Question What are my options for a graphics card that does not fit? (EVGA GTX750 in a Dell Optiplex SFF)

[jeffp123]

I recently bought a used EVGA GTX750 graphics card to use in an Dell Optiplex 3020 SFF (Small Form Factor). This is for a Batocera box that my kids use to play old video games. I wanted to see if I could get higher resolution graphics on some of the games, so for the first time I ever I bought a graphics card.

I thought that it would fit since I read about similar graphics cards working, but was disappointed to find that it would not fit.

After I opened the case, I found that I actually only have one 16x slot and the other slot is 1x. The 16x slot is unfortunately right next to the power supply, such that the card will not fit with it's giant fan over it. (I probably should have opened the case before buying the card.)

Note, I might not 100% know what I'm talking about here, but I can post pictures if anyone wants to better understand what I am saying.

I am wondering what my options are:

- If I return/sell this card and get a different one, what should I look for? I think that if this exact same card were to mount in the other direction (i.e. the fan on the other side) it would have worked perfectly. Is that something I can look for when shopping for these?

- Can I use a cable like this to sort-of move it over in the case, to where the PCI 1X slot is?
https://www.amazon.com/XRP-Express-Extender-Flexible-Extension/dp/B008BZBFTG

- Can I somehow mount the card externally and run a PCI cable to it? I found this when googling:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAHEA7VP4221

Would that work for normal usage, and if so, what kinda of cable would be able to reach?

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EDIT: The original post said that I have an Optiplex 7010, but in fact it's a 3020.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Also most of the time the slots in SFF are only 35w.

 

[jeffp123]

This video shows somebody upgrading the GPU on a Dell Optiplex SFF, and so I assumed it should be possible.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7K2rslHnac


The only difference is where that video shows a blue 16x PCI slot, I only have a 1x slot in that same place 🙁

How can tell if the other slot will carry enough power before I invest more time or money into this?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

50W is the limit on the slot:
https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/optiplex_7010_technical_guidebook.pdf
Found on Page 19.

 

[jeffp123]

50W is the limit on the slot:

Thank you for finding that.

Does that mean that I cannot use any graphics card with this device, regardless of whether I can make it somehow "fit"?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

If the card is rated at say 35w or 45w and it fit's , needs to be LP BRACKET , it could possibly work.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Not really a gaming PC.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZKrQ6dC5nc

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU4giCCkVxg

 

[jeffp123]

Do'h, I actually have the Optiplex 3020. Not sure how I got mixed up.

Wondering if you can tell me if the PCI slot for that will handle a GTX750TI...

Here are images of the inside of the case:

The last one shows the smaller PCI 1x slot, and you can see that it the 16x slot is right against the power supply.

If I took off the fan from the GTX750, it looks like it would fit. Good idea?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Find a card that is rated under 50w and fits and it should work.

 

[jeffp123]

Find a card that is rated under 50w and fits and it should work.

What about the space? Is it possible to mount the card externally?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Not really a good idea, that's why you need a card that fits.
I did this a few years back with a HP 6500 SFF Pro.

 

[jeffp123]

What are some comparable graphics cards that will fit?

This primarily to use with the Dolphin Emulator. The only reason that I went for the GTX 750ti was because I saw it mentioned in forums talking about Dolphin-emu and it seems like it works well, based on what people have said.

I don't know much about different GPUs, but I understand that they have different underlying architectures that could affect their compatibility with certain software.

If you know of a card that is slim enough to fit this case, and should probably work as well as the GTX750 for the Dolphin Emulator, please let me know!

 

[jeffp123]

As an alternative to all of this, and since I feel very determined to use the graphics card that I bought (the GTX 750ti), I might end up repurposing this Dell Optiplex 3020 and just get a new computer for Batocera that will actually work with this graphics card.

If I were to do that, does there exist an ideal computer for use with a GTX 750ti (with an i5 processor), that is less than $130 or so?

Googling shows many old Optiplex's for sale that might fit that description, but how can I be sure that the case will be big enough and that the PCI slot will have enough power?

Is there something in particular that I can look for in the description? Or is there an ideal model number that everybody knows is compatible with these cards?

 

[crystalcity]

Get a cheap used TOWER or mini tower with a 2nd generation i5 or newer as budget allows. I would stay away from 1st gen as performance isn't so great. Or even a 2nd or 3rd gen i3 should be fine, on most of those systems you can upgrade later on to a cheap e3-12xx xeon if you find cpu speed a problem. I bet you wont.

 

[jeffp123]

Thanks

Get a cheap used TOWER or mini tower with a 2nd generation i5 or newer as budget allows. I would stay away from 1st gen as performance isn't so great. Or even a 2nd or 3rd gen i3 should be fine, on most of those systems you can upgrade later on to a cheap e3-12xx xeon if you find cpu speed a problem. I bet you wont.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Do you think there would a noticeable performance difference between a 3rd gen i5 and a 4th gen i5?

This is for emulation - particularly with Dolphin-Emu.

I was under the impression that 4th-gen i5 is considerably "better" than 3rd gen and so that is what I shopped for when I got this Optiplex 3020 that I now have (but sadly will not fit the GPU).

If I replace this with a 3rd gen i5 that can use the GTX750ti, will the gains from the GPU outweigh whatever loss going from 4th gen to 3rd gen?

Sorry if this is a really specific question. I appreciate all the great advice here regardless.

 

[jeffp123]

I found this drive-less Optiplex 7020 mini tower for 115 on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USED-Dell-...-Gen-3-4-3-2GHz-4GB-RAM-NO-HD-OS/183413650600

There are others, all similarly priced with varying amounts of RAM and HDD, so it looks like I'm withing budget even with 4th gen (trying to spend <$130 or so).

The spec sheet for the Optiplex 7020 mini tower says:
"1 full height PCIe x16"

https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocument...dz/CSG-EN-XX-ALL-Optiplex-3020-Spec-Sheet.pdf

How can I be sure that the PCI slot will be able to provide enough power to this card?

Is there any way to check compatibility before purchasing?

And is it reasonable to expect that there will be enough space for this card that takes up two slots?

 

[crystalcity]

I don't think there is a way to do a 100% guarantee, but it should work fine. There is a dell forum where you can search to check if any particular combo of gpu/dell has been done before. I would just check there, and eliminate ones you can't verify from your shopping list. There are so many models out there even after you narrow it down, you should still have plenty of good deals to look at.

All the usual ebay warnings apply... make sure they have a good rep. I have setup a case that looks exactly like that mini tower dell before with a gpu and it worked fine. Still in use as far as I know.

3rd gen i5 and 4th gen i5.. for what you're running on it, I don't think you will see a difference. Even for somebody @ 100% cpu utilization its gonna be slight. You can get e3-1230's 1240's (and 1270's even) for $50 US from sellers. Those cpu's are pretty good, they are 4 core with HT.