Dell OptiPlex 3060 - Enable NVMe Gen 3 speeds (Enable PCIe 3.0)

optiplex-3060-enable-pcie3.md

Enable PCIe 3.0 speeds for NVMe SSDs on Dell OptiPlex 3060

Out of the box, any M.2 NVMe SSDs connected to the Dell OptiPlex 3060 runs at PCIe Gen 2.0 speeds (Max 5 GT/s; 2 GB/s) so the speed tests look like this:

However, after this BIOS mod, the SSD can reach PCIe Gen 3.0 speeds (Max 8 GT/s; 3.9 GB/s) so the speed tests look like this:

Steps to enable PCIe 3.0

Click here to watch a video tutorial

0. Disable Secure Boot in the BIOS:

   Settings → Secure Boot → Secure Boot Enable → select Disabled

1. Download the latest version of RU.EFI from http://ruexe.blogspot.com/

2. Format a USB pen drive as FAT32 using MBR partitioning

3. Copy RU.EFI to the root of the pen drive (e.g. D:\RU.EFI)

4. Reboot the OptiPlex 3060 with the pen drive plugged in and enter BIOS by pressing F2

5. Under Settings → General → Boot Sequence click on Add Boot Option

6. Under File System List select your USB pen drive. It has a name like

   PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x14,0x0)/USB(0x7,0x0)/HD(1.MBR,0x52DED30C)

7. Click on the 3 dots ... and select RU.EFI from the list of files

8. For Boot Option Name enter a name and click OK. This will be displayed on the boot selection screen (e.g. RU.EFI)

9. Click Apply and select Save as Custom User Settings and click OK

10. Click Exit

11. The system will now reboot. Repeatedly press F12 until you get to the boot device selection screen

12. Under UEFI BOOT: select the boot device with the name you entered in Step 8 (e.g. RU.EFI) and press Enter

13. Press Enter to dismiss the RU.EFI splash screen

14. Press Alt+= to get to the UEFI variable editor screen

15. Press the ↓ key until you get to the Setup UEFI variable and press Enter

16. Press Ctrl+PgDown keys until you see 0C40 on the left

17. Press ↓ until your cursor is at the first number in the 0C40 row

18. Press Enter and press 0 and 3 and press Enter again to update the first number in the row from 02 to 03

19. Change all 02 to 03 in line 0C40 and 0C50

20. Press Ctrl+W to write changes and press Alt+Q to exit and reboot

Test the change

Besides the obvious speed difference that can be noticed in a CrystalDiskMark benchmark, you can also check to see if the PCIe version reported in HWiNFO has changed

Before

After

Credit

https://github.com/Lorys89/DELL_OPTIPLEX_3060_MFF

Thanks, it works great with my Kingston SNV2S500G SSD !

Thanks, this looks very promising. However I myself have a Dell Optiplex 3070. Anyone know or tried it on a 3070 whether this works?
Based on https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/iifyp8/getting_pcie_gen_2_speeds_instead_of_gen_3/ I noticed that the 3070 has the same limitation.

It should work fine on a 3070 SFF as well.

Thank you for your quick reply, I have a 3070 MFF, I assume that works at well?

I don't have one so I can't say for sure. You could try it out and report back if it worked for you. I'm fairly confident that it might.

I just followed the steps, it works! Thank you!

Dell Optiplex 3070 MFF
i3-9100T
16GB RAM
WD Black SN770 1TB

Before:

After:

Hello, dear author. When using version RU.EFI 5.32.0423, at step 14 (Press Alt+= to get to the UEFI variable editor screen) when using the European layout, I cannot enter the UEFI variable editor screen. Maybe you know how to get through this step? Thank you very much.

when using the European layout, I cannot enter the UEFI variable editor screen

Looks like the UEFI variable editor shows up in the Config menu so you could try pressing Alt+C and selecting it from the list.

Following this mod BIOS and it improved my NVMe performance Read (the write is still same, but OK)

OOT : is it possible to enabling 'Above 4G Decode' feature in Optiplex 3060 to enable 'ReBAR Support'? I was following this tutorial (https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/wiki/Enabling-hidden-4G-decoding) and try to extract the BIOS but it always give me error. I hope you or someone here can help me about this.

Has anyone tried this on dell inspiron laptops? Specifically the dell inspiron 15 5570? It's running gt2 power saving mode but it doesn't even register on crystal disk, gets like 1800mbps, I'm seeing a physical limitation on the manual saying it runs gen3x2, so I'm guessing they disabled two lanes to qualify it for power consumption.

Now that I think of it, it probably won't work because it's a gen3x2. The issue with the optiplex was it was a gen2x4 to gen3x4.

My two cents:

1. Update the BIOS.
2. Disable Secure boot.
3. Use RU version 5.32.0423 because 5.33.0425 does not work.
4. You don't need to mess with boot options, all you have to do is copy RU.efi as \EFI\BOOT\BOOTx64.EFI in a FAT32 parition.
5. Spam F12 on OptiPlex boot, and choose UEFI: xxx entry.

Here are Linux instructions:

1. Format your USB drive (GPT+FAT32).

printf "label: gpt\ntype=EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7\n" | sudo sfdisk /dev/sdX
sudo mkfs -t fat -F 32 /dev/sdX1

2. Mount and copy.

sudo mount -m /dev/sdX1 /mnt/usb
sudo install -D ./RU.efi /mnt/usb/EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.EFI && sync
sudo umount /mnt/usb

Thank you! Latest version of ru.efi did not work for me either but using the previous version worked like a charm!

Hello, dear author. When using version RU.EFI 5.32.0423, at step 14 (Press Alt+= to get to the UEFI variable editor screen) when using the European layout, I cannot enter the UEFI variable editor screen. Maybe you know how to get through this step? Thank you very much.

Just use the ANSI layout. It works on a CH-DE keyboard no issue ("=" is closest to the backspace)