My new (old) desktop: Dell Precision 3460
Hello! As promised today I'll share my new desktop that I got for an OK price off eBay, a Dell Precision 3460 with a 12th gen i7 (I would never touch a 13th or 14th gen i7 for fear of failure). Unlike other Dell Precisions, this small form factor (SFF) is closer to an Optiplex 7000 SFF (the chassis is nearly identical) but there are some subtle differences. The Precision has the W680 chipset (as opposed to the Q670 in the Optiplex) supporting ECC memory, more RAID options, Xeon processors (don't know if the Precision itself supports Xeon though). There's 3x full sized NVMe slots for storage (Optiplex has 2x) and the Precision uses SO-DIMMs while the Optiplex uses full-sized DIMMs. The Precision also puts the PCIe 16x slot in the higher position allowing for dual slot GPUs.
Mine came with no SD card slot or optical drive, a 260w power supply, i7 12700 processor, 500GB SSD and 32GB of DDR5 memory. The main draw for me was the small size but this does come with drawbacks, namely in expandability and cooling. Oh the cooling, let me tell you when this thing gets warm it sounds like a hair dryer thanks to the blower fan installed. Actually, it's loud like a hair dryer and blows out hot air... hmm hair dryer confirmed. I pulled the 500GB SSD out to reuse in another computer and moved my main 2x 1TB NVMe's from my previous computer, so that's the first upgrade.
Next on the menu was to add a graphics card, I went with an ASUS GeForce RTX 3050 LP BRK OC Edition, 6GB. It has relatively good performance, was cost effective compared to higher-end options (looking at you, RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation) but most importantly it's a slot powered card, meaning no need for an additional 6 pin power connector (the PSUs in these SFFs don't have 6 or 8 pin PCIe power connectors). It's a two slot card but I feel that's a requirement in an SFF case due to cooling restrictions already present. At peak that 260w PSU was going to be overloaded so I ordered a used 300w PSU which I haven't installed yet because I'm waiting on the next part, one that took many days and nights to research but I think will just fit in the case - a replacement for the stock blower cooler.
Oh but before I bring that up I'll mention that my 3460 didn't come with an intake 80mm fan. I don't know if this was only an option for models ordered with a GPU or not (I don't think the Optiplex version even has the front fan header on the motherboard). I had a spare which is rated for 40cfm or so, not great and not bad but maybe noisey. So onto the topic of cooling.
The stock CPU blower fan has a vent that does a pretty good job of containing the heat and dumping it out of the back of the case, but if I'm going to replace this I'm going to need some exhaust fans to reduce heat soak inside the case. I had some leftover Noiseblocker 40mm XM2 fans that I never ended up using, they move a meager 3.9cfm of air each but I figure it's better than nothing and especially better than dropping over $100 on 3x Noctua's that will move only 5.5cfm each. I'm going to install these with a SATA to fan header adapter, and possibly cable ties as there's no space dedicated to install exhaust fans on the back of the case.
According to my measurements a Thermalright AXP120-X67 cooler will just fit in the case with the cover closed, I'm anticipating cutting a hole in the side panel regardless for more ambient air to enter the case but to be honest I'm scared this cooler may be too tall, when it arrives next week I'll install it and report back. I believe I'll also need to remove the stock blower's stand-offs that pass through the motherboard as these are part of the case itself and will interfere with any backplate installation. That's a lot of the thing with this project, others have done it similarly using the nice $100 Noctua CPU cooler and another even stuck a 2U server cooler on by changing out the screws and using the stock holes (but were vague about which screws which didn't me to confidence in a successful install if I followed their path).
I like a challenge and above all else sharing the journey, if I even help one SFF enthusiast I'll be happy.