurbished PC

[Jamri]

I'm looking at getting a refurbished Dell OptiPlex 7010 Minitower and I would want to upgrade the graphics card. Don't have a lot of cash to spend so going with an older system. Just want to be able to play some games better than what I currently have. I know the PS will need to be upgraded, that's not a problem. I'm wondering if the graphics card I have will work in it.
I have a MSI GTX 980 gaming 4g that a friend gave me.
Will that fit and work in the system?

 

[tennis2]

900 series Nvidia GPUs would certainly work as long as the physical space inside the case allows. Length to the drive bay would be my biggest concern. If you're determined enough, that obstacle can be removed. IIRC the drive bay is connected to the chassis with 4(?) screws/rivets. If you need 1 drive bay for a 3.5" HDD (an SSD can be taped/velcro'd anywhere) then you'd need to get creative and cut the top slot off the drive bay. You'd still want the drive bay removed for this reduction surgery. Use your favorite/available cutting tool to get the job done.

Then it's just a matter of establishing enough case airflow to keep a GTX980 from cooking itself.

 

[jojesa]

I'm looking at getting a refurbished Dell OptiPlex 7010 Minitower and I would want to upgrade the graphics card. Don't have a lot of cash to spend so going with an older system. Just want to be able to play some games better than what I currently have. I know the PS will need to be upgraded, that's not a problem. I'm wondering if the graphics card I have will work in it.
I have a MSI GTX 980 gaming 4g that a friend gave me.
Will that fit and work in the system?

A GPU longer than 8" inches will interfere with the SATA ports and front IO cables on the motherboard.
You might be able to get a 9" inches GPU by using L-shaped SATA cable.
The MSI GTX 980 gaming 4g is around 11' inches long so it might not fit.

 

[Krotow]

Forget about it. PSU in this office workstation is group regulated and made to power first gen i5 CPU, two 3.5" hard drives, optical drive and GPU board with around 50W power demand. That is all you can get from it. If I understand it correct, you want to use this GPU

MSI Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation

As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops.

www.msi.com

At first PSU in this PC is too weak to power mentioned GPU and group regulation make it even worse. It even does not have extra PCIe power cables (that GPU require two 8-pin PCIe power cables to even initialize). Plus group regulation is a hard guarantee that any 12V cable hacks will blow up PSU sky high together with GPU and motherboard. I 200% believe that PSU does not have undervolting protection on 12V which will end as I said.

If you want to use this PC for web browsing, office tasks and software development, no problems with that. But forget about hardcore gaming if you don't mean solitaire and lines here.

 

[Jamri]

Forget about it. PSU in this office workstation is group regulated and made to power first gen i5 CPU, two 3.5" hard drives, optical drive and GPU board with around 50W power demand. That is all you can get from it. If I understand it correct, you want to use this GPU

MSI Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation

As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops.

www.msi.com

At first PSU in this PC is too weak to power mentioned GPU and group regulation make it even worse. It even does not have extra PCIe power cables (that GPU require two 8-pin PCIe power cables to even initialize). Plus group regulation is a hard guarantee that any 12V cable hacks will blow up PSU sky high together with GPU and motherboard. I 200% believe that PSU does not have undervolting protection on 12V which will end as I said.

If you want to use this PC for web browsing, office tasks and software development, no problems with that. But forget about hardcore gaming if you don't mean solitaire and lines here.

This is what I was going to replace it with...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CXVKP3...colid=8MTU6ZOA4ILQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This is the PC itself, looks like a 3rd gen CPU
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K0GNUO...colid=8MTU6ZOA4ILQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[Krotow]

This is what I was going to replace it with...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CXVKP3...colid=8MTU6ZOA4ILQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Honestly I wouldn't risk my hardware with it. Keep another hardware set along just in case. Unboxing and blind plugging together random stuff is a game for people without experience and with a money to burn. It works if they are lucky. Otherwise ruthless laws of physics make them jump for their money. I believe to PSU reviews done in this way. Though if you avoid GPU overclocking, it may work out - maybe 😉

This is the PC itself, looks like a 3rd gen CPU
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K0GNUO...colid=8MTU6ZOA4ILQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

It is Intel 3rd gen CPU (i5-3470). And computer is your usual office workstation. I have similar box in my workplace. For software development on 2 monitors works just fine.

 

[punkncat]

I have an Optiplex 7010 MT that I just upgraded from the 3rd gen i3 to the 3rd gen i7 3770. I also had a gigabyte GTX750ti mini card that I was planning to use. The PSU inside the unit is something around 300W, but would be lying if I said I knew for sure without looking again.

We purchased the machine from a refurbisher a few years back, and at that time I added an SSD and more RAM. I recently did another new SSD, added double the RAM. I turned it on and tested it with the i3 installed along with the 750 and it worked fine. After installing the i7 it gave long beep and would not show video. Took out the GPU, hit the self test on the PSU, and it booted and is working fine.
I attempted to install the 750 back into something else and (assumably) had damaged the card from too low current.

I relay this to say that the PSU in that unit was likely only designed to operate with the parts it was made with, or possibly the higher CPU offering of that same line.

Make sure you look into that swap of PSU closely before you do so. Some of the Dell connectors (may be) proprietary and require adapters which are readily available to work.

 

[Krotow]

I relay this to say that the PSU in that unit was likely only designed to operate with the parts it was made with, or possibly the higher CPU offering of that same line.

They are 300-320W group regulated PSUs.

Make sure you look into that swap of PSU closely before you do so. Some of the Dell connectors (may be) proprietary and require adapters which are readily available to work.

Usual Dell office PSU have 24-pin ATX connector, 4-pin 12V connector, 2-3 SATA drive power connectors and 3.5" floppy drive power connector. Nothing fancy here. Standard connectors in bulk are cheaper and corporates are not willing to pay extra for fancy connectors if it is possible to avoid that. But he should be ready that original PSU may be a bit higher than standard ATX connector. Eq. bottom screw holes may appear unreachable.

 

[jojesa]

This is what I was going to replace it with...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CXVKP3...colid=8MTU6ZOA4ILQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This is the PC itself, looks like a 3rd gen CPU
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K0GNUO...colid=8MTU6ZOA4ILQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

If you have not get the Dell OptiPlex 7010 Minitower just yet....then go with the Dell OptiPlex 7020 Minitower.
You could find it at the same price (or less) but you will be able to fit a larger GPU like the MSI GTX 980 gaming 4g.

The only catch is that the motherboard has an 8-pin PSU power connector instead of the standard 24-pin ATX.
You could get a 24-pin to 8-pin ATX adapter like this one : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G84VCMG