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Argh... So my 3ghz Dell bit the dust. Luckily I had gone to a state auction before vacation and bought a laptop and spare PC. But apparently over the long weekend while my wife and I were on vacation there was a surge that went through the house. It killed my PCI USB card (the on-board ports were already dead) and it seems to have killed the SATA ports. So 660gb of data are just sitting here as I'm building a spare from auction parts. So I can't access any SWBF2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance mod stuff, no DivX cartoons and no MP3s. This spare rig I bought is DDR1, has no SATA connections and has an AGP slot, so I can't even drop in my gear into it. Luckily I had a spare 80gb, so that's what I'm using to install on it.

So long story short I'm going to have to build a new rig, because I'm not gonna go back to a 128mb AGP card when a I have a 512mb PCIe card, I can't run my newer hard drives, etc. So --> Does anyone know if there's a good motherboard that'll drop right into a Dell? I love the case and don't want to lose it.

What kind of Dell case is it and do you want to buy from store or online? EVGA, ABIT, and ASUS make some of the best general use boards in various dimensions and configurations which can run from $80- $300 on Newegg depending on what its specs are.

It's a Dimension 8400 --> but I like the Precision 350 case I bought even better, so since the boards both line up (I don't know if they're standard ATX form - they seem to be, but I don't have feasible ways to check) I'll just be replacing the 8400 board and dropping it in the Precision.

any micro atx motherboard should fit, like this one--assuming that it is a Socket 478 pentium 4, if you are going for a core 2 duo I'd get one the newer intel m-atx boards that support socket 775... unfortunately that case will NOT fit any normal sized motherboard (you probably don't care if you are just throwing the same parts back in) your case is like this right?



Do you know if all the rest of your components are functioning properly? If not you can save money with bundled deals...

Hope you can recover soon, I waited about 2 months for a motherboard rma....

Yep, that's me. The issue I have is that I want to keep the case, but Dell has custom connectors for stuff like the front panel. I was sortof hoping to not have to frankenstein my computer, but if I have to then I have to. It's a 478 board, I'm sure of that much. I'm not sure what all it's capable of. There's other 8400 models that have 3.2 and 3.4 ghz but seem to be running the same board.

are you going to upgrade to a dual/quad core, or stick with another p4?

Depends on how much case modding I would have to do. I'm not really worried about being able to play something like Crysis or something, just SWBF2, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Guitar Hero 3 on my PC. That's about as much as I need to push it. Right now I'm bidding on OEM replacement board that's got a faster from-the-factory chip in it (3.4ghz). Ideally I'd like to just buy duo core but like I said some of the wiring is set up different in a Dell board/case.




*EDIT*

Problem solved - just won an OEM mobo with a 3.2ghz processor, used but guaranteed. Should have my main rig up and running inside of a week.

Teancum wrote: *EDIT*

Problem solved - just won an OEM mobo with a 3.2ghz processor, used but guaranteed. Should have my main rig up and running inside of a week.

And maybe a surge protector to go along with it?

Yeah, likely one like I bought my mom. It's battery based, so when there's a surge the battery collects it, and when voltage is low the battery boosts it.

Wow, that's pretty crazy. I'd hate to see a computer like that go.

Well, got the new mobo/chip installed. And it's a 3.4ghz, not a 3.2ghz as advertised. So I got ~ 400mhz more than what I originally had. Cool beans

I'm back in the saddle again!

Teancum wrote:Well, got the new mobo/chip installed. And it's a 3.4ghz, not a 3.2ghz as advertised. So I got ~ 400mhz more than what I originally had. Cool beans

I'm back in the saddle again!

You're like the Steven Tyler of SWBF modding! Good to hear it all worked out!

Glad someone caught my Aerosmith reference.

Teancum wrote:Well, got the new mobo/chip installed. And it's a 3.4ghz, not a 3.2ghz as advertised...

Could be overclocked...

Normally that's true, but Dell boards have no overclocking ability outside of the factory.