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

With my fans set to Full blast I can get one of the four cores to 7 deg. F below my ambient room temp. Amazing.

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Is that using the stock Dell fans that came with your MT in the Darkflash case Trs?
Yes, I don't know of any CPU cooler fans for consumer PCs that spin that fast. Can't imagine why Dell used fans like that for non-overclocked CPUs. There are many small Server fans that can range from 6500 to 7500 RPM max. The noise from those is awfully loud. Especially with many in one case.
 
The OEM CPU fan in my MT can hit the 4500 rpm max speed. Not sure why yours is limited to 1700 some RPM lower. Have you tried Full Blast active preset ? Maybe your fans have many more hours on them than mine ? No way of knowing that.

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I am sorry - bad choice of words that ended in me explaining it wrong - the use of the term "cut-off" point was wrong.

What I meant was this:

When I set CPU fan to anything between 1000 and 2750 it does 1000RPM. When I set it to anything between 2751 and 4500, it goes into full blast (4500RPM) - there is no in-between.

Same for the system fan. When set to anything between 1200 and 1899 it stays at 1200. When I set it to anything between 1900 and 2600 it just goes directly to 2600.
 
When I set CPU fan to anything between 1000 and 2750 it does 1000RPM. When I set it to anything between 2751 and 4500, it goes into full blast (4500RPM) - there is no in-between.

Same for the system fan. When set to anything between 1200 and 1899 it stays at 1200. When I set it to anything between 1900 and 2600 it just goes directly to 2600
This is mostly because the person/people who wrote the app want to make money from it. They don't let you set and save custom fan presets until you pay for the pro version. So it's letting you run the fans at max or minimum with the free version. I don't think it's worth what they're asking, at least in my situation. If I stress all 4 cores 8 threads of my CPU, max to 100% for about 20 minutes, the CPU temp still stays below 80C. This is when the fans are spinning at 1000 and 1200 RPM. So I don't really need any custom fan presets. I rarely ever push the CPU that much for long periods of time. For "real" Mac owners this app is a lifesaver if they have a MBP, mini or iMac with poor cooling and CPU thermal throttling. The stock Mac fan curve is not designed for good cooling, only to keep those Macs quiet.

This free app mostly demonstrates that you can get the readings from your fans when before you couldn't when there was no DellSMC kext available.
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This is a great idea if you'll be moving your Optiplex mobo to a new case. Cost is only $12.99 on Ebay

What it does is adapt the proprietary Dell 5 pin power switch connector to something you can use with a 3rd party case's front umbilical wires.

What this means is that you won't have to hack off the plastic that surrounds the 5 pin power switch header. With the existing plastic in place the wires that connect to the front PWR switch won't fit on these pins shown below. Thanks to Dell for making this usually simple task of connecting a power button to the board a real challenge.

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Having removed the plastic around the 5 pin power sw connector twice now, I wish I would have seen this video sooner. It's certainly worth the asking price. I would be interested to hear from any 3020 owners if all 3 adapters work to remove the cable failure error message at boot up. To remove that message in the 7020/9020 some say to jumper the middle two pins and connect the pwr sw and it goes away. In that scenario you'd get no front LEDs to light up.


The seller Harbin Repairs, is located in Forsyth Georgia, USA. If you live outside the US, you'd have to check with them whether they will ship to your country. They don't list any countries outside the US on their Ebay store.

Here's how the adapted side looks. This is where you easily connect up your new case's wiring without any mods. The two PWR SW pins are the most important. All the LED connections are optional. You will still get an error message at boot up if all the LEDs are not connected. I have not tested one yet, but if you do, make sure to post your experience with it.

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If you also want an adapter for your 7020/9020 19 pin front panel connector they sell that in a kit on Ebay which includes the above mentioned 5 pin PWR SW adapter. These kits only ship to the United States. Also note that these will not work on the Optiplex SFF motherboards. I wouldn't suggest moving one of those to a new case anyway.

Be aware that in some mATX cases, this adapter will not fit properly. It would require me to mod my Darkflash mATX case by cutting into the PSU shroud which I wouldn't want to do just to get front panel audio/mic to work.

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This is mostly because the person/people who wrote the app want to make money from it. They don't let you set and save custom fan presets until you pay for the pro version. So it's mostly letting you run the fans at max or minimum with the free version. I don't think it's worth what they're asking, at least in my situation. If I stress all 4 cores 8 threads of my CPU, max to 100% for about 20 minutes, the CPU temp still stays below 80C. This is when the fans are spinning at 1000 and 1200 RPM. So I don't really need any custom fan presets. I rarely ever push the CPU that much for long periods of time. For "real" Mac owners this app is a lifesaver if they have a MBP, mini or iMac with poor cooling and CPU thermal throttling. The stock Mac fan curve is not designed for good cooling, only to keep those Macs quiet.

This free app mostly demonstrates that you can get the readings from your fans when before you couldn't when there was no DellSMC kext available.
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I don't think this is a limitation of the free app, since the same app allows me to set fans on my MBP (2019) at an exact setting (constant value). It must be somewhere at a lower level.

I agree with the price/value about the app, though - at $4.99 I wouldn't hesitate, but $14.99 is a bit steep.
 
I don't think this is a limitation of the free app,
@bjay77 This is not what I was expecting - I have only ever used Fan Control on a Mac and suggested it would work the same on the 7020. t33j4y's experience is that it jumps from one speed to another.

Has anyone used fan control on a 7020 and got graduated fan speed?
 
the same app allows me to set fans on my MBP (2019) at an exact setting (constant value). It must be somewhere at a lower level.
Good point. I've never used it on a real Mac. I think it may be a limitation of the new Dell sensor kext then. Would take some more research into this to determine exactly what causes this.
 
@bjay77 This is not what I was expecting - I have only ever used Fan Control on a Mac and suggested it would work the same on the 7020. t33j4y's experience is that it jumps from one speed to another.

Has anyone used fan control on a 7020 and got graduated fan speed?

For clarity, my attempt was made on a 9020MT, so it would be also be helpful if anyone with experience on the 9020 reported back with their results.
 
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