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Sick of Dell (and dell propreitary)!

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Hey guys I'm new to the forums... :D And to computer building and mods!

Ok, after opening up my system and getting ready to put my new nvidia 8800 graphics card (and 700w power supply) in my Dell XPS Gen 3 I realized Dell has completely screwed me over. Not only is their motherboard completely proprietary, but so are their pin connectors. At this point I felt completely stupid, which then moved to a huge amount of frustration.

"If I wanted an xbox 360 I would have bought a damn xbox 360!"

Anyway...I have now decided to go ahead and buy a new mother board, keep my ram, and my p4(3.6ghz ht) processor. I was wondering if you guys could give me any recommendations and pointers on what mother board I could buy to fit my processor, and ram... Also any recommendations on a heat sink, cooling, case, ect.... My 3rd party power supply is a 700w power supply(24 pin).

Tech specs:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimxpsg3/SM/specs.htm#wp1052939


Any help would be greatly appreciated...
 
Last edited:

GLD

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Wile E

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GLD

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Indeed, both of those seem like they will do the trick. However, I am still considering the SLI option with a little bit of over clocking on my processor. To do this I will need a new motheboard, because I only have one pci-e slot.

(Additionally, with the converter wires, what will I do with the power supply I have. I don't have way to much room in my case, because dell made a custom ps. Modding my case is an option i guess.)
 

Wile E

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Indeed, both of those seem like they will do the trick. However, I am still considering the SLI option with a little bit of over clocking on my processor. To do this I will need a new motheboard, because I only have one pci-e slot.

(Additionally, with the converter wires, what will I do with the power supply I have. I don't have way to much room in my case, because dell made a custom ps. Modding my case is an option i guess.)
Yep, cut and drill time. lol
 
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Once you know anything about replacing your own parts/building, it does not make sense to buy these crappy prebuilt systems because of the propreitary issues and bloated software packages. Tear that f'in board out of there, and replace it with a decent ASUS board.
 

Solaris17

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watch out for the custom mobo screw holes ;) or do they not do that anymore?
 
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Get a new case, like a Centurion 5 then get a better processor, that P4 of yours that u are going to buy is going to bottleneck.
 
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well im back, kind of a late reply but oh well...

anyway, ive got the money to upgrade now :toast:

could anyone offer suggestions on a dual core processor and motherboard combo with pci-e connections...

i have:

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card

+ 700w power supply.

any other suggestions would also be a great help! (cases, cooling systems, ect)
 

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The reason why you are having a tough time with your upgrades is this ;

Dell's newer lineup, newer gen Demensions and especialy their XPS line uses a BTX footprint. I found this out for myself one day after thinking about buying a barebone XPS 720 case. Upgrading these PCs is seriously quite limited and usualy can only be done through Dell (at a premium cost too I might add). The sad fact is that BTX is quite rare and finding new/replacement parts for these Dells is going to get quite frustrating, to say the least.

I was never able to find a power supply unit that would physicaly fit inside this case without some major modifications! Trying to find an original Dell BTX PSU for these cases was a little tough too and in the end, cost waaaaay too much so I eventualy abandoned the project.

Newegg happens to have a small handfull of BTX products but they aren't cheap, either.

BTX Motherboards / Intel

Power Supply / BTX - Only one unit to choose from and it probably has the same specs as the unit currently in you Dell XPS atm... :twitch:

As you can see, not very many choices when it comes to upgrades for these Dells. Any chance of getting your money back from Dell and doing a custom build instead? ;)
 
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Please refer to my post in general hardware. I'm building an entirly new rig and have choosen a motherboard but have chosen the socket 775 processor yet.:pimp:
 
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Also the worst part about my computer is that the custom ps is as tall as the box. It is horrible.
 
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New case and motherboard next. Does it use DDR2? Might as well get a e6420 then too!
 

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why not just send the damn thing back and build a new one?
 
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Redirect posts to the general hardware post I created. I'm already in the process of doing so.:banghead:
 
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