Good OEM Desktop For E3-1275 V3? And Help With Cooling Solutions?

[bmichaels556]

So I happened to find a KILLER deal on an E3-1275 V3, which is basically an i7 4770K. Problem is, I don't particularly want to build an entire system for this thing. Because "why"?

 

Right now, I'm really looking for an OEM system to just drop this thing into. So naturally I've been looking at things like small form factor Dell Optiplexes of that gen. But the issue is that for cost, I'm trying to grab up an old used machine with about 8GB RAM and an i3. And the problem is that I don't know if the included coolers (for the 55w TDP i3's) will be adequate to cool this 95w TDP CPU. 

 

Again, it's a 4770 more or less, so it's not exactly a slouch. I guess the biggest thing I'm wondering here is, were the coolers included with i3's 4th gen, the same as what would have been supplied with the 4770(non-K)? If that's the case, it shouldn't be any sort of issue. I'm not looking for epic temps. Just to be able to run it 100% and stay a good margin under the max safe temps for the 1275 V3, which I wouldn't know anyway..

 

Thanks so much for your guys' help!  

[LukeSavenije]

you could also just get a third party cooler...

[dizmo]

While the chances are pretty slim of it not working, you might want to check to make sure the boards are compatible. I seem to remember that not all OEM boards will work with just any old CPU dropped into them.

 

As @LukeSavenije said, just drop a few dollars on a better cooler.

[bmichaels556]

24 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

you could also just get a third party cooler...

Was considering it, but only as a last resort. 

 

I figured these things are pretty tiny in the first place, so I'd probably just replace it with an appropriate cooler for an i7 or something I would think. Would probably be 100% fine either way, and still really cheap. 

[LukeSavenije]

Just now, dizmo said:

While the chances are pretty slim of it not working, you might want to check to make sure the boards are compatible. I seem to remember that not all OEM boards will work with just any old CPU dropped into them.

 

As @LukeSavenije said, just drop a few dollars on a better cooler.

true, even simple things like gpus or memory neither, through turning safe mode off helped me on my hp

[bmichaels556]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

While the chances are pretty slim of it not working, you might want to check to make sure the boards are compatible. I seem to remember that not all OEM boards will work with just any old CPU dropped into them.

 

As @LukeSavenije said, just drop a few dollars on a better cooler.

Good point... Well, I mean I would assume the i7 would be fine (mostly). But a Xeon could be a different story maybe?

 

I'll look into it further. 

 

Probably one of these or similar machine.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-3020-SFF-i3-4130-3-40GHz-500GB-HDD-120GB-SSD-8GB-RAM-WiFi-Win10Pro/254014977480?hash=item3b2478f5c8:m:mkLUYvNZxNLcHPQ-AlOzbxw:rk:21:pf:0

[LukeSavenije]

1 minute ago, bmichaels556 said:

Was considering it, but only as a last resort. 

 

I figured these things are pretty tiny in the first place, so I'd probably just replace it with an appropriate cooler for an i7 or something I would think. Would probably be 100% fine either way, and still really cheap. 

true, the 33 esports one is a great cooler for little money

[bmichaels556]

2 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

true, the 33 esports one is a great cooler for little money

Eh, probably bulkier than the performance required, but they seem pretty nice. Not sure it'd fit in one of those little guys though. 

 

Come to think of it... Are these Xeon E3's multiplier unlocked? I wouldn't think so, but they are a "pro" chip aren't they..?  

 

Okay, messed up. No, it's literally a 4770K at base/turbo. I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility it's unlocked. But performance is already great for my uses anyway.

[LukeSavenije]

1 minute ago, bmichaels556 said:

Eh, probably bulkier than the performance required, but they seem pretty nice. Not sure it'd fit in one of those little guys though. 

 

Come to think of it... Are these Xeon E3's multiplier unlocked? I wouldn't think so, but they are a "pro" chip aren't they..?  

 

Okay, messed up. No, it's literally a 4770K at base/turbo. I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility it's unlocked. But performance is already great for my uses anyway.

i know a lot are, but tbh I'm not sure about this one. maybe @dizmo does...

[bmichaels556]

Really random update here, but I had a bit of an adventure with my E3 the other night.

 

Decided to drop it in my old BioStar mining board, because I realized it was the same socket. Yeah, pretty scatter-brained of me, but it was a nice quick test. And you know? It worked really great! At first, I was having a weird issue where performance was waaaay low. CPU was stuck at like 30% usage and running at 1200Mhz.

 

So after about an hour of wanting to rip my hair out, I realized something. I had set max CPU usage to max at 30% when I last mined with this board, a year and a half ago lmao.

 

But once I got things up and running, it performed like a freakin' humming bird. I mean it's definitely not my dual X5675 for productivity, but I fired up some games and things were awesome! Oh, and it did SOUND like a hummingbird too. CPU cooler was running at a constant 100% for some reason. Not sure what that was about.  

 

But this being an aftermarket board, I'd think compatibility is relatively high, right? I still realize that using it in something like an Optiplex 3020 IS a gamble, but I do have a greater level of confidence in the possibility of it working, which is great! But their custom cooling solutions make me a bit nervous. I'd THINK that Dell, when a similar case comes with different CPU options, would ship the same cooler with all those chips for ease of manufacturing and standardization. I would think. But the cooler I ran in my own testing was beefy. Not sure the exact rated cooling TDP for that gen. ~85w or something? And the CPU stayed fine around 75-80C. 

 

I guess ultimately, I can just gamble and hope she runs. Even if it doesn't, I can't see one of those machines, coming with 8GB of RAM and an i3 for well under $100, to be a bad deal.