Case + PSU Compatibility

[Joppsta]

Hi, I've just bought some stuff to upgrade my computer and I am concerned my case may not be suitable as it's an Inspiron case, I'm using this as the base since I bought this half a year ago with the intention of upgrading in the first place (Building wasn't an option etc).

Anyway, I got this PSU: Corsair CP-9020006-UK AX 650W Professional Gold Modular Power Supply (PSU) - Scan.co.uk

And the case is a Dell Inspiron.

The issues I foresee are the current PSU has the following measurements.

150x85 with an inward depth of 140mm and the new PSU has an inward depth of 160mm with an extra 1mm on the 85 side (My measurements may be off of course but the 20mm blackhole remains).

Also, the fan won't be going out but into the computer I assume, so I need to work out how to best manage this additional airflow... and the card I'm shoving in is an EVGA GTX 460.. or this:

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 Superclock - EE (External Exhaust) Graphics Card - 1GB - 01G-P3-1373-ER - Scan.co.uk


I guess I could supply some photographs of mobo and internals if need be but I think a new case is on order, no?

I'd be looking to buy something in the £20-£40 bracket.. if somebody wants to propose something. I'm game for drilling holes in the case though, doesn't bother me about warranties and such with Dell... I already broke it by putting these in anyway, no? ^^

 

[patonb]

Ugh, Dells are a tricky beast. Some can use non dell psu's but alot can't..

Either way, youre starting to put hot items into a tiny case..

Heeres a nice little powerfouse BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black []

That'd be great, but your next issue is the dell mobo... It might not fit the monting holes.

I might suggest a lesser psu... The corsair ax are great, but overkill for the average user.
This Antec http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...us-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx
Is prerfect and 40 quid less.. Use the money saved to build a better overall setup.

 

[Joppsta]

Ugh, Dells are a tricky beast. Some can use non dell psu's but alot can't..

Either way, youre starting to put hot items into a tiny case..

Heeres a nice little powerfouse BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black []

That'd be great, but your next issue is the dell mobo... It might not fit the monting holes.

I might suggest a lesser psu... The corsair ax are great, but overkill for the average user.
This Antec Antec True Power New 650W Modular Power Supply PSU 80Plus Bronze SLi - 0-761345-0-7600-9 - Scan.co.uk
Is prerfect and 40 quid less.. Use the money saved to build a better overall setup.

I am not sure what make of mobo it is anyway.. but if it comes to it, would switching the mobo lead to me having to buy a new copy of Win7? (Dell are ... lovely people and never gave me a Win7 CD) Since that would be something of an expensive issue... and that's on top of a new mobo too ;p

Thanks for the case suggestion though!

Btw the mobo is as follows:

Board: Dell Inc. 0C2KJT A00
Serial Number: ..CN736040CP009Q.
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. A07 11/13/2010

Used Belarc to get my computer's specs.

 

[patonb]

Oh crap... Totally forgot... Dell also uses messed up psu connectors...

In all honesty, you might be beatting a dead horse.. well in your case, dead Sheep.

What is your exact Inspedrion model?

 

[Roark]

You would need a new copy of Windows with a new motherboard, the license is tied to your current motherboard.

I currently have a Dell that I was looking to upgrade as well, but decided against it for a number of reasons:
1) Tricky PSU spacing, as you have noticed. I asked on the Dell forums what would fit and got ambiguous answers.
2) Most of their motherboards (if not all) don't have standard mounting holes, meaning that if you try and mount in a new case it won't line up properly.
3) The air-flow, at least in my case, is terrible.

My original plan was if the PSU didn't fit to just mount it externally on top of the case and cut a hole to run cables back in to the case. But that might make it look like some kind of jury-rigged monstrosity, plus I wasn't sure how to stabilize it on top of the case.
For the GPU you can always remove (cut) the HDD bays that get in the way length-wise if need be.
While you have the cutting tools out you can always make some fan holes/mounts to increase air-flow.

My final decision was to just save up my pennies until I could build a decent rig from scratch that didn't have the upgrade issues that Dell does.

 

[patonb]

To add some info... The RAM, HD and cpu are still good...

Find a good use 1156 board cheap nd you'll be set.

 

[Joppsta]

I suppose this is what I get for being so quick to jump the gun. If all else fails, I have 2 nice parts for a new computer I guess ... all that's left is mobo and CPU + HDD/DVD and finally OS.

I think I bought this thing for about £300 couple months ago, would it be fair to say trying to pawn it off for £250 is ambitious?

Anyway, I'll post DxDiag + that Belarc thingy if you like, what is it you wanna know and all that? Have to do it later as i will be late for work if i dabble much more on here !

 

[Joppsta]

To add some info... The RAM, HD and cpu are still good...

Find a good use 1156 board cheap nd you'll be set.

RAM = 4GB DDR3, don't think it's branded
HDD = 1TB no idea of brand, googlefu suggests Western Digital (WDC WD1001FAES-75W7A0 that's the exact model I can come up with through belarc)
CPU = 3.20 gigahertz Intel Core i3 550

 

[patonb]

Yha..you just need a board and case... Dell is such a big company they can get the board maker to modify things for them.

 

[Joppsta]

Yha..you just need a board and case... Dell is such a big company they can get the board maker to modify things for them.

What board though? I have rather literally never built my own computer from scratch.. I understand how it's done though, it's like expensive lego with programming