Dell Dimension case/PSU proprietary?

[BaconTastesGood]

I have a Dell Dimension 4100 that's been gutted, leaving me with a case and PSU. I've heard that their cases and PSUs are proprietary and incompatible with non-Dell mobos. Anyone know if this is the truth?

 

[lordbob99]

hey bacontastesgood,

i'd be inclined to agree that the cases are definately proprietary, tho i don't know about the power supplies. i've worked inside dell cases in the past, and didn't notice anything really special about the power supplies. though it's possible the motherboard power connector is proprietary. i know the device cables are standard.

maybe someone else that knows for sure will see this now that it's at the top.

lordbob99

 

[BaconTastesGood]

Thanks for the response. I'm actually pretty impressed with my Dell cases -- the one on my Precision 220 is just plain bad ass.

The thing I thought was particularly cool (no pun intended) on the 4100 is that it uses a case fan to cool the CPU! It ducts a case fan to the heat sink, using a standard 3-pin power connector. Crafty as hell, and makes the system much quieter. We were bummed when we switched to a microAtx case and had to put a stock HSF on the P3 chip.

-BTG

 

[JeffBot]

I don't know if things have changed but I think that the power supply in my Dell Dimension xps-800r may be proprietary. I was unable to get the Dell motherboard to power on with a brand new enermax 330w model and a 350w sparkle model. I called Dell and the only advice that they could give me was that the weak-a$$ 200w psu "should be sufficient for all my needs" I guess that is not really what you're asking, but I kind of needed to get that off my chest! If anyone has any advice for me, help would be appreciated.

 

[BornStar]

Don't be too impressed with the CPU cooling in the Dimension 4100. I have that case and I'm very disappointed with the cooling. I admit that their idea was intriguing but the way they implemented it, it just doesn't work out that well. The main problem is the way that the fan is connected to the case. It just snaps in, and not very securely at that. The fan rattles against the case and the cover just acts as an amplifier, as well as it rattles against the fan. All that turns into a very loud design. It also means that there's not a ton of cooling in this case. I haven't been at all satisfied, as soon as I get the money to migrate out of it, I'm done.

 

[BornStar]

I guess I wasn't too helpful with the thread. I wouldn't bother with the tower and PSU. The tower design isn't all that good and the 200W PSU really isn't worthwhile, even if it does work with other motherboards.