Dell Precision T3620 case vibrating + PSU upgrade options?

Can't recommend a PSU wattage without knowing what card you want to upgrade to.

Yes, the 290w 9020 PSU will work in the 3620.  Turn on your 9020 and make sure it works first.

Your PSU is not stretched to its limits.  CPU and case fans don't take hardly any power.

No answer for the vibration problem though.

@bradthetechnut​ 

Can't recommend a PSU wattage without knowing what card you want to upgrade to.

I don't know what card would be best. I want something that will be (at the barest minimum) powerful enough to smoothly run the latest version of DaVinci Resolve, play 4K HDR10 video smoothly, and to hardware encode video, but is small enough to fit in my case and isn't too expensive (I'd have to compare different ones in various price ranges to know what the best balance of price and power is).

Yes, the 290w 9020 PSU will work in the 3620.  

I'll have to see if I can swap it out sometime soon (the very soonest I could maybe try is tomorrow night, depending on various factors).

Turn on your 9020 and make sure it works first.

The 9020 turns on, but gets stuck in a boot loop. I never successfully identified exactly what's broken on it other than the rear case fan (the computer was manhandled by a moving company - the rear fan was visibly broken off by two of the rubber parts that hold it on, but something else must have broken in the incident broken to have caused the boot loop). As far as I can tell, the PSU probably still works, since the computer does boot up.

No answer for the vibration problem though.

Do you know what could be causing the mild mouse cursor freezing issue?

Update: I tried out a different possible solution to the vibration problem. One of my hard drives was installed into an optical drive bay using a 3.5 to 5.25 inch adapter. It's possible that the adapter that I used was causing the hard drive to make the case vibrate. I have now put the hard drive in a shock-absorbent adapter. So far, I haven't been experiencing the vibration issue since, but since the problem was intermittent, I'll have to wait a while before I know whether the problem is truly fixed.

I hope it works out that your vibration is fixed.

I'm going to have you do your own research on GPU cards.  It's as simple as Googling.

1. Google game/app system requirements and see what GPU cards pop up.  I typically suggest going with recommended requirements vs. minimum.
2. For any cards you're interested in, Google their wattages and PSU requirements.
3. Note some PSU requirements can be a little inflated.  For example, PSU requirements for the 30w GT 1030 is 300w.  Mfrs. typically want to make sure everything is covered.
4. If you do decide to upgrade PSU's, there's a PSU online calculator redxps630 likes to use.  EVGA, Corsair, and Thermaltake are a just a few name brands off the top of my head.
5. There's userbenchmark.  Google "Precision 3620 userbenchmark" and you'll see what other users are using.  Note that it doesn't state what PSU's the users are running.
6. Google "name brand PSU's."  You'll get recommendations for gaming PC's and simple mini tower PC's.
7. Be sure not to go with a generic PSU in a Dell.
8. 

As for your mouse freeze problem, try a different mouse or change the batteries if it's wireless.

If you did that already, change the size 2032 CMOS battery.  It should be replaced anyway if it's 5+ years old.  Bad batteries not only cause boot issues, but can cause freezes and BSOD's.

As for your 9020, first, try replacing the size 2032 battery.  Second, you could also try a BIOS reset by moving the PSWRD jumper to the RTCRST pins.  Plug in for 10 sec. (it won't turn on).  Unplug and return jumper to PSWRD pins.

If that doesn't work, I wouldn't try the PSU in your 3620.  Not necessary to try anyway if vibration problem is fixed and less to mess around with.

By the way, HDD's shouldn't normally vibrate.

I was having format issues with the above post with the screengrab.

I wanted to add that after some research, if you're looking at certain GPU cards, we can make PSU recommendations.  I think with the info I gave, you might become an expert yourself.

With any aftermarket PSU, you'll need the 24-pin to 8-pin adapter.

@bradthetechnut​

I hope it works out that your vibration is fixed.

So far, it seems to be.

By the way, HDD's shouldn't normally vibrate.

Hard drives spin at high speeds, which causes them to mildly vibrate. If I put my hand on a hard drive, or even a hard drive enclosure with a hard drive inside, I can always tell whether it's running by the vibration or lack thereof. Normally, it's a quiet vibration, though (not audible).

However, the 3.5 to 5.25 inch adapter bracket that I had used to install this particular hard drive is supposed to be used with four screws (the screws slide into the slot in the optical drive bay in the front of the case, but due to the design of the T3620, I had to use only three screws in order to fit it in. My theory is that this caused it to be off-balance and to vibrate against the optical drive bay in a way that made the whole case vibrate.

I bought a shock-absorbent bracket which has rubber supports separating the hard drive from the outside portion of the adapter bracket, and it seems so far to have solved the problem.

I'm going to have you do your own research on GPU cards.  It's as simple as Googling.

It will take a while, but I'll check those resources out to see what GPUs I can find.

As for your mouse freeze problem, try a different mouse or change the batteries if it's wireless.

It seems that the system, mouse cursor and all, is running more smoothly now without all the vibration. That might have been the cause of all of the issues. My theory is that the vibrating hard drive was causing read/write issues that were slowing down my system.

At this point, I don't think I'll bother using the PSU from the 9020, unless the vibration issue returns. Also, I don't particularly need the 9020 (the T3620 is the replacement I got after it broke), and have scavenged various parts from it already, so I probably won't bother trying to fix it.

@bradthetechnut After some research, I am, so far, strongly leaning toward the EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 SC GAMING, 6GB GDDR6. It's fairly compact (about 7 inches long) and is apparently quite powerful for the price range.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NXYT866

Does this look like a good option for a Precision T3620 to you? And if so, what would be a good PSU upgrade option that would fit correctly in my case, be reliable, and provide enough power (keeping in mind that it would need to power not only the computer's native components and the GPU, but two 6TB hard drives and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card as well)?

Bottleneck is something to consider.  PC Builds comes up with 32.2% bottleneck for general tasks with the i7-7700k RTX 2060 SC combo.  May need to scale it down a little.  What it means is the i7-7700k is a little weak for it and will bottleneck it.

Outside of that, I think you picked a good card.  It's 160w and EVGA recommends 500w PSU minimum.  An online PSU calculator will likely come up with less, but 500w is a safe bet and allows for possible upgrade later if you choose to do so.

An EVGA BR 500w PSU is a good one.  However, it's non-modular.  You may want to go with modular or semi modular and have less wires.  I say this since the 3620 runs power off of the MB for accessories* instead of direct from the PSU; so there's less wiring from the start.  *Exception being GPU cards over 75w.

Back to bottleneck:  It's easy.  Google "i7-7700k RTX 2060 SC bottleneck."  Then pick the option that's PC Builds.

At one time, PC Builds gave me the option to choose between "general tasks" and "gaming."  I do this from my phone.  It likely looks different on desktop.

GRAPHIC CARDS THAT WILL WORK BEST WITH CORE I7-7700K

Precision 3620 Spec Sheet.pdf might also give some ideas.

@bradthetechnut​

Is bottlenecking harmful in some way (ie puts strain on the processor, causes crashes, etc), or does it merely mean that the CPU limits the degree to which the GPU's full power will be used?

When I was looking at some of the PC Builds comparisons (in particular a comparison of the RTX 2060 vs the GeForce GTX 1050*), I noticed something that I hadn't realized before. The RTX 2060 takes up three slots. I need something that takes up no more than two, as I need the second slot from the bottom (third from the top) free for my Wi-Fi card.

* https://pc-builds.com/compare/gpu/0W0/137/

Hardware encoding/video editing appears more intense and demanding than DaVinci Resolve.  I Googled both of those for system and GPU requirements.  I would go with the GPU that meets the demands of hardware encoding first.

75w GTX 1650 gives 0.6% bottleneck.  Wouldn't have to upgrade PSU.

SUPER version has 14.5% which isn't the worst.  It's 100w and requires 350w PSU.  Dell's 365w PSU would have it covered.

What do you think?