Chosen Solution
I have a Dell Precision T7500, Precision T3600, and Precision T3500. None of them are working, and I have not started troubleshooting just yet (although the T3500 turns on then immediately turns off shortly thereafter and I may have a question about how to tell if it is the PSU that is causing the problem). I want to turn the T3500 into a beast of a home computer able to do graphic design, video editing, and gaming (so many questions about this direction including cooling, if the motherboard can handle it, etc…), I would like to convert another computer into a home network, and I would like to sell the third as a gaming computer. My questions are: What are your thoughts in turning the T7500 into such a diverse and power computer?Which computer, the T3500 or T3600, could be better converted into a SOHO computer and which would be better as a gaming computer to sell?Any advice/suggestions on what I should use for a GPU, PSU, Cooling, and Storage for each of them?Are there any manuals for any of these computers?How do I test a PSU to see if it is the reason why the T7500 won’t turn on? I can’t post a video to demonstrate what I am hearing to you, so if you have suggestions let me know. I power it on and it immediately goes off. I realize I should place these as separate questions, but the questions are intertwined, so I wanted to combine them. Any thoughts would be helpful! Thanks!
The T7500 is an older machine from 2009, so it’s tired and past it’s prime. They’re not bad machines for the right job, but the age makes it a hard sell. For buyers who know better, the T7500 is the worst of all worlds; age, no Xeon support, Core 2 Duo/Quad only and power supplies are normal but if they fail then you will have a case gap so it’s either finding a used one or living with a gap. If I, were you, take the first reasonable offer and let it go “as-is” to avoid being on the receiving end of a refund unless you can do a multi-day “burn test” where you leave it on all the time to make sure the odds of bad caps showing aren’t too high. Personally, because of the age of the system, if someone offered be $50 for it, I’d take the money and run far away. When it comes to those power supplies, it isn’t unheard of for the older Dell BTX power supplies to have capacitor issues, even after 2005-2007 motherboards began to have fewer problems; it’s often bad capacitors inside. I would get a good one like a Seasonic, or sell the computer for parts and wash your hands of it. The T3500 is in the same group as the T7500 in that time has kicked it to the curb due to age of the CPU and chipset. While they support LGA771 Xeon processors (which makes them a bit more desirable), don’t expect a lot for it unless you luck out. Throw an older GPU at it like a passable Fermi that works, see if it takes Win10 nicely and if it does sell it as a budget gaming PC but be honest; it’s not a modern i7 powerhouse. Take the most reasonable offer you get, and be happy with it. If possible, keep the T3600. Those aren’t burdened by volatile capacitors known to randomly die because you hurt their feelings, but the power supply is likely nonstandard due to the case design (that said, it’s not like the “built to a price” 250-300W Inspiron DC supply). I’d also check the CPU installed against the CPU list for Win11. Most old Xeons made the cut (which makes the “security” excuse more suspect, as Xeons based on similar silicon were added but not Core i variants?), but it’s worth doing a sanity check since the list is so particular.
@mat223740 let’s start off with the easy stuff. Service manual for the T7500 can be downloaded right here T3500 from here and T3600 on here. To test the power suply follow Dell’s guide on here @nick what do you think about the rest of the questions? Dell is right up your alley :-)
