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

[Grizz]

This is great, my ancient x58 has finally give up the ghost and while I wait to sort another custom build I thought I would just get one of these running.
With your excellent guide and my old ssd I was able to get up and running in seriously no time at all, job as such on an i7 desktop 9010 (no sound yet but ill trim again and see where Iv'e missed something).
im curious as to the difference between the 9010 and 7010 as the latter are silly cheap here in uk (I paid 150 euro for 9010).

Once again thanks trs96 very much for this guide.

Model

Release

Chipset

CPU

FSB

RAM type

RAM speed

RAM Max

Chassis

Comments

Screen

Storage

PCI/AGP/PCIe

USB

7010 (Mid 2012)

2012

Intel Q77

Intel 2nd gen/Sandy BridgeCore i3, Pentium or Celeron; 3rd gen/Ivy Bridge Intel Core i3, i5, i7 or Pentium[14]

1066/1333 MHz

DDR3, 4

1600

16 GB

MT, DT, SFF, USFF

Chassis similar to 9xxx OptiPlex

MT & DT (DT half height): PCI, PCIe x16, PCIe x16 (wired as x4), PCIe x1 SFF (half height): PCIe x16, PCIe x16 (wired as x4) USFF: miniPCIe

MT, DT, & SFF: USB 2.0 x6, 3.0 x4 USFF: USB 2.0 x4, 3.0 x4

9010 (Mid 2012)

2012

Intel Q77

Intel Core i3, i5, i7, Pentium (3rd gen/Ivy Bridge)

1066/1333 MHz

DDR3, 4

1600

32 GB

MT, DT, SFF, USFF, All-in-one

Chassis similar to 9xx OptiPlex

MT & DT (DT half height): PCI, PCIe x16, PCIe x16 (wired as x4), PCIe x1 SFF (half height): PCIe x16, PCIe x16 (wired as x4) USFF: miniPCIe

MT, DT, & SFF: USB 2.0 x6, 3.0 x4 USFF: USB 2.0 x4, 3.0 x4

 

[Grizz]

One person mentioned that his had a white tag on the inside with the number 3 on it. This indicates it has been disabled at the factory. I've never gotten one that has MEBx disabled so I'm not sure where it would be.

This is possible...as these were retired work machines - it is possible they ordered them with is disabled at factory.

Grizz

 

[Grizz]

I've heard one other difference mentioned in Dell forums. One person said that the PCIe x16 slot in the MT gives you up to 75W of power but the DT versions of either 7010 or 9010 are limited to only 50W of power via the PCIe x16 slot. That might make a difference when using a 1050 Ti or more likely an RX560 which could draw over 50W of power from the PCIe x16 slot. It has no 6 pin power adapter.

I replaced the POWER SUPPLY in my 7010 Desktop with a 300W power supply - as opposed to the 250W which came with it. I had a bad P/S when I got it...and I found this one:

SeaSonic 300W Desktop Internal Power Supply- SS-300TFX

after a GOOGLE Search, and got one for under $40 US.

It fit perfectly, and it is super quiet.

Grizz

 

[nicksoph]

Pick the newest BIOS that came out before 2018. Not exactly sure which that is, maybe A27. Look at the dell BIOS download page.

Read up a bit on the security advisories - A26 is the last that deals only with Intel ME and A28 (no A27) is the first that deals with CPU microcode so I think Im going to go for A26.

 

[trs96]

I replaced the POWER SUPPLY in my 7010 Desktop with a 300W power supply - as opposed to the 250W which came with it. I had a bad P/S when I got it...and I found this one:

SeaSonic 300W Desktop Internal Power Supply- SS-300TFX

after a GOOGLE Search, and got one for under $40 US.

It fit perfectly, and it is super quiet.

Grizz

This is good to know for Dell DT owners. Does it have a 6 pin power connector on it ? Where'd you get that low price for a Seasonic ? Looks like Ebay.com has them for $29 and change. Great deal for any DT owners that want an upgrade.

Seasonic SS-300TFX 300W TFX 80OLUS ACTIV Power Supply for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Seasonic SS-300TFX 300W TFX 80OLUS ACTIV Power Supply at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Grizz]

This is good to know for Dell DT owners. Does it have a 6 pin power connector on it ? Where'd you get that low price for a Seasonic ?

It had all the connectors I needed. There are even spares.

I got it on eBay back in DEC 2018.

Here is one for $40 -- https://www.ebay.com/itm/SeaSonic-3...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

SS- 300 TFX Active PFC F0

This Seasonic full input range, industrial level power supply offers a dependable source for a wide range of setups requiring the TFX form factor. It is TFX 12 V v.2.31 compliant and Pentium 4 processor ready with P4 connectors. 80 PLUS® Bronze certified, therefore it is highly efficient. Its patented active transient load and wide range of protection features leave no doubt about this unit’s quality and reliability.

• Intel TFX 12 V v2.31 compliant
• Pentium 4 ready with P4 connectors
• Forward converter circuit
• High efficiency and reliability
• 80 mm double ball bearing fan
• Super low noise fan control
• Short circuit protection on all outputs
• Over voltage protection
• Over power protection
• 100 % HiPot test
• 100 % Burn-in, high temperature cycled on/off
• Patented Active Transient Load (R.O.C. Patent # 1309103)
• DC Outputs
  +3.3 V +5 V +12 V Combined -12 V +5 Vsb Total continuous power Input Type
  20 A 20 A 21 A 0.8 A 2 A 300 W Full range
  110 W (max.) 252 W 9.6 W 10 W
  Specifications
  Input frequency 50 / 60 Hz
  Efficiency (at normal input voltage) > 80 % (250SU only)
  Dielectric withstand, input to frame/ground 1800 VAC, 1 sec
  Dielectric withstand, input to output 1800 VAC, 1 sec
  Line regulation ± 1 % (typical)
  Load regulation ± 5 % (typical)
  Cross regulation ± 5 % (typical)
  MTBF, full load @ 25 °C ambient (excl. DC fan) > 100,000 hours
  Active Power Factor Correction 99 % (typical)

 

[nicksoph]

Table of 9010 and 7010 specs

Fairly sure the 16GB limit shown on the 7010 is wrong and max memory is the same as the 9010. The dell manual says otherwise.

 

[trs96]

Fairly sure the 16GB limit shown on the 7010 is wrong and max memory is the same as the 9010. The dell manual says otherwise.

Yes, that is an artificial limit set by Dell. I think that it may be related more to the install of Windows 7 Home Premium. MS put a 16 GB limit on that. Dell likely didn't want people installing that and finding that they couldn't go past 16. So they conveniently say limit of 16GB to avoid angry customers. Some 7010s were shipped with 7 Home to corporations as a cost saving measure. The Pro version (retail price) was always 100 dollars more than the Home version. If a co. is buying thousands of these it really adds up. In 2009 16GB was a huge amount of ram and MS thought that no average Home user would need more than that. Most Win7 PCs shipped with 2 or 4 GB of ram installed back then. Here's proof that the 16GB limit on 64 Bit Win7 Home was artificial. Win7 Pro could address 192 GB !!

 

[waipeinan]

An expensive yet stylish solution to the full length graphics card/sata slot issue
from Aliexpress

 

[trs96]

Here's another way to add 2 extra Sata3 ports. Use a PCIe Asmedia 1061 card. These have been natively supported with past versions of macOS so I think they will still work but haven't tested one. If your sata ports are blocked just add two new ones via the PCIe x4 slot. Simple. You can also use your x1 slot if that isn't blocked by your graphics card.

Some other sites sell them for under 13 USD. These give you Sata 6.0 Gbps speeds or Sata3 as it's also called. Comes with a LP bracket if you need that in the DT version of the Optiplex. The SY-PEX40039 by Syba is the exact same 1061 card you can search for that too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005B0A6ZS/?tag=tonymacx86com-20