Hey Guys,

I am about to do my first "mod". I plan on building a case from scratch and moving my Dell parts into it. I have a couple questions:

Would it be possible to hook it up with a new PSU(an X-Connect)
Could I eventually get a new CPU for it
Could I use different fans?
Most importantly, where do I start and where do I get the materials.

Thanks,
Jake

You should be able to use an X-connect psu with your dell motherboard. It uses a standard ATX connector.

Unless your mobo is a horrible proprietary one, it should work.

And of course you can add fans . The cpu upgrade depends on what your Dell motherboard will support, and I doubt it will support a higher cpu model.

Get a new motherboard to use with your current processor and overclock it IMO.

Nice start...........

Do you have any pictures...?

what kind of dell is it?

It is a Dell Dimension 4550 Desktop. I ordered the best parts they had(where you select cpu, videocard, sound, etc.). Sorry, no pics yet, I haven't started the mod.

Yeah, I'd check out the parts carefully as Dell has done some proprietary shenanigans with their hardware before. If it does transfer over...what are you planning to scratchbuild your case from? Aluminum? Acrylic? Carbon fiber? Wood? A composite? Some drawings or even some words about what you're planning to do would help us to help you find what you need.
Best of luck with the project.

What kind of tooling does aluminum require and where can I get some? That is the material I was planning on making it out of. I want to put a window in the top and left side. It will be a cube.


Jake

It all depends on what model you have and as someone else said, it all depends on how proprietary your motherboard is. You may or may not be able to use a standard ATX PSU to work. A lot of manufacturers have a slightyl different layout for the connector. With a normal PSU its doable, since you can unhook the pins and change stuff around. Impossible with an x-connect since its sealed up, but they do make adapters, but then youve got some big fugly thing sticking out even more than the bulky non-flexible xconnect connector (dont get me wrong, i love mine, but the atx cable is stiff as hell). Your other problem may be even worse depending on your motherboard, since some dont even have the same screw hole arrangement. That wouldnt be too much of a problem if your fabricating your case from scratch. You should be able to change out all the other components, RAM, CPU, etc, but before replacing your CPU i'd suggest overclocking it if its not too much of a piece of crap to begin with. That is if OCing is even possible with your dell motherboard.

Quote: Originally Posted by jb64 What kind of tooling does aluminum require and where can I get some? That is the material I was planning on making it out of. I want to put a window in the top and left side. It will be a cube. Jake

Ahhhh....aluminum. An excellent case material, and relatively easy to work with. For some ideas and tips on how to make a cube, check out hp07's excellent Hard Case mod. He got a great look in a very short amount of time. Aluminum is a softer metal, and will cut very easily with a Dremel, a jigsaw or my personal fave...a scrollsaw. Panels can be cut on a tablesaw with the proper blade, but be absolutely sure to wear eye protection. Aluminum splinters in your eye are very detrimental to your future modding career...unless you are very good with braille and think white canes are stylish. If your Dell has a proprietary motherboard mounting pattern, you might try doing what hp07 did and use that portion of your old case.

For aluminum sheet, try your local hardware stores, the bigger the better (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc), or metal fabrication shops that you may be able to pick up scraps from on the cheap. I found a local trailer fabricator that gave me a great price. Check the PimpRig guides for some good suggestions on working with acrylics, etching, etc.

Good luck with your mod...and have fun with it!

Im with wordbiker on the aluminum and using the mobo tray. It would be alot harder to fabricate the mobo tray and back plate. Good Luck on building the case. Remember to wear eyeprotection when ur cutting.

DO NOT USE A STANDARD ATX PSU WITH A DELL MOTHERBOARD!!!!!

The voltage outputs for a Dell power supply and a standard ATX PSU are completely different, you WILL roasticate your motherboard if you do this.

Is there a way to mod my Dell PSU? It will be in plain view and I dont want anyone to see an ugly grey box.


Jake

Well yeah just paint it and add an LED fan, or you could mod a window into it. Modding a Dell
PSU is no different from a regular PSU except the voltage outputs. The fans are all 12v.

Quote: Originally Posted by j-dogg Well yeah just paint it and add an LED fan, or you could mod a window into it. Modding a Dell PSU is no different from a regular PSU except the voltage outputs. The fans are all 12v.

Yeah, get a clear cover kit for it, and an LED fan or two (however many it has). If you really do need more power than it has, try to find an adapter for it. Somebody was asking about it the other day, ill see if i can find the thread.

BTW: FYI, a Xconnect PSU will work on that 4550. looked it up and third party PSUs will not burn out the board. The PSUs that go into Dells are not proprietary, they are standard 20pin connectors. No special voltage requirements. The ones dell sells are just generic lower wattage PSUs.

Quote: Originally Posted by Zer0s BTW: FYI, a Xconnect PSU will work on that 4550. looked it up and third party PSUs will not burn out the board. The PSUs that go into Dells are not proprietary, they are standard 20pin connectors. No special voltage requirements. The ones dell sells are just generic lower wattage PSUs.

Yea, wtf are you talkin about j-dogg

I have seen dells that can only use dell power suplies..IMO dells are good for office work..buts thats it :\

older dells yes, but the new systems are not like that. untill you get in the small form factors and small desktop chassis. even then, still the same 20 pin connector.

Just worked on a 4550 a few weeks ago for a kid that wanted to do the same thing as you. My suggestion to you is scrap the motherboard, PSU, and then maybe the CPU. Buy a new motherboard with overclocking capability(a nice Abit or the like), and then OC that processor. When I searched on Newegg for an Intel motherboard for that processor, I couldn't find anything as good as the AMD counterparts so I just bought a Sempron 2400+ and a Abit NF7-S. Easily OC'ed to 2ghz, plenty of room to go.

Main reason behind this is because the Dell hardware is not made for performance. If you want a rig that you can tweak, then Dell hardware is definitely not for you.

BTW, the Dell motherboard does have a standard ATX connector. It's missing a wire or two on the Dell PSU, but they are the same.

One strange thing I ran into was that the HDD was swapped over from the Dell PC to the new rig I built with the Abit NF7-S and booted into windows without a hitch. Don't know if everything was performing up to par, but the hardware monitoring utility would not function correctly so a reinstall would probably fix that. Keep that in mind if you switch over hard drives, to reinstall windows even if it appears to work fine.

Sorry, haven't posted in a while because I have been messing with my dads new Sony Vaio Laptop. It is a really cool computer. My goal with my dell is to eventually get all new parts and have a completly different rig. Now about that AMD Sempron 2400+, how high does it clock? Also, what mobo do you reccomend? One more thing, eventually, I want to get a high performance Videocard...what would you reccomend for that? I want to be able to play games like Half Life 2 and Doom 3.



Thanks,

Jake