What Motherboard Does Dell Use
I have a Dell Dimension 4100 (circa 2001, 1 GHz PIII). Since I bought it, I have upgraded HDD, video card, DVD-RW, etc.Is it possible to upgrade the motherboard and CPU? I want to keep everything I upgraded since they are reasonably new, and just place them on a new board while using the Dell Dimension 4100 case.Any suggestions would be great. I know the chipset is 815A for the old motherboard. What type / brand do you suggest to replace this old one so I can put a P4 processor onto it? ”Answer from KrisJerran. “I don’t think that there is anything in the Dell case that would prevent mounting a third party ATX board, but I know that they use a propriatary power connector for their motherboards and power supply units.
You would want to repalce your PSU anyway though, as one that old isn’t designed for modern P4s. Antec, Enermax, and PC Power and Cooling make good power supplies.
(PC Power and Cooling also has a simple tool on their website to estimate how much power you really need.Asus and Abit are good brands for motherboards. As for actuall models of motherboards, it depends on what features you want and what kind of P4 you want to put in it. If you want the Latest and Greatest, you need a Socket T (LGA 775) type MOBO and DDR2 RAM, if you can deal with a slightly slower chip, you can save a lot of money getting a Socket 478 type with standard DDR 400 RAM.
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It’s really all about what you want and how much you are willing to pay.”Answer from fastturtle. “Since you’re talking about replacing the motherboard and CPU, here’s what all you will be replacing:MotherboardCPUMemory – DDR or DDR2 is becoming standardPSU – Need something new to handle new connectorsCase – get something that looks good and is easyier to work inUnless your on a tight budget, I’d actually look at something along the lines of a Shuttle SSF as the only thing you’ll need is memory then. You can transfer the Hard drive/DVD burner and floppy straight over and install the new ram. With the right selection, you will not only get a decent CPU but a nice looking unit that saves space.”Got a better answer? Post it in the discussion that generated this tip.