[brettt777]

I have a 4 year old Dell XPS 710 that I am wanting to replace, but it looks my budget for this project may not be as large as I had hoped. So, I am wondering if at least a few of the existing parts would work with a newer system. I had already planned on using the existing X-fi audio card and DVD burner. I would love to be able to use the existing tower and power supply. I know that the XPS 710 power supply is rated at either 750W or 1KW. The question is, will it work with a modern motherboard and video card? And, will a modern motherboard/CPU/cooler combo fit in the XPS 710 tower? I would think that wouldn't be a problem; the thing is huge, but...

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Dell is notorious for using non-standard parts, including power supplies. I would verify it complies with the ATX Form Factor standard before attempting to use that PSU.

Generally, there is not much you can carry over from a factory build to a custom build - except perhaps the keyboard, mouse and monitor. The DVD burner might work. As for sound, it is likely any new motherboard will have excellent sound integrated into the board.

[Digerati]

Dell is notorious for using non-standard parts, including power supplies. I would verify it complies with the ATX Form Factor standard before attempting to use that PSU.

Generally, there is not much you can carry over from a factory build to a custom build - except perhaps the keyboard, mouse and monitor. The DVD burner might work. As for sound, it is likely any new motherboard will have excellent sound integrated into the board.

[brettt777]

I will check into the power supply issue. I wonder what type of motherboard the XPS 710 used? I know it would be some proprietary thing but is it ATX, mini-ATX or what? I guess I'm gonna have to break down and pull the thing out and open it up again. It's so big it's like a piece of furniture.

As for the DVD burner, they did have SATA DVD drives 4-5 years ago didn't they? I am pretty sure the one time I looked inside the 710 I saw that that all the drives were SATA. Is SATA backward compatable, i.e. will a SATA 1 device work in a SATA 3 or 6 port?

These integrated sound motherboards, would you say they have better audio quality than a Creative X-Fi audio card and software? I have wondered about that because it seems like when anyone gives their build specs anymore, rarely is any kind of specific audio card mentioned.

Edited by brettt777, 16 July 2011 - 11:23 AM.

[brettt777]

Never mind about the motherboard. The XPS 710 uses a BTX form factor. ATX won't fit at all which probably means the power supply won't work either. Maybe there is still hope for the DVD drive.

[Digerati]

Hmmm, I answered this yesterday but my post is not here!

They had SATA DVD drives 4 or 5 years ago but not likely in a factory build as they were still pretty expensive.

These integrated sound motherboards, would you say they have better audio quality than a Creative X-Fi audio card and software? I have wondered about that because it seems like when anyone gives their build specs anymore, rarely is any kind of specific audio card mentioned.

You have to remember that more and more computers are being integrated into home theater systems where they are running $10,000 (or more) speaker systems. And that does not include the electronics (receiver/amplifiers) to run them.

So yes, integrated audio is more than capable. And likely more so than a 4 or 5 year old sound card.

SATA is frontwards and backwards compatible - though of course throughput will be limited by the slowest device.