• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Dell 4600 setup so far:

D

dakels

Platinum Member
I am in the process of setting up my new dell 4600. I pulled the (2) 80gb maxtors DM9's out of my 4550 to replace the stock 30 gig in the 4600. The audigy platinum and NEC DVD+RW went well but the HD's are not doing so well due to the old windows XP install on the 4550. It would have been 10x smarter to have a fresh install ready but I wanted to try to avoid reinstalling all my apps because I will have to do it again when I get new SATA Raptor drives in a week. I thought I could get by with a drive swap and reinstall of XP. I ran into some problems. Some people were curious so I am posting my status here.

I would also like to note that Dell tech support (Manager) informed me that I can swap the PSU with a non dell PSU. It voids the warranty coverage but so does about all the other crap I switched over like the Zalman 7000 AICu, 80mm Thermaltake smart fan II's, HD's, IOSS RD3XP round shielded cables, etc. I plan on throwing all the guts of the dell 4600 into a Antec 1080AMG case with Truepower 430 PSU. I asked specifically with 2 tech support people at dell and they told me that I should need a special cable or converter or anything to use a non dell PSU.

Originally posted by: dakels
well I got my 4600... The case sucks! Its small, cramped and drives are a b!tch to install. Reminds me of the old cases, just a little better, but barely. I am going to put it into a Antec 1080AMG with a True 430 PSU (Check staples antec case deal thread). I'll have to see if I need that $10 power converter but I think it's a dell PSU thing, not the mobo.

Only problem is that when I swapped my HD's over I thought I could reinstall... there is an admin password to reinstall... I am calling dell to see if they know the password because it is not a default and I sure as heck didnt put one in. My 400mhz RAM is also only coming in at 266mhz...

:disgust:
Click to expand...
OK let me elaborate:

I just realized I posted this in the 8300 thread not the 4600 thread but anyways,
the case. The case on the 4600 is smaller, I'd say about 3/4 the size of the 4550/8300 case. It doesn't open up like a clam shell like the other so its a pain to access the back of the optical drives due to how close the back of it is to the PSU. It also has no drive rails which I can deal with. Installation is not too hard, it's plugging the ide and audio cables in such a tight space is hard. I actually had to plug in the cables first then thread them through the 5.25" bay and set my drive in. The Hard drive bays are also mounted vertically. Although drives can run in any which position, I always find HD's don't like being mounted in a non normal fashion. Usually for me it results in premature aging of the HD bearings and they start screeching. That just my personal experience, not a rule. The rest of the case is ok, the exterior is nice and they put the front side ports facing forward instead of that stupid 45 degree downangle on the 4550. Other then that it's ok, just not fun to work in.

I reinstalled XP home from my dell recovery disk. It worked and I am running ok now. The admin password i reffered to before shouldn't effect you. I spoke with dell tech support and they don't know about the password or why it's active. They is also a known bug with some windows XP CD's that ask for this password when it's not supposed to. This is not a dell issue, but a windows XP issue. Google "XP admin password reinstall" or something and you'll see some complaints about it. I reinstalled XP and it's finally working now but my RAM is registering at 266mhz which is totally off. The 865PE chipset is supposed to run at either 333mhz DDR or 400mhz native. My RAM is all 400mhz PC3200. I don't know why it's running on the dell bios menu as 266mhz. It is running dual channel and the HT is on. Everything is starting to look ok but the RAM. I am currently running Dell's bootable system checker CD. It's been testing everything for about 3 hours now on the long test. Haven't seen any problem yet. I will also start swaapping RAM to try to isolate if there is a problem with one of the chips. I didnt try just Dell's stock chips. I installed my kingston Hyper X PC3200 CL2 ram from the start so maybe thats the problem. I wish I had a board that could run 400mhz DDR so I could test it but I don't. Dell's bios gives you no options to corce a speed ot timing on RAM either.

I'll let you know what happens.
 
price me out the contents of the dell 4600 even with a good vendor like newegg. Its gonna cost alot more then $600 I paid.

2.8C 800fsb processor and Radeon 9800 alone are the $600 I paid.

yanno, after the case and PSU switch, the only dell part on the system will be the motherboard. Which I may switch now too. Still, if I grab a 2.4C and ageforce FX 5200 it leaves with a system I can sell to a friend to recoup some cost. Even if all i used out of the new 4600 is the R9800 and 2.8C processor, with the $300 difference in selling the rest, I get a R9800 and 2.8C for $300, not to mention the software like Office XP I got too.
 
yea it's definitely a PITA but if you're up for the work of swapping everything, you can save yourself $300-500 easily. It's a very weird way to build a computer, and I never intended to take it so far, but I think when all is done I will have done well.

Dell 4600
2.8C
865PE chipset
30gb HD
CD or CDRW and $100 DVD+RW option
Radeon 9800
XP
Office XP
256mb 400mhz DDR

$600

Now if I take the 2.8C and replace it with a 2.4C, take out the R9800 and put in a FX 5200 or similar, sell the comp for $500. Now I could easily sell the 2.4C/FX 5200 system for $500 asn still feel like I am giving them a deal. Or sell it for $600 and still not feel guilty. or I could be an Egay thief and sell it for $700+. But even if I just sell it for $500 my total cost for the 2.8C, R9800, and Office XP I took away cost me $360. Not a bad way IMO to start building a custom rig.

It's just a weird little experiment for me. I enjoy working with hardware too so it's semi fun. In the end I will have a custom built machine and saved $300+ on top end equipment and software I need.
 
heh, swapping parts from the dell, that is a weird way to do it.

heh, you're taking parts out of a dell case and getting rid of the case, i'm taking a dell case and putting an athlon in it. project dimentia! 😀

i need to cut a window
 
What about airflow is it designed well and comes with a good fan yet quite fan.

Oh and last thing did you order a Floppy drive?

if not does the front panel have an open to add on but still make it look the same?

I called dell asking and tell said no. But since you got it already it would be nice to know. If it does I'm gonna call dell to have them remove the floppy as I have a few lying around and I ain't paying 20 bucks for theres.

 
nice one ElFinix 😛 opposite of me. I gotta say the 4550/8300 case is a really nice mid size end user case. The exterior is nice and the interior is easy to work with and has a good airflow. The 4600/2350 case... well it could be worse. Its a modest little case with no extras, good for the surfer/office user I am selling it to who will never open it.

herkulease:
The airflow in the 4600 without rounded cables will be pretty crappy but not worse then any other average case of it's type. The CPU goes right to a hood/exhaust so your main heat concern shouldn't be an issue. The rest of the case has a decent but not great airflow, rounded cables will help that alot. I don't foresee any problems for normal use in warm ambient conditions. Acceptable for the normal user IMO. If you want rounded cables, I highly recommend getting shielded ones. You don't have to go top shelf like my IOSS RD3XP's but $6-8 shielded rounded cables should be good. If you want to do some extreme cooling, this tiny cramped case is not the best environment. Normal use, it's fine. Just a bit more time consuming to add/replace parts.
Mine doesn't have a floppy but the case still has a floppy front cover so I can easily add a 3rd party floppy and use the case facade. I'm glad they did that and not just put some blank cover there. Your 3rd party floppy should fit fine into the case layout and work just like it was preinstalled.
 
Originally posted by: herkulease
What about airflow is it designed well and comes with a good fan yet quite fan.

Oh and last thing did you order a Floppy drive?

if not does the front panel have an open to add on but still make it look the same?

I called dell asking and tell said no. But since you got it already it would be nice to know. If it does I'm gonna call dell to have them remove the floppy as I have a few lying around and I ain't paying 20 bucks for theres.
Click to expand...

dells have great airflow, and thermally controlled exhaust fans. the best thing about the airflow design is that the air thats heated by the heat sink is sucked directly to the outside of the system, no hot air just being recirculated inside the case.

i'm not actually modding one of the recent cases, i'm modding an old beige one. need to get some automotive paint 🙂

as for cables, rounded cables have never been proven to increase airflow. air doesn't need all that much space to get through.
 
Originally posted by: dakels
Mine doesn't have a floppy but the case still has a floppy front cover so I can easily add a 3rd party floppy and use the case facade. I'm glad they did that and not just put some blank cover there. Your 3rd party floppy should fit fine into the case layout and work just like it was preinstalled.
Click to expand...


Bastard dell people. I hope it doesn't delay my order. Its already CHecked off the testing. and is going to boxing. I hope I can still drop it.
 
lol are you seriously gonna cut a window into the dell case? 😕

btw I already ordered the Antec 1080AMG case, by the looks of it I am getting a new mobo too. I don't like the fact that I spent a buttload of money on high performance 400mhz CL 2-2-2-6 512mb chips and I cannot control it at all or even see my timings from the bios. I also got a nice Zalman 7000 AICuwith AS3 and would like to see how well this 2.8C OC's. Dunno what mobo I want though. Maybe the Gigabyte 8KNXP or Albatron PX865PE Pro II. Not sure yet till I understand the value of the differences for me.
 
Originally posted by: herkulease
Originally posted by: dakels
Mine doesn't have a floppy but the case still has a floppy front cover so I can easily add a 3rd party floppy and use the case facade. I'm glad they did that and not just put some blank cover there. Your 3rd party floppy should fit fine into the case layout and work just like it was preinstalled.
Click to expand...


Bastard dell people. I hope it doesn't delay my order. Its already CHecked off the testing. and is going to boxing. I hope I can still drop it.
Click to expand...

better drop it quick. soon as its on that loading dock its impossible to cancel.

dell's sales reps have never been accused of, as a whole, knowing the product they're selling. i should know, i used to work there 😀


as for the window, the side of the case is just a metal shield that is held on with a couple flattened plastic lugs to the plastic side. shouldn't be very hard to remove the metal shield. then its just cutting some plastic
 
heh, you're taking parts out of a dell case and getting rid of the case, i'm taking a dell case and putting an athlon in it. project dimentia!
Click to expand...
ElFenix:
What model of DELL case are you using? Also, Are you putting a standard ATX mobo in there? What amounts of moding(Read: cutting😉 ) are you having to do this? I had an older optiplex a while ago that I contemplated doing the same thing to althoug htis one had the slide-out PCI/ISA slots cage that would have made it real hard to mod without a whole lot of modding. the one single thing I liked about that case was the swing-up powersupply bracket.
 
ok got a bit of a problem here... My Kingston Hyper X PC 3200 CL 2-2-2-6 is running on the Dell 865PE motherboard dual channel at 333mhz. I cant get it to run at 400mhz and dell's bios controls is about as helpful as a pile of dirt.

I first tested the motherboard stock and the 2x dual channel 128mb chips from dell clocked in the bios at 400mhz... fine.
Then I added my new HyperX PC3200 and it was at 266mhz!!! Then I removed everything and tested each chip at a time. The dell chips came in at 400mhz, the HyperX at 333mhz each. Now I am running the 2 HyperX in dual channel and have the dell chips out. The 2 HyperX chips are running dual channel @ 333mhz. Dell's bios has no way to force the RAM to run at faster mhz or even view latency timings.

WTF!

I plan on ordering a Asus P4P800 Deluxe or fork over the serious dough for a Gigabyte GA-8KNXP. Until then I don't know whether to RMA this RAM or what. I can't imagine both chips are bad. I bet the motherboard can't handle the 2-2-2-6 SPD and may be running it a 333mhz to compensate?

any thoughts? This is really pi$$ing me off as I spent alot of money on this RAM when I already have 2 HyperX 333mhz chips I could have used for this result. I don't know what MB I want yet but hopefully decide by tommorrow so I can make the order and hopefully have the mobo by friday. Gives me enough time to test out the RAM and see if I need to RMA it.
 
Originally posted by: dakels
anybody have any thoughts on the ram? Bad or a mobo limitation?
Click to expand...
Picky bios most likely. I tried 512MB OCZ CAS 2 PC3200, in single channel and dual channel configuration but it wouldn't even boot up. Bought Crucial PC3200 and installed it along with the OCZ, which booted but only worked at 333MHz. Eventually just went with the Crucials which work properly 400MHz.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top