[Blub man]

I am upgrading my current computer, a dell (piii), to an athlon 64 but the power supply isn't big enough. Are the Dell cases, normal ATX cases so i can just get a new PSU, or do i need a new case. I've heard that Dell make there own wierd fittings.

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I am upgrading my current computer, a dell (piii), to an athlon 64 but the power supply isn't big enough. Are the Dell cases, normal ATX cases so i can just get a new PSU, or do i need a new case. I've heard that Dell make there own wierd fittings.

Dell uses Proprietary power supplies meaning they only fit DELL pc's.. You need to get a new psu in order for it to work. A regular atx mobo should fit in the case and the psu aswell.. To be shure send a link that shows a picture of your exact pc tower..

[jrm20]

I am upgrading my current computer, a dell (piii), to an athlon 64 but the power supply isn't big enough. Are the Dell cases, normal ATX cases so i can just get a new PSU, or do i need a new case. I've heard that Dell make there own wierd fittings.

Dell uses Proprietary power supplies meaning they only fit DELL pc's.. You need to get a new psu in order for it to work. A regular atx mobo should fit in the case and the psu aswell.. To be shure send a link that shows a picture of your exact pc tower..

[Blub man]

So basically I need a new case or a special Dell PSU. Thats all i need to know, it might have saved me a couple of quid thats all.

[jrm20]

So basically I need a new case or a special Dell PSU. Thats all i need to know, it might have saved me a couple of quid thats all.

You dont need a special dell psu I dont know where you came up with that but I would get a new case and not use the old dell case anyways. You will still need a standard powersupply from a good manufacturer like antec, enermax, ocz, ultra, etc..

[SRX660]

You can wire a standard ATX PS to work in a dell. Heres the differences between them. Be sure to check how your dell pinout looks. Dell has used standard ATX pinout since 2002.

http://pinouts.ru/Po...er_pinout.shtml

http://pinouts.ru/Po...er_pinout.shtml

SRX660

[jrm20]

You can wire a standard ATX PS to work in a dell. Heres the differences between them. Be sure to check how your dell pinout looks. Dell has used standard ATX pinout since 2002.

http://pinouts.ru/Po...er_pinout.shtml

http://pinouts.ru/Po...er_pinout.shtml

SRX660

That would be something that experienced people could do. Not everyone knows how to rewire the powersupply. Someone with alittle knowledge on wiring and soldering could possibly rewire it but, its not a good idea for everyone. Alot of people just wont be able to understand how to do something like that.

[SRX660]

Sorry, JRM.

I sometimes forget that many do not want to delve that far into computers.

SRX660

[Bartender]

To the rest of the group -
I'd sure like to see a definitive answer to this ongoing Dell PSU story - I've read that they no longer use a proprietary wiring scheme and haven't for several years. But plenty of folks claim Dell is still committing this nefarious act.

To the original poster -
If you're replacing the original Dell motherboard with a standard off-the-shelf motherboard and you're buying an off-the-shelf PSU, you don't need to worry about this confusing Dell wiring issue. The only time it's an issue is when people keep a Dell motherboard and use a standard PSU, or keep the Dell PSU and plug it into a standard motherboard. That's when the sparks and smoke and cussing starts.

[jrm20]

**TO CLEAR THINGS UP** Its not complicated.

If your going to make the switch from an old dell pentium3 to any amd your going to need a new motherboard, new processor and new powersupply and I would get a new case aswell to get away from the crappy dell cases.

NO matter what your gonna have to get a new powersupply anyways because the powersupplies used in the older pentium 3 especially dell is not going to have enough watts to power a newer amd 64 system.

Dell uses low wattage powersupplies in all of there pc's except the newer xps series even if it was a standard psu it still wont work... Im pretty shure the old pentium3 series were all proprietary powersupplies on the dell pc's which only work with dell.


It doesnt matter about the year they stopped doing proprietary power supplies, it depends which model pc you have from dell.. That is something you will have to look at yourself by opening your pc and seeing if its not a standard hookup. A proprietary psu from dell has a normal 20 pin connector then it has an extra lead coming off of it with another connector. The other connector is a 6 pin smaller connector called a Dell Auxiliary power connector.

So if your dell powersupply has a 20 pin atx connector and a 6 pin Dell Auxiliary power connector it is a proprietary power supply and it will only work on dell proprietary motherboards.

[Blub man]

Thanks for all your replies, i did misunderstand you jrm20 but i understand now. I do actually like my dell case, granted it does use a case fan with a funnel attached instead of a CPU fan but i can remove that and use that as an extra case fan. I am quite good at soldering and electronics in general (i've built my own amplifier) but the PSU isn't at a high enough wattage to use anyway. So just to finalise things, I can use my old case but i will need new PSU to go with my new mobo.


P.S. I'm not from Urugia, i'm actually from UK!

Edited by Blub man, 24 September 2006 - 03:21 PM.