Notes for the Dell 690, accuracy is not guarnteed. This is from information I compiled over several days of my own research. You are welcome to reply with corrections and/or additions.
Public GDrive with various mauals.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ABPdglDNa_DdHtgAwgh0k2nrnkR9Lq5H?usp=sharing
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/precision-690/drivers
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/supportedos/precision-690
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/precision-690/upgrade
WxHxD: Without stand, includes feet 8.5" x 22.26" x 22.3" / 21.59cm x 56.54cm x 56.6cm
WxHxD: With stand, includes feet 12.8 x 22.26" x 22.3" / 32.5cm x 56.54cm x 56.6cm
- 3 PCI-e x8 slot wired as x4
- 1 PCI-e x16 graphics slot
- 2 PCI-X 64bit/100MHz slots with support for 3.3v or universal cards
- 1 PCI 32bit/33Mhz slot
- 2 PCI-e x16 slots with optional graphics card riser on 690 1KW chassis
NOTE: Graphics riser option covers up 2 PCI-e x8 slot wired as x4 and 1 PCI 32bit/33Mhz slot. Remaining slots are 2 PCI-X 64bit/100MHz and 1 PCI-e x8 slot wired as x4. Option must be ordered at system purchase.
- 4 internal 3.5" hard disk drive bays
- 3 external 5.25" optical bays, one of which can accommodate a fifth HDD
- 1 external 3.5" flex bay for floppy or media card reader
- 8 USB 2.0: two on front panel, five on back panel, one internal on motherboard
- 2 IEEE 1394a: one front, one rear
- 2 serial, 1 parallel, 2 PS/2, 1 RJ-45, Stereo line-in and headphone line-out (on back panel)
- Microphone and headphone connector (on front panel)
There is one USB port on the motherboard which uses the FlexBay pinout which is a single USB header, see the diagram at the bottom.
- 1KW Chassis - 1000 watt power supply
- 750 watt power supply
The 1000W power supply has a rectantular C20 Inlet (male) connector. It requires a C19 to mains or C19 to C14 adapter.
Plug Socket Museum shows various connector types: https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/PowerCord1.html
Search for IEC320 Male C19 to Female C14 on eBay to find the proper adapter for your needs.
Quad-Channel DDR2 Full Buffered DIMM Memory
FB-DIMMs are an improved implementation of the current DDR2 standard for memory. With FB-DIMMs, you get DDR2 technology with a new, higher performance and more reliable, bidirectional serial bus which passes sequentially through every module.
The Benefits:
- Up to 5X more memory bandwidth with quad-channel memory architecture over the previous generation platform
- Memory scalability up to 64GB with new DDR2 fully-buffered ECC DIMMs
Up to 64GB quad-channel architecture DDR2 Fully-Buffered DIMM 533 and 667MHz ECC memory (512MB, 1GB, 2GB or 4GB DIMMS; 512MB 533MHz DIMM not available on the 1KW chassis)
Up to 16 DIMM slots (1KW chassis required for memory expansion greater than 32GB and greater than 8 DIMM slots)
From what I've read some RAM does not work in this system, it should take the following spec, it may be best to search eBay for a 690 compatible set. As of this writing a 32GB kit is about $36 eBay item #292647079169.
- Fully Buffered FB-DIMM ECC Registered Memory
- 240-pin
- DDR2-667
- PC2-5300
- Fully Buffered (FB-DIMM)
- Registered
- ECC
The Dell Precision workstation graphics program is designed to provide customers with lifecycle and image stability from entry Professional 2D thru the Mid-Range 3D graphics cards. In addition, Dell provides the latest and best performing graphics technologies from the price/performance mid range 3D thru high-end 3D graphics card segments. Dell continually evaluates the newest graphics technologies to ensure the most relevant graphics cards are selected for qualification, certification and factory installation in Dell Precision Workstations.
Dual-Graphics Options
Optional dual-graphics configurations allow two graphics cards to work together in the Dell Precision 690 1KW chassis to help improve performance and quality. A high-end NVIDIA® SLITM ready configuration is available, delivering an application-transparent scaling of performance. Several quad-monitor solutions are also available, from 2D to high-end 3D, allowing the use of multiple monitors to help expand available desktop space.
The dual-graphics solutions on the Dell Precision 690 are fully tested, factory installed and supported by Dell.
NVIDIA Quadro
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 3450
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 550
- NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285 (128MB)
ATI FireGL
- ATI FireGL V7200
- ATI FireGL V3400
You will need the following parts:
- SLI Video Card Bridge (MJ247)
- Riser Card Assembly (TH757)
- PCI-E Dual Video Riser Board (TK025)
This article provides extensive information on getting going with SLI on this machine.
Enabling SLI on a Dell Precision 690 with GeForce Video Cards
https://andrewpeng.net/computing/enabling-sli-on-a-dell-precision-690-with-geforce-video-cards
The Dell PrecisionTM 690 is equipped with up to two Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5000 series 64-bit processors for a total of four execution cores in two sockets.
- Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5110 1.60GHz, 1066 FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65 watts
- Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5120 1.86GHz, 1066 FSB, 4MB L2 Cache 65 watts
- Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5130 2.0GHz, 1333 FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65 watts
- Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5140 2.33GHz, 1333 FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65 watts
- Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5150 2.66GHz, 1333 FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 65 watts
- Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® 5160 3.0GHz, 1333 FSB, 4MB L2 Cache, 80 watts
- Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® E5320 1.86GHz,1066 FSB, 2 X 4MB L2 cache, 80 watts
- Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® E5345 2.33GHz, 1333 FSB, 2 X 4MB L2 cache, 80 watts
- Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® X5355 2.66GHz, 1333 FSB, 2 X 4MB L2 cache, 120 watts
Here is the Intel ARK list of Socket 771 processors at 1333 MHz FSB with the maximum of 120W TDP.
You can use the 51xx or 53xx series but not the 52xx or 54xx series.
Intel 5000X chipset
At the core of Dell Precision 64-bit dual-socket workstations is the Intel 5000x chipset, designed to support the technologies that can open up performance-impacting bottlenecks in primary subsystems. Power users -and the application providers who support them - have access to more bandwidth, more compute power than the previous generation, and to massive memory expansion up to 64GB.
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
The latest generation of storage technology is SAS (Serial Attached SCSI), which delivers up to 50% higher performance than SATA 10K.
The Dell Precision 690 supports up to five hard drives (four SAS; four SATA; or four SAS and one SATA boot) and a potential capacity of 2TB. And with RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 options, you can configure your storage to meet your needs, whether it's for storing extremely large files, backing them up, or improving performance with data-striping.
- SATA 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM with 16MB DataBurst CacheTM up to 500GB
- SATA 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM with 8MB DataBurst CacheTM up to 250GB
- SATA 10K RPM with 16MB DataBurst CacheTM up to 160GB
- SAS 10K RPM up to 300GB; SAS 15K RPM up to 146GB
Place holder for experiments using SAS and SATA configurations.
The ports labeled HD_0 HD_1 HD_2 HD_3, go to the integrated SAS5 RAID controller that will take either SAS or SATA.
SAS Drives require a SAS to SATA adaptor, the official part numbers are: UF070 OR MY306. There are less expensive options available, search eBay or Amazon for: SFF-8482 SAS 29 Pin + 15 Pin to 7 Pin SATA
Maximum SAS drive size appears to be 2TB, I tried a 3TB and a 4TB drive, both came up to 2TB.
- Integrated LSI 1068 SAS/SATA 3.0Gb/s controller supports RAID 0, 1
- Optional PERC 5/i PCI-e RAID card supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
The LSI 1068 does not support over 2TB hard drives. If you want to use higher capacity drives get a HighPoint 4320 OR Adaptec ASR-2405.
Windows Vista® Ultimate Windows Vista® Business
Red Hat® Enterprise Linux WS v.4 (EM64T)
RHE is the only distribution which came with it. Debian/Ubuntu distros/variants work fine, others should also.
High Sierra on 690 - https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/high-sierra-works-great-on-old-dell-t5400-2xxeon-x5460s-xfx-gtx-280.238231/
There may be parts compatibility between the Precision 690 and the following machines.
- Precision 380
- Precision 390
- Precision 490
- Precision T3400
- Precision T3500
- Precision T5400
- Precision T5500
- Precision T7400
- Precision T7500
| Part Number | Description |
|---|---|
| → | INPUT DEVICES |
MS111 |
3 Button USB Optical Mouse |
MS116 |
3 Button USB Optical Mouse |
DJ331 |
Keyboard - 104-Key USB Entry |
| → | MEMORY |
JF806 |
Memory Riser 1 & 2 (required for using 64GB of memory) |
JF807 |
Memory Riser 3 & 4 (required for using 64GB of memory) |
FD419 |
Memory Heatsink Shroud (required for using 64GB of memory) |
YC654 |
Memory Riser Fan for 1000W Systems (required for using 64GB of memory) |
CD672 |
Memory Fan Support Structure (required for using 64GB of memory) |
CH974 |
Memory Fan and Mounting Assembly (required systems with no memory riser) |
9F029 |
DIMM, 512MB, DDR2, 667M, ECC |
9F030 |
DIMM, 1G, DDR2, 667M, ECC |
9W657 |
DIMM, 2G, DDR2, 667M, ECC |
9F035 |
DIMM, 4G, DDR2, 667M, ECC |
| → | HARD DRIVES |
RJ824 |
Blue Hard Drive Caddy |
GJ617 |
Blue Hard Drive Caddy |
KM503 |
Blue Hard Drive Caddy |
CD674 |
Hard Drive Cooling Fan |
HD445 |
Hard Drive Fan Bracket |
JD744 |
Secondary IDE Cable |
KC230 |
Hard Drive Cage Bracket |
UF070 |
Interposer Board SAS SCSI to SATA Serial ATA SFF-8482 Female to SATA 2 Hard Drive Convert Adapter |
MY306 |
Interposer Board SAS SCSI to SATA Serial ATA SFF-8482 Female to SATA 2 Hard Drive Convert Adapter |
WG404 |
300MM SATA Hard Drive Cable |
| → | OPTICAL / FLOPPY / MEDIA DRIVES |
GF459 |
Floppy Drive Mounting Bracket Assembly |
JD741 |
Floppy Drive Cable |
YN885 |
Samsung TS-H352 16X DVD-ROM Drive |
NT424 |
Assembly Flex-Bay Media Card Reader Cable (FlexBay Port on MB) |
HY306 |
TEAC CAB-200 13 in 1 Media Card Reader (Requires p/n NT424) |
| → | VIDEO CARD |
KC257 |
PCI Fan Assembly for Systems with Single Video Card |
NF090 |
PCI Fan Assembly for Systems with Dual Video Cards |
MJ247 |
SLI Video Card Bridge |
TK025 |
PCI-E Dual Video Riser Board (Requires p/n TH757) |
KC268 |
PCI-E Card Retention Device (Non-SLI) |
HW621 |
ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB |
DH261 |
Nvidia Quadro NVS 285 128MB Dual Output (DMS-59) Video Card |
XG859 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 550 128MB |
WX397 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 570 256MB |
R784K |
Nvidia Quadro FX 580 512MB |
JF507 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 1400 256MB |
RN034 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 1700 512MB |
P418M |
Nvidia Quadro FX 1800 768MB |
T9099 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 3450 256MB |
WH242 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 3500 256MB |
KY246 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 3700 512MB |
T939K |
Nvidia Quadro FX 3800 1GB |
X9YDW |
Nvidia Quadro FX 3800 1GB |
KU705 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 512MB |
HF299 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 512MB |
KU705 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 512MB without Bracket |
JP111 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 4600 768MB |
1G28H |
Nvidia Quadro FX 4800 1.5GB |
Y451H |
Nvidia Quadro FX 4800 1.5GB |
GR558 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 5500 1GB |
GP295 |
Nvidia Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB |
1HKHC |
Nvidia Quadro FX 5800 4GB |
| → | CPU |
FD841 |
CPU Heatsink Assembly |
YC653 |
CPU Fan Assembly, 750 Watt |
WJ544 |
Dual Core CPU 5140 2.33GHz, 4MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB Processor |
| → | MOTHERBOARD |
F9394 |
Motherboard (Revision A00) |
DT029 |
Motherboard (Revision A00) |
MY171 |
Motherboard (Revision A01) |
| → | POWER SUPPLY & POWER CABLES |
MK463 |
700W Power Supply |
U9692 |
750W Power Supply |
ND285 |
1000W Power Supply |
KH945 |
Power Wiring Harness SAS Cable |
TH082 |
Power Supply Main Board Cable |
RH223 |
24-pin Power Supply Cable |
NF607 |
Video Card Power Cable |
| → | CHASSIS & OTHER |
YW317 |
Precision 690 Case (Chassis) |
KH525 |
Tower Metal Chassis Stand |
D8794 |
Cooling Fan |
TH757 |
Riser Card Assembly Accessory Kit (Kit includes part numbers: KF255, JF769, DD463, NF090, D8794, HF385) |
JD739 |
40-Pin I/O Front Panel Cable |
KC260 |
Side Door Panel Access Cover |
DD996 |
Front I/O Control Panel Board w/ Bracket |
YC653 |
Dual Cooling Fan |
FF219 |
I/O USB Audio Panel |
HF372 |
Internal Speaker 5-Pin |
WS690 |
Firewire 1394 CABLE 9PIN & 16PIN 27.75" |
DD468 |
PCI Expansion Chassis Slot Covers |
RG808 |
Thermal Sensor Cable |
CW857 |
Front Chassis Bezel |
JC376 |
Front Chassis Bezel |
MDS14 |
Dual Monitor Stand |
1MKM4 |
Desktop PCI-e Wireless Network Adapter Card - Full Height |
FH991 |
Optical Device Drive Filler Panel Assembly |
