The AMD XPS The computer Dell SHOULD have made
I thought about calling it "My Dell / AMD Computer" or My DAMD Computer for short
I just finished making my 'dream' computer. I love the Dell XPS case (my other computer is a Dell Precision 530), but don't care for intel in general, so I bought a Gen 4 case off eBay, and put my AMD mobo in it. It wasn't that big a challenge, and I do still have a few issues to take care of, but overall it turned out very well.
Let's start with some good news. The 460w ATX power supply in the XPS is STANDARD ATX, regardless of what you've read/heard. I'm sure the old XPS PSUs were not, and a lot of the old Dimension PSUs were not, but many (maybe even all) of the newer generation PSUs are standard ATX. All I had to do was get a 24pin to 20 pin adapter from Directron. This could have been avoided if my mobo had been a 24pin mobo, but it wasn't.
Mounting the mobo was a bit of a challenge, but I had it mounted in about two hours. Knowing what I know now, I could re-do it in about 30 minutes. The trick was aligning the new mobo so that the PCI/AGP slots lined up with the slots on the back of the case. The case I bought off eBay did not have the mobo tray, so I mounted the AMD mobo to the back of the case as if there wasn't supposed to be a tray. I used the standard brass standoffs from the old case I was upgrading from.
If I had to re-do it, I would make a paper template from the new mobo so I know EXACTLY where the holes go, then I would use the template to mark the locations of the holes on the back panel of the case. What I did, was position the mobo in the case, and try to mark the positions by sticking a sharp pencil through the mounting holes on the mobo. Not the most accurate way of doing it. I have one hole that can't be used due to missalignment, and one that is barely usable. I could do better next time. You don't even need to remove the plastic side panel if you don't go crazy with the drill. As soon as it cuts through the metal, back off on the drill so you don't penetrate the side.
After the holes are drilled (smaller than the diameter of the brass standoffs), use a steel case screw to thread the new holes. Make sure the steel case screw has the same thread pattern as the brass standoffs. I originally tried to thread the holes using the brass standoffs. That was stupid, because the brass is too soft, and not only didn't cut threads into the steel, but also stripped the threads on the standoffs, making them useless. I caught onto the problem about halfway through my supply of standoffs. After I started threading them with the case screws everything went perfectly.
The IO panel cutout on the XPS case is not long enough for the ATX mobo I was using. I had to use a hacksaw and file to cut it aproximately .5" wider than original. It was easy to do, and took about 10 minutes. With a little filing to cleanup the cutout, you can't even tell anything was done. I haven't made or modified an IO backplate, but I'm sure I can find a good starter one to mod to the right size.
The next serious problem was the power switch, and front panel LEDs. It was easy to remove the ribbon cable from the front panel connector, and figure out with pins go to what. I canabalized the front panel cables from my old case, and since the wires were long enough, I just pinned them into the post where the old ribbon cable was. I got the power button correct right off the bat, but I can't seem to get the power & harddrive LEDs to work. I know which pins go to what, but they just don't work. The pins I'm pressing these wires down into are so close together, I think I may be touching more than one wire. I'm still working on it, and I'm very close to having the answer.
What I haven't even attempted yet is to figure out the front panel USB, audio, and firewire board. If anybody has any suggestions on how to tackle that job, please post here.
Since I'm not using the factory Dell mobo, the built in colored LED 'glow' behind the shield does not work. I'm going to mount a 92mm GREEN lighted fan blowing in behind the shield.
(heh, it's now an AMD computer so it might as well exude a green auora).
Upcoming mods:
adapt or replace the front panel USB, audio, and firewire
Mod the cooling shroud to better cool my AMD HFS
Add a 92mm or 120mm fan blowing air UP out of the top rear vent
Maybe a window kit if I can figure out a way to make it look good, not trashy.
Cut out the floppy drive bezel so I can mount a 3.5" media card reader in place of the floppy.
I call my PC: The Computer Dell SHOULD have made
Asrock Combo-Z mobo (dual s754 & s939 mobo can upgrade to X2 technology on the s939 socket)
AMD Athlon64 3200+ (s754: Newcastle) OCed to 2.3ghz (approx FX55 performance)
1gb PC3200 Corsair DDR
120gb Seagate Baracuda harddrive (soon to be 3x120gb in RAID0)
AGP nVidia FX5900 XT (weak, but can't afford a X850PE yet)
DVD/RW w/ litescribe
Built in 8.1 audio (soon to be Audigy2 Platinum w/ livedrive)
6.1 speakers
24" Dell widescreen LCD
Here are some Pics...
Here it is on the right side of my desk. The LCD in the middle is a Dell 24" Widescreen LCD that I got from Dell for less than $460 in March 2006 ;D It's not a refurb, there's nothing wrong with it, and it is perfectly legit.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0014jr.jpg
On the other side of my desk is my old (but reliable) Precision 530 workstation: 2x 2.0ghz Xeons, 2gb RAM, 73mb 10k rpm SCSI, 3x 120mb PATA Barracudas (RAID0), etc...
http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0209sw.jpg
AMD XPS w/ case open. The 120mm Green fan will be in the upper left blowing up out of the case. I expect the AMD Green Glow to radiate out of the back of the case, and even up the wall thanks to the built in top vent. I'll probably find two low dB fans to blow air into the case and onto the HSF, and that heated air will vent upwards through the 120mm fan in the top of the case.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0074fh.jpg
A slightly blurry closeup of the CPU & RAM. The RAM is 2x 512mb Corsair with 'equalizer' like LEDs that change color with activity & intensity. The CPU is a 3200+ Athlon 64 (Newcastle) overclocked to 2.53ghz (11x230fsb) I had a different 3200+ Newcastle up to 11x237fsb on this same mobo. The mobo is a ASRock Combo-Z and has both a s754 & s939 socket. They can't be used at the same time, but it's stable, and seems to overclock reasonably well, and provide an upgrade path to an X2 CPU when money permits. Notice the top of the pic. You can see the 24pin to 20pin adapter I got for $10 at Directron. If you use a 24pin mobo, you don't need this.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0116fw.jpg
Pic of CPU-Z showing the Athlon 64
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0162cu.jpg
Pic of Sandra showing my system compared to several other AMD CPUs (in case it's too blury the second row is a FX-55, then a FX-57, then a 2x3800 (I think). I should have taken a screen shot, instead of a snapshot (duh!). I'll replace these two images with screenshots later.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0174hr.jpg
Inside shot of the front of the case. You can see the 60mm blue LED fan I have there. It's blowing in. I'm going to remove this, and put a 92mm AMD Green LED fan on the outside of the grillwork (but behind the shield) blowing in to cool the harddrives (of which there will be 3x 120mb shortly). I figure the heat blowing into the case will exit through the 120mm fan in the top rear.
http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0181th.jpg
Here is a picture of the outside rear of the case showing where I had to cut away part of the plastic cover and under laying metal grillwork. As you can see, I cut too much of the metal away. There were like four rows of the grillwork, and I cut away the frame piece, and two rows of grillwork. I should have only cut away the frame, and one row. Oh well... I'll do better next time.
http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p10003569bo.jpg
I also have a pic of the mod I did to the front control panel to get the switch (and hopefully soon the power & hd LEDs) to work, but I can't get it to upload from work, so I'll have to add that pic later.
Everything you see completed so far took about 3 - 4 hours total (not including the OS which was already installed on the HD), but I'm positive I could do it again (even better) in half that time.
Edit
Inside Pic with 120mm 'blowhole' fan
Inside Pic running at night
nullOutside pic of the 'glowing' blowhole. Sorry it's so dark in the pic. It's really much brighter than it looks.
Glendor...
I thought about calling it "My Dell / AMD Computer" or My DAMD Computer for short
I just finished making my 'dream' computer. I love the Dell XPS case (my other computer is a Dell Precision 530), but don't care for intel in general, so I bought a Gen 4 case off eBay, and put my AMD mobo in it. It wasn't that big a challenge, and I do still have a few issues to take care of, but overall it turned out very well.
Let's start with some good news. The 460w ATX power supply in the XPS is STANDARD ATX, regardless of what you've read/heard. I'm sure the old XPS PSUs were not, and a lot of the old Dimension PSUs were not, but many (maybe even all) of the newer generation PSUs are standard ATX. All I had to do was get a 24pin to 20 pin adapter from Directron. This could have been avoided if my mobo had been a 24pin mobo, but it wasn't.
Mounting the mobo was a bit of a challenge, but I had it mounted in about two hours. Knowing what I know now, I could re-do it in about 30 minutes. The trick was aligning the new mobo so that the PCI/AGP slots lined up with the slots on the back of the case. The case I bought off eBay did not have the mobo tray, so I mounted the AMD mobo to the back of the case as if there wasn't supposed to be a tray. I used the standard brass standoffs from the old case I was upgrading from.
If I had to re-do it, I would make a paper template from the new mobo so I know EXACTLY where the holes go, then I would use the template to mark the locations of the holes on the back panel of the case. What I did, was position the mobo in the case, and try to mark the positions by sticking a sharp pencil through the mounting holes on the mobo. Not the most accurate way of doing it. I have one hole that can't be used due to missalignment, and one that is barely usable. I could do better next time. You don't even need to remove the plastic side panel if you don't go crazy with the drill. As soon as it cuts through the metal, back off on the drill so you don't penetrate the side.
After the holes are drilled (smaller than the diameter of the brass standoffs), use a steel case screw to thread the new holes. Make sure the steel case screw has the same thread pattern as the brass standoffs. I originally tried to thread the holes using the brass standoffs. That was stupid, because the brass is too soft, and not only didn't cut threads into the steel, but also stripped the threads on the standoffs, making them useless. I caught onto the problem about halfway through my supply of standoffs. After I started threading them with the case screws everything went perfectly.
The IO panel cutout on the XPS case is not long enough for the ATX mobo I was using. I had to use a hacksaw and file to cut it aproximately .5" wider than original. It was easy to do, and took about 10 minutes. With a little filing to cleanup the cutout, you can't even tell anything was done. I haven't made or modified an IO backplate, but I'm sure I can find a good starter one to mod to the right size.
The next serious problem was the power switch, and front panel LEDs. It was easy to remove the ribbon cable from the front panel connector, and figure out with pins go to what. I canabalized the front panel cables from my old case, and since the wires were long enough, I just pinned them into the post where the old ribbon cable was. I got the power button correct right off the bat, but I can't seem to get the power & harddrive LEDs to work. I know which pins go to what, but they just don't work. The pins I'm pressing these wires down into are so close together, I think I may be touching more than one wire. I'm still working on it, and I'm very close to having the answer.
What I haven't even attempted yet is to figure out the front panel USB, audio, and firewire board. If anybody has any suggestions on how to tackle that job, please post here.
Since I'm not using the factory Dell mobo, the built in colored LED 'glow' behind the shield does not work. I'm going to mount a 92mm GREEN lighted fan blowing in behind the shield.
(heh, it's now an AMD computer so it might as well exude a green auora).
Upcoming mods:
adapt or replace the front panel USB, audio, and firewire
Mod the cooling shroud to better cool my AMD HFS
Add a 92mm or 120mm fan blowing air UP out of the top rear vent
Maybe a window kit if I can figure out a way to make it look good, not trashy.
Cut out the floppy drive bezel so I can mount a 3.5" media card reader in place of the floppy.
I call my PC: The Computer Dell SHOULD have made
Asrock Combo-Z mobo (dual s754 & s939 mobo can upgrade to X2 technology on the s939 socket)
AMD Athlon64 3200+ (s754: Newcastle) OCed to 2.3ghz (approx FX55 performance)
1gb PC3200 Corsair DDR
120gb Seagate Baracuda harddrive (soon to be 3x120gb in RAID0)
AGP nVidia FX5900 XT (weak, but can't afford a X850PE yet)
DVD/RW w/ litescribe
Built in 8.1 audio (soon to be Audigy2 Platinum w/ livedrive)
6.1 speakers
24" Dell widescreen LCD
Here are some Pics...
Here it is on the right side of my desk. The LCD in the middle is a Dell 24" Widescreen LCD that I got from Dell for less than $460 in March 2006 ;D It's not a refurb, there's nothing wrong with it, and it is perfectly legit.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0014jr.jpg
On the other side of my desk is my old (but reliable) Precision 530 workstation: 2x 2.0ghz Xeons, 2gb RAM, 73mb 10k rpm SCSI, 3x 120mb PATA Barracudas (RAID0), etc...
http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0209sw.jpg
AMD XPS w/ case open. The 120mm Green fan will be in the upper left blowing up out of the case. I expect the AMD Green Glow to radiate out of the back of the case, and even up the wall thanks to the built in top vent. I'll probably find two low dB fans to blow air into the case and onto the HSF, and that heated air will vent upwards through the 120mm fan in the top of the case.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0074fh.jpg
A slightly blurry closeup of the CPU & RAM. The RAM is 2x 512mb Corsair with 'equalizer' like LEDs that change color with activity & intensity. The CPU is a 3200+ Athlon 64 (Newcastle) overclocked to 2.53ghz (11x230fsb) I had a different 3200+ Newcastle up to 11x237fsb on this same mobo. The mobo is a ASRock Combo-Z and has both a s754 & s939 socket. They can't be used at the same time, but it's stable, and seems to overclock reasonably well, and provide an upgrade path to an X2 CPU when money permits. Notice the top of the pic. You can see the 24pin to 20pin adapter I got for $10 at Directron. If you use a 24pin mobo, you don't need this.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0116fw.jpg
Pic of CPU-Z showing the Athlon 64
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0162cu.jpg
Pic of Sandra showing my system compared to several other AMD CPUs (in case it's too blury the second row is a FX-55, then a FX-57, then a 2x3800 (I think). I should have taken a screen shot, instead of a snapshot (duh!). I'll replace these two images with screenshots later.
http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0174hr.jpg
Inside shot of the front of the case. You can see the 60mm blue LED fan I have there. It's blowing in. I'm going to remove this, and put a 92mm AMD Green LED fan on the outside of the grillwork (but behind the shield) blowing in to cool the harddrives (of which there will be 3x 120mb shortly). I figure the heat blowing into the case will exit through the 120mm fan in the top rear.
http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amdxps0181th.jpg
Here is a picture of the outside rear of the case showing where I had to cut away part of the plastic cover and under laying metal grillwork. As you can see, I cut too much of the metal away. There were like four rows of the grillwork, and I cut away the frame piece, and two rows of grillwork. I should have only cut away the frame, and one row. Oh well... I'll do better next time.
http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p10003569bo.jpg
I also have a pic of the mod I did to the front control panel to get the switch (and hopefully soon the power & hd LEDs) to work, but I can't get it to upload from work, so I'll have to add that pic later.
Everything you see completed so far took about 3 - 4 hours total (not including the OS which was already installed on the HD), but I'm positive I could do it again (even better) in half that time.
Edit
Inside Pic with 120mm 'blowhole' fan
Inside Pic running at night
nullOutside pic of the 'glowing' blowhole. Sorry it's so dark in the pic. It's really much brighter than it looks.
Glendor...
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