Power supply question

[tigerdee]

I have a Dell Computer ..it is like 4 years old...still running on 300MHz (Pentium 2)

Recently the power supply is failing on me....I heard that Dell uses its own type of power supply that i cannot just buy one off any store, so i have to get it from Dell...is it true?

 

[aatf510]

I do not believe Dell uses a different PSU then a normal PC, but your 300MHz PII is definately over 4 years old. The PII 300 CPU was released in May 1997. At least it's still a ATX spec, so you should be able to fit any but the newest PSU outthere in that pc.

 

[Ken90630]

I do not believe Dell uses a different PSU then a normal PC,

That's actually not true. They do use PSUs -- at least on some models, I know -- that can't be replaced with just any ATX PSU. But I don't know how far back that goes -- if that was true of Dell's models from 4 years ago or not.

Assuming you need a unique PSU for it, however, I know that PC Power and Cooling (PCPowercooling.com) makes replacement PSUs for Dells. And they're probably pretty good, as PCP&C doesn't make any junk. You might check out their Web site and then call or e-mail them re your specific PSU. I'm not an expert on this particular sitch, but I seem to remember some folks saying that the Dell PSUs having a proprietary connector or two that creates this sitch. They also might be slightly odd-sized, preventing a standard ATX PSU from fitting in their designated space. But don't hold me to that as I'm not certain.

BTW, if you're still using a P2 machine, you really might wanna consider upgrading rather than putting any money at all into that old & slow of a machine. Prolly won't be long before the HD dies, followed by some more things soon after. It's prolly got an old 5400 rpm HD in it too (aaaaack! :Q). And like toattet said, it's prolly more than 4 years old, actually.

Welcome to the forums, BTW. Good luck. 🙂

Ken

 

[Bozo Galora]

Dell owners beware! Prior to their conversion to standard ATX12v-compliant ATX power supplies for the P4, Dell used a variation of the ATX form factor with the power pins in a different orientation! Use of these older, nonstandard units on a standard ATX motherboard will at best refuse to work, at worst fry the board. Use of standard ATX power supplies in these older Dell computers will usually fry the power supply, or worse fry both the power supply and motherboard!

http://www.sysopt.com/articles/PSU_Perspectives/

 

[mauiblue]

I gave my old Dell (Dimension R400) some new life early last year. Popped in a Powerleap CPU (1.5 Ghz CPU) and replaced one of the drives to a Western Digital 7200 RPM drive. It's still a great second system that my family can use and I don't have to worry about taking turns at the keyboard anymore. I'm hoping that it will give me a little more life out of it - six years old and still going on strong.

 

[Jeffyboy]

Dell DOES make proprietary equipment... It must be checked first.

http://www.power-on.com/dell250x.html

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/dellconverter.html


So as Elmer Fudd would say.. be vewy vewy caweful 🙂

Jeff