Optiplex GX260 Case Reuse

[chonito13]

I have a Dell Optiplex GX260 all original right now running CentOS 6. My question is what would be my best options for a completely new system using this case and power-supply. I will continue using CentOS, I also do not need any disk drive(HDD, CD, DVD, etc.). Budget is less than $300.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Off the top of my head, I'd say it probably wouldn't work, but there are some things you'd need to confirm.

1) Does the power supply have a 24-Pin or 20+4 power connect to the motherboard?
1a) If so, do all the leads match the standard motherboard power connection specifications?
1b) if not, are you willing to use an adapter (if one will work) or find a motherboard that only requires a 20-pin power connection?

2) Check how the front power, reset, and HDD Activity light cables are currently connected to the motherboard. If they're all bundled into a single block:
2a) Does that block match the front power connection ports on the new motherboard
2b) Are you willing to attempt to re-wire this connections if they do not match the new motherboard configuration?

3) Understand that the power supply (assuming it's the original) is probably very old and not likely to power much more than just a bare bones system (i.e. no high-end graphics card). Based on these specifications, you have either a 160 watt (Small Form Factor), 180 watt (Desktop), or 250 watt (Mini-Tower) power supply.

-Wolf sends

 

[chonito13]

Wolf,

1) It is a 20+4 connection to the MoBo
1a) I am not sure what the standard specs are.
1b) I would be willing to use an adapter if need be.

2) There is a small 5 wire cable + a ribbon labeled USB running to a PCB in the front.
2a) I am not sure yet.
2b) Rewire is no problem

3) It is the Small Form Factor with a 160W

I would be fine without a crazy GPU I never play any games, it would mainly be used for business use.

Thank you,
Sean

 

[Wolfshadw]

Dell used to use proprietary components in their systems. The wiring in their motherboards/power supplies was different from the standard components. I'm not sure you can use that power supply with a new motherboard and my search-fu is weak on this subject.

This is my main concern. You need to figure out if your old Dell power supply is compatible with newer motherboards.

-Wolf sends

 

[chonito13]

I just compared the PSU from the Optiplex to my other PCs PSU which is labeled as a 24+4, they are different the Optiplex has the same 20 pin brick with 1 wire missing as does the 24+4, but they both have a 4 wire brick plugged in near the CPU.

Optiplex(20 pin brick and a 4 pin brick)

other PC(20+4 pin brick and a 4 pin brick)

I did find a forum about upgrading the existing MoBo here http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/p/4915245/5038231.aspx#5038231

With attention to a specific post

Would just like anyone who is interested in this type of upgrade to know, that the PowerColor AGP 128MB 9200SE Radeon card works great in my 160Watt GX260 SFF. As does my LSI Logic MegaRAID 150-2 SATA controller with my Hitachi 80GB SATA drive. I would like to encourage those of you who have inquisitive minds about upgrades to read these posts, but bear in mind that there is only one way to find out if your ideas can work... take a chance and try them. I am posting to this forum right now on my GX260 that I have upgraded... I even have the original HDD still connected and the case open because I did a drive copy from it to the new SATA drive for windows 2K. My settings for 3D and OpenGL are both at "Quality". This system works even bettter than before, it takes up hardly any space and it is quiet as ever. I am going to try the 3.06GHz upgrade and the memory upgrade that I've proposed earlier in my post. I hope this gives hope to those of you who read these posts and have questions on what will work. I questioned it once, but my feeling was that I needed to try it for myself... I've learned that there is no better teacher than experience. Good luck to you.



Jake

Ps. The trend with todays advanced technology is to move away from overly stated capicity power supplies of 450Watt and up (dare I say even 400Watts is a waste) and move towards those PSs with HIGH EFFICIENCY. Cheaper, less heat wasted + MORE QUIET.

 

[beetlejuicegr]

The gx 260 pc case is ideal! for a custom pc made for media playing in your TV. However i haven't tried it yet. The 160watt should be more than fine , way more than fine actually, if we use a mini-atx motheboard with an Intel or AMD cpu that has integrated GPU in! The motherboard must have hdmi ofc. So the cost would be what? 70 for a cpu, 20 for 2gb ddr3 and board of hmm 50-80 (depends if we need miniITX or atx) = 140-180 euro, hmm 110-130 GBP?

Oh a hard disk , well you could start with XBMC live on a usb flash just to see how this goes, and if you can connect this little guy to lan with cable fine, if not , you need a usb wifi thingie.
About dvds/blue rays, now this is the hard part because gx260 pc case fits a laptop size drive for cd/dvd/blue rays but then you will have definitely a connection issue.
Will move with this idea later on the following weeks if job and family leave me some time and give you guys some info.

If this works, you will have an always up to date codec, media player with some maintenance and most importantly way less expensive than a super media player box/nas.