Newbie To Case MOD

wldctj8 · 02-09-2006, 03:10 PM

Hey guys. I have read some of the case mod forums you all posted. I got a quick question. I got a Dell Optiplex GX200 and I want to put it in an ATX tower. I was wondering if anyone has took a manufactures motherboard into a cheap ATX case with 350w power supply. I just need to know the wire specs and the mother board is made a lot different.
Thanks wldctj8

ebackhus · 02-09-2006, 03:34 PM

Motherboards are made the standards that require that things like screwholes and connectors are in specific areas. Companies like Dell like to do their own thing. I've been able to successfully transfer a Dell's guts to a generic case with success but it can vary from system to system.

**toxict3arz** · 02-09-2006, 09:16 PM

i suggest that u dont it if ur not use to working with hardwares

but if u want then sure go for iT~! it will be a good experience

anyways i have two dells at home .. my sister and brothers

and i looked at the inside of both of them and dell really made it so that u cant upgrade at all~ which sucks

so moving it to my new case would allow u to upgrade .. but just be careful!

manofsorrow · 02-12-2006, 03:27 PM

It shouldn't be all that difficult. I fit my motherboard in an old dell case and enough of the support pin things that dell uses lined up with the holes in my motherboard to support it. So taking that information the reverse should also hold true. If id doesnt work you could carefully measure out the holes in the motherboard and drill and tap holes in the case itself. Just be sure you use the proper size of drill and tap for the standoffs. A decent automotives or machine supply store should be able to tell you both the tap and the drill size. Just make sure that the tap is a bolt tap (straight thread) and not a NPT (tapperd thread). The measurement shouldn't be all that difficult, the way the motherboard holes are set up you have a small amount of room for error. I measured and drilled all the holes in my case for my radiator since the stock 180mm fan holes where much to far down to clear the connections for my video card. Hopefully you can make things work and just remember to be carefull and not wreck any components during the swap!

wldctj8 · 02-14-2006, 07:19 PM

well I was getting ready to do it but the pci slots is on a psi/isa slot itself so it is a dell optiflex only case. mybe i can rig up something else. Thank you guys. You will probably hear from me more.

02-09-2006, 03:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
wldctj8 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3 OS: XP	Newbie To Case MOD Hey guys. I have read some of the case mod forums you all posted. I got a quick question. I got a Dell Optiplex GX200 and I want to put it in an ATX tower. I was wondering if anyone has took a manufactures motherboard into a cheap ATX case with 350w power supply. I just need to know the wire specs and the mother board is made a lot different. Thanks wldctj8

02-09-2006, 03:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,323 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Motherboards are made the standards that require that things like screwholes and connectors are in specific areas. Companies like Dell like to do their own thing. I've been able to successfully transfer a Dell's guts to a generic case with success but it can vary from system to system. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

02-12-2006, 03:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
manofsorrow Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 89 OS: winxp	It shouldn't be all that difficult. I fit my motherboard in an old dell case and enough of the support pin things that dell uses lined up with the holes in my motherboard to support it. So taking that information the reverse should also hold true. If id doesnt work you could carefully measure out the holes in the motherboard and drill and tap holes in the case itself. Just be sure you use the proper size of drill and tap for the standoffs. A decent automotives or machine supply store should be able to tell you both the tap and the drill size. Just make sure that the tap is a bolt tap (straight thread) and not a NPT (tapperd thread). The measurement shouldn't be all that difficult, the way the motherboard holes are set up you have a small amount of room for error. I measured and drilled all the holes in my case for my radiator since the stock 180mm fan holes where much to far down to clear the connections for my video card. Hopefully you can make things work and just remember to be carefull and not wreck any components during the swap! __________________ Asus A8N-E mobo Benq light scribe dvd-rw Amd athlon x2 4400+ @ 2.8 ghz 2x 160 gig hard drives in RAID 0 array water cooled 4x 80mm case fans controlled by a Vantec controller 42" LG plasma monitor Idle temp. 28C load temp. 34C (on average) Fully sleeved etc.

02-09-2006, 09:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
toxict3arz TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,283 OS: windows XP Pro	i suggest that u dont it if ur not use to working with hardwares but if u want then sure go for iT~! it will be a good experience anyways i have two dells at home .. my sister and brothers and i looked at the inside of both of them and dell really made it so that u cant upgrade at all~ which sucks so moving it to my new case would allow u to upgrade .. but just be careful!

02-14-2006, 07:19 PM	#5 (permalink)
wldctj8 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3 OS: XP	well I was getting ready to do it but the pci slots is on a psi/isa slot itself so it is a dell optiflex only case. mybe i can rig up something else. Thank you guys. You will probably hear from me more.