Swapping the insides of a pc to another case

zero-one · 07-16-2007, 12:25 PM

Hi all,

I am the owner of a Dell XPS 600. It is a fantastic pc. However, it has one of the worst cases i've ever seen. It is huge, heavy and noisy.

I've been thinking about swapping the majority of the insides of this pc into a new case (maybe one from http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/cases?sort=weight&set=Set).

Can you think of any potential issues/problems? The Dell has a huge amount of fans and a huge heatsink on it so cooling is my main issue.

I should say the spec is:
Intel Pentium D 2Ghz
4 x 500 meg memory
Nvidia 7800gtx VGA card
Creative Audigy Xtreme Music Soundcard
it has a custom motherboard. i thinks it's ATX (hope thats right, i'm a bit out of depth!)

It has a custom designed PSU so i'll need a new one. This isn't a problem for me.

Any ideas? Has anyone done this, or similar, before?

Many thanks in advance.

**simpswr** · 07-16-2007, 12:57 PM

Your two biggest challenges will be:

1. the the propreitary front panel connections . . and
2. The rear I/O Panel shield for the external connections.

You may be able to google the front panel connector pinout, but the rear I/O panel shield is a different size on the Dells than on standard cases.

And . . the newer Dell boards are BTX . . which will not fit an ATX Case

Edd01 · 07-16-2007, 02:01 PM

There ARE cases that can be moded to BTX you have to search for it like the Thermaltake armor JR thats a REALLY good one for BTX comes brand new with ATX and BTX mod for easy installation and no tools required so if you are going for a good case that will give you justice i suggest a Thermaltake armor jr because of its BTX compatibility other then that you will basicly have to buy a new motherboard all together.

**TheMatt** · 07-16-2007, 03:40 PM

You can always transfer the rear I/O shield (for some reason case manufacturers still ship these, I don't know why because almost all motherboards come with their own shields). Also, the front panel issues aren't always there.

The biggest problem is the BTX design of a lot of motherboards and the proprietary power supply form factors of many manufacturers. I would get a new good quality 600+w PSU for that computer.

Edd01 · 07-17-2007, 09:07 PM

i had a lot of dells and usually it doesnt come with any i/o plate its actually built over the i/o and leaves a empty ridge because the case makes up the rest

zero-one · 07-18-2007, 07:52 AM

Thanks for the reply guys. I've decided to look for a new motherboard and psu.

I'm going to swap the ram, cpu, hdd, dvdrw, soundcard, graphics card and and a clean install of vista over the top. I've got a couple of things to buy (fans, heatsinks) as the dell stuff is all designed to fit the dell case.

What do you reckon? Good idea?

**simpswr** · 07-18-2007, 08:25 AM

Good idea! !

**TheMatt** · 07-18-2007, 11:21 AM

Yeah. I have seen a couple newer Dells where the motherboard tray and I/O shield were one piece of metal. A new motherboard/PSU is what I would do.

**magnethead** · 07-24-2007, 06:57 PM

my Dell 4600 transferred virtually issuelessly into the antec 900 case. Even kept the passive heatsink for a week till the active came. front side audio was only issue.

**TheMatt** · 07-24-2007, 07:03 PM

Thanks for posting the info.

**simpswr** · 07-24-2007, 07:40 PM

The 4600 is prior to the switch to BTX by Dell . .

**TheMatt** · 07-24-2007, 07:41 PM

A case like the Thermaltake Armor is BTX compatible, so that case could be used with a BTX motherboard and CPU heatsink.

07-16-2007, 12:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
zero-one Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 40 OS: Vista SP2	Swapping the insides of a pc to another case Hi all, I am the owner of a Dell XPS 600. It is a fantastic pc. However, it has one of the worst cases i've ever seen. It is huge, heavy and noisy. I've been thinking about swapping the majority of the insides of this pc into a new case (maybe one from http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/cases?sort=weight&set=Set). Can you think of any potential issues/problems? The Dell has a huge amount of fans and a huge heatsink on it so cooling is my main issue. I should say the spec is: Intel Pentium D 2Ghz 4 x 500 meg memory Nvidia 7800gtx VGA card Creative Audigy Xtreme Music Soundcard it has a custom motherboard. i thinks it's ATX (hope thats right, i'm a bit out of depth!) It has a custom designed PSU so i'll need a new one. This isn't a problem for me. Any ideas? Has anyone done this, or similar, before? Many thanks in advance. Last edited by zero-one; 07-16-2007 at 12:27 PM.

07-16-2007, 12:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,269 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case Your two biggest challenges will be: 1. the the propreitary front panel connections . . and 2. The rear I/O Panel shield for the external connections. You may be able to google the front panel connector pinout, but the rear I/O panel shield is a different size on the Dells than on standard cases. And . . the newer Dell boards are BTX . . which will not fit an ATX Case __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow? Last edited by simpswr; 07-16-2007 at 12:59 PM.

07-16-2007, 02:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
Edd01 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 94 OS: WinXP My System	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case There ARE cases that can be moded to BTX you have to search for it like the Thermaltake armor JR thats a REALLY good one for BTX comes brand new with ATX and BTX mod for easy installation and no tools required so if you are going for a good case that will give you justice i suggest a Thermaltake armor jr because of its BTX compatibility other then that you will basicly have to buy a new motherboard all together.

07-16-2007, 03:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case You can always transfer the rear I/O shield (for some reason case manufacturers still ship these, I don't know why because almost all motherboards come with their own shields). Also, the front panel issues aren't always there. The biggest problem is the BTX design of a lot of motherboards and the proprietary power supply form factors of many manufacturers. I would get a new good quality 600+w PSU for that computer. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

07-17-2007, 09:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Edd01 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 94 OS: WinXP My System	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case i had a lot of dells and usually it doesnt come with any i/o plate its actually built over the i/o and leaves a empty ridge because the case makes up the rest

07-18-2007, 07:52 AM	#6 (permalink)
zero-one Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 40 OS: Vista SP2	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case Thanks for the reply guys. I've decided to look for a new motherboard and psu. I'm going to swap the ram, cpu, hdd, dvdrw, soundcard, graphics card and and a clean install of vista over the top. I've got a couple of things to buy (fans, heatsinks) as the dell stuff is all designed to fit the dell case. What do you reckon? Good idea?

07-18-2007, 08:25 AM	#7 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,269 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case Good idea! ! __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

07-18-2007, 11:21 AM	#8 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case Yeah. I have seen a couple newer Dells where the motherboard tray and I/O shield were one piece of metal. A new motherboard/PSU is what I would do. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

07-24-2007, 06:57 PM	#9 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case my Dell 4600 transferred virtually issuelessly into the antec 900 case. Even kept the passive heatsink for a week till the active came. front side audio was only issue. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System

07-24-2007, 07:03 PM	#10 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case Thanks for posting the info. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

07-24-2007, 07:40 PM	#11 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,269 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case The 4600 is prior to the switch to BTX by Dell . . __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

07-24-2007, 07:41 PM	#12 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Swapping the insides of a pc to another case A case like the Thermaltake Armor is BTX compatible, so that case could be used with a BTX motherboard and CPU heatsink. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides