Will Geforce GTX 1050TI work with Dell Optiplex 980 MT

emmygogy · Oct 22, 2017

Hi, I currently have Geforce GT610 and Intel i7 860 and PSU of 305 W, i am planing to buy Geforce GTX 1050TI, but i am concerned that my motherboard doesn't support PCI-E 3.0, and PSU wont't be able to power up GPU... Will it work ?

Kasper Jorgensen · Oct 22, 2017

PCIE versions are both forward and backward compatible so that shouldn't be a problem. However the issues you might get is, will your BIOS support that GPU and are your PSU good enough/strong enough to power that GPU?
Can you like at the side of your PSU and tell me how many amps it's rated for on the 12v rail?

ko888 · Oct 22, 2017

The Dell Optiplex 980 MT uses the obsolete BTX form factor (i.e. discontinued September 2006). It will only allow the installation of single-slot width graphics cards with a length less than 167 mm (6.6 inches).

william p · Oct 22, 2017

The Zotac GTX1050Ti Mini is single slot and short enough to fit. The PSU is OK, and PCIe 16x 2.0 is more than fast enough for any GPU at this time.

ko888 · Oct 22, 2017

william p :

The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) is a dual slot width card. ZOTAC even says so and the pictures of the card don't lie.

william p · Oct 22, 2017

There is a single slot bracket. the COOLER is 2 slots wide but in a BTX it goes away from the other slots. The card is short enough it doesn't hit the CPU cooler housing. If it had a 2nd bracket it would need to be cut off to fit in a BTX Mini Tower. I've done this many times with GTX750 and ITX cards also. In the older cards this was easy but the newer 2 bracket cards have a hard mounted video port there.
The single bracket will fit and the cooler will sit behind the CPU cooling tower with room to spare.
BTX motherboards are mounted on the left side of the case. This makes the slots run opposite of what you expect in an ATX.

aleggsue · Oct 22, 2017

ko888 :

So if the graphics card is short enough to fit without hitting the heatsink, will it be okay? The EVGA is short enough, isn't it?

ko888 · Oct 22, 2017

aleggsue :

The length of the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) isn't the problem. The ZT-P10510A-10L's fan shroud will interfere with the Keyboard and Mouse ports.

aleggsue · Oct 22, 2017

ko888 :

aleggsue :

The length of the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini (ZT-P10510A-10L) isn't the problem. The ZT-P10510A-10L's fan shroud will interfere with the Keyboard and Mouse ports.

What about the EVGA 1050 ti? I've seen so many threads where people got it to work, but I've never seen pictures so I'm not sure how they did it

william p · Oct 22, 2017

There is no heatsink inside the area where the PS2 ports would hit the cover. If they did a little trimming of the plastic cover with a toenail clipper would resolve the issue.
Actually people are getting bigger GPUs to run in those. 770,1070.
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/2465804
The 980 is a BTX layout, but it doesn't need the 45* turned CPU socket LGA775 had, so the cooler layout is narrower. I don't know what the cooler options are for that. It doesn't look like the square ATX layout either.
There is a PCIe 16x slot wired as 4x at the other end. i suppose people could be using that slot for bigger GPUs. The performance hit actually isn't that big.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eglDVG84zIQ

aleggsue · Oct 23, 2017

What about a riser card? In the original manual, it says you can use a Dell riser card to turn the slots into full size slots. Would that work? And would the PSU (305W) be able to support a graphics card that needed power?

william p · Oct 23, 2017

The riser card is for the smaller desktop models. You already have full size (height) slots.The 305W PSU doesn't have a PCIe power cable. This limits you to 75W GPUs. The 1050Ti is the best of those.
BTW Dell # 0R505R is the good heatpipe cooler for that.

aleggsue · Oct 23, 2017

william p :

Gotcha. I'm also looking for cooling solutions for the tower, and I've yet to find a thread anywhere for that. Are the fan splitter cables that float around the internet any good? I'm trying to run an 80mm on the rear(mine didn't come with one) and an addition 120mm on the front. Would a splitter be safe for that?

william p · Oct 23, 2017

The whole deal with BTX is one fan to cool it all. The fan Dell provides is an industrial fan that is more powerful than aftermarket fans. You've probably never heard it run over about 40%. The most likely problem you'll have is hot air behind the GPU. A small expansion slot blower wiill take care of that. The part # above has 6 heatpipe tubes (3 pipes with double ends), and with the Dell fan it should cool anything you can put in there. Dell uses a proprietary 5 pin fan cable. This is actually good because those fans would burn out a typical ATX MB. Mines 1.8Amps.

aleggsue · Oct 23, 2017

Yeah mine came with the huge cpu heatsink, I'm pretty sure it's the same one as the part you sent. Would a rear-mounted fan help anything? Currently my CPU runs around 80-100 degrees with normal load. GPU and HDD run at max temp at all times. That's why I'm considering adding fans to increase some airflow

ko888 · Oct 23, 2017

Don't do any mods to the graphics card because it will void the warranty even before you've tested it in your system. If the graphics card arrives DOA and you've already modded the fan shroud you've basically thrown your money in the trash.

aleggsue · Oct 23, 2017

ko888 :

I meant case fans

william p · Oct 24, 2017

There are 3 heatsinks for that. from the top they all look alike unless you can see one without the shroud, or get a bottom view. There is a solid aluminum one which is the least efficient for 65W CPUs, there is one with 4 copper pipes and a copper base plate, and there is one with 6 copper pipes and the copper base. None of them are very expensive surplus. The best place to start for cooling is the heatsink so the heat leaves the CPU faster, if that happens the intake fan can run slower due to lower CPU temperature. The expansion slot blower will help GPU temperature greatly. I needed one for the GTX750TI.
You can get someone to test your GPU for you before you mod it. I actually own a BTX Mini Tower, and a Zotac GTX1050Ti, I've also installed GTX750TI 2 slot card, and R9-285 ITX card. I also have a R9 Fury Nano I haven't tried yet. So I have a pretty good idea what's involved. Any GPU upgrade for a BTX system will probably require more skill than snapping Leggos together. The Zotac Mini is as close to a drop in 1080P solution as you're going to get.

zmisah420 · Oct 5, 2018

william p :

Hi, do you know how can I find these heatsinks and if they are smaller than the one the Optiplex 980 MT brings inside? I got a MSI GTX1050ti 4gb OC, it has one fan, but its width is too much for the x16 PCIe slot because of the big CPU Cooling System...

william p · Oct 5, 2018

ZOTAC GTX1050Ti MINI
https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/zotac-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-mini-review,3.html
This card is only as long as the PCIe slot, and has a single slot bracket. On a 980 it might hit at the rear PS2 ports.but as you can see there's just plastic there.

zmisah420 · Oct 5, 2018

william p :

Yeah... I saw that one too, but I was comparing the different models, and the MSi OC was one of the bests. So I checked everything and I thought it would fit, but the CPU Cooler is in the way... I was wondering about the names of the heatsinks you mentioned before.

william p · Oct 5, 2018

All of the heatsinks fit inside the same BTX cover. T9303, or D9729 are the 2 6 pipe coolers. They are both rated for 130W CPUs. Probably T9303 for that one but look at photos and see which one will line up with th holes in your CPU cover. One is 2x3, and the other is 3x2 layout of the pipes.
http://www.stuartconnections.com/es/heatsinks/9374-Dell-Precision-380-390-XPS-400-Processor-Heatsink-T9303.html
https://www.cbo-do.de/Cooler-and-fans/CPU-cooler/BTX/Dell-0D9729-D9729-BTX-CPU-Kuehler-Optiplex-745-Intel-socket-775-Kupfer-Platte--26272.html?language=en
Neither one will solve your GPU problem.
IDK of any other decent GPU that fits without moddding. I've modded a bunch of them.

zmisah420 · Oct 5, 2018

william p :

Oh... Then seems like I'll have to change my board... or something... Thanks for the help ^^

william p · Oct 5, 2018

There is very little you can change in a Dell BTX computer. Trying to swap a MB in that will be much harder than the GPU and cooler issues you already have.. An ATX computer of some kind is what you need. Aftermarket parts are designed around that layout. BTX came and went with LGA775 CPUs. Later socket Dell Mini Tower computers were ATX layout. But some of them have Dell PSU MB plugs. But it's not an issue at the 1050Ti power level.

zmisah420 · Oct 5, 2018

william p :

Mine came with an i5 with LGA1156 socket, so I'll need another board with that, or I'll not be able to change it for the moment. And also, I dont know if the board I need will fit on this case... I don't have much resources right now. What do you recommend anyways?

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