Replacing mobo Dell 4500 tips

[geekster]

Ive heard alot of horror stories about replacing the dell 4500 mobo. I changed mine and thought I would share the info.The dell has two front panels that are proprietary. They hook to the stock board with a ribbon. I discarded the front usb and head phone panel because Im not a genius. The panel at the power switch is grounded so dont hook your wires backward or you will have problems.I made my own power switch wires from a cd in cord.I didnt hook up any leds because I dont need them.The other thing I had to do was cut the back panel off of the mobo chasis where the ports are to allow my new board to fit.This comp was a gift from a friend . It had been hit by lightning. Mobo and modem were fried. A $50.00 mobo from zipzoomfly ---Gigabyte 8vm533m-rz ---and wow what a nice rig.