Dell Workstation Owners Club

[sepheronx]

I found at my wife's business that some machines they were using and giving away we're using those older 775 xeons. I'll see if I can go remove them and I'll let you know so that if you would be interested in paying shipping and I send em out your way for no other cost.

 

[Aaron_Henderson]

Your best bet is one of the extreme edition quads and using throttle stop and possibly even setfsb.

 

[Retrorockit]

Any 4C8T Xeon options for my T3400???

You can run a QX9650 and use Throttlestop 4.0 to overclock it to 4.15GHz. It takes about 15 minutes.
Here's on at userbenchmark.com
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/3530803
Here's the TS OC thread.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/
The X38 chipset has hidden support for 400fsb so SetFSB might actually get you somewhere with that. But only C2X and TS will let you raise Voltage so it's still the way to go.

 

[Susquehannock]

$50 cad ($38 usd) is a great price for that Dell PSU with harness. Best I can find T5500 PSU is almost twice that.

Everyone has their price point upgrading these workstations. Mine is probably a bit higher than most. Decided long ago that I would not replace with another used power supply. These Dell units are robust to be sure. Buying on the open market no telling what they have been through. Potentially 70-80,000 hours of continuous hard use.

That was my friend's concern. Being gun shy from a failed PSU in the past, he asked me to put a brand new aftermarket PSU in a T3500 along with his 1070. Decided on the 550w EVGA G2. Nice unit. Very quiet. Large single +12 volt rail.

Both EVGA g2 and the upgraded g3 are on sale at 25% off now. Or $20 rebate card for those in Canada.

 

[Salty_sandwich]

These Dell units are robust to be sure

I think all DELL PC's or Server's are the Volvo class of PC's, I have an old (EDIT/HP 6305 MT) i dont know why i put DELL 6305 MT lol, Its built like a Tank and probably survive a nuclear blast lol

 

[Retrorockit]

I like EVGA because many of them have the high powered 5V. rail many of the old Dells require. This is something to watch out for, get a PSU with as much 5V. power as your old one.

 

[Susquehannock]

I like EVGA because many of them have the high powered 5V. rail many of the old Dells require. This is something to watch out for, get a PSU with as much 5V. power as your old one.

That is true. Forgot to mention the 5 volt. One place aftermarket PSU lack is the +5vsb rail. Doubtful any of us need that to run standby mode in a networking environment.

Would be an overkill for these Dell. The EVGA G3 1000w is on sale at half price right now = $100. Posted link in the Hot Deals section.

 

[sepheronx]

That is true. Forgot to mention the 5 volt. One place aftermarket PSU lack is the +5vsb rail. Doubtful any of us need that to run standby mode in a networking environment.

Would be an overkill for these Dell. The EVGA G3 1000w is on sale at half price right now = $100. Posted link in the Hot Deals section.

Well, I plan to keep the case for a very long time. Love the Dell T3500 case. Will eventually make modifications to the look of the case over time and when I develop any kind of artistic skills along with it.

But with current setup, I just do not feel like spending that kind of money. Actually, due to debt issues now, I am selling the GTX 1070 GPU and putting in a GTX 1060 6gb in the Dell T3500 instead (still good enough for most 1080p gaming and what not). will probably also be getting rid of one of my Vega 64s as well.

 

[Retrorockit]

Well, I plan to keep the case for a very long time. Love the Dell T3500 case. Will eventually make modifications to the look of the case over time and when I develop any kind of artistic skills along with it.

It's not particulary artistic but I did some mods on page 8-9 of the Throttlestop Overcloccking thread.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/page-8
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/page-9

 

[sepheronx]

It's not particulary artistic but I did some mods on page 8-9 of the Throttlestop Overcloccking thread.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/page-8
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/page-9

That case mod you did to fit that cooler in it gave me a spasm. No offense lol.

 

[Retrorockit]

If you decide to put holes in the cover of one of these just remember it's 2 layers of heavy metal. They're designed to be used in Desktop orientation also, with a monitor sitting on top.
Chips in between the layers, one panel being sawed while the 2nd just jumps up and down behind it. It might be better just to make a plexiglas cover.

 

[sepheronx]

If you decide to put holes in the cover of one of these just remember it's 2 layers of heavy metal. They're designed to be used in Desktop orientation also, with a monitor sitting on top.
Chips in between the layers, one panel being sawed while the 2nd just jumps up and down behind it. It might be better just to make a plexiglas cover.

replace entire side panel with plexi glass?

I was just gonna paint it tbh.

 

[totalfreq]

Would a T7500 PSU work in a T3500? I can get the 1100W PSU for pretty cheap.

I cant comment on the T3500 size, but the 1100w T7500 Power Supply is longer (9" plus the wire bundle) than the 875w T5500 supply by a few inches. If I had to guess (just eyeballing) the 1100w would likely fit in the extra space in the T5500 behind the CD-ROM but it would be tight.

*** EDITED to ADD ***

I have a spare 1100W I put on top of the T5500 for reference. The wire bundle will be mashed between the stock CD/DVD-RW in roughly 1-1.5" of space. Possible...probably - but I recommend to lose the CD/DVD or get a shorter one like Retro recommends.

 

[Retrorockit]

I've had to get newer ASUS DVD drives that are shorter than the old Dell ones to run EVGA 850 W in Dimensions and Optiplexes.
The 1100W PSU is 11" long with the wires. There are some thin DVD drives out there. But in the t3500 T5500 cases somethings gotta give.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I've had to get newer ASUS DVD drives that are shorter than the old Dell ones to run EVGA 850 W in Dimensions and Optiplexes.
The 1100W PSU is 11" long with the wires. There are some thin DVD drives out there. But in the t3500 T5500 cases somethings gotta give.

That brings up a good point, for those looking to replace an aging or failed PSU, you don't have to use Dell branded PSU's. Most of Dell's systems will take a standard ATX PSU. If your system's mobo doesn't have any unique power connectors(most don't), you can go with another brand and be just fine.

 

[Susquehannock]

From what I can tell looking around, the T7500 PSU is 9 inches long. Looks tight but doable. Someone in another thread was saying they were an optional upgrade for the T5500 so should fit.

 

[sepheronx]

So the t5500 Psu same size as t3500?

Build is coming along. Just ghetto rigged a fan to the CPU cooler. Placed the gtx1060 6gb in (it's a mini one. So I was able to place the other hard drive bay location back on. Just gotta buy the 2.5 to 3.5 adapter so I can install the 500gb sad to it).

Excited to have this running.

 

[totalfreq]

So the t5500 Psu same size as t3500?

Build is coming along. Just ghetto rigged a fan to the CPU cooler. Placed the gtx1060 6gb in (it's a mini one. So I was able to place the other hard drive bay location back on. Just gotta buy the 2.5 to 3.5 adapter so I can install the 500gb sad to it).

Excited to have this running.

Nice mod .

I just did the same thing but I used the T5500 riser heatsink with fan assembly PN: 0W715F and a 5 pin dell splitter. I used the 5 pin cpu fan port on the riser card for both CPUs, but you could also use the case fan port if splitting.

The fan is like $15.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-De...229017?hash=item2604058999:g:ugwAAOSw0RlbqSj1

Splitter is like $20 +s&h, but you can also use either use a 5 pin to 4 pin / molex, or just hack the cable.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/dell-5-pin-to-dual-5-pin-1-to-2-y-split-sleeved-fan-cable-20cm.html

 

[sepheronx]

wait what? the Dell T5500 cooler is different?

Ah crap. I want that, it looks nice.

Oh well, I will go with Ghetto

 

[totalfreq]

Placed the gtx1060 6gb in (it's a mini one. So I was able to place the other hard drive bay location back on. Just gotta buy the 2.5 to 3.5 adapter so I can install the 500gb sad to it).

So interestingly I have 2x T5500s that both have 1060s (full size). The cards are identical but the T5500s are not. In one the HDD bay 0 can be removed from the "drive bay plate". On the other one it was all one solid piece of metal and required some dremel work to modify. Both the HDD 0 are lost though because of this card.

Pics of the two different bays with the 1060 card installed:

Non Removable HDD Bay 0-

Removable Bay HDD 0-

That brings up a good point, for those looking to replace an aging or failed PSU, you don't have to use Dell branded PSU's. Most of Dell's systems will take a standard ATX PSU. If your system's mobo doesn't have any unique power connectors(most don't), you can go with another brand and be just fine.

For me it came down to price. I can get the 1100W Silver rated Dell PSU on ebay (used) for between $30-50. No other rock solid high wattage PSU even came close. They were so cheap and available during the mining craze last year I actually used them to power my ASUS B250 mining setups!

Ebay $40
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Preci...IZbJ~6D:sc:USPSPriority!33064!US!-1:rk:4:pf:1

 

[sepheronx]

Earlier revision of the case I imagine. I guess removing the whole thing may work unless you got a mini 1060. After removing it though, the placement of the hdd's would have to go elsewhere of course (5.25' hot swappable attachment I guess).

 

[Susquehannock]

Remove that swing out panel altogether and put the drives up top. All mine are that way. There is space for two 3.5" up there. Mounting screws should be on back side of plastic front bezel. They seem to run cooler that way since it places them behind that 2.5" intake vent.

 

[totalfreq]

Earlier revision of the case I imagine. I guess removing the whole thing may work unless you got a mini 1060. After removing it though, the placement of the hdd's would have to go elsewhere of course (5.25' hot swappable attachment I guess).

guess).

I opted to put my SSD OS drive in a pci slot holder. They have some really fancy hot swappable ones but I just got the el cheapo one as it fit my needs. It sits under the video card, above the CPU Riser. The cables from HDD 0 were the perfect length to reach the PCI bay. There is enough room between it and the back side of the video card that it should stay well within its operating temperature (its an Intel S3510 Enterprise SSD) but I'm monitoring it for heat issues.

 

[sepheronx]

I got 2 disk drives in my t3500 (came with it, guess it was also used for copying disks). Anyway, was looking initially at a hotswappable 5.25 but didn't need it.

Now I got another issue is the fan noise.

The 80mm fans I got is stupid loud cause it is running max speed. They are PWM 4 pin fans but they do not use the small dell connectors.

Does anyone know of an adapter that would work? Cause this is annoying the noise.

 

[Retrorockit]

wait what? the Dell T5500 cooler is different?Ah crap. I want that, it looks nice.Oh well, I will go with Ghetto

That's the cooler for the 2nd CPU on the T5500 optional riser card. The primary cooler is the same as the T3500.
Here's the Dell fan pinout.
ttps://forums.anandtech.com/threads/dell-motherboard-cpu-fan-header-question.2489271/