What's the format of my motherboard?

[Giuliano Castagna]

What's the format of the original motherboard from the DELL OPTIPLEX GX270?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Which case do you have?

I believe that the motherboard is a standard microATX form-factor board.

http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/replacing-a-dell-optilex-gx270-motherboard-for-another-one-237967/

Why do you want to know? What do you plan to do?

 

[Chicano]

MicroATX (9.60 inches by 8.20 inches [233.68 millimeters by 208.28 millimeters])
http://www.ascendtech.us/dell-optiplex-gx270-motherboard-u1324_i_mb4delgx270.aspx

 

[Giuliano Castagna]

Which case do you have?

I believe that the motherboard is a standard microATX form-factor board.

http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/replacing-a-dell-optilex-gx270-motherboard-for-another-one-237967/

Why do you want to know? What do you plan to do?

I have the small mini tower of the DELL OPTIPLEX GX270

 

[Giuliano Castagna]

I measured my motherboard, it's 26.50 cm by 28.50 cm (10.4 in. by 11.2 in.)

 

[Chicano]

If you're sure those measurements are correct, it's not a MATX but ATX... 9.6" x 9.6" is the maximum MATX size. Install a System Information program such as HWiNFO, Astra32, Speccy, etc, to find the exact motherboard model and determine the exact form factor.
It would probably be better to measure the case area the motherboard covers, to know the case's exact form factor and mobo compatibility.

These are the Optiplex GX270 mobo measurements:
Dell Optiplex GX270 Motherboard U1324
Form Factor microATX (9.60 inches by 8.20 inches [233.68 millimeters by 208.28 millimeters])
http://www.ascendtech.us/dell-optiplex-gx270-motherboard-u1324_i_mb4delgx270.aspx

 

[Giuliano Castagna]

This is a foto of my motherboard

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Thanks for the photo. That's a mATX board with some extra overhang on it if the silver part at the bottom is part of the board.

Compare with this modern mATX board (one I use) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157520R&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Intel+Motherboards-_-N82E16813157520R&gclid=Cj0KEQjwsIWvBRCnzevvor2g4L8BEiQAAN234Q1qPjXCmOowyaB0-XYk1VJykoIspY0crcAl12T7IXcaAqH88P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Chicano]

@DonkeyOatie
The silver part is the metal base the motherboard is bolted to, and that base slides into the case and is secured to it with the latch you see with the green handle.

@ Giuliano Castagna
So, the actual size should be only taken measuring the green PCB board. It's a MATX but it's not a standard... I have a Dell Dimension 4500 that uses the same type of case, motherboard base, CPU heatsink, big cooler fan, etc... and If you're planning on upgrading it with another brand motherboard, I'd advice against it because connecting the front panel wiring doesn't appear like an easy task. As you can see the front panel header is not standard... it's the IDE like connector right next to the Dell logo, and it receives a IDE like multiconnector that runs from a small PCB about 1.5" by 4" that receives the front panel wiring and relays them to the mobo header, and there isn't much information to describe the wiring pinout.. besides that, a standard motherboard I/O shield might not fit in the case back I/O opening.

I moved my Dim 4500 motherboard to a standard case but I had to also migrate the small PCB 1.5x4.0" in size, and connect the front panel wiring to that but I had to search for the wiring pinout and only found the info in a couple images and diagram of the small PCB and had to do some logical figuring out to attach the wires correctly... only lost the use of the FP USB ports which was no big deal since the host case doesn't have them anyway.

If you plan to upgrade that computer it would be wiser to start fresh with a new standard case.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

@DonkeyOatie
The silver part is the metal base the motherboard is bolted to, and that base slides into the case and is secured to it with the latch you see with the green handle.

@ Giuliano Castagna
So, the actual size should be only taken measuring the green PCB board. It's a MATX but it's not a standard... I have a Dell Dimension 4500 that uses the same type of case, motherboard base, CPU heatsink, big cooler fan, etc... and If you're planning on upgrading it with another brand motherboard, I'd advice against it because connecting the front panel wiring doesn't appear like an easy task. As you can see the front panel header is not standard... it's the IDE like connector right net to the Dell logo, and it receives a IDE like multiconnector that runs from a small PCB about 1.5" by 4" that receives the front panel wiring and relays them to the mobo header, and there isn't much information to describe the wiring pinout.. besides that, a standard motherboard I/O shield might not fit in the case back I/O opening.

I moved my Dim 4500 motherboard to a standard case but I had to also migrate the small PCB 1.5x4.0" in size, and connect the front panel wiring to that but I had to search for the wiring pinout and only found the info in a couple images and diagram of the small PCB and had to do some logical figuring out to attach the wires correctly... only lost the use of the FP USB ports which was no big deal since the host case doesn't have them anyway.

If you plan to upgrade that computer it would be wiser to start fresh with a new standard case.

Thanks. That's what I thought, and it explained why the odd dimensions which do not match any board. We use Optiplexes at school ,but they are different to that.

 

[Chicano]

Thanks. That's what I thought, and it explained why the odd dimensions which do not match any board. We use Optiplexes at school ,but they are different to that.

Yeah, that's a 478 socket mobo in a proprietary variation of the MATX form factor. It's from around 2004 so you probably won't see one of those at school.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Want to bet? We still have some XP systems.

The computer under my desk ATM is a GX520, although it's an old one, since I got move to a new position and had to leave 'the good stuff' behind.

 

[Chicano]

LOL.. nah I'd probably lose!... one thing you can depend on with a Dell is durability, so that wasn't in my doubts, it was that Pentium 4 systems aren't likely to be used by public institutions nowadays when the most basic modern CPUs are no less than five times faster... but guess I was wrong.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Still runs Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and Excel OK. I've run some benchmarks. Even my G3258 is better. My classroom still has a 23" color tube TV and a VCR! Some of the tapes are twenty years old and are getting very funky.

My Computer Construction Crewe has been quite good at fixing these old things, replacing dead PSUs, RAM, and HDDs.

 

[Chicano]

The GX520 is 775 socket with dual core Pentium D 326 2.53Ghz which was a slight improvement over the 478 Pentium 4 but it's still slow by today's standards, so the G3258 is better with good reason... a whole decade of improvements separates socket 1150 from 775.