I like these optiplex towers. Try out the CPU pin tape trick, overclocks the fsb to 1333mhz and the clock speed to 3.0ghz. Makes a massive difference in performance! If you have the cpu pin side up, with the notches on the bottom towards you, it is the first pin above the right notch, and the pin two above it.

Really nice. I have an Optiplex 745 (small desktop) that I use for burning DVDs out of old VHS tapes and DVR recordings of rare TV programs. It gets the job done patiently, but it's too bad it can't benefit from some of the upgrades that you've done to yours (mainly an SSD and a Core 2 Quad - The small form factor models are limited to Core 2 Duos and there's no room for an SSD due to the motherboard only having two SATA ports).

If you want PS/2 ports, Dell sold a little breakout panel that plugs into the motherboard and even gives you a 2nd serial port (mostly there because later models eliminated the port from the back panel).

KCompRoom2000 wrote:

It gets the job done patiently, but it's too bad it can't benefit from some of the upgrades that you've done to yours (mainly an SSD and a Core 2 Quad - The small form factor models are limited to Core 2 Duos and there's no room for an SSD due to the motherboard only having two SATA ports).

Do you have the SFF version that has the pci/pcie riser card? If so I have successfully installed a Q6600 in one that originally had a Pentium dual core. It had a copper core HSF stock and although the fan kicked up pretty high under load it worked great at decent temps. Make sure you have the latest bios!

I couldnt get a straight answer online and had a Q6600 on hand so decided to give it a try.

Oh sweet, didn't know about the PS/2 ports... I recall seeing a black port on the mobo that said SER2 on it so that makes sense. Gonna nab one! Thank you.

ODwilly wrote:

Do you have the SFF version that has the pci/pcie riser card? If so I have successfully installed a Q6600 in one that originally had a Pentium dual core. It had a copper core HSF stock and although the fan kicked up pretty high under load it worked great at decent temps. Make sure you have the latest bios!

I couldnt get a straight answer online and had a Q6600 on hand so decided to give it a try.

Mine is the small desktop model without the riser card (just has the slots on the motherboard like they normally would), there's a difference between "small form factor" and "small desktop" when it comes to these older Dell Optiplex systems (the SFF has a laptop optical drive whereas the small desktop has a desktop optical drive), so if this really does work with the SFF, it should work with my small desktop. I'll consider swapping the Q6600 from my HP DC7800 since I plan on using that system for XP gaming which doesn't need a quad core as much as video editing does. Officially, Core 2 Quads were supported on the tower models only so I didn't think it would work.

Although I prefer them beige I'm a sucker for anything from the optiplex line. I know they're the mass produced enterprise-y Dell stuff but I find the guts so easy to work with and Dell, for all their faults, is amazing at keeping legacy drivers online and easy to get.

If you drop it in, keep us posted

The good old "cap killer" Optiplex. And in case you missed it, yours already has one badly blown up and others just waiting their turn. 🤣

Dell and your Chemi Con KZG/KZJ caps.

sf78 wrote:

The good old "cap killer" Optiplex. And in case you missed it, yours already has one badly blown up and others just waiting their turn. 🤣

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Ouch, good catch there. Thankfully my Optiplex 745 motherboard doesn't have blown capacitors. The GX520 motherboard that it replaced had some blown capacitors and I'm guessing one of them was responsible for the CMOS battery because even after changing the GX520's CMOS battery, it still wouldn't keep its settings.

Hopefully oeuvre's Optiplex survives, if it gets too bad, replacement motherboards should still be plentiful (IDK if he has ever done capacitor replacement, so I'm suggesting this just in case).

Wow thanks and good eye! Motherboards for it are less than $20 shipped so if it starts acting funky I'll just buy a new one.

Just got the PS/2 ports + serial port bracket and it works like a charm.

EDIT: Also ordered replacement mobo.