Dell 537 SFF motherboard upgrade?

Vadamo

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Jul 28, 2013
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A few days ago, I was digging around and found a Dell Inspiron 537S (Small form factor).

I decided to take the project on of upgrading most parts.

Currently upgraded parts:
Core 2 Duo E4400 > Core 2 Extreme QX6700
(The temps idle at 70c so I'm gonna try putting water cooling into this, it is a SFF computer so I'll probably end up cutting a huge hole for the radiator/fan)

2GB > 4GB Ram
Intel Integrated GPU > Radeon 8350 2GB DDR3 (Windows 7 recognizes it as a Radeon HD 7300 though)
320gb > Toshiba 1.0TB

So the current motherboard has a few limitations, therefore I'd like to upgrade it. All I need to work is the front panel. It looks like most Dell front panel ports are similar but I'm not sure.

The limitations are:
•2x2GB ram slots
•2 SATA ports(room for another HDD

I'm looking for a similiar board (support for the QX6700,etc.) that has more SATA ports/ Ram slots. I'd like to get to 8GB on this system.

The SATA problem could be remedied with a SATA card but I just wanna see my options.

Thanks!
 
Nothing available that fits your DELL case. You can find Socket 775 motherboard on eBay.

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L V2.0 Motherboard skt 775
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-GA-P35-DS3L-V2-0-Motherboard-skt-775-DDR2-Intel-P35-/272332238549?hash=item3f68442ed5%3Ag%3AuZkAAOSwrXdXKqis

DEEPCOOL TESSERACT BF Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811853003&ignorebbr=1

If you are building a system around the Dell case, I think you are fighting a losing battle. Smaller motherboards with different socket are mini-ITX form factor. Nothing that size for your current CPU.
 


No similar Dell boards with 2 more RAM slots and SATA at an ATX size? Not sure what the next version up of my Dell is, but I'll look around. Thanks for that though!

The goal is to keep the Dell case, that is what makes this project fun 😛

UPDATE: Hold the phone! I found a Dell Inspiron 545/s motherboard that is exactly like mine. It adds two more slots and supports 8gb along with another SATA port(I wouldn't need a second DVD drive, so I guess one more SATA port is good! :).) The front panel connector also looks similar so I think I'll order it