Re-Building Computer - Problems

Thranduil · TweakNOOB Joined: 17 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Berkeley

I recently picked my self up a ATI 9800 pro with 128 onboard to replace my gforce 2 with 32 onboard. I then found out that my power supply in my dell 4400 wasnt powerful enough, and that dell didnt make any other PSUs for that comp. So i got an antec PSU, and dell decided to make the a plate on the case over where the PSU is so that its cut outs are incompatable with any other PSU on the market. I had 2 options: take a dremmel to the case, or get a new case. Both options would require me to take everything out of my comp and then put it back in. I decided aginst taking a dremmel to it, becuase I figuerd I would alredy have to take everything out, and who knows when I have to cut the case again.
So I got an Antec Sonata case, which has a front port with USB, Firewire, sound ect. Im looking at these cables, and im looking at the cabels on my dell for its front panel connecting to my mobo. The dell has one ribbion cable which is smaller than the IDE cables for my HD's and Drives. The antec case has many smaller cabels for each part of the front board. What do I have to do to get these to work? The only reason I need them to, is becuse the power button on the antec case appers to be connected through these cables to my mobo.

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smith.p.sean · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:18 pm Post subject:

Yes, power reset and the other lights on the front of ur computer are through those wires. We need a motherboard model to even start trying to help u... its going to suck and ur going to need to do some soldering i suspect. Moving from a dell case to a new case is pretty much a no go. You would be better off cutting out the back of the dell case.

sorry dude. But still give us the mobo information part number or model and well see what we can do.

Yoshida · UberTweaker Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 1219

I had this problem when i took my old emachine out of its case and put it into an xdreamer case. For power and reset buttons you should be fine. Just connect those to the power/reset leads on your motherboard. but unless you get a new motherboard i dont think you can use the front usb/firewire

smith.p.sean · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:22 pm Post subject:

hm... perhaps i understood him wrong. I thought that he has a single ribbon that came from the front of his old case and plugged into the mobo? and that the new case had regular power stuff and therefore wouldnt fit the plug... my bad.

Thranduil · TweakNOOB Joined: 17 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Berkeley

Id love to be able to tell you the motherboard manufacture and number, but i just spent the last 2 hours trying to find it with no avail. I was able to find out its not an intel board, but has an intre 845 chipset. Would it be possible to switch the front I/O cards?

Thranduil · TweakNOOB Joined: 17 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Berkeley

hm.. cant find the edit button, damn PHP. And yea, i do have on ribbion comming from the front I/O card. Im not sure if the power and reset buttons come from it, but there is an internal power cable going from the fron I/O card to my mobo, and a single ribbon. There is also a smaller ribbion going up from there front I/O card that looks like it must be going to the power switch

smith.p.sean · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:27 pm Post subject:

the old case or old paperwork has a dell computer type right?? like HP has the presario 512n?? if u can find a model number or something i can look it up on dell.

Thranduil · TweakNOOB Joined: 17 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Berkeley

its a dell dimension 4400 with a 1.6 p4.

smith.p.sean · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:45 pm Post subject:

hm... ok, i have not been able to find the name of the mobo. U got basically 2 options. Call dell and tell them they suck and have them walk you through putting it in the new case because they would know best. Or guess and check with the new wires. I would call dell and see what they could do for you.

Silver_Panther · TweakNOOB Joined: 23 Dec 2004 Posts: 54

Why not just pick ya up a new motherboard from www.newegg.com? You can get a decent mobo for around 40 bucks now days. And it'd probably be better than what the dell's mobo. :)

mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

Your Dell has a 1.6GHz, 400MHz fsb P4 cpu and a 4x AGP slot. While the 9800 PRO will run on the 4x bus, you won't be able to take full advantage of the card. Since you already have case, psu and video, a new mobo may be a good choice here. I can tell you that trying to get the Dell mobo to work in another case will be a real pain and even the psu connectors may be proprietary.

Depending on how much you want to spend, there are quite a number of things you can do here, but you need to decide what you want out of the machine when you're done. I'm assuming you want to do some gameing. What else?

There are some very sharp folks on this board and we'll be glad to help you.

Ham_fisT · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:17 pm Post subject:

I have done this...

the USB are next to impossible, but you need to reverse engineer the buttons on the dell case..you can cut the wires right at the old power switch, and connect them to the jumper on the new case, then do the same for the HDD act., and power LED's.

What I did was cut the wires, and solder a short piece of stiff wire to them, that way I could just insert them into the plugs on the new jumpers, then use some electrical tape to make sure it all stays together, that way...when you get a new Motherboard...you haven't destroyed the connections in the new case
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mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

Ham_fisT · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:26 pm Post subject:

I bought an X-superalien case that had an Aspire 500w ATX, and it plugged straight into my old Dell 1.8 Celery board.
I read all the horror stories about Proprietary PSU's after I put it all together

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Thranduil · TweakNOOB Joined: 17 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Berkeley

The Dell is one of the few where it actually IS ATX standard, insted of looking like one but not being one so you fry the mobo. I think im just going to bite the bullet and get a new Mobo, and while im at it i might as well get a new processor, HD, and CD drives and have my self a new computer so i can sell the old one for a bit of cash to cover the cost of the new components. Any sugestions on what to get for mobo and cpu? The Drives sould be easy enough to find. Im considering using AMD as it is a known fact that they are better for gaming, but i dont know if that will make my life easier or harder in the process of compatability. I do want DDR SDRAM ram, as i just upgraded a bunch of ram in my comp and dont want to lose that.

mojo1340 · UberTweaker Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1022

I think that's a good plan. You'll be much happier this way. I'll leave you in the capable hands of the AMD guys. You've already got a really good start. Just make sure you give all the info you have on your RAM so everybody's on the same page.

The only other thing I might add is that you'll want to put another fan in that case. This review may be helpful (shameless plug):
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/tt120/

Good luck!

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Yup, that's your best plan. Trying to upgrade a Dell is an excercise in frustration. What you'll find when you try to put a new mobo in that case, is that the standoffs don't line up, and only the ones in high-support areas, like near the PCI slots. While it's mechanically and ATX compliant board, it's just different enough to prevent you from buying from another vendor. Easy fix, if you have a drill and a tap/die set........ :)

I'd just build a new system, like you're planning. It'll be much easier.
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