VOGONS


Dell Optiplex 745

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First post, by oeuvre

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This is my all-in-one retro rig. Has practically everything I need for older stuff. Windows 2000, XP, 7-64, DOSBox, PCem, 86box with 486 and 386 configs, a boatload o' soundfonts, etc.

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Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz quad core processor
8GB DDR2 RAM (4x2GB)
3.5" floppy drive
DVD-ROM drive
DVD/RW drive
AMD FirePro V3900 1GB PCIe video card
128GB Samsung PM851 SSD
640GB 7200RPM Western Digital hard drive
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows XP Professional
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
6xUSB 2.0 ports rear
2xUSB 2.0 ports front
Audio line in/out jacks front/rear
Gigabit ethernet
Serial port
Parallel port
DisplayPort
DVI
Latest BIOS

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Side panels were really scratched up

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Spray paint!

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Much better

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The rear, BTX layout

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The guts, all cleaned up

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Lower area of the case

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The GPU

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BIOS screen

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Processor info

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Memory info

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Triple boot... wait, what?!

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Good ol' boot.ini

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Windows 2000 desktop

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Programs + specs

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YouTube on Windows 2000 in 2018!

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Windows XP desktop

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Programs + specs

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Windows 7 desktop

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Specs

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
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Reply 1 of 13, by ODwilly

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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.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 2 of 13, by KCompRoom2000

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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).

Reply 3 of 13, by NJRoadfan

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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).

Reply 4 of 13, by ODwilly

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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.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 5 of 13, by oeuvre

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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.

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
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Reply 6 of 13, by KCompRoom2000

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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.

Reply 7 of 13, by detritus olentus

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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.

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Reply 8 of 13, by oeuvre

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If you drop it in, keep us posted

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
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Reply 9 of 13, by sf78

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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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Reply 10 of 13, by gdjacobs

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Dell and your Chemi Con KZG/KZJ caps.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 11 of 13, by KCompRoom2000

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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).

Reply 12 of 13, by oeuvre

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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.

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
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Reply 13 of 13, by oeuvre

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

EDIT: Also ordered replacement mobo.

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif