Trying to fit a mini itx motherboard on Dell Optiplex 7010 case

[R1S8K]

Hi,

I know it is not that easy to fit any motherboard on any case. But the case that is available in the office right now is this Dell OptiPlex 7010 case with its PSU.



The cooler is the stock one, and it has 4 wires and 5 pin connector. So I installed the motherboard and I hardly connected the CPU 12V cable. And I shorted the PWR pins and the system booted ok and everything is working but the CPU fan didn't spin !



What do you thing the problem is ?

 

[Woomack]

The main problem seems to be non-standard plug - switch pins and it should work. The PWM cable is on other side. You can skip the blue cable and then it will use DC adjustment (have to check in BIOS).
These colors can be different, so I just assume that the CPU fan cables are in standard colors.

 

[R1S8K]

Oh yes, it turned out that Dell has specific pin arrangement than the standard one.

So, I took out the pins from the female header and re-arranged them to the standard one:



I launched the rig and it worked but it runs in full speed all the time and there's on control.

 

[Woomack]

Check if you have something like PWM or DC mode in fan speed options in BIOS. If the auto mode (PWM) doesn't work then DC mode will lower the voltage to limit the fan speed. You can also check if there is something like a % value to set it static. In the worst case, use a PWM adapter with a resistor to limit the voltage on the fan.

There can be a problem with the blue cable and some specific signal you can remove it and check if it works better.

 

[R1S8K]

There can be a problem with the blue cable and some specific signal you can remove it and check if it works better.

I measured the volts on all the pins on the motherboard:

pin#1: is 5V all the time, I know this one supposed to be PWM.
pin#2: is 5V all the time too, and it's for the tachometer.
pin#3: is 12V, it's power source and not changing.
pin#4: ground.

Also, I checked the bios, and I think there might not be an option for fan speed.



Is there a manual for this type of motherboards ?
Also can I flash it with another version of bios software ?

 

[Woomack]

I'm not sure what motherboard is that. It should be somewhere on the PCB, label or just printed.
12V can be usually lowered to 5-7V. There are guides how to make an adapter yourself that gives 7V or simply buy something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NA-FC1-4-pin-PWM-Controller/dp/B072M2HKSN/ref=sr_1_53?crid=3G9FZHIXOE69K&keywords=low+speed+fan+adapter&qid=1676293449&sprefix=low+speed+fan+adapte%2Caps%2C214&sr=8-53

Other brands are cheaper, it's just an example.
On the other hand, a new fan would be probably cheaper and some come with low-noise adapters too.
This should be quiet but I'm not sure if you need 80mm or 92mm:

https://www.amazon.com/quiet-Case-Fan-Cooling-BL045/dp/B00IOIKG68/ref=sr_1_3?crid=D2RO0LO6JR2K&keywords=92mm%2Bfan&qid=1676293645&sprefix=92mm%2Bfan%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-3&th=1

Edit:
Now I wonder if for $15-20 you won't find a whole new CPU cooler. Here is one example:

https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-Assassin-SE-Heatpipes-TL-C12C/dp/B09Y869Z8B/ref=sr_1_17_sspa?keywords=lga+1155+cpu+cooler&qid=1676293799&sprefix=LGA+1155%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-17-spons&psc=1&smid=AECMV4Q5B05GL&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE5V1hRMDlVT09CSDgmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA0MDMzMTgyTVYzVjg0NjNLRlhVJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzNjk1OTMyNk9ONFhFR1lDOVc2JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[R1S8K]

Can't I do anything in the bios ? It's this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100....order_list.order_list_main.11.79aa1802bkFoif

 

[EarthDog]

If you looked in the BIOS and don't find any fan control, there isn't any. That's a cheap arse board so I don't expect many options like that, honestly.

 

[R1S8K]

OK, here's the good news. I have my i7 stock fan and brought it to work hoping that there will a difference between the Dell modified cpu fan and the standard intel cpu fan, even when I modified the Dell fan to match the standard cpu fan wiring, it didn't work as supposed to.

So I installed the intel stock cpu fan and it worked perfectly




This case now is ok, not perfect, still have some issues; like, there won't be USB hub to the front panel and I have to connect the power button because I'm using the screwdriver to short the PWR pins.