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Dell Workstation Owners Club

You really have to read the label on the Dell PSU, and divide up the separate 12V x18Amp (216W) rails to see what you actually have, and how it's divided up between the cables. It's not uncommon to have a lot more total power, but not enough connectors to use it all. This produces safe and reliable computers in the OEM Dell configurations they sell/ lease/ and warranty. The PSU adapter board for the T5600 has more connectors, and even bigger PSU sizes. The simple solution is to use the T5600.
IDK for sure that that BIOS setting matters if you have enough RAM to support huge MPU/GPU shadowing. I'm guessing that based on what I posted before. I could be wrong about what that setting actually does. If you already have the parts give it a try and see what happens.
Probably video cards above 8GB weren't available when those computers were made, or Dell didn't offer them. Either way the BIOS setting either didn't exist yet, or wasn't needed for what Dell offered. But that's only if I guessed correctly what it does. They may have added something else to that BIOS setting so it does some other thing also? But the Tesla cards are probably pushing you into power, and RAM situations that Dell didn't anticipate then. The 1300W T5600 2x CPU, 2X GPU might be where you need to be. But maybe try one card in the T3600 and see if it works with that BIOS.

Here's the simplest example of the multi rail Dell PSU.
The old Dell Optiplexes has a 2 rail 12v. x18Amp PSU=432W 12V. power. It was rated at 305W based on the connectors it came with. When load tested to failure they make over 400W and shut down safely, and still work.
The Precision T3500 has the same 2 rail 432W PSU but added a 75W GPU cable It was rated at 375W. You can sometimes get away with a 8 pin adapter if the GPU doesn't really use the full 225W GPU power. Say maybe 180W.
With a 2nd GPU they added another 216W rail for 648W total. But it was rated 525W with 2x GPU support ( an added 150W) The trick is figuring out which connectors have the missing power.
 
Hello, was reading over this thread but made an account to post that I was successfully able to upgrade a t3610 workstation to a t5810, with only minor modification to the power supply. this t3610 had a dead motherboard, and a 5810 motherboard was $20 on ebay.

The board is drop in, cooler is the same, front panel is same. You can ignore 10 pin cpu connector, just leave bottom 2 pins blank.

Only power supply change is that standby power is 12v as per this github repo.
dell-02.png
You can see the pinout here, you must supply 12v to this pin either with seperate power supply or a boost converter. Otherwise, everything seems to work normally. I have ordered 24pin extension and boost converter to complete this upgrade
 

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Hello, was reading over this thread but made an account to post that I was successfully able to upgrade a t3610 workstation to a t5810, with only minor modification to the power supply. this t3610 had a dead motherboard, and a 5810 motherboard was $20 on ebay.

The board is drop in, cooler is the same, front panel is same. You can ignore 10 pin cpu connector, just leave bottom 2 pins blank.

Only power supply change is that standby power is 12v as per this github repo.
View attachment 337809
You can see the pinout here, you must supply 12v to this pin either with seperate power supply or a boost converter. Otherwise, everything seems to work normally. I have ordered 24pin extension and boost converter to complete this upgrade
Just an update (could not figure out how to edit) 24pin extension did NOT fit on t3610 power connector, so I just depinned the 5vsb and wired a boost converter inline. System now works perfectly, very excited to have 5th generation Xeon and DDR4
 

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According to Dell`s T3600/5600 manuals, their BIOS settings provide no option to activate MMIO above 4GB.
Then there is the MB firmware spread across two chips (same with later T3610/5610) leading to headaches.
Search level1/winraid-forums for T3610 BIOS modifications for examples.

TPU member "masterdeejay" reported to have successfully added Resizeble BAR to the T5810´s (X99/C612 chipset) BIOS.

Afaik, 3600-3610-5600-5610-7600-7610 PSUs are interchangable inbetween the 36xx-56xx workstations whilst one can´t benefit from the 76xx 1300W PSU´s additional graphics card PCIe connectors.

Any reason to enable ReBar when the Tesla M40 doesn´t support it?
Well I am really looking to unlock the above 4g decoding setting in the BIOS, which you need to use resizable bar. People seem to be more familiar with re-bar.
 
Another strange thing happen on re-building of T5500.

Upgraded to X5675 proc & better cooling. Works OK, even with 40GB of RAM for X5675 speed.

But, as soon as I put "extension board", the new T5500 restarts, like the old one. Has anybody had issue(s) with extension board?
 
Another strange thing happen on re-building of T5500.

Upgraded to X5675 proc & better cooling. Works OK, even with 40GB of RAM for X5675 speed.

But, as soon as I put "extension board", the new T5500 restarts, like the old one. Has anybody had issue(s) with extension board?
Does it have the same CPU installed? Did you forget to plug in the 8-pin power cable? (A mistake I make too often). Make sure your RAM sticks are in a proper layout - the service manual will tell you what it should be.
 
Does it have the same CPU installed? Did you forget to plug in the 8-pin power cable? (A mistake I make too often). Make sure your RAM sticks are in a proper layout - the service manual will tell you what it should be.
Of course...extender has the same CPU installed & same RAM installed, ECC version.
8pin cable is connected.
 
One vendor of used T5500 said it's hit or miss with the extension boards. Sometimes they only run with the computer in desktop orientation (flay on it's back). There is a sideways drive bay to run them this way. They fit in a server rack. I think it's the MB socket, but maybe the riser??? Never had one so just what I heard. I think the drives fit in the case either way. It's just the faceplate that's different.

Here's a page at Dell on this mod.
 
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Are you saying that my T5500 might work in horizontal orientation & not in vertical? :confused:
 
One vendor of surplus Dell workstations said it was a known issue with the T5500. This may have been in the Throtttlestop Overclocking thread where we were trying to figure out if the T5500 MB was useful for that. It cost nothing to tip it over and see what happens.
 
Well, tried that...did not help...removed the "extension board", but I still get issues with Win10. Anybody got this kind of error before?

1711298556090.png


So far tried:
- test with MEMtest86+, OK result
- test with stress test DOS programs, OK result
- boot to Safe mode with networking, halts from time to time
- moved cables for SSD, no change still halting
- boot with Update, did not help
- made CHKDSK command, can't run through
- tested SSD outside computer, CHKDSK ran OK
- changed mouse, no help
- changed keyboard, no help
- BIOS is A18
...
Anybody?

Running X5670, not overclocked, with 8500R RAM & single GPU card & WiFi card (as network cables are not running right now). But the issue was the same with network cable attached.
 
Well, tried that...did not help...removed the "extension board", but I still get issues with Win10. Anybody got this kind of error before?

View attachment 340494

So far tried:
- test with MEMtest86+, OK result
- test with stress test DOS programs, OK result
- boot to Safe mode with networking, halts from time to time
- moved cables for SSD, no change still halting
- boot with Update, did not help
- made CHKDSK command, can't run through
- tested SSD outside computer, CHKDSK ran OK
- changed mouse, no help
- changed keyboard, no help
- BIOS is A18
...
Anybody?

Running X5670, not overclocked, with 8500R RAM & single GPU card & WiFi card (as network cables are not running right now). But the issue was the same with network cable attached.
Had some strange restarts on my T5500, only to get message about MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION & frozen computer.

So to clear this issue:
  1. remove all new hardware, especially sound or WiFi cards
  2. got to BIOS & disable C-state for CPU
  3. go to Safe mode
  4. uninstall hardware from GPU or any other hardware with problem (on my end it was also WiFi card & CPU Virtualization feature driver)
  5. boot up & test computer

This has worked on mine, after:
  • replacing & testing RAM
  • replacing CPU paste
  • replacing PSU
  • removing 2nd CPU board
  • replacing GPU
  • replacing Battery
  • replacing SSD
  • replacing WiFi card with USB-WiFi...
 
Hi guys, I haven't been around in a long time, so I'm still a newbie here. I've gotten some expert advice in this forum before and need some more help. I'm working on a T-7500 with dual processors. When I start it up, it goes through the memory test then I get the 1 2 3 lights and two beeps. The dell service manual says that the 1 2 3 light sequence is reserved and there is no reference to two beep codes. All the beep codes consist of three beep patterns. I have the unit on its side and had this machine up and running in the past. I am at a loss. I know you experts here can help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
Hi guys, I haven't been around in a long time, so I'm still a newbie here. I've gotten some expert advice in this forum before and need some more help. I'm working on a T-7500 with dual processors. When I start it up, it goes through the memory test then I get the 1 2 3 lights and two beeps. The dell service manual says that the 1 2 3 light sequence is reserved and there is no reference to two beep codes. All the beep codes consist of three beep patterns. I have the unit on its side and had this machine up and running in the past. I am at a loss. I know you experts here can help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
did you reseat components? Might wanna do that and repaste the cpu as well....
 
UPDATE!!! I pulled the second processor and it posted, however it complained that there were no drives attached. Puzzled, I checked and sure enough there were three drives present and connected. I then booted from a thumb drive(usb) into Linux Mint 21.3. I then checked the drives app to see what it could see, and lo and behold there were my three drives. Now I have been through the ROM Bios a number of times, turned on the SAS drive adapter then off again. Now I am totally perplexed. I have never seen this kind of behavior in 61 years. Can anyone explain.

Ok, next workstation. This one is a T-5500 that I purchased off of Ebay a few years ago, I had trouble with it and just set it aside. I guess I should have just returned it, but I'm a sucker for a dual six core machine. I'm having the same problem as the T-7500, upon start up I get the 1 2 3 error lights and two beeps. I've replaced the memory and tried with and without the second processor. I've also reseated all plugs, graphics card etc. Just like the T-7500, the manual says the 1 2 3 light sequence is reserved and there is no listing for just two beeps. So far these two machine make the 4th and 5th Dell Precision workstations that I own. I really would like to get them up and going. I do folding @ home to help medical research.
 
UPDATE!!! I pulled the second processor and it posted, however it complained that there were no drives attached. Puzzled, I checked and sure enough there were three drives present and connected. I then booted from a thumb drive(usb) into Linux Mint 21.3. I then checked the drives app to see what it could see, and lo and behold there were my three drives. Now I have been through the ROM Bios a number of times, turned on the SAS drive adapter then off again. Now I am totally perplexed. I have never seen this kind of behavior in 61 years. Can anyone explain.

Ok, next workstation. This one is a T-5500 that I purchased off of Ebay a few years ago, I had trouble with it and just set it aside. I guess I should have just returned it, but I'm a sucker for a dual six core machine. I'm having the same problem as the T-7500, upon start up I get the 1 2 3 error lights and two beeps. I've replaced the memory and tried with and without the second processor. I've also reseated all plugs, graphics card etc. Just like the T-7500, the manual says the 1 2 3 light sequence is reserved and there is no listing for just two beeps. So far these two machine make the 4th and 5th Dell Precision workstations that I own. I really would like to get them up and going. I do folding @ home to help medical research.
yeah I'd like to have a dual CPU precision some day too as well as one of the precision laptops as well....
 
Sometimes my own stupidity gets the best of me. I was using the wrong SATA ports on the T-7500. My eyesight is not the best, I was using the ports behind the power plug instead of the ones in front of it. It still won't POST with the second processor installed. I'll change the memory on the daughterboard and see if that's the problem. When it starts up i get a error "hard disk temperature probe not installed". Other than those two issues I think it's ok. You can find T-5500's on ebay remixedcat, that's where I've gotten all of my Dell Precisions. So far I have two 3500's, two 5500's, and a 7500. They can be quirky at times but the error lights and beep codes help to identify easy problems. No solution for utter stupidity though.
 
Good news, I got my daily driver working with both processors(T-5500 two six core @ 2.4 Ghz). I'm so happy. I finally got enough desk space to lay it down, then everything went as smooth as butter. I am a little baffled with this though, system monitor in Linux Mint shows I have 76 Gb RAM. However if you multiply 9 memory slots X 8 Gb DIMM's you get 72 Gb. Very strange. I'm just tickled pink it's working like it used to. Still no luck with the other T-5500, and the T-7500 is exhibiting strange behavior with the OS. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away at it. It seems as though this thread has lost it's steam. C'mon guys, where are you?
 
Good news, I got my daily driver working with both processors(T-5500 two six core @ 2.4 Ghz). I'm so happy. I finally got enough desk space to lay it down, then everything went as smooth as butter. I am a little baffled with this though, system monitor in Linux Mint shows I have 76 Gb RAM. However if you multiply 9 memory slots X 8 Gb DIMM's you get 72 Gb. Very strange. I'm just tickled pink it's working like it used to. Still no luck with the other T-5500, and the T-7500 is exhibiting strange behavior with the OS. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away at it. It seems as though this thread has lost it's steam. C'mon guys, where are you?
awesome!! and my t3600 is still doing good
 
Good news, I got my daily driver working with both processors(T-5500 two six core @ 2.4 Ghz). I'm so happy. I finally got enough desk space to lay it down, then everything went as smooth as butter. I am a little baffled with this though, system monitor in Linux Mint shows I have 76 Gb RAM. However if you multiply 9 memory slots X 8 Gb DIMM's you get 72 Gb. Very strange. I'm just tickled pink it's working like it used to. Still no luck with the other T-5500, and the T-7500 is exhibiting strange behavior with the OS. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away at it. It seems as though this thread has lost it's steam. C'mon guys, where are you?
My both T5500 work also great. :clap:

But I have issue with 2nd CPU raiser, as it reboot s the computer during boot up. So it is either the fan assy or 2nd CPU assy, which is in question. :confused:
 
My both T5500 work also great. :clap:

But I have issue with 2nd CPU raiser, as it reboot s the computer during boot up. So it is either the fan assy or 2nd CPU assy, which is in question. :confused:
Well, if the fan is spinning wouldn't that conclude that the fan assembly is ok? Also, after the second reboot does it go ahead and POST? I'm glad your machines work KLiKzg. I wish my second T-5500 would work.
 
Well, if the fan is spinning wouldn't that conclude that the fan assembly is ok? Also, after the second reboot does it go ahead and POST? I'm glad your machines work KLiKzg. I wish my second T-5500 would work.
Well, in electronics it is not simple: does it spin. That works in electrics.

It Reboots, starts to load Win & again Reboots.
 
Well, in electronics it is not simple: does it spin. That works in electrics.

It Reboots, starts to load Win & again Reboots.
The next time it starts up catch it before windows starts and run the system tests. I can't remember which f key you need to push, but I think you can figure it out.

When you see the Dell logo press f-12 to enter the system test menu.
 
The next time it starts up catch it before windows starts and run the system tests. I can't remember which f key you need to push, but I think you can figure it out.

When you see the Dell logo press f-12 to enter the system test menu.
That has been passed, MEMtests & many other from Hyrens.

Still, only works with single CPU. Do not know why? :confused:
 
That has been passed, MEMtests & many other from Hyrens.

Still, only works with single CPU. Do not know why? :confused:
Once it starts running windows and reboots is it ok after that or does it repeat? Also is the computer standing up or laying on it's side?
 
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