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Hey all,
Thought some Dell owners who wanted to beef up their PC's with a new card might be interested. This is a post I made on the Dell forums for people who told me it couldn't be done. I said it could, most of them said it couldn't be done and I was doomed to failure. I can now smugly tell them to kiss my ass as I play Stalker on my budget rig in full glory. Makes me feel even better that they told me to go buy an XPS!
I made a post a few days ago about my upcoming adventures with a Dell Dimension E520 and a GeForce 8800GTS. Well, after getting my new card in the mail today, here's the results :
I opened my case to see what I was going to have to do. Right after I opened it, I took a look at the situation. First thing I noticed was that the card's ventilation was going to have to have an opening. Second, was that the fan shroud was going to be in the way. Third? I wish I had a dremmel kit. Would have made this into a 1 hour ordeal.
This WILL void your warranty. You WILL be removing a piece of the case, a screw from the 8800, and a part of the fan shroud and mount. If you're still interested, read on! This is not sanctioned by Dell!
1 - First of all, I popped the case open and took a look. I tried slipping in the 8800 as it was to see what had to be changed. 1st thing was the spot in the back above where the stock PCI-E card would stick out. The 8800 needs to vent, so there needed to be a hole there.
2 - Second, the rear of the card needed some space. To do this, I had to remove the shroud from over the heatsink and cut about 1 inch off of it. Also, where it connects to the mount on the motherboard I had to trim the mount down quite a bit. I thought this would loosen the heatsink alot but it never, the HS is still firmly on the CPU!
So here's how I did it :
1 - Remove the connectors from the motherboard, then remove the heatsink shroud. Use a long screwdriver and loosed the 2 screws that are down the sides, then flip it off. After that, remove the retention bracket (another 2 screws).
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0192.jpg
2 - Remove the motherboard by taking out all the screws. If you got all of them out that you can see, gently try to lift it. If it's not moving, check it closely. Slide it towards the front of the case them lift the back up and manouver it out. Place this somewhere safe!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0195.jpg
3 - After you take the motherboard out, look at the back. There's 2 things to remove that you don't need : First is the extra metal thing around the PCI-E and PCI slots. The second is the foamy stuff on the back of the case where all your USB ports and hte like poke through. Cut off the bottom part of this near the LAN/USB ports as it interferes with the 8800 sliding into place.
Foam : http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0195.jpg
Bracket : http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0194.jpg
4 - Here's where it can get tricky. Near the PCI-E slot, there is a small nub of metal that stops the 8800 from sliding in. Either drill or dremel it off. Here's a picture that shows it :
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/Nub.jpg
5 - This is where you have to be creative. Remove the metal heatsink from within the fan shroud (fan shroud is the big black plastic cover) and trim off at least and inch where the GeForce meets it (it's best to look where the screwhole is in the plastic where it goes into the heatsink itself, trim close but leave about 1cm). This will allow them to sit beside eachother without touching. Also, where the shroud sits close to the rear of the GeForce and attaches to the motherboard, you have to trim that down quite a bit. The lower right of the fan shroud will NOT be attached to anything due to taking the lower corner off.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0198.jpg
6 - So the GeForce will fit in and vent, remove the whole strip of metal that is directly above the PCI-E video slot. You can measure it and remove it relatively easy. Remove the whole thing right up to the small square holes as it makes the ventilation a non-issue, and go as far as the vents need (measure with your eyes and use judement on this, forgot to snag a pic)
7 - Once you've done all this, clean the case out with a vacuum and make sure nothing is rattling around in there. Place the motherboard back in and screw the the bottem left and right screws in. Place the vertical fan shroud retention bracket on the motherboard and screw it in (lightly if u want) then place the fanshroud onto it and lightly screw that in. After that, place the 8800 in and see how it fits. Towards the rear of the case the 8800 may need a little prodding to get into place, and it will be snug. Check if anything needs trimming or fixing and do it accordingly.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0196.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/Dell8800.jpg
If you have any questions let me know. All the parts in the machine are stock, I have nothing extra except for a 250gig Sata hard drive, and next week or so an add-on Firewire card.
Also, I've played Stalker on it and World of Warcraft with no issues.
WARNING : I installed Windows XP on the machine first. It does NOT like the E520 and GeForce 8800 combo. I had several issues after 3 reinstalls of XP (taskbar not responding, severe lag at start up, blue screen with USB, etc). Windows Vista runs without a hitch.
Enjoy!
Thought some Dell owners who wanted to beef up their PC's with a new card might be interested. This is a post I made on the Dell forums for people who told me it couldn't be done. I said it could, most of them said it couldn't be done and I was doomed to failure. I can now smugly tell them to kiss my ass as I play Stalker on my budget rig in full glory. Makes me feel even better that they told me to go buy an XPS!
I made a post a few days ago about my upcoming adventures with a Dell Dimension E520 and a GeForce 8800GTS. Well, after getting my new card in the mail today, here's the results :
I opened my case to see what I was going to have to do. Right after I opened it, I took a look at the situation. First thing I noticed was that the card's ventilation was going to have to have an opening. Second, was that the fan shroud was going to be in the way. Third? I wish I had a dremmel kit. Would have made this into a 1 hour ordeal.
This WILL void your warranty. You WILL be removing a piece of the case, a screw from the 8800, and a part of the fan shroud and mount. If you're still interested, read on! This is not sanctioned by Dell!
1 - First of all, I popped the case open and took a look. I tried slipping in the 8800 as it was to see what had to be changed. 1st thing was the spot in the back above where the stock PCI-E card would stick out. The 8800 needs to vent, so there needed to be a hole there.
2 - Second, the rear of the card needed some space. To do this, I had to remove the shroud from over the heatsink and cut about 1 inch off of it. Also, where it connects to the mount on the motherboard I had to trim the mount down quite a bit. I thought this would loosen the heatsink alot but it never, the HS is still firmly on the CPU!
So here's how I did it :
1 - Remove the connectors from the motherboard, then remove the heatsink shroud. Use a long screwdriver and loosed the 2 screws that are down the sides, then flip it off. After that, remove the retention bracket (another 2 screws).
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0192.jpg
2 - Remove the motherboard by taking out all the screws. If you got all of them out that you can see, gently try to lift it. If it's not moving, check it closely. Slide it towards the front of the case them lift the back up and manouver it out. Place this somewhere safe!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0195.jpg
3 - After you take the motherboard out, look at the back. There's 2 things to remove that you don't need : First is the extra metal thing around the PCI-E and PCI slots. The second is the foamy stuff on the back of the case where all your USB ports and hte like poke through. Cut off the bottom part of this near the LAN/USB ports as it interferes with the 8800 sliding into place.
Foam : http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0195.jpg
Bracket : http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0194.jpg
4 - Here's where it can get tricky. Near the PCI-E slot, there is a small nub of metal that stops the 8800 from sliding in. Either drill or dremel it off. Here's a picture that shows it :
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/Nub.jpg
5 - This is where you have to be creative. Remove the metal heatsink from within the fan shroud (fan shroud is the big black plastic cover) and trim off at least and inch where the GeForce meets it (it's best to look where the screwhole is in the plastic where it goes into the heatsink itself, trim close but leave about 1cm). This will allow them to sit beside eachother without touching. Also, where the shroud sits close to the rear of the GeForce and attaches to the motherboard, you have to trim that down quite a bit. The lower right of the fan shroud will NOT be attached to anything due to taking the lower corner off.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0198.jpg
6 - So the GeForce will fit in and vent, remove the whole strip of metal that is directly above the PCI-E video slot. You can measure it and remove it relatively easy. Remove the whole thing right up to the small square holes as it makes the ventilation a non-issue, and go as far as the vents need (measure with your eyes and use judement on this, forgot to snag a pic)
7 - Once you've done all this, clean the case out with a vacuum and make sure nothing is rattling around in there. Place the motherboard back in and screw the the bottem left and right screws in. Place the vertical fan shroud retention bracket on the motherboard and screw it in (lightly if u want) then place the fanshroud onto it and lightly screw that in. After that, place the 8800 in and see how it fits. Towards the rear of the case the 8800 may need a little prodding to get into place, and it will be snug. Check if anything needs trimming or fixing and do it accordingly.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/DSCF0196.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k78/nightpath/Dell8800.jpg
If you have any questions let me know. All the parts in the machine are stock, I have nothing extra except for a 250gig Sata hard drive, and next week or so an add-on Firewire card.
Also, I've played Stalker on it and World of Warcraft with no issues.
WARNING : I installed Windows XP on the machine first. It does NOT like the E520 and GeForce 8800 combo. I had several issues after 3 reinstalls of XP (taskbar not responding, severe lag at start up, blue screen with USB, etc). Windows Vista runs without a hitch.
Enjoy!
