I recently went to install a modern dual fan GPU in my Dell OptiPlex 3010. It is an outmoded machine for gaming, and it’s not supported for Windows 11, but with a powerful enough GPU, I can do some other types of cool GPU work. It can still be a Folding at Home monster, and I can do some AI based image editing with it. But I ran into some challenges trying to install my RTX 3060 in my aged Dell Optiplex. In this blog post, I will tell you how I overcame them.
Removing a GPU from a Dell Optiplex PCIe slot
The first problem was getting the previous GPU out of the PCIe slot. Most of the tutorials I found online suggested pushing the white button in, toward the PCIe slot, to unlock the card.
It doesn’t work that way on my Optiplex. On the Optiplex, you need to push the white button on the slot straight down, toward the motherboard. That can be a little difficult to do by hand, so you may want to use a tool. The obvious candidate in your toolbox is a flat bladed screwdriver, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It is a little too easy for the screwdriver to slip while you are pushing down and collide violently with the motherboard, and risking dislodging one or more of the tiny surface mount components if it were to hit it just right. I learned that the hard way. I didn’t hit any components but I did leave a scratch on the solder mask.
Instead, I would recommend something not made of metal. The blunt end of a bamboo skewer or a chopstick might be ideal.
The key is to get as close to the center of the button as you can with the tool, then push straight down. The clip will disengage the card and the card will pop out of the slot. The most difficult part is overcoming the mass of a large GPU card with a large heat sink.
My new card is significantly larger than the old one, so when the time comes to take that card out of this system for whatever reason, I have a bit of a fight on my hands.
Dell Optiplex case constraints with large dual fan GPU cards
But my adventures weren’t through just yet. Normally when I install a card of any type, I come in from the top and buying the card up with the slot and then press straight down. You can do that if your GPU has just a single fan. It’s short enough to have plenty of clearance. If you haven’t made a purchase yet, I recommend trying to get a single fan card.
But I’d bought a dual-fan RTX 3060. I wouldn’t have minded a single-fan version, and those do exist. I could claim I do this stuff so you don’t have to, but that would be a lie. A dual-fan card was what I was able to find at the time, and it didn’t occur to me that I might run into any trouble with it. But with my dual fan card, the top lip of my hard drive base stood in the way of my usual methods.
What to do if it’s too late to buy a single-fan GPU for your Optiplex
Rather than resort to violence with an angle grinder like Youtuber James Channel might (using a Dremel or a firearm would be way too 8-bit guy), I decided to weigh my options first. And I did find that I could insert the card without making any modifications to the case. I didn’t take any pictures unfortunately, but what I did was flip the card horizontally, maneuver it passed any of the obstructions, and then tilt the card back into its upright position. At that point, I had just enough clearance to move the card over the PCIe slot it needed to go into while just barely clearing the obstruction that I didn’t violently remove with an angle grinder. I was then able to seat the card in its destination with a satisfying click.
And then I realized there’s a gap in the lower right of the case. See the image above, where I circled the gap in red. The gap may not quite offer enough clearance to get some cards through, but try sliding the card through that gap first, then slide the card over to the x16 slot and seat it in place. If it works, it will reduce the amount of gymnastics needed to install the card in the cramped case.
When the time comes to remove the card, I will have to do some similar gymnastics, remembering to press the button down toward the motherboard to release it, then once it is free, tilting it to get around the obstructions in the case.
Securing the GPU into place
There’s one last potential problem with the RTX 3060 in a Dell Optiplex. The card’s heatsink is too large for the retaining mechanism for the card slots to lock back into place. And if I wasn’t going to take an angle grinder to an old Dell Optiplex, I really wasn’t going to take an angle grinder to a GPU that’s still under warranty. What I did instead was to make sure all of the cards and the slot brackets were lined up properly, then I ran zip ties through the holes where you’d screw the cards and brackets in place in a more conventional case. I could have used 6-32 nuts and bolts, but zip ties were easier.
The result doesn’t look terribly professional, but it’s functional.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.