Dell converted to gaming rig?

[Warp_Core]

So... My dad brought home a Dell Optiplex 3010 Mini Tower from work, with an i5 3470 in it, and at first I thought I would just scrap it for parts or something, but I got to thinking, and I thought I would see if I could fit an R9 280 in it. Crazy, right? I was already basing a gaming build I was saving up for on an i5 platform(albeit a 4590 ), so I thought maybe I could use this. Now, I measured how much space I had from the Pcie slot to the hard drive cage, and it was about 10.70" or something around there. R9 280s are real close to being that long. So, my real question here is:

Does anyone know if this crazy idea will work? If the 280 is SOMEHOW actually able to work in the dell mobo, will it fit without the drive cage getting in the way? If not, how on earth am I supposed to get the drive cage out? I was thinking of just taking a dremel to it or something xD. Has ANYONE ever done this before? Please get back to me! Thanks for your troubles!

P.S: I am also planning on putting a new PSU in it, like a corsair 600W or something, since the dell psu is SURELY not powerful enough. And I was going to put 8Gb of RAM in too. Thanks!

 

[tiny voices]

All you need is a new PSU to run the GPU and you should be fine. Not a crazy idea at all, people upgrade Prebuilts all the time.

DO NOT buy a Corsair cx600. Junk. Buy an Antec, XFX, Seasonic.

 

[avenseth12]

I don't think I would mess around with that case. Just buy another case and mount your new stuff in it. If you are wanting the case to be portable, just buy one that offers that. Also, putting new motherboards in those Dell case can be tricky - they have boards made for them on a proprietary design.
Here is an example case:

COUGAR Spike Black Steel / Plastic MicroATX Mini Tower Gaming Case $34
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553011

 

[Anarkie13]

Try this one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487093

The 960s are about on par with the 280. But lower power requirements and this one is intended for smaller fits.

As for the rest, try the GPU first, then replace the PSU, and then the RAM. I think that order you'll do fine.

 

[tiny voices]

He should put a new PSU in ASAP. The OEM one is not going to be very good quality and overdrawing it will cause it to fail and damage/destroy the PC.

A quality PSU is the single most important part of the PC.

I agree that a 960 is a better idea than a 280 though. A PSU like an antec VP-450 would run this system with a gtx960 no problem.

 

[Warp_Core]

Thanks guys! All of these are great ideas! Right after I posted this, I was looking around for a smaller gpu, and I came across the EVGA 960s too xD. I think I probably get the 4GB version though. I guess I'll probably get the evga 960 and an evga or corsair 500w psu, put that in, and then get 8GB of ram, and then after a while i'll probably upgrade into a 4590 or something comparable, an asrock z97m pro4, and a nzxt source 210 elite... Thanks!

 

[tiny voices]

Don't buy a Corsair PSU or an evga PSU of 500w. Neither are good.