No proprietary parts - Dell IdeaStorm

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5037

No proprietary parts

5037 points posted to Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops and Laptops by neogamerdrew 02/19/07

When maintaining or upgrading a Dell, it is a shear nightmare to try and replace parts. Most things are not the standard ATX parts you would expect. I suggest that Dell move away from proprietary parts, and open the door for people to use after market parts.

carlobaluta 02/20/07	Totally true. I cannot replace the power supply on my Dell, because it does not have an on/off button or at least room for it. As such, I cannot update the video card which makes me curse my buying into Dell. You cannot use a different motherboard and so on which renders all parts not useful at the end of life of the computer...
m85476585 02/21/07	They are getting better, but it isn't perfect. They do use standard power supplies now, but the motherboards and cases are still non-standard (at least in my Dimension 8400). When I tried to upgrade my motherboard I suddenly had to buy a new case and heatsink too. Everything else is working great in the P5B deluxe. Now that I think of it, my XPS Gen2 has what looks like a server PSU at the bottom, but I'm not sure about the connectors.
psychomp3 02/23/07	no Propriety Parts! Are you sure. the newer BTX system i would believe, the 8400 has a standard ATX board but you have to change the back plate, which is normally included when you purchase a Brandnew Motherboard. the AGP, PCI Express, PCI, Hard Drive, optical Drive those are all standard parts. the Power supply of the Dimension system are also standard, XPS series uses a redundant power supply.
jimyjoe 02/27/07	Yeah i have a dimension 1100 and i can not find any ram thats fits for love nor money if anyone has found any that fits i would love to no thanks. Joe
videonewbee 03/02/07	Yes, this is a huge negative for Dell. Not something a computer buyer wants to read about after their purchase. In marketing lingo for you Dell managers its called Cognitive Disonance (sorry about spelling) which is psyco babble for something not working out according to plans. (for example: not being able to fit your big new car into your little garage). ie. Buyers Remorse.
greythanis 03/23/07	amen, open standards is the future. It can also give Dell a competitive edge, as their graphics cards will have to outperform others both on the computer and the wallet to catch customers. Computers today have so many open standards: USB, dvd, pc cards, etc. The better each company makes these products, the more it can get even from other users. e.g. a consumer might have an HP, but to upgrade a specific card, the user may go to Dell = more money for dell.
jetsetlemming 03/26/07	Definitely. I'm stuck with a cheap PCI video card because I can't upgrade my power or use a AGP or PCI-E video card in my Dimension.
nerdcore 04/19/07	Okay, so let me get this right Jetsetlemming, you bought a computer knowing there was a PCI card and no AGP and no PCI-E and that's some how Dell's fault?
premcv 04/19/07	That's strange, jetsetlemming. How can you blame Dell for it?
crzywolf 04/20/07	Hmm, this is intersting. I have an XPS 410 and I added two 512 sticks of Patriot DDR2 667 Memory with no problem. I also replaced the base nVidia 7300 LE PCI-e card with a Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950XT 512MB GDDR3 card and it is working fine. The only thing that I would see that may be an upgrade problem would be power supplies but that is only because of the custom case that Dell uses. You talk about how Dell would could make money buy standardizing their parts, after market vendors should be seeing $$$ with making after market parts for specific PC's. Think about how many people would buy after market products for their Dell or HP or Compaq. They do it in the automotive industry, Edelbrock wouldn't be as successful today if they just made standard heads, intake manifolds, headers, and so on. They make them for Dodge, Ford, Chevy, Plymouth, yada yada yada. Why can't it be done for PC's as well?
premcv 04/20/07	hmm. Good thought.
ptcase 04/20/07	I have a question for czywolf or anybody who can answer my question regarding powersupply from the current 375 watt to something higher like a 450 or 500watt. I have the Dell dimension 9100 which was the precurosor to the XPS 410. It has the same exact chassis. The only things different are the internal hardware. Cryzwolf, did you find an answer to your powersupply dilemma? My 9100 has the Intel Pentium 820 D@ 2.8 Ghz and 800FSB and 2.5 GB DDR2. I have the standard 375 watt with PCI-e x 16 slot. Does anyone know if a larger powersupply is possible to accomodate a better graphics cards like nivida 8000 series that require a larger power source is able to fit ?
premcv 04/20/07	@ptcase: Does, Speeze answer your question?
crzywolf 04/20/07	I don't really have a dilema, my XPS runs like a champ. Plays POE2, Project Reality, and BF2 with no problems. I can tell you this, I got a buddy that has a Dim 9200 and has a 8800GTX and runs it with no problems using the stock psu. It would be nice, though, to have the option of swapping the stock psu for a beefier one. Just like going out and buying a new Mustang GT and putting in a Flowmaster exhaust system.
premcv 04/20/07	Great!
ptcase 04/20/07	Yes and no. I was wandering if anybody has tried to fit a more powerful powersupply into an Dell 9100/XPS 410 than the standard 375 watt version. I have looked into upgrading my current video card ( ATI 128MB X300se PCI-E X16 to a more powerful one when vista has its act together with the accompanied drivers etc. The best I have found in the Nvidia product line that I'm able to use the BFG Tech 512 MB OC w/ PCI-e x 16 with the standard 375 watt powersupply. Each card has its system requirements. I would love to put in a Nvidia 8800 768MB model but my powersupply won't support according to the requirements.
premcv 04/20/07	Ah. Those sublities. Any way, I don't think you would be able to put in a 600W power supply into a 9100/XPS 410 due to the size of the chasis. You'd end up having to redesign the chasis. I don't know about other systems.
ptcase 04/20/07	I meant to say BFG Tech 7950 GT OC 512MB w/ PCI-e x 16.
premcv 04/20/07	Hmm... Ok
blackeagle 04/21/07	last time i checked dell is there to make money
kenoscope 04/22/07	I've a GX270, it has the smallest power supply (in watt output) that Dell could make work. I've got it running on edge with a new video card & second Hard Drive. Replacethe power supply? Uh, yeah, the techs replaced it once when it died but if I want to upgrade too more watts? Just like the HP I repaired for my wifes friend last weekend, time to bring out the metal cutters. Tell me, what IDIOT at HP decided to put a 100 watt powersupply in a minitower? SHEESH!
psychomp3 04/25/07	You only go with a higher, better, beefier PSU if you're putting in SLI + 4 Hard Drives + 2 Optical Drives + 12 CPU Fans + Dual Processor AMD + Dual Channel DDR Overclocked, I guess a 750Watt PSU would do. Since the 1100s to 3100 are all Business units, you won't have an option to upgrade the video in it. But the rest that have AGP and PCI Express can upgrade the video card, The Power Supply of the BTX units all use standard ATX 2.03 standard. But if you change the board and retain the casing, it's good as you don't have a warranty with Dell anymore.
luisr 04/25/07	http://www.pcpower.com they offer premium power supplies for dell's systems. only propietary part in a dell computer is chassis and the right power supply to fit inside. i have a dim4700 (jan 2005), and add a non-dell video card, 2 non-dell memory sticks, and 2 non-dell optical drives, and the system is working like new, no problems whatsoever.
thiago 05/03/07	One point about Dell's (and other OEMs) Power Supplies: they usually are marked LESS than they're capable of (actually, the other PSUs are marked BETTER than they really are, and that became the standard reference... go figure). The 375W should be probably just fine for a non-SLI 8800GTS rig.
belisarius 10/05/07	I bought an XPS 410 last fall, and thought "hey...it's an XPS, so I should be able to upgrade it later on, right?" WRONG...well, sort of. The truth is you [i]can[/i] upgrade it, but not without a lot of swearing and some ingenuity. So anyway, I decided I'd like to upgrade to one of the D3D10 version GPUs at some point, and realized (after much research on forums like this) that Dell's proprietary PSU sucked. (I'm sorry, but 375-412W max is not what I consider a secure investment.) I did some more research (mostly comparing my crappy little PSU, visually, with other brands and looking at diagrams to compare size). Then I went to Best Buy and picked up a BFG 650W PSU (SLI Ready). I think the model # is BFGR650PSU. To make a long story short, I had to mount the PSU upside down to align two holes on the rear of the case, just so I could screw it in. As long as you're not lugging your tower around all the time, 2 screws are fine. Then I had to use an extra 4-pin Molex to SATA adapter just to get the power cables to reach down to the hard drives (and still keep my disc drives plugged in). This was more of a pain than anything else. That's the biggest problem with BFG PSUs, in my opinion...their cables are WAY too short. But it works. Great. And I still have enough room to install that GTX, whenever I get enough money to pick one up.
proto 12/07/07	Look at it from a business point of view. How hard would it be for tech support to help you out if half the parts weren't stock. I mean...have you ever called Tech Support before? It's hard enough for them as it is. The majority of people who buy Dells are not looking to upgrade their PCs. This is what the XPS line is for. If you're willing to spend that much money on a computer you could build for almost half the price. How many gamers, enthusiasts, and overclockers do you know that are using a Dell, HP, Compaq, or heck...a Gateway system? I suggest saving up a few 100 bucks and buying some old parts(and I mean old, there are some decent 1 Ghz proc for 15 bucks, lol) and building your own test system. You'll get a better idea of how a computer works, and you can build your own system in the future. Dells just aren't worth it for Gaming and enthusiast PCs.
proto 12/07/07	Also, the comparison to car and PC aftermarket parts holds no weight, in words. Everything that is PC related IS standardized. From Intel/AMD, socket-type, AGP, PCI/E, SATA, whatever. Companies such as Dell further standardized the market buy creating their own proprietary chipsets(the same way EVGA or XFX or BFGTech can produce their own video cards off the same chipset/GPU architecture). This way, as said above, everything is standard to them. Not only does it make it easier for tech support, filing RMAs, so on so forth...but if everything were completely standardized between the major PC companies, they'd have HP customers calling Dell hotlines, or going straight to Intel/AMD. This makes everything 'local'. Having a problem with you Dell? Call Dell support. If you consider yourself an advanced user, please build your own system. For your own sake and ours.
psychomp3 Jan 21	Err excuse Me! dell does not product their own chipsets. most companies such as Dell & HP have their boards made by Asus or Foxconn, literally. but you can put in a MicroATX board or microBTXboard into a Dell or HP system. Possibly the only proprietary part in a Dell is the casing itself and the power supply but everything else inside is normal. @proto you might be a newbie gamer not knowing what you want, there are alot of gamer's getting, HP Dell and alienware as well as Dell monitors for modification purposes.

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