Can mATX fit in Dell Dimension 4600?

[masshass81]

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 and the PSU just recently died. The warranty is over and to get it shipped and repaired along with parts would be expensive. I wanted to know if I could fit a Micro ATX mobo in the Dell 4600 system (its a mini-tower) since the Dell mobo look exactly like a mATX. This would allow me to get a PSU without having to worry about proprietary power connectors and I also wouldnt have to buy a new tower.

 

[masshass81]

sorry, NM, shoulda figured this out myself.. The case's power switch connector to the mobo on Dells are proprietary..

 

[LouPoir]

Originally posted by: masshass81
sorry, NM, shoulda figured this out myself.. The case's power switch connector to the mobo on Dells are proprietary..

Yeah - I just rewired it and it works super.

Lou

 

[mechBgon]

The Dimension 4600 that I saw had a funky motherboard where the fore pair of DIMM slots were angled, presumably so the case can clam shut. Might want to look at yours and see if it's like that. Isn't it under warranty? That's not that old of a model, is it?

 

[Zap]

If you were going to be buying a motherboard and power supply, may as well get a case to go along it. Those Dell motherboards (5 slots) are bigger than mATX (4 slots) but smaller than ATX (7 slots). Besides the mounting hole there are some slots that mount to extrusions in the case which are non-standard. That's before you try to figure out the pinout of the power switch.

There may be some good news for you, you can probably put a normal ATX power supply into the case. I just did that earlier this week with a similar Dell. A normal ATX power supply worked just fine except I had to trim the case to allow for the power supply because the Dell case covers the entire power supply, with just a hole for the power outlet and a SECOND grill covering the fan grill punched into the power supply. I just cut out a hole so that it looked like the opening of a normal case. All four screw holes were there and in the proper place. The original power supply only had two screws holding it in, plus a spring clip that latches into a notch in the power supply. Since the aftermarket unit didn't have the notch, I just bent back the clip and used all four mounting screws.