WHat to do with a dell optiplex 760

[jonah0037]

I am looking to find something to do with my dell optiplex 760.
Intel core 2 duo (E7500)
3 Gb ram
250 Gb wd blue hard drive

 

[R_1]

boat anchor? lol
do you need a NAS, Router, firewall, all three?

 

[nigelivey]

Recycle???? Seriously thought with a couple of nics it would make a great pfsense firewall/router but excessive on power.

 

[Camikazi]

I am looking to find something to do with my dell optiplex 760.
Intel core 2 duo (E7500)
3 Gb ram
250 Gb wd blue hard drive

My 755 is an HTPC in my living room, have it setup running Kodi with my Emby server handling the media, with Advanced Launcher and a WMC remote I have it running Netflix as well. The remote puts it to sleep when not in use and will wake it when needed, works well for me. Before that I used it as a small web server for a personal website I had, thought about making it into a RD Gateway to connect to my computers from outside of network but never quite figured that one out.

 

[bambiboom]

I am looking to find something to do with my dell optiplex 760.
Intel core 2 duo (E7500)
3 Gb ram
250 Gb wd blue hard drive

jonah0037,

It would help to know for what you use a computer , your performance expectation, and a budget.

In general, an Optiplex 760 can do quite a bit. I use a gift Dell Dimension E520 (Core2 Duo E6700 (4-core @ 2.66GHz), 6GB RAM, GT 440, 2X WD 320GB) to run a 32" LCD TV. I haven't subscribed to cable television for 15 years or watched commercial TV for 25. The E520 streams Netflix, YouTube, Internet generally, runs DVD's, run media files, writing in WordPerfect, and email. Out of curiosity I tried Sketchup and it ran much better than I thought it would.

So, the Optiplex 760 could be pepped up a bit, but it needs a direction and a realistic expectation of the limits.

The highest rated Optiplex 760 on Passmark by category (302 system tested):

Rating: 2242 (Q9650, GTX 460, Intel 320 160GB)
CPU: 4602 (Q9650)
2D: 586 (8600GT)
3D: 4630 (GTX 760)
Mem: 1053 (8GB , E8600 system)
Disk: 2661 (Samsung 840 Pro)

If you need a higher performing all-rounder system though., given the cost of the high performing parts- a Q9650 is $70, a used GTX 760 is $100, I'd say sell it and use the expediture of better parts on a system with more potential. For example:

Purchased for $53 + $24 shipping:

Precision T3500 (2011) (Original) Xeon W3530 4-core @ 2.8 /3.06GHz > 4GB (2X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > GeForce 9800 GT (1GB)> WD Black 500GB
[[Passmark system rating = 1963, CPU = 4482 / 2D= 609 / 3D=805 / Mem= 1409 / Disk=1048]

Notice that this system that I could run right out of the box already has a CPU score of 4482. If you bought a $70 Q9650 and achieve the 4609 score it would not be noticeably better and already that one upgrade cost more than the entire T3500. The T3500 uses DDR3-1333 RAM instead of DDR2-667 and again the T3500 memory score of 1409 can never be matched at all by a Dell Optiplex. The T3500 can use 24GB of RAM, a 6-core Xeon at 3.47 /3.73GHz that scores up to 9821, GTX 980 thae makes a 3D score of 8599, Kinsgston 240GB SDD with a disk acore of 7566.

I upgraded the T3500 as a business backup system:

CPU: $60
RAM: $43 (4X 2GB to have a total of 12GB)
GPU: Quadro 4000 - left over from other upgrade
Disk: PERC 6/i controller, Seagate 300GB 15K SAS- left over from other upgrade

So, with a $185 expenditure:

Precision T3500 (2011) (Rev 2) Xeon X5677 4-core @ 3.06 / 3.46GHz > 12GB (6X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > Quadro 4000 (2GB) > PERC 6/i +Seagate 300GB 15K SAS ST3300657SS + WD Black 500GB > 525W PSU> Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > 2X Dell 19" LCD
[Passmark system rating = 2751, CPU = 7236 / 2D= 658 / 3D=2020 / Mem= 1875 / Disk=1221]

Which could have been quite a bit better if I'd bought an SSD, but the system rating is still quite a bit higher than the best Optiplex 760 and using similar costs for the upgrades. The key is to spend the money on a system with higher potential due to newer generation components- the highest rated T3500 is 4155.

However, if you will use the Opriplex as I use the Dimension E520, I'd say find a reasonable GPU with an HDMI output and add a 1TB WD Blue. Something that;s worked our very well for the E520 has been a Logitech z313 2.1 sound system- 2 satellites and a subwoofer for $30. This has a wired remote with on-off and volume. I run this off an elderly M-Audio 2496 PCI sound card (about $30) and the sound is really very good, especially as compared to the built in TV speakers.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) > 32GB DDR3 1866 ECC RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)>
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Revised) > 2X Xeon X5680 (6 -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz), 48GB DDR3 1333 ECC Reg. > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (27", 1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3844 / CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3500 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)

 

[jonah0037]

I am looking to find something to do with my dell optiplex 760.
Intel core 2 duo (E7500)
3 Gb ram
250 Gb wd blue hard drive

My 755 is an HTPC in my living room, have it setup running Kodi with my Emby server handling the media, with Advanced Launcher and a WMC remote I have it running Netflix as well. The remote puts it to sleep when not in use and will wake it when needed, works well for me. Before that I used it as a small web server for a personal website I had, thought about making it into a RD Gateway to connect to my computers from outside of network but never quite figured that one out.

Well my budget is right now becuase i am getting new parts for my other computer would be around 100$.