[weathersoldier]

I have a Dell demension 3000, 2.8ghz, 512 ram, Ati 9250 256mb PCI graphics card and i was needing to know if there is any way i can swap out the motherboard for one that has either agp or pci express card slots. Ive been told my some that this isnt possible with dells and was just wanting to get a final answer from people who actually know what there talking about. Thanks

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The form factor on dell motherboards, as far as I know, is non-standard... meaning if you were to swap out the motherboards, a regular ATX form factor board would not fit the case... I do not know this for a fact, as though I have an old dell 2350, I have never tried.

[MikeFromNY]

The form factor on dell motherboards, as far as I know, is non-standard... meaning if you were to swap out the motherboards, a regular ATX form factor board would not fit the case... I do not know this for a fact, as though I have an old dell 2350, I have never tried.

[Neil Jones]

Dell, in common with most big OEMs, use MicroATX boards because its cheaper.

Therefore as long as the current board is swapped out with another MicroATX board, there should be no problem.

Be aware though that OEMs like Dell, HP and Compaq like to "tidy up" the front panel connectors in such a way as to make it hard if not impossible to reuse the case with another board.

Same can also be said about front USBs/Fireware/Audio connections as well, though these are rarer issues to worry about.

[Samm]

MikeFromNY is right, Dell does have a habit of using non-standard form factors.
For your particular system, you MAY find that another motherboard won't physically fit the case due to the screwholes for the spacers being in a different place. You will definately find that the rear I/O panel will be different (although this isn't usually a major problem) and you will probably find that the front panel connectors are different.

All in all, you should be prepared to buy a new case as well as a motherboard.

On the positive side however, the RAM used in the Dimension 3000 is fairly standard from what I can tell (non-ECC, unbuffered DDR) so this shouldn't cause a problem with the new board.

[weathersoldier]

Alright thanks for the help ya'll i appreciate it i was afraid that i wasnt going to be able to do much with it. Cant really expect much from a 500 dollar comp i guess o well it was a gift anyways. Ill just get a new case and board then looks like. Thanks for all the help!

[MikeFromNY]

I'd just like to add that you should make sure that the new motherboard you buy is compatible with your current processor (Same socket type) and I'd reccomend going with a regular ATX formfactor board if you're going with the new case. As for the case, I'd reccomend an ATX midtower, but an ATX desktop should serve you fine if you want to conserve space.

Edited by MikeFromNY, 31 October 2005 - 06:07 PM.

[Doby]

Hi,

Just like to add you'll probably need a new power supply too

Rick