Dell Optiplex 7010 SFF in standard case.

[Eric Kazer]

Hi,

The reason I am writing this is because of the front IO. I was able to get the rest working. 

 

The fans:

For the CPU fan I mounted the front fan from the original case to the CPU Cooler with one screw and just plugged that into the CPU fan port on the motherboard.

 

For the front fan I had a fan the I already hacked the wiring on that I had in my Dell Optiplex 330. The wiring and the plug are the same.

Black to black, Red to Red, Blue to Blue, Yellow to Yellow or White. Depend on who made it. Original fan in Optiplex 330 was Matsushita. The Yellow and the blue are critical because one is tach signal and on is fan control. Black ground or negative, and Red Positive. 

 

For the CPU Heatsink:

I right now am use the original cooler with a universal backplate from a Corsair H60 cooler to secure the heatsink to the CPU. It works the same way that the standoffs on the Optiplex's chassis do for the CPU cooler mount. Clears all of the solder points on the motherboard and has teflon spacers.

 

The PSU is a Corsair 500 watt unit. Just plugs in like any other board. 

 

The motherboard mounts with 6 standoffs and screws.

 

The power switch is out of the Optiplex.

It was the right cable length, no need to modify switch or cable. I did however mod the case to accept the switch. Just pop off the button and put the cable through the front of the font panel. It's crude but it works. Connector has 5 wires and a really small plug.

 

Now for the part that I need help with.

I need to get the front IO part done. It looks like I need a front USB3 extension cable for Motherboard to Motherboard out with pin 20 removed to plug the dell cable into it. 

The audio cable is a problem to. Also Front IO has a HDD light on it too and whatever Dell did with wiring to produce error message.

 

Machine runs and boots after pressing F1 to dismiss error message. No error about fan failure after installing modded fan.

 

I also remove the hard drive bay form the case and used a Icy Dock 2.5" x2 to 3.5 " drive adapter. I secured it to the bottom of the case.

 

Dell did a good job of complicating things with the front IO. I will have to make a front IO panel for USB, Audio and HDD activity light. Also while using Dells wiring and extending it.

[mr cheese]

honestly dude this build is fantastic, I'm really impressed with how you just went for the mods, kinda wanting to do this with my 780 sff now

[Eric Kazer]

Make sure that the MOBO is not inverted. Some boards have PCI slots on the right side of the board instead of on the left. That black socket is for audio and USB 2. I found that the blue socket is for USB 3. I did not know that it had USB 3 on the front till I looked at panel. Getting audio, USB 2, and front HDD activity light is going to be a problem. I will be able to at least get the USB 3 ports to work with a extension cable. Look at board before trying anything.

 

I was able to fit the front IO panel by modding the front 5 1/4" bay cover to fit the front IO panel. yes the electric tape looks bad. Right side ports are USB 3.  I just did mod now.

[Eric Kazer]

Example of a inverted motherboard is a HP Z220. Well built machine, but you wont be able to use the board in a standard case because of the PCI slot being on the right side instead of on the left. Thus calling it inverted.

[Eric Kazer]

I think my Dell Optiplex 960 is like that too. Meaning inverted. The reason that I switched my Optiplex 7010 is that It is Ivy Bridge. I will be able to install a I7-3770 in it. Also a better heat sink than the Low Profile one installed now. Just need to mod fan or make adapter.

[MadAnt250]

42 minutes ago, Eric Kazer said:

Optiplex 7010

Um, where does the air for the front intake fan come from?

Also, you may need to check NewEgg for those cables you are looking for, you can probably get the correct length extensions that will meet your needs.  

[Eric Kazer]

Don't know where front air flow comes from, ask Roswell. The fan is connected to fool motherboard. The CPU didn't even hit 60c.  No real brite ideas here for air flow, but somehow it works. I guess they used Apple's logic. Oh, nothing wrong with a VGA CRT monitor. I hope that it's 1600x1200. I have a Dell 1600x1200 LCD Monitor. Can't find a CRT. 

 

This PC sounds like a good one for Timmy Joe's Roast my Rig. The font fan is funny on this one. There is no ventilation for fan to intake air. What's funny is that the case came with a front fan. I guess that the air comes from Roswell's sloppy tolerances. It's filled with gaps in the front. Also the side is a open screen type ventilation. I had case and did not want to buy one. I want to use it in my game room on the 40" Samsung 4K TV as a light gaming PC.

 

Ventilation comes from magic.

 

Ya, that is a stupid design.

 

I have the USB3 covered, but the 20 pin cable for the font audio, HDD activity light and USB 2 I don't. It's 2 cables going in to 1 plug in common Dell fashion. Wonder if I can section cut the black plug. Thye wiring might be standard. Than I might be able rig something. Blue plug is USB 3, and Black one is the rest. Maybe I can get another USB extension cable and just use that, I don't know if the Pin spacing is the same. Nice if it was that simple.

[Luna.exe]

16 minutes ago, Eric Kazer said:

Don't know where front air flow comes from, ask Roswell. The fan is connected to fool motherboard. The CPU didn't even hit 60c.  No real brite ideas here for air flow, but somehow it works. I guess they used Apple's logic. Oh, nothing wrong with a VGA CRT monitor. I hope that it's 1600x1200. I have a Dell 1600x1200 LCD Monitor. Can't find a CRT. 

 

This PC sounds like a good one for Timmy Joe's Roast my Rig. The font fan is funny on this one. There is no ventilation for fan to intake air. What's funny is that the case came with a front fan. I guess that the air comes from Roswell's sloppy tolerances. It's filled with gaps in the front. Also the side is a open screen type ventilation. I had case and did not want to buy one. I want to use it in my game room on the 40" Samsung 4K TV as a light gaming PC.

 

Ventilation comes from magic.

 

Ya, that is a stupid design.

 

I have the USB3 covered, but the 20 pin cable for the font audio, HDD activity light and USB 2 I don't. It's 2 cables going in to 1 plug in common Dell fashion. Wonder if I can section cut the black plug. Thye wiring might be standard. Than I might be able rig something. Blue plug is USB 3, and Black one is the rest. Maybe I can get another USB extension cable and just use that, I don't know if the Pin spacing is the same. Nice if it was that simple.

it might pull air from the bottom of the front pannel i know iv had a few cases that did it that way. example my old emachines sleeper i did i mooded a fan in the front when it wasent supposed to have one. and the electric tape dont look bad. other than that this is actually a cool modded pc nice job

[Eric Kazer]

Does Anyone know if the black connector needs to be connected for the USB 3 part to work? I have the USB 3 header connected and it won't works with any thing. I think that they did something with a jumper or something to tell the PC that its plugged in, Might be all or nothing. USB 3 is plugged in with a extension cable. I have seen stuff with card readers like this.

[MadAnt250]

56 minutes ago, Eric Kazer said:

Does Anyone know if the black connector needs to be connected for the USB 3 part to work? I have the USB 3 header connected and it won't works with any thing. I think that they did something with a jumper or something to tell the PC that its plugged in, Might be all or nothing. USB 3 is plugged in with a extension cable. I have seen stuff with card readers like this.

The black connector looks like USB, it should look identical to the other USB connector on the motherboard.

On 1/13/2020 at 8:48 PM, Eric Kazer said:

Oh, nothing wrong with a VGA CRT monitor. I hope that it's 1600x1200. I have a Dell 1600x1200 LCD Monitor. Can't find a CRT. 

Oh yes, 1600x1200 and sometimes 1920x1440. I have two of them and my Gateway VX900 CRT can overclock to 175Hz. In 2020 you have to be patient when looking for a good CRT, depending on location they can be hard to find.

[Eric Kazer]

The black cable looks like usb 2 and other IO like headphone/Mic and HDD activity LED. And god knows what else, Dell. The Diagnostic screen in BIOS is looking for that cable and comments about a jumper. This might disable all front USB functions.

[extra8]

fwiw, did you study this old thread about Optiplex 7010 front IO connector pinout?

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/987783-optiplex-70109010-front-io-panel-pinout/