[GUIDE] Install Catalina/Mojave on Dell 7040 SFF

[trs96]

There isn’t an extra cable to plug in the RX570

You'd need to use this 5 dollar Sata power connector and then adapt that to 6/8 pin.

DELL T3420 OptiPlex 5040 SFF SATA Power Cable Assembly HG2F3 | eBay

DP/N HG2F3.

www.ebay.com

The cable plugs into the board where I've highlighted in red.

The sata to 8 pin adapters can be found on Amazon if you need one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075383P7T/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

 

[Rizwaan]

Hi, I was wondering what the bios settings are?

 

[craighazan]

Hi, I was wondering what the bios settings are?

General > Boot Sequence > UEFI
System Configuration > SATA Operation > AHCI
System Configuration > Serial Port > Disabled

Worked for me.

 

[chmedly]

You'd need to use this 5 dollar Sata power connector and then adapt that to 6/8 pin.

DELL T3420 OptiPlex 5040 SFF SATA Power Cable Assembly HG2F3 | eBay

DP/N HG2F3.

www.ebay.com

The cable plugs into the board where I've highlighted in red.

View attachment 479616

The sata to 8 pin adapters can be found on Amazon if you need one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075383P7T/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

My 7040 MT with 6700 processor sports a whopping 240W power supply. And it's a skinny thing too so options for replacement are few. I've considered trying the RX570 (4GB) card with the stock supply by using a SATA to PCIe power plug adaptor (what I think you're describing) but I'm concerned about pulling all that power through the motherboard. It appears to me that the stock power supply is actually just 12v and all the other rails are derived from that on the motherboard?? Something tells me that the dc-dc converters are sized for a few SATA drives and not for a graphics card.

In the area of a new PS: The biggest option I could find that seemed like it would fit (from Micro Center) is the Solid Gear 320W Mini-ITX supply. It's quite a bit shorter in length but appears to be the correct height and narrow enough to fit everything correctly. There is also a Solid Gear 350w supply but it has a fan opening on the side, instead of the ends and it's not clear to me if that will interfere. If it blows (draws?) from the side where the front hinges, then it will be significantly restricted.

 

[trs96]

I've considered trying the RX570 (4GB) card with the stock supply by using a SATA to PCIe power plug adaptor (what I think you're describing) but I'm concerned about pulling all that power through the motherboard. It appears to me that the stock power supply is actually just 12v and all the other rails are derived from that on the motherboard?? Something tells me that the dc-dc converters are sized for a few SATA drives and not for a graphics card.

The Sata to PCIe solution is only for use with the 570 in non-graphics intensive use cases. One example would be viewing 4K content on your computer. I wouldn't try to use that Sata to PCIe adapter approach with the stock PSU for AAA gaming and other scenarios that require a lot of power for the GPU function. The best approach would be to use a gfx card that only needs power from the PCIe x 16 slot. Then it's fine to keep the stock PSU.

 

[craighazan]

The Sata to PCIe solution is only for use with the 570 in non-graphics intensive use cases. I wouldn't try to use that approach with the stock PSU for AAA gaming and other scenarios that require a lot of power for the GPU function. The best approach would be to use a gfx card that only needs power from the PCIe x 16 slot. Then it's fine to keep the stock PSU.

Yes, I agree!. I tried a Dell 290W PSU with the RX 570, there’s definitely not enough juice getting through that SATA connection to power the card. I’m going to look out for another 560 to put in my 7040 MT, I don’t want to blow this one up!.

 

[trs96]

Yes, I agree!. I tried a Dell 290W PSU with the RX 570, there’s definitely not enough juice..

Why I recommend going with the OptiMac 7020/9020 MT for those that want to game with a 570 or 580. The Dell 290W ATX PSU is easily replaced with one that is rated 450/550 W of continuous power. All that is needed is a 10 dollar 24 to 8 pin power adapter that snaps into place. The core i7-4770/4790 will perform as well as any Skylake i5 or i7 CPU, there's really no difference in games. All of this is covered in the Dell OptiMac Golden Build thread.

 

[chmedly]

@trs96,
I thought I saw a comment from you in a thread somewhere that video editors might be better off with a Skylake machine than the Haswell era units. But, off course, after looking a bit, I can't seem to find that comment. I suppose I was hearing my own thoughts.

I bought this 7040MT with the intention of video editing (with a 570 or 580) but didn't quite realize the power supply situation. I thought it was basically the same as the 9020 MT but with a few newer features like the M.2 slot and expansion slot positions being friendlier to double wide video cards etc.

Ah well. Maybe I'll swap machines around and use the 7040MT for something that doesn't do video editing.

btw, I have a 4570 SFF 9020 with an RX 560 card in it. I've been using it for video editing and I found it decent to work with at 1080P30 but more recent 1080P60 content is sluggish and choppy while playing back in Davinci Resolve.

 

[trs96]

but more recent 1080P60 content is sluggish and choppy while playing back in Davinci Resolve.

For Resolve you'll do much better with an i7 Haswell CPU and a 570 or 580 with 8GB of Vram.

This Youtuber shows using an i5-4570 with RX560 having no problems with 4K video editing in Davinci.

 

[trs96]

@chmedly what I was saying in the main Golden Build is that if you need HEVC encoding/decoding then Haswell systems can't offer that. The only advantage of Skylake over Haswell is that the HD530 does do HEVC encoding/decoding. Video pros should build a newer 9th/10th gen Intel system. These older Dell systems are primarily a way for non-pros to save money yet still have a decent editing experience on a budget.

If you are a video editing professional and need HEVC, H.265 encoding and decoding you'll be better off building a new Intel based system with an i7 or i9. The primary advantage of the Dell 7020/9020 is that you'll get a lot of performance for a lot less money in comparison to building with all new ninth or tenth gen Intel based hardware.

To edit video that you'll get paid for, saving time is important. That's why it's worth buying newer hardware in that scenario. If it's a hobby, then how long it takes to render something is not that important.