Contribute
Register

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

f it's important to have your front headphone and mic jacks working you can also buy this adpater kit that let's you easily accomplish that. Also includes the PWR SW adapter to make it easy to connect the power button on top.

Wanted to update you on the Harbin_Repairs PWR SW adapter. Got it in the mail. Build quality is excellent, fits perfect. What I did is take a jumper off an older Dell Mobo. It is on the middle two pins (blue) that say "DIA LED+ and LED-". This resolves the power switch error message on boot up that gets annoying. I do lose the tiny Power LED light on my case but I wanted to get rid of that anyway. Way too bright at night so much so it was blinding. Overall happy with this find/purchase. No more pressing the F1 key at every boot up !

PWR SW adapter.jpg


Here you can see the jumper on the two DIA LED + and - pins.

IMG_20200821_110543148.jpg
 
Last edited:
Out of curiosity, has anyone had any recent success case-swapping the SFF version? I know it's particularly difficult with this model (e.g., front sensors, CPU cooler, etc.) but I'm seeing some interesting hardware pop up for the MT model and was curious if anyone has any new leads/guides/tips, etc.
 
I'm seeing some interesting hardware pop up for the MT model and was curious if anyone has any new leads/guides/tips, etc.
It's really not worth the effort IMO. It's much easier to buy the MT motherboard and then install it into a new case. With the SFF model, you can't use an RX 570 or 580 because it will block all 3 of your Sata ports. Also the Harbin adapter kits don't work with the SFF models. Only the MT versions. Simply buy a 9020 MT board 2 pin thermal sensor for sale on Ebay or Amazon. Without it the CPU fan spins full speed. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T10QJLY/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Screen Shot 13.jpg

You can see how the Sata port locations 0,1,2 don't let you use longer than 6.5" (approximately) graphics cards. There is one Mini_ITX size RX 570 by Sapphire but it's hard to find these days. The RX 560 would fit but the prices of those have gone sky high lately. Some used models may be found on Ebay.
 
Last edited:
It's really not worth the effort IMO.

Thanks, I wasn't sure if there'd been any new developments in the community but it doesn't sound like it! Agreed, wouldn't be worth the effort for basically a cosmetic case swap (i.e., would not enable additional upgrade paths). Thanks!
 
Seems that I am not the only one experiencing this: https://github.com/acidanthera/VirtualSMC/pull/31#issuecomment-652889206

Will follow up with author.

Edit: Got a quick response from author.

View attachment 484752

So there we have it - works as well as it can, given the design.
Thanks for following this up with the author. So I assume then that if you put your Optiplex in a new case with different PWM fans connected via the adapters, that they will only run at two different RPM points, either middle RPM or full beans! Can the RPM go below 1000/1200 respectively? Can anyone with non stock PWM case fans confirm/deny this?
 
Can the RPM go below 1000/1200 respectively?
My Dell OEM fans don't go below 990 (CPU) or 1200 RPM (case fan). Since they're so quiet already there's no need to. I've done CPU stress testing at these speeds and the temps never go much above 80 celsius so no problems there either. An Intel stock cooler on an i7-4790 would shoot up to 100 C rather quickly and then thermal throttle. My CPU Idle temp stays at 30-31 C all the time at the lowest fan speeds. That's about 6C above my ambient room temp.

When I check the speeds with an Arctic F12 PWM fan I get speeds between 1200 and 1400 RPM. So it appears that 3rd party OEM fans will only go up to the max speed they're rated for. It doesn't get anywhere near the max speed of the Dell case fan which is 2600 RPM.
 
Last edited:
My Dell OEM fans don't go below 990 (CPU) or 1200 RPM (case fan). Since they're so quiet already there's no need to. I've done CPU stress testing at these speeds and the temps never go much above 80 celsius so no problems there either. An Intel stock cooler on an i7-4790 would shoot up to 100 C rather quickly and then thermal throttle. My CPU Idle temp stays at 30-31 C all the time at the lowest fan speeds. That's about 6C above my ambient room temp.

When I check the speeds with an Arctic F12 PWM fan I get speeds between 1200 and 1400 RPM. So it appears that 3rd party OEM fans will only go up to the max speed they're rated for. It doesn't get anywhere near the max speed of the Dell case fan which is 2600 RPM.
Thanks Trs, the Arctic website says f12 pwm fan can spin between 250 and 1350 rpm. Based on your experience with the Arctic fan it looks like the system sets the min rpm for the fan at 1200, same as the stock fan. I was planning a 'silent' (at idle) case swap and was planning on replacing the stock case fans with a couple of bigger much slower ones to reduce noise. From what you say, I may not be able to run a larger fan below 1200rpm
 
From what you say, I may not be able to run a larger fan below 1200rpm
It appears to be so. Even then, running good quality 140mm fans at 1200 rpm won't create much noise at all. What brand were you thinking of buying ? The other option is to invest in a separate fan controller and bypass what Dell offers on the board.
 
was looking at be quiet 140mm silent wings 3 fans. they operate between 200 and 1000rpm so not sure how that would work if they are getting a pwm signal from the board. I expect they would just run full speed on min setting with no room to ramp up. there is a high speed version as well which runs between 250 and 1600rpm.
By separate fan controller, do you mean a 3pin voltage controller type rathr than a pwm controller?
 
Back
Top