(I don't know if this is the best forum category to post this thread. Admins please move it if you think its needs to be in another forum)
I thought I would post log of the excessive modding that I did to my Dell T20 in the hopes that it would help other who are thinking of buy/modding these prebuilt systems:
(I know, I would have been better off building my own PC. But the thing is I originally bought this with the Xeon E3-1225v3, which for approx. 300$ was a steal. But then I got bitten by the DIY bug and wanted more powah!! so kept on buying parts as I could and here I am with spare parts enough to do a second build. Hopefully my journey helps others out who might be in a similar situation)
Upgrade list:
1) PSU: EVGA SuperNova 550 GS
2) GPU: EVGA GTX 970 SSC
3) Cooling: NZXT Kraken/ Cryorig H7
4) Thermaltake 120mm ring LED fan
5) Processor: i7-4790k
6) Wifi: Asus PC-AC56
7) Red LED strips
What you will require for upgrades:
1) ModDIY Dell motherboard adapter for ATX PSU
2) Dell 5-pin fan header to 4-pin adapter
3) NZXT Kraken Watercooling installation standoffs (these are the ones that fit in the stock backplate)
With the above listed components and upgrade parts, you should be able to install any after market GPU as well as some specific cooling solutions.
Cooling:
1) Cooler Master EVO 212: This heatsink should install on the stock backplate, but is 160mm tall and does not let you shut the side panel.
2) Coolers that should fit: any coolers shorter than 150mm. Cryorig H7 is the largest one I could find that will fit this case. However in order install it, you will need the standoffs (fortunately I had the ones from my Kraken x31) that will fit the stock motherboard backplate threads.
GPU:
1) Any GPUs shorter than 10.5inches will fit with the hard drive cage installed.
2) for longer GPUs, the hard drive cage has to be removed. You will need a drill and metal compatible drill bits to drill out all the visible rivets that hold the cage. The rivets on the back are inaccessible as the righ panel cannot be removed. Don't hesitate the pull hard and rock the cage to dislodge it from the back rivets. Removing the drive cage will also open up space to install a front mounted 140mm radiator (refer to the pictures).
How they try to keep you from modding:
These motherboards come with non standard power plugs (ModDIY solution works)
They have a bunch of sensors in fans as well as in the chasis that the BIOS checks for at startup. So if you change something you may face errors on startup and might be forced to run diagnostics. But dont worry as the above mentioned parts worked for me and the diagnostics only bothers you the first time when you install them.
They use pre-threaded metal back plate that also has threads to hold the CPU locking bracket. So if you try to replace the backplate, you will have no place to thread the cpu clips. Also, since the backplate also has integrated threads for heatsink mounting, only certain brands of cooling kits will readily fit those threads. The ones mentioned above work fine.
Here are the pictures:
Initial stock condition:
The connectors
Video card clearance 10.5inch
With the NZXT Kraken x31 in Push-Pull (which I had to remove because the case construction has very weird airflow and the kraken was just not performing well enough. Will be salving this AIO for the G10 NZXT GPU cooling kit later on):
Motherboard removed for installing Cryorig H7 Cooler (most tedious job ever):
What it finally looks like:
Conclusion:
In spite of all the anti-mod sentiment that people have with these prebuilt machines, there is always a way to work around. I hope my experience helps others.
Please leave comments if you guys want to hear about any diagnostics or system performance before/ after these mods. [/img]
Mod edit: Sorry but we don't allow self promotion
I thought I would post log of the excessive modding that I did to my Dell T20 in the hopes that it would help other who are thinking of buy/modding these prebuilt systems:
(I know, I would have been better off building my own PC. But the thing is I originally bought this with the Xeon E3-1225v3, which for approx. 300$ was a steal. But then I got bitten by the DIY bug and wanted more powah!! so kept on buying parts as I could and here I am with spare parts enough to do a second build. Hopefully my journey helps others out who might be in a similar situation)
Upgrade list:
1) PSU: EVGA SuperNova 550 GS
2) GPU: EVGA GTX 970 SSC
3) Cooling: NZXT Kraken/ Cryorig H7
4) Thermaltake 120mm ring LED fan
5) Processor: i7-4790k
6) Wifi: Asus PC-AC56
7) Red LED strips
What you will require for upgrades:
1) ModDIY Dell motherboard adapter for ATX PSU
2) Dell 5-pin fan header to 4-pin adapter
3) NZXT Kraken Watercooling installation standoffs (these are the ones that fit in the stock backplate)
With the above listed components and upgrade parts, you should be able to install any after market GPU as well as some specific cooling solutions.
Cooling:
1) Cooler Master EVO 212: This heatsink should install on the stock backplate, but is 160mm tall and does not let you shut the side panel.
2) Coolers that should fit: any coolers shorter than 150mm. Cryorig H7 is the largest one I could find that will fit this case. However in order install it, you will need the standoffs (fortunately I had the ones from my Kraken x31) that will fit the stock motherboard backplate threads.
GPU:
1) Any GPUs shorter than 10.5inches will fit with the hard drive cage installed.
2) for longer GPUs, the hard drive cage has to be removed. You will need a drill and metal compatible drill bits to drill out all the visible rivets that hold the cage. The rivets on the back are inaccessible as the righ panel cannot be removed. Don't hesitate the pull hard and rock the cage to dislodge it from the back rivets. Removing the drive cage will also open up space to install a front mounted 140mm radiator (refer to the pictures).
How they try to keep you from modding:
These motherboards come with non standard power plugs (ModDIY solution works)
They have a bunch of sensors in fans as well as in the chasis that the BIOS checks for at startup. So if you change something you may face errors on startup and might be forced to run diagnostics. But dont worry as the above mentioned parts worked for me and the diagnostics only bothers you the first time when you install them.
They use pre-threaded metal back plate that also has threads to hold the CPU locking bracket. So if you try to replace the backplate, you will have no place to thread the cpu clips. Also, since the backplate also has integrated threads for heatsink mounting, only certain brands of cooling kits will readily fit those threads. The ones mentioned above work fine.
Here are the pictures:
Initial stock condition:
The connectors
Video card clearance 10.5inch
With the NZXT Kraken x31 in Push-Pull (which I had to remove because the case construction has very weird airflow and the kraken was just not performing well enough. Will be salving this AIO for the G10 NZXT GPU cooling kit later on):
Motherboard removed for installing Cryorig H7 Cooler (most tedious job ever):
What it finally looks like:
Conclusion:
In spite of all the anti-mod sentiment that people have with these prebuilt machines, there is always a way to work around. I hope my experience helps others.
Please leave comments if you guys want to hear about any diagnostics or system performance before/ after these mods. [/img]
Mod edit: Sorry but we don't allow self promotion
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