dell 4600c has SATA port but how power it up???

[redgtxdi]

So, this is a "just for kicks" project. Since the XP expiration, I've had to finally power-down old faithful.....Dell 4600c, P4 - 2.4, 2gb ram, 500gb PATA drive, DVDRW, etc. This sucker has made the energizer bunny look lazy. Most reliable computer I've ever had.

Nevertheless, I'm kinda' thinkin' about loading Win7 on it & playing around. Just wanna see if it'll work as a backup & I can just leave it where it's been & people could still use it, almost like a NAS but with monitor, dvd drive, etc.

I want to pull the 500GB PATA & put it in an enclosure for long-term storage & throw another drive in which would probably be SATA. I finally found where they hide the SATA port but not seeing SATA power cable. I'm thinking I might need this.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Dell-Di...ATA-Power-Cable-Assy-DP-N-J0067-/230928290569

.....but not sure. Maybe I can just use a more simple adapter cable?? Or maybe SATA's hidden in the power supply somewhere?? (shrug)

TIA for any info.

 

[vailr]

If a molex power cable is available, use this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-IDE-Molex-To-Serial-ATA-SATA-4-PIN-Power-Adapter-cable-/360910336377

 

[DesiPower]

those old computers have a sata port? where?!?!?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

those old computers have a sata port? where?!?!?

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...tops/dimension-4600c_service manual_en-us.pdf

It's in there somewhere. Multiple references in the tech manual.

 

[mfenn]

If a molex power cable is available, use this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-IDE-Molex-To-Serial-ATA-SATA-4-PIN-Power-Adapter-cable-/360910336377

Yep, all you need is a Molex to SATA power adapter. It's a simple pin adapter because desktop drives don't use the 3.3V that is available on the SATA power connector.

Back in the early days of SATA, SATA drives came with both SATA and Molex power connectors, so manufacturers didn't bother including SATA power connectors on their power supplies.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yep, all you need is a Molex to SATA power adapter. It's a simple pin adapter because desktop drives don't use the 3.3V that is available on the SATA power connector.

I get mine in bulk (10+ lots) at either Meritline.com or Monoprice.com. I end up using them a lot, especially in budget builds where the case PSU only includes a single SATA power.

Back in the early days of SATA, SATA drives came with both SATA and Molex power connectors, so manufacturers didn't bother including SATA power connectors on their power supplies.

LOL. I had forgotten about that one.

Here's one - did you know that the reason that PCI slots are reversed (compared to ISA), is that some mobos included "combo slots", with both an ISA and PCI in the same slot? That was because of early IRQ routing issues, and there were some cards (I've seen them), that plugged into BOTH PCI and ISA, simply to access the ISA busses' IRQ lines.

There were VLB cards that were like that too, that plugged into both VLB and ISA, to access the ISA IRQ lines. Mostly disk controllers. That was a lot easier though, since VLB was physically positioned at the end of the ISA slot. No need for "combo" slots.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I get mine in bulk (10+ lots) at either Meritline.com or Monoprice.com. I end up using them a lot, especially in budget builds where the case PSU only includes a single SATA power.


LOL. I had forgotten about that one.

Here's one - did you know that the reason that PCI slots are reversed (compared to ISA), is that some mobos included "combo slots", with both an ISA and PCI in the same slot? That was because of early IRQ routing issues, and there were some cards (I've seen them), that plugged into BOTH PCI and ISA, simply to access the ISA busses' IRQ lines.

There were VLB cards that were like that too, that plugged into both VLB and ISA, to access the ISA IRQ lines. Mostly disk controllers. That was a lot easier though, since VLB was physically positioned at the end of the ISA slot. No need for "combo" slots.

You ever feel like you've been doing this too long?

 

[cubby1223]

I knew of the PCI & ISA slots in the same spot, but never knew cards that plugged into both at the same time! I have to go search for images now...

VLB was just an extension of ISA, I cannot recall a card that just fit into only the VLB extension, they all fit into both the ISA & VLB slots.

To the original point of this thread...

You'd probably do fine with that system, but I would highly suggest picking up a faster cpu off ebay, like a 2.8ghz northwood with hyperthreading can usually be had for ~$3 (remember the prescott cores were slower per clock speed and generated a lot more heat). And Windows 7 makes much more use of hardware accelerated graphics than xp ever did in desktop mode, picking up an agp card like a radeon hd 2400 will do wonders to speed up the machine. Not until much later with the G/Q45 chipsets did intel's integrated graphics become powerful enough to handle Windows 7 smoothly even in non-aero mode (though all of these were released before Win7 was available, so can't really fault them on that), I don't want to even think how the i865 gpu would stutter.

 

[redgtxdi]

Ya, I thought about that. This 2.4c is actually a Northwood itself. It's a good chip. 533 clock (IIRC) and plenty cool enough.

Glad to confirm those molex/sata adapters. I wasn't sure if that would suffice.

I think of all the traditional PSU's I've been thru & how this little "brick" has survived EVERYTHING & STILL just puts out the power. Again, it's mostly just a storage/iTunes computer anymore. I used to do taxes on it but don't even do that anymore.

As for the SATA port, it's actually on page 51 of 56 in that pdf manual link if you want to view. It's actually hidden pretty well by wires/ribbon cable and then a plastic cap, but I knew what I was looking for so when I saw it in the manual, I found it. Pretty hilarious.

I'll have to see if that video card comes in half height cuz that's all this thing will take.

P.S. Then again, I could do what I just did for my dad & get a whole C2D system, upgrading literally every component AND getting a Win7 key, new keyboard, mouse & warranty for less money than I'm putting time into this stupid thing, right??

But then again......we're AT folk.....we ain't here for the coffee!

 

[cubby1223]

Again, I don't have experience with an i865 graphics with Windows 7...

recently discovered a never-used Via P4M900 lga775 board on the closet shelf, paired it with a c2d, and used that to build a Windows 7 machine for someone. Everything went well and working stable until I installed IE11 and it refused to run on the via s3 graphics. So I threw in a Geforce 8300 I had lying around to complete off the system. Improved graphics are a must for Win7.

Pretty much all low-end video cards are half-height, just a matter of if they come with the low-profile bracket. Your main issue is the agp slot rather than pci-e which raises the price of used parts for it.

 

[mfenn]

Here's one - did you know that the reason that PCI slots are reversed (compared to ISA), is that some mobos included "combo slots", with both an ISA and PCI in the same slot? That was because of early IRQ routing issues, and there were some cards (I've seen them), that plugged into BOTH PCI and ISA, simply to access the ISA busses' IRQ lines.

Yep, and to this day, PCI(e) cards are mounted upside down relative to what they "should be". That's why the chips and such are always on the bottom of the card rather than the top like you'd intuitively expect.