Dell OptiPlex 780 Small Form Factor Repair

The OptiPlex 780 is a series of low-cost desktop computers released by Dell in 2009. The line includes four unique designs: a large “Desktop” computer, a slightly thinner “Mini-Tower” style, a “Small Form Factor” (SFF) size, and a tiny “Ultra Small Form Factor” (USFF) design. This page is specifically about the Optiplex 780 in its Small Form Factor size. To identify this computer, look for a sticker on the top, bottom, or back containing Dell’s service tag and service code (as shown in this Dell support article). These are identifying codes which you can enter on the Dell support website to find your exact computer model.

Inside, the OptiPlex 780 SFF has an Intel processor and integrated graphics. It can support up to 16 GB of memory in four slots. Three drive bays (two of which are open to the front panel of the computer) can be used for hard drives, an optical drive, or a floppy drive if you need to interface with older software. For expansion purposes, the motherboard has a PCIe x16 slot on it; you could use this to add a dedicated graphics card to your computer.

Accessing the internals of the computer is very easy: simply pull a latch at the back of the computer and let the side panel slide off. This design makes the computer easy to repair or upgrade. You can see instructions for replacing most of the internal components in the OptiPlex 780 SFF service manual.

Processor

Intel Celeron
or Intel Pentium
or Intel Core 2 Duo
or Intel Core 2 Quad

Memory

Up to 16 GB total memory (4 x 4 GB)
Four DIMM slots
DDR3 at 1066 MHz

Drive bays

Slimline 5.25-inch bay (accessible on the front for use with an optical drive)
Slimline 3.5-inch bay (accessible on the front for use with a floppy drive/card reader)
3.5-inch SATA bay

Graphics

Intel integrated graphics
(Optional) Discrete PCIe x16 graphics card

Connections

Front panel
- Two USB 2.0 ports
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
- 3.5 mm microphone jack
Back panel
- Six USB 2.0 ports
- Parallel port
- Serial port
- eSATA port
- DisplayPort
- VGA video output
- Ethernet port
- 3.5 mm line-level audio output jack
- 3.5 mm line-level/microphone audio input jack
Internal
- PCIe x16 slot
- PCI x1 slot