Where to buy?

If you haven’t already acquired a Precision T3500 we’d recommend checking out a company called Serverworlds.  They sell the T3500’s cheap and they provide free ground shipping to the lower 48 states.  You can click on this link and it’ll bring you directly to there T3500 Page: Precision T3500 Link.  You can also try to snag them cheap on Ebay.  However, Ebay can be a bit of a gamble because you never know what you are going to get.

 

The goal is to purchase the T3500 with a good processor and memory already installed and then you can source the graphics cards, hard drives, and other optional components from other sources.

 

 

 

What Processor should I get?

High Clock speed cpu’s are the way to go.

 

Aluminum Heatsink: T021F (95W CPU’s)

 

High Performance Copper Heatsink: U016F (130W CPU’s)

 

Recommended Processors:

 

Intel Xeon W3565 QC 3.20Ghz 8MB 4.80GTs 130W Processor | 3.46Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBEV)

Intel Xeon X5667 QC 3.06Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 95W Processor | 3.46Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVA)

Intel Xeon W5580 QC 3.20Ghz 8MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.46Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBF2)

Intel Xeon W5590 QC 3.33Ghz 8MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBGE)

Intel Xeon X5677 QC 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV9)

Intel Xeon X5687 QC 3.6Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.86Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVY)

Intel Xeon W3670 6C 3.20Ghz 12MB 4.8GTs 130W Processor | 3.46Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVE)

Intel Xeon X5680 6C 3.33Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.60Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV5)

Intel Xeon W3680 6C 3.33Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.60Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBV2)

Intel Xeon W3690 6C 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBW2)

Intel Xeon X5690 6C 3.46Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs 130W Processor | 3.73Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SLBVX)

 

 

How much Memory should I get?

 

The base line should be a minimum of 12GB of memory.  However, 16GB to 24GB would be ideal.

 

Memory PN’s:

 

2GB PC10600U 2Rx8 Non-ECC Unregistered (P223C)

2GB PC10600E 1Rx8 ECC Unregistered (DM0KY)

2GB PC12800E 1Rx8 ECC Unregisterd (YY90K)

4GB PC10600U 2Rx8 Non-ECC Unregistered (P328H)

4GB PC10600E 2Rx8 ECC Unregistered (T192H)

4GB PC12800E 2Rx8 PC3L ECC Unregistered (6DWFJ)

8GB PC12800E 2RX8 PC3 ECC Unregistered (MT18JSF1G72AZ-1G6E1ZF)

8GB PC12800E 2Rx2 PC3L ECC Unregistered (HMT41GU7AFR8A-PB)

 

*You cannot mix ECC and Non-ECC Modules*

 

Recommended Memory configurations:

 

6 x 2GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (12GB)

3 x 4GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (12GB)

4 x 4GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (16GB)

6 x 4GB PC10600E or 12800E Modules (24GB)

 

It’s very important to use 10600E or 12800E modules because they will run at the max speed supported by the system board and processor.

 

 

What Hard Drive should I get?

 

Ideally you would want to have a Solid-State Drive as your boot device as well an NVME.2 SSD to store your game libraries/large programs on.  If you are limited on budget you could go with a small SSD for your boot device and a larger capacity 7.2K SATA drive to hold your larger files/programs/games.

 

What Hard Drive should I get?

 

Ideally you would want to have a Solid-State Drive as your boot device as well an NVME.2 SSD to store your game libraries/large programs on.  If you are limited on budget you could go with a small SSD for your boot device and a larger capacity 7.2K SATA drive to hold your larger files/programs/games.

 

Recommended SSD Drives:

 

Samsung 870 Evo 500GB 2.5-inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E500B/AM)

Samsung 860 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E1T0B/AM)

Samsung 860 EVO 2TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E2T0B/AM)

Samsung 860 EVO 4TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E4T0B/AM)

 

Recommended large Capacity SATA Drives:

 

Seagate 2TB Barracuda SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)

 

*NVME.2 Drives cannot be used as a boot device with this model workstation*

 

NVME.2 PCIe Adapter (You need this if you plan to install an NVME.2 Drive into this system):

 

NVME.2 SSD Adapter *Required to Install NVME.2*

 

Recommended NVME.2 SSDs:

 

Samsung 980 Series – 500GB NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V8V500B/AM)

Samsung 980 Series – 1TB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V8V1T0B/AM)

Samsung Evo 970 Plus – 2TB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V7S2T0B/AM)

 

 

What Graphics Card should I get?

 

This is where it gets a little tricky.  The precision T3500 only has a 525W Power Supply.  You have to stick with a graphics card that won’t fry your power supply after heavy use.  Ideally you want to keep the graphics card to require below 142W.

 

Recommended Graphics Cards:

 

NVIDIA GTX1050 TI 4GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1660 Ti 6GB Graphics Card

 

If you upgrade your power supply to 650W or more:

 

Upgraded 700W EVG 700B Power Supply (most standard size ATX Power Supplies will work)

 

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1070 8GB SC Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1070TI 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1080 SC 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA GTX1080 TI 11GB SC2 ICX Technology Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2060 6GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super Graphics Card

 

Expect Some Strong Bottlenecking if you install these Graphics Cards:

 

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2080 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super 8GB Graphics Card

EVGA NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti 11GB Graphics Card

 

What type of Monitor should I get?

 

Ideally it would be nice to get a monitor with a 144Hz or 244hz refresh rate or better monitor.  However, it really depends on the games you play.  If you play first person shooter games a 144hz or 240Hz or better monitor is a must.  If you play other games that do not require quick response time then a 60hz monitor should work fine.

 

Recommended Monitors:

 

ASUS PG248Q Full HD 144Hz 1MS 24″ Gaming Monitor

ASUS VG278Q Full HD 1080P 144Hz 1MS 27″ Gaming Monitor

ASUS XG258Q ROG Strix 24.5″ 1080P 240Hz 1MS Gaming Monitor

ASUS VG279QM TUF  27″ 280Hz (240Hz) Gaming Monitor

 

Recap:

Using the criteria above you can build a good gaming system using a Precision T3500 Workstation.  It will not be a 4K gaming unit but it will allow for stable frame rates and a good overall gaming experience.

 

Sample Configuration:

 

Precision T3500 Workstation

Xeon QC X5687 3.60Ghz 12MB 6.40GTs

16GB PC10600E (4 x 4GB)

Samsung 256GB 6GBPS SSD + WD 2TB SATA 7.2K 6GBPS HDD

EVGA GTX1080 w/8GB Graphics Card

1 x 10/100/1000 Network Port

Upgraded 700W EVG 700B Power Supply

DVD-RW

10 Pro 64Bit

 

We have tested this system with games like Dota 2, CS Go, PubG, and The Division.  The frames can range from 40FPS to 200FPS depending on the game and settings that you choose.  The system was tested using a 144Hz 27″ Acer Monitor.

 

Videos:

 

Precision T3500 Gaming Computer

Precision T3500 700W Power Supply Upgrade/Replacement

Precision T3500 Memory/Ram Install

Precision T3500 48GB Memory Install

Precision T3500 EVGA GTX 1660 Ti Graphics Card Install + Game Testing

Precision T3500 Optional Hard Drive Cage Install + H710 w/4 x 480GB SSD and Benchmarks