Windows 10 Pro on Dell Precision 690

Hi Joel,

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Thank you.

Welcome to the wonderful world of owning a Precision 690.  I've spent more time working around the hardware limitations in this system than I'd like to admit.

The Xeon X5335 is a quad-core processor, which will only function properly in certain revisions of Dell Precision 690 motherboards or used in a single processor configuration.  In order to run dual-quad core processors without POST issues in your Precision 690, you must own a system with motherboard ID 0MY171 A02 (yes, the revision matters).  The sticker ID can be found at the top of the board just under the hard drive caddies.

The issue isn't in Windows, but in hardware components of the 690's logic board and firmware.

Some users have been able to get dual-quads installed and functioning on 690 motherboard 0DT029 and 0MY171 A01 with a trick involving a BIOS downgrade to A01 and bringing the unit up from a cold start with no AC power to the power supply initially.  I've also heard of some hacks involving removing the CMOS battery and bringing the unit up from a cold start as well.

Honestly, if you don't already have a 0MY171 A02 board and you're not looking to scour the Internet looking for a refurbished one, you can always install two Xeon 5160 dual-cores with a 3GHz clock speed.  I purchased two from eBay for like $8.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/18700875?pi21953=6

Wow,...Hey , thanks,...I guess I can try those things...I just don't understand why I have a board that has two sockets in it if those cpus were not meant to run together on it.....that I truly don't understand. I don't know what cold start is....

Well, thanks, it looks like you are new to this community, but its good to actually hear from someone.....

-J

It'll run two processors, just not two quad-cores (properly) without a 0MY171 A02 board.

Cold start is from a powered off state.

I'm new to the community just because I struggled with this model too and understand you could use the info....otherwise, you'll typically find me on the Apple forums :P

I'll just throw my 2 cents in (was searching for Windows 10 concerning the Pre690 and found this):

After many, many hours [days, weeks] of searching last year before finally acquiring my goal of dual quad Xeon's:

You MUST (AFAIK) have the 0MY171 A02 revision mboard (took months of contacting sellers on eBay, having them check their inventory & send me a photo's of the sticker) before I actually found an A02.  My original board was another version/revision (still have it, too tired to check it out) but was a 2x dual core setup.  I MUST stress that you really do need this version otherwise you'll be stuck with dual and/or unused cores or such  = I'm no expert but I did perform soooo much research to get to this point...  looking at my notes right now to tell the truth..

Once I finally found the 0MY171 A02 I ordered quad X5355's (didn't have the $$$ for the X5365's at the time).

Instead of my 'normal' process of installing hardware [be careful, test, etc] I installed the mboard & quad's immediately and turned on my unit...  HOLY ****, I now had dual quad's!!!! 

The Pre690 supports 32gb if you have 8x4gb dimms - at the time I only had 4gb at the time (8x512mb) and wanted to upgrade higher w/out totally replacing my existing modules so this required further modication.  To support 64gb you need to add the memory risers (these slide into the existing module slots to allow additional modules.  Also you need to upgrade from the 750watt to the 1,000watt power supply (this also supplies the extra power cables to the memory risers).  Also another external fan (actually fits slightly outside of the case facing the memory modules) and another fan that sits above the memory risers (requiring another new part - the memory riser fan assembly) so it does require some effort.  Replacing the power supply to the 1k watt also replaces all other cables so this means you need to disassemble the entire unit to run the cables correctly (not that big a deal in the long run if you're going this far...)

At the moment I'm running 20gb (still the 8x512 + 8x2gb same fb-ddrs/cas5, etc = across the board (micron/hyundai for each bundle) and all seems well.

I have kept a pretty up-to-date log of my journey to get to this point (meaning that I kept notes in a .doc file with all/most of my research to get here - there's much jumble but I saved notes & copies of websites/etc that I visited to research the Pre690) so if this helps you, and/or if you are interested I can post what I have for you somewhere and/or send it to whoever is interested.  

To be honest though, it is kind of a timeline and not organized in any particular way.

I"ve been using it these days for vm's and file storage - works well with my 2tb x2 64mb wd reds though:)

PS:  don't use the sas connectors at all unless you are using sas drives (and/or are super rich and actually have sas drives.. this will cause issues...)  instead use a pci e/x card for additional drives (again don't use sata/scsi in the sas ports, or isa/pata/etc...)

Sorry for the long note, been a while since I've talked Pre690 stuff).  

BTW - not sure if this thread allows pm/contact but just in case I'm set to receive replies when somebody responds.

later.

Hello mkoyskip,

I'd be interested in your notes.  I'm trying to get an old Precision 690 up and running on W10 as well.  I have a 0DT029 on A08 with a single Xeon 5160, and I'd be happy enough with a single quad x5355.  If I downgrade BIOS to A01, would that be sufficient to run a x5355 without having to resort to cold starts/clearing CMOS trickery?

Thanks

tlslacks,

I don't have much if any info concerning your situation about running an x5355 single quad/etc as my research was in the direction to achieve my dual-quad x5355's.  After a short peruse through my own doc's I seem to have come across your situation concerning downgrading, etc...  However this wasn't my focus so you'll need to look through my unorganized notes yourself.  

I breezed through my notes but it looks like I didn't document my original motherboard version and won't be able to verify it until I arrive back home sometime next week.

Never mind, just found it:  my original board is 

• CN-OMY171-13740-718-013L REV A00 (I probably upgraded the BIOS to A08, I generally do this) - means my board is OMY171
• Dual procs 2800dp/1m/800 
• 64-bit Intel® Xeon® Processor 2.80D GHz, 1M Cache, 800 MHz FSB

PS:  my unit is perhaps for sale if you're interested (sorry PM if this isn't allowed, only trying to help)>

As far as the Win10 thing, I'm thinking that upgrading from Win7 to 10 may work - upgrading from 7 to 8.1 will NOT work (I know this from experience) but I've updated some similar dated hardware (notebooks) to 10 from 7 and has worked without a hitch.  Except for my Dell OptiPlex SX280 unit as nVidia hasn't updated the drivers for a long time (if I remember correctly I may have used XP/Vista drivers just to get Win7 working).

I am out of town for for the time being, but do have access to my docs.  Perhaps shoot me a note directly to *** Email address is removed for privacy *** reminding me to send you my notes, perhaps Mon or later as I know I'll be busy this weekend.

 So these Xeon 5160 dual-cores with a 3GHz  will work in a dell precision ... And will it make it run faster

I haven't tried the 5160's but I don't see any reason a lower model unit/cpu wouldn't work...  

But if you even think about quad's you really must have an 0MY171 A02 board (read the previous posts).

BTW:  to anyone reading this thread I did finally find my doc's concerning my history & setup of this unit - these notes are not necessarily in any order/thread or such, but there is much info to be found for various issues.

dropbox link:  Dell Precision 690 Workstation (.docx)

After all of the searching & effort I put into my own quad-core system I'm actually getting ready to put mine on the shelf.  It has done what I need it to do but I am in the process of switching to rack setup, and just don't have the room.  The Pre690 quad setup became a hobby (obsession) for me - spent so many hours/days/weeks on this... whew!  If I had another 690 case I could easily build another 750watt as I have all of the other spare parts!  Except for 1 heat sink tell the truth...

Tell the truth if anybody is looking for this unit contact me (yes, I know this thread is NOT for selling stuff, only trying to help out).

Hopefully this helps you out, later.

Hello everyone,

I have dell Precision 690 and I have dual core xeon 5150 @2.66 and I'm running windows 10 pro and its running really smoothly, as for the graphic card I'm using MSI GTX 650 Ti 1GB DDR and I have 2TB HDD + the original one which is about 480 HDD