[Guide] Install High Sierra or Mojave on the Dell Optiplex 7010 / 9010 Desktop PC - Revision II

[trs96]

HP and Dell Ivy Bridge Based Q77 Desktops are the Best Sellers on Amazon.com
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Was checking this list today and was amazed to see how well these sell at the largest online retailer in the USA.
The HP 8300 is always at the top of this list. The Dell 7010 has just recently moved up to #3 best seller. This shows you the great quality and value of these desktops. They're well built, reliable and versatile. Just thought you might be interested.

 

[southlegend]

Would anyone running a 7010 3770 mind testing a 4k YouTube video and letting me know how it runs please? Would be great if you tell me if you're using the iGPU or a discrete GPU (and which GPU it is).

4k:

4k 60fps:

Many thanks

 

[trs96]

Would anyone running a 7010 3770 mind testing a 4k YouTube video and letting me know how it runs please? Would be great if you tell me if you're using the iGPU or a discrete GPU (and which GPU it is).

4k 60fps:

Many thanks

If you are referring to playing the video back at a full 4K/60Hz, the HD4000 iGPU can only produce up to a 2560 x 1600 resolution. No 4K possible. Any relatively new graphics card, compatible with macOS, with DP 1.2 or better can produce 4K @ 60Hz with no problems. If you need to adapt DP to HDMI 2.0 then you'd need something like the Club3D active adapter which is sold on Amazon.com.

 

[nicksoph]

@southlegend The max res on hdmi for hd4000 is 1920x1200 and for DP its 2560x1440@ which it can theroriticaly do at 60Hz but in practice this often drops to a lower refresh rate, there may be a way of bumping this on DP to the full 4k at a lower refresh rate. At 1920x1200 on hdmi the videos run smoothly and without any issues.

 

[southlegend]

If you are referring to playing the video back at a full 4K/60Hz, the HD4000 iGPU can only produce up to a 2560 x 1600 resolution. No 4K possible. Any relatively new graphics card, compatible with macOS, with DP 1.2 or better can produce 4K @ 60Hz with no problems. If you need to adapt DP to HDMI 2.0 then you'd need something like the Club3D active adapter which is sold on Amazon.com.

Very good point. I had planned to get an RX580 anyway, but I just wanted to get an idea of how the CPU handles VP9 (the YouTube codec) as it isn't hardware accelerated.

@southlegend The max res on hdmi for hd4000 is 1920x1200 and for DP its 2560x1440@ which it can theroriticaly do at 60Hz but in practice this often drops to a lower refresh rate, there may be a way of bumping this on DP to the full 4k at a lower refresh rate. At 1920x1200 on hdmi the videos run smoothly and without any issues.

Thanks for checking - very good to know! I'm getting an RX580 anyway so that'll take care of the 4k output to my monitor. I just wanted to see if the CPU can actually play the videos to then output via the new GPU. Hope that makes sense!

 

[trs96]

Very good point. I had planned to get an RX580 anyway, but I just wanted to get an idea of how the CPU handles VP9 (the YouTube codec) as it isn't hardware accelerated.

The HD4000 iGPU is good enough to meet the specs for the Metal 2 API so it should have no problems playing YT videos. Even if they are 4K. Question about the RX580. How are you going to make it fit in the Optiplex MT ? The length of those generally will block the available Sata ports. The better choice is the m-ITX sized Sapphire RX570. That fits perfectly and gives you good graphics. Have a look at that.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079VSD38Y/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Optiplex MT motherboard layout.

 

[Grizz]

trs96,

OK. I took the dive this weekend, and took the other 240GB SSD I bought and now have a few questions.

1) I have (2) 240GB SSDs now (one with HIGH SIERRA and one with MOJAVE). Is is possible to have both connected at the same time, and CHOOSE which one I want to BOOT into. Or is it possible to DUAL BOOT from one drive into either OS?

2) I am seeing when I run the Hardare Monitor app, that these new KINGSTON drives are giving S.M.A.R.T. errors, whereas the older SAMSUNG SSD did not show any errors at all. I will need to get a screen shot if needed - but my question is: How accurate is S.M.A.R.T. reporting in OSX? I know in windows, Windows 8 and 10 both will notify you (natively) if BIOS supports S.M.A.R.T. and there is a HDD error.

3) TRUTH or FICTION - Enabling TRIM on APFS drives slows them down? I am seeing conflicting articles across the Internet.

4) Looks like the MOJAVE installation went off without a hitch, and does not appear to even have any UPDATES needed. I have done your process enough times now, that I barely had to refer to your guide - Thank You again for that guide. The THEME EDITOR, are there places to download others? While the GREEN is kinda Borgish - I think I would rather have something else. ;-) Or even a method to CREATE MY OWN.

5) The new WIFI / BLUETOOTH card should be here this week - according to the eBay seller, anything specific I need to be aware of when I install it? KEXTS installed first, etc?

Grizz

 

[craighazan]

Hi Grizz,

1) I have (2) 240GB SSDs now (one with HIGH SIERRA and one with MOJAVE). Is is possible to have both connected at the same time, and CHOOSE which one I want to BOOT into.

Yes it's possible to have both drives connected at the same time. It would be no different than having one SSD with Mojave. And the Other SSD Windows 10 Pro.

2) I am seeing when I run the Hardare Monitor app, that these new KINGSTON drives are giving S.M.A.R.T. errors, whereas the older SAMSUNG SSD did not show any errors at all.

3) TRUTH or FICTION - Enabling TRIM on APFS drives slows them down? I am seeing conflicting articles across the Internet.

I'm not 100% on this, maybe the two are related. Is TRIM enabled on the Samsung SSD?. I personally would enable it. Seriously?, do you think you'll notice any slowdown on an SSD?. I haven't, if there is slow down I don't think its anything noticeable.

 

[craighazan]

The length of those generally will block the available Sata ports.

Hi trs96, Can I point you to this thread?. I'll admit it's very close, but not impossible!.

 

[trs96]

Hi trs96, Can I point you to this thread?. I'll admit it's very close, but not impossible!.

Yes, I already knew it's possible, if you want to sacrifice 2/3 of your available Sata ports. The one that is usable with an L shaped adapter points the Sata cable in the wrong direction in a Dell MT case. That's why I advise to use an RX570 mini-itx card. Much less problematic.