Dell Precision T5820 Workstations

Chassis and form factor

The T5820 uses the compact Precision tower chassis, the same enclosure size as the dual-socket T7820. It has integrated front and rear handles and an externally accessible, tool-less and lockable power supply, so the supply can be swapped without opening the side panel. Drive space is arranged as two front FlexBays, each holding up to two 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch drives, plus one 5.25-inch bay that can be fitted for drives as a factory option or customer kit, a slimline optical bay, and an SD slot (UHS-II Class 3, read only). A PCIe backplane FlexBay chassis variant supports one to four M.2 or U.2 NVMe SSDs at the front. Security fittings include a Kensington lock slot, padlock ring, chassis intrusion switch, optional key-locking drive sleds and a lockable front bezel that covers the FlexBays.

How the three towers in the family compare:

Processors

One processor, from two different Intel families. Xeon W-2000 processors run on the Intel C422 chipset and cover the Skylake-W and Cascade Lake-W generations; Core X Series processors run on the Intel X299 chipset. Both reach up to 18 cores and support Intel AVX, Trusted Execution Technology, AES New Instructions and Turbo Boost. The datasheet names the families rather than individual SKUs, so there is no per-model table here: tell us the workload and we will quote the processor from stock. The two families are not interchangeable in one system, and Dell's spec sheet is explicit that features and supported configurations differ between the Xeon W and Core X versions of the 5820:

For a business workstation the Xeon W route is the one to choose: ECC memory, vPro and the full storage and graphics list. Core X units are worth considering only where non-ECC memory is acceptable. Our processors range covers the Xeon families; send the service tag and we will confirm which chipset your board has before quoting a CPU.

Memory

Eight DDR4 DIMM slots on four memory channels. Memory speed depends on the processor installed, not just on the modules fitted.

Registered ECC and unbuffered non-ECC modules cannot be mixed, so a Core X system stays on UDIMMs and a Xeon W system on RDIMMs. Populate all four channels for bandwidth: four or eight modules in matched sets rather than an odd number. Matching DDR4 RDIMMs are listed under server memory; give us the current module part number or the service tag and we will match speed and rank.

Graphics

Two PCIe x16 Gen 3 graphics slots with up to 600 W of graphics power, which allows two double-width 300 W cards in a single-processor system. That is the same budget as the T7820 but without the T7820's restriction to single-width cards when a second processor is fitted, because the T5820 never has a second processor. Cards named in the Dell datasheet for the 5820 Tower:

Not every card is offered with Core X processors. Professional cards are stocked under graphics cards; a two-card build needs the 950 W supply.

Storage

Front FlexBays take up to four 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA hard drives or SSDs, rising to six 2.5-inch or five 3.5-inch drives once the 5.25-inch bay is populated. On the PCIe backplane chassis, FlexBay 1 accepts up to two hot-plug M.2 or U.2 NVMe SSDs through the integrated Intel controller, or up to four with the optional MegaRAID 9460 NVMe hardware RAID controller; Dell sells backplane and single M.2 module kits to convert a standard FlexBay. Away from the bays, the Dell Ultra-Speed Drive Quad x16 card carries four M.2 NVMe SSDs with active cooling and the Duo x8 card carries two. Total capacity reaches 60 TB.

Controller options:

SAS drives need one of the MegaRAID cards and are not offered on Core X systems. We stock suitable SAS, SATA and NVMe drives; confirm the caddy and backplane type with us before ordering.

Expansion slots and ports

All expansion slots are PCIe Gen 3: two x16, one x16 wired as x8, one x16 wired as x4, one x16 wired as x1, and a single legacy 32-bit 33 MHz PCI slot for older capture or interface cards. Networking is an integrated Intel i219 Gigabit Ethernet controller with Remote Wake Up, PXE and jumbo frame support; optional cards are the Intel i210 single-port gigabit adapter and the Intel X550-T2 dual-port 10GbE adapter. Other optional add-in cards are a two-port Thunderbolt 3 card with DisplayPort pass-through, a two-port USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C card, Teradici PCoIP remote workstation host cards in dual and quad display versions, and a serial port card.

• Front: 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, universal headphone jack
• Rear: 6 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (the sixth with Power Delivery), serial, RJ45, 2 x PS/2, audio line out, audio line in/microphone
• Internal: 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A, one 2 x 5 USB 2.0 header, 6 x SATA 6 Gb/s plus 2 for optical drives

Audio is an integrated Realtek ALC3234 two-channel codec with an internal speaker. Management is Intel AMT or vPro with DASH support (Xeon W only), plus Dell Command Suite, and the platform includes TPM 2.0.

Power supply

Two supply ratings were offered: 425 W and 950 W, both 100 to 240 VAC input, 90 percent efficient and 80 PLUS Gold certified. The supply is externally accessible, removable and lockable. A 425 W unit cannot carry a 600 W graphics load, so any dual-card build or a single high-end card with a full drive complement should be on the 950 W supply. The 950 W unit, Dell part D950EF-00, is shared with the T7820 and is stocked in Doha as a replacement part.

Physical specification

Supported operating systems

The Dell datasheet lists Windows 10 Pro for Workstations (in versions for up to four cores and for more than four cores), Windows 10 Pro for Core X Series processors, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0, Ubuntu Linux 18.04 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2, the last not available on Core X systems. Later releases are outside the datasheet; if you need a particular Windows 11 or Linux build confirmed on this platform, ask before ordering and we will check the configuration against Dell's current support matrix.

Buying a refurbished Dell Precision T5820 from ServerDove

ServerDove sells the T5820 as a barebone chassis and as a configured workstation built to your specification, alongside spare parts such as the 950 W supply. Refurbished units are tested before they are listed and are covered by the ServerDove warranty; extended cover can be quoted on request. Stock is held in Doha, so delivery across Qatar is typically one day.

To order a build, tell us the processor family, memory size, graphics card and drive layout you need and whether the unit should ship with an operating system installed. Base configuration, delivery and on-site installation are available as a service. If you are weighing the T5820 against the dual-socket T7820 or T7920, or another model in our Dell workstations range, send the application list and we will recommend one. Quotes by WhatsApp on +974 5521 2108, by email to sales@serverdove.com or through the contact page; bulk quotations are available for business customers.