Dell Inspiron 3650 in a new case?

[wjbrenn]

I recently purchased a "Dell Inspiron 3650 Core i7-6700 SKYLAKE Quad-core Win7 Pro Desktop w/ 16GB RAM, 2TB HDD & AMD R9 360 Video Card".

I know a thing or two about computers and specifications but I've never really got down and dirty with hardware installation or configuration, so I made this purchase while it was on sale for 500$ seeing as I already had a relatively small budget (they refunded me some money also having falsely advertised some information). I made the purchase hoping to be able to upgrade the graphics card but of course the power supply was 240 watts (not the advertised 460w) and had no PCIE 6 pin connectors which are required to plug in my GTX 970, so I purchased an Insignia 520w with the required cables but it's evident that the PSU nor the GPU will fit in the case, essentially my options here are bread boarding the thing, which id rather not do, modifying the case (which is a little out of my comfort zone), and buying a new case. My main concern is that the motherboard is especially made to conform to the case, and I'm unsure if it will fit in another one, I'm not very familiar with proper configuration of computers, so I just need some suggestions on what I should do, and if someone can find me a big old case that will fit it, it would be amazing. This will definitely be my last time buying a PC, I'll be assembling them myself from now on!

Bottom line I figure if I spend 100ish bucks on a case I only spent 650ish on a 1200 dollar machine, and I'd be happy with that.

Any help is much appreciated, I'm open to unorthodox and unique methods, but I'd like to keep it cheap and simple, thanks!

--- also, a 400-600w PSU that will fit, and contains at least an 8 pin and 2 6 pin connectors is acceptable!

 

[n0ns3ns3]

you don't even have to spend that much money on the case.
there are plenty of decent cases starting 35-40$.
the thing with the boards from OEMs like dell and HP, they might not follow any standard while designing the board in terms of mount points and IO panel size and position.
Another challenge will be the connection of front panel - power, reset, audio.
and the last one is fans.
So you probably going to need some modding anyway.
So you might wanna measure the board first to see if it's complies with any ATX/ITX standard first.
Meanwhile, you can have the PSU outside the case and you can keep it open if it required to fit the card.

 

[Rogue Leader]

The board in that system is a Standard MicroATX board, it will fit in another case that conforms to that standard, and it has a 24 pin connector as well.

Return that Insignia PSU and get yourself an EVGA 550G2 or XFX TS 550.

 

[wjbrenn]

@Rogue Leader

I'm returning the Insignia PSU and ordering that EVGA one. As far as the case goes, do you have any suggestions?

 

[Rogue Leader]

@Rogue Leader

I'm returning the Insignia PSU and ordering that EVGA one. As far as the case goes, do you have any suggestions?

This is a decent cheap case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041&cm_re=corsair_spec-_-11-139-041-_-Product

I mean theres so many out there, just need to get any case that will take a MicroATX board that you think looks cool.

 

[wjbrenn]

@Rogue Leader

I'm returning the Insignia PSU and ordering that EVGA one. As far as the case goes, do you have any suggestions?

This is a decent cheap case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041&cm_re=corsair_spec-_-11-139-041-_-Product

I mean theres so many out there, just need to get any case that will take a MicroATX board that you think looks cool.

That kinda conflicts though, because the USB front ports etc. won't line up with the ports on the case?

 

[Rogue Leader]

@Rogue Leader

I'm returning the Insignia PSU and ordering that EVGA one. As far as the case goes, do you have any suggestions?

This is a decent cheap case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041&cm_re=corsair_spec-_-11-139-041-_-Product

I mean theres so many out there, just need to get any case that will take a MicroATX board that you think looks cool.

That kinda conflicts though, because the USB front ports etc. won't line up with the ports on the case?

The front ports of the case I linked you are connected to the motherboard via a cable(s). The rear ports fit into a standard opening, you may need to remove the port shield from your Inspirion case but it should fit.

 

[wjbrenn]

@Rogue Leader

Thanks so much! You've helped a ton! Ordering me a case and that PSU!

 

[Rogue Leader]

Excellent, good luck.

 

[graygoose25]

Excellent, good luck.

Hey how did you figure out the inspiron 3650 motherboard type. I looked all over the web and couldn't find anything.

 

[Nelsahn]

I'm in the same predicament! Bought a evga GTX 1060 only to find the PSU on the 3650 is too wimpy. Any status update would be greatly appreciated, wjbrenn!

 

[Rogue Leader]

Dimensionally the motherboard is the same height wise as Micro ATX, it is a little deeper because of the front ports but will still fit in any ATX case.

Additionally you need the following adaptor to use a new PSU with this system:

http://www.moddiy.com/products/Dell-OptiPlex-3020-PSU-Main-Power-24%252dPin-to-8%252dPin-Adapter-Cable-%2830cm%29.html

 

[graygoose25]

I'm in the same predicament! Bought a evga GTX 1060 only to find the PSU on the 3650 is too wimpy. Any status update would be greatly appreciated, wjbrenn!

Hey, I had this same issue and came to this thread also, so I bought an atx case and when it came in... surprise surprise the motherboard did not fit. my case takes all atx size and mini itx size. The motherboard of the 3650 is just way to small to put in a new gaming case. I ust ordered a new motherboard I am waiting to come in because of this one not fitting. the problem is you also run into the tiny dvd drive, which is too small. I have to order a standard size dvd drive also, so technically speaking it isn't worth the switch you end up being out more money and basically a totally different pc.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Yes thank you graygoose for confirming this.

The 3650 will not fit into a different case, size wise it will but there is no way to safely and properly mount it.

 

[wjbrenn]

So I ended up buying a new case, motherboard, power supply, all the works. Now I'm having trouble with crashes and the operating system booting up properly. At a loss for words at the moment. Put quite a bit of work into it and now trying to troubleshoot. For everyone in the future, safe yourself the trouble, do the research, and build. Don't buy a preconfigured pc by a big company like Dell of anything

 

[Rogue Leader]

So I ended up buying a new case, motherboard, power supply, all the works. Now I'm having trouble with crashes and the operating system booting up properly. At a loss for words at the moment. Put quite a bit of work into it and now trying to troubleshoot. For everyone in the future, safe yourself the trouble, do the research, and build. Don't buy a preconfigured pc by a big company like Dell of anything

Did you re-install Windows with the new combination of parts?

 

[wjbrenn]

So I ended up buying a new case, motherboard, power supply, all the works. Now I'm having trouble with crashes and the operating system booting up properly. At a loss for words at the moment. Put quite a bit of work into it and now trying to troubleshoot. For everyone in the future, safe yourself the trouble, do the research, and build. Don't buy a preconfigured pc by a big company like Dell of anything

Did you re-install Windows with the new combination of parts?

Actually things seem to be working properly now. I guess I needed a burn in and a few restarts. Windows update and disk repair ran after the crash. Would you still advise a reinstall of the OS? If so, how would you recommend going about this without having installed a hard disk drive?

What caused the crash in the first place was the first time I tried to play a game, a 4K game (which happened to be early access and not well optimized) on my 43 inch 4K tv. Needless the to say the game isn't correctly formatted for the resolution, and doesn't run too well. Subsequently, I black screened, and instead of getting my lazy butt up to restart my machine, I hit alt-f8 on my keyboard, which does not do the same clean power down as the power button. Then ensued OS loading problems and a slew of system restarts later and updates etc it started working again. Letting it run overnight and letting things install.

In the near future I plan on replacing the cpu heat sink ( which came from the Inspiron) because it doesn't properly fit, on the motherboard, and installing an SSD. Maybe a 10 series card at some point so I can get that flawless performance, but the 970 I had does it for now! Learned a lot from this experience!

PS: the 550g2 doesn't fit properly in my case, it's too large; so I cannot completely close the case and bolt the PSU in.

 

[Rogue Leader]

What case did you get? The 550G2 should fit in any decent ATX case its an ATX PSU. Its not especially long or anything. I've installed them in cases of all different sizes even tiny ITX ones.

I would recommend re-installing Windows because of the new hardware, that was likely the cause of your problems to begin with. You have a hard drive (what else would you be running off of?), you can download the Windows Media Creation Tool and created a bootable USB to install it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

 

[wjbrenn]

What case did you get? The 550G2 should fit in any decent ATX case its an ATX PSU. Its not especially long or anything. I've installed them in cases of all different sizes even tiny ITX ones.

I would recommend re-installing Windows because of the new hardware, that was likely the cause of your problems to begin with. You have a hard drive (what else would you be running off of?), you can download the Windows Media Creation Tool and created a bootable USB to install it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/

I'm using an APEVIA QBER-GN. Can't screw in the PSU and plug in all of the chords.. Will reinstall the OS tn.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Oh I see how the drive bays are set up. Unfortunately that looks more like a defect of the case, as it looks like ANY PSU in there would be an issue. A cheap crappy one may be slightly shorter, but its still a tight squeeze to plug in the cables. Any chance you can take a picture or two for me?

 

[wjbrenn]

Oh I see how the drive bays are set up. Unfortunately that looks more like a defect of the case, as it looks like ANY PSU in there would be an issue. A cheap crappy one may be slightly shorter, but its still a tight squeeze to plug in the cables. Any chance you can take a picture or two for me?

I can get you pics later. Yeah it's a super tight squeeze. I tried plugging things in normally and I actually managed to get the plugs closer to the side in, specifically the motherboard and cpu, but it was too tight for me to get in any SATA chords, VGA, or Perif chords, so I unplugged everything and now it's running with one side of the case off. A bit scared my cat might get into it but it works.

 

[wjbrenn]

Oh I see how the drive bays are set up. Unfortunately that looks more like a defect of the case, as it looks like ANY PSU in there would be an issue. A cheap crappy one may be slightly shorter, but its still a tight squeeze to plug in the cables. Any chance you can take a picture or two for me?

I can get you pics later. Yeah it's a super tight squeeze. I tried plugging things in normally and I actually managed to get the plugs closer to the side in, specifically the motherboard and cpu, but it was too tight for me to get in any SATA chords, VGA, or Perif chords, so I unplugged everything and now it's running with one side of the case off. A bit scared my cat might get into it but it works.