The 4K Dell OptiMac - 9020 MT - Core i7-4790 - Radeon RX 570 - LG 4K IPS Monitor

[trs96]

Thanks for the Lian Li case recommendation as well, i'll check it out in comparison to the cooler master silencio s400 i'm interested in

The reviews of the CM S400 look good. Especially if you need the sound dampening on the side panels and a solid steel panel on both sides. TG isn't always the best choice. It looks prettier but has other downsides. Make sure to post pics of how it works out with the hardware you end up using for your case transition.

 

[aristeidk]

Have anyone a catalogue with graphics cards for Big Sur?
Can I fit the GT 710 or the NVS 510 or RX 560?

 

[trs96]

Have anyone a catalogue with graphics cards for Big Sur?
Can I fit the GT 710 or the NVS 510 or RX 560?

As far as we know they all will still work with Big Sur.

 

[bjay77]

Has anyone stuck a 4790k in their optiplex 9020? I realize you can’t overclock it but it runs at 4mhz stock. Have a chance to get my hands on one but I’m worried about keeping it cool. Has anyone fitted a slim tower cpu cooler to an optiplex motherboard? Something like a cooler master hyper 212x. I realize it would have to be in a different case to access the back of the board but wondering if there are any dell specific bits there or will it work like any old 1150 socket once out of the original case?

 

[t33j4y]

Has anyone stuck a 4790k in their optiplex 9020? I realize you can’t overclock it but it runs at 4mhz stock. Have a chance to get my hands on one but I’m worried about keeping it cool. Has anyone fitted a slim tower cpu cooler to an optiplex motherboard? Something like a cooler master hyper 212x. I realize it would have to be in a different case to access the back of the board but wondering if there are any dell specific bits there or will it work like any old 1150 socket once out of the original case?

Re 4790K, post #1 suggests that 4790K can be used (but not OC'ed)

Re another CPU cooler, apart from the mechanical fitting, there is the obvious 5-pin fan connector that would need an adapter.

Since you already have an i7-4790 the performance jump is neglible in everyday use. Personally, I don't think it will be worth the hassle and $$

 

[bjay77]

Re 4790K, post #1 suggests that 4790K can be used (but not OC'ed)

Re another CPU cooler, apart from the mechanical fitting, there is the obvious 5-pin fan connector that would need an adapter.

Since you already have an i7-4790 the performance jump is neglible in everyday use. Personally, I don't think it will be worth the hassle and $$

Cheers t33, I only have the 4770 but I realize that’s only a couple of percent slower than the 4790. I have a couple of the 5 to 4 pin adapters so that bit is not an issue. I thought the performance jump from 4770 to 4790k might be a bit larger since the have a higher stock clock speed, but might no be worth the effort...just like tinkering, can’t help myself!

 

[trs96]

I realize it would have to be in a different case to access the back of the board but wondering if there are any dell specific bits there or will it work like any old 1150 socket once out of the original case?

If you look at the back side of the CPU socket you'll find a very thick metal backplate. It looks nearly impossible to remove without doing some damage to the motherboard. The reason you can't use it with a CM Hyper 212 cooler is that you'd need to have different mounting system. It's just another way Dell discourages using any hardware from any other company. As you'll see below, only the "screw in" type coolers will work with that metal backplate.

One of these coolers from CM would fit. It only cools about as well as the Dell OEM cooler though.
TDP < or = to 84W. If the OEM Dell cooler were ever to fail, these make a good replacement.
They are only 3 pin fans so be aware of that. No PWM control.

These Tt fans are 4 pin and also work as a replacement cooler. The slowest speed is 1900 RPM so you'd hear it more than the Dell OEM which runs at 1000 RPM or slightly slower. The lowest cost way is to buy a replacement Dell OEM cooler on Ebay. They often go for under 10 dollars there.

Model below is the CLP0556 by Thermaltake. Sells for 12-13 dollars on Newegg or Amazon.com.

 

[trs96]

@bjay77
This CM cooler, the i70c with copper core, gives you a PWM fan (120mm) and speeds down to 650 RPM. It also has a blue LED for those with a glass side panel that want some bling. Overall a nice cooler but cost is double to either of the above fans. With a Noctua PWM controller you could sync the speed with other case fans. So running all the fans at around 800 RPM would be very quiet indeed. 4 pin splitter cable and 5 to 4 pin adapter needed of course. Using this with the CM NR400 case would be the way to go. Would have the very best airflow/cooling you could get for an OptiMac system.

https://www.newegg.com/cooler-master-air-cooler-series-i70c/p/13C-000X-002T8

 

[t33j4y]

Cheers t33, I only have the 4770 but I realize that’s only a couple of percent slower than the 4790. I have a couple of the 5 to 4 pin adapters so that bit is not an issue. I thought the performance jump from 4770 to 4790k might be a bit larger since the have a higher stock clock speed, but might no be worth the effort...just like tinkering, can’t help myself!

Oh, I know the feeling - there's always something to improve I must have misread your profile info - I thought it said i7-4790 - my bad!

If you take a look at https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4770/2384vs1978 there's apparently only a performance increase of 10% - my guess is still that in everyday use, you won't be able to feel much of a difference, if any at all.

If you were faced with starting your build and had the choice, obviously you should go for the 4790K over the 4770 if price diff was neglible. But as a performance mod if you're looking for something, I'd go for getting for instance an NVMe SSD and setting up to run the OS from that instead (if you haven't already)

 

[bjay77]

Thanks for your reply TRs and t33. All go information. The picture of the back of the motherboard is helpful. I seem to remember posts in this thread talking about the metal back plate and how it would be impossible to remove.
I watched some YouTube videos of a guy replacing

@bjay77
This CM cooler, the i70c with copper core, gives you a PWM fan (120mm) and speeds down to 650 RPM. It also has a blue LED for those with a glass side panel that want some bling. Overall a nice cooler but cost is double to either of the above fans. With a Noctua PWM controller you could sync the speed with other case fans. So running all the fans at around 800 RPM would be very quiet indeed. 4 pin splitter cable and 5 to 4 pin adapter needed of course. Using this with the CM NR400 case would be the way to go. Would have the very best airflow/cooling you could get for an OptiMac system.

https://www.newegg.com/cooler-master-air-cooler-series-i70c/p/13C-000X-002T8

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Thanks Trs (as always) for the great information, the picture of the back of the motherboard is particularly helpful. I had been looking at the CM i70c as a cooler (pun intended) option.

Regarding the CM 212x again though, this tower cooler has a different attachment system to others I have looked at and I'm wondering if it could work with the stock dell back plate. To install the 212x, you screw 4 standoffs in on the processor side, these look like standard m3 screw threads (think ssd mounting screws) that i think would screw directly into the dell backplate. (On a normal motherboard these screw into nuts on the CM backplate).
Once the 4 standoffs are in place, the X shaped bracket (that can be set to the standard 1150 dimensions) screws into the standoffs. I have attached the downloaded instruction 'manual' for the CM 212x that might explain better what i'm talking about. The other unknown is height in terms of where the coolers thermal plate would rest reference the top of the cpu, however if the standoffs can be screwed all the way in to the dell backplate, it should work fine....ie it should screw in just the same as the i70c and the others you mentioned.
The only thing I can't research is the strength of the dell backplate and whether it can handle the 212x's weight hanging off it...looks beefy enough though!

I'm tempted to get one and test fit it without the thermal paste etc...could always return it if its a fail. What do you think?