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Dell Dimension 2300 project, first time mod.

this is soo cool.. i just good a really nice deal on the ram

OCZ 2x 1gb Plat 2-3-2-5 PC3200 performence RAM for 120$
 
Ok, I guess this begins "Phase Three: the window mod."
If you don't want to/don't have time to read the rest of my log, here's a recap.
Phase 1 was modding the dell case to have better airflow, and phase 2 was getting new hardware for the system(board, video, etc).

OK, I'll be installing a window on my dell! I think I will have one of the most modded dells ever once this is done(cue the "some guy modded a dell so much.... comments"), not that it'll be crazy looking, but I've done so much to mine.

My plan is to have a window that follows the case side panel's contours. The window will have 2" of "edge" around it all the way around. My corners will (hopefully) be square, instead of rounded, I hate rounded case windows, they look awful IMO.

I'm using a sheet of "lucite" acylic (the good type, 100x stronger than glass), it seems sturdy.

I'm planning on using machine screws to bolt the window to the panel, I'm still unsure of how the screw heads(chrome) will look against the case's black, it might look nice or it might look stupid, I don't know, I guess I'll try it and see. I could just use superglue :).

I cut two pilot holes in the corners, and marked out the lines. I will cut(hopefully) the window out with a metal cutting saber saw, and if all else fails, resort the the dremel.

I think it'll look good, here're some prelim. pics.



 
Ok, I cut out the panel. It wasn't too bad using a saber saw. I then sanded the rough edges, cut out plexi, drilled the plexi, put fan holes in the plexi and temporarily mounted the fans for a pic.




My one drive bay is empty now, since my dvd-rw died in my "gaming" rig, I stole the cd drive out of the dell to use as a temp.

The first pic doesn't look too good, but the panel isn't really on right, so it has an outline of non painted metal. I think I'll repaint the side to match the case, finally.

The graphics runs much cooler with the new gpu fan. I'm happy.

Dude, that dell is totally modded at xoxide, I knew someone(somewhere) had done something like that, but hadn't actually seen any done. The pathetic part is that it's still a dell mobo(at least the one pic says dell on the board), what's the point, it's still a dell, no oc' options. Oh, well, whatever "floats your boat". That's a neat project anyway.
 
okay.. today i took out all my dell guts except the motherboard. i took out all the screws on the mobo except the ones that are on the socket/the black heatsink support plastic.

how do u remove those tight screws.
 
Silversierra said:
Dude, that dell is totally modded at xoxide, I knew someone(somewhere) had done something like that, but hadn't actually seen any done. The pathetic part is that it's still a dell mobo(at least the one pic says dell on the board), what's the point, it's still a dell, no oc' options. Oh, well, whatever "floats your boat". That's a neat project anyway.
Click to expand...
What mod on xoxide? Got a link?

swatX said:
okay.. today i took out all my dell guts except the motherboard. i took out all the screws on the mobo except the ones that are on the socket/the black heatsink support plastic.

how do u remove those tight screws.
Click to expand...
Push hard, and turn! :D Just don't slip, if you do, you could destroy the mobo.
 
i think i will test the mobo again see if u really destroyed it lol...


i tried it for 1 hour non stop.. still no go.
 
Hey swatx: do you mean the screws that hold the plastic heatsink mount on the motherboard, or the studs behind the board that the screws do into. I didn't have any issue removing the screws, I just unscrewed them with a regular philips screwdriver. I had to remove the brass studs that they screw into too, since my gigabyte mobo had the shroud built into the board, and not screwed into standoffs. I think I used my leatherman to unscrew the standoffs, so they mustn't have been too tight. Does the screwdriver slip in the screw head or just won't move. If it slips you probably need a different size philips bit(I usually use a #2 philips), or if it won't move, maybe you can use a ratchet with a philips socket on an extension, that'd give you some leverage.

Exreaction: The link is in swatx's post above, at xoxideforums.com.
Here it is
http://xoxideforums.com/showthread.php?t=49394
Crazy mod I'll admit.

I still need to paint my side panel, and get another led fan, but otherwise, not too much to do.

My 6200 doesn't go over 80C with the new "gpu" fan on the window, before it reached 100C and over. It really helped, as did replacing the thermal paste on it's core. Although 80C is still very hot, I love it compared to 100C, at least I don't get artifacts anymore.
 
Silversierra said:
Hey swatx: do you mean the screws that hold the plastic heatsink mount on the motherboard, or the studs behind the board that the screws do into. I didn't have any issue removing the screws, I just unscrewed them with a regular philips screwdriver. I had to remove the brass studs that they screw into too, since my gigabyte mobo had the shroud built into the board, and not screwed into standoffs. I think I used my leatherman to unscrew the standoffs, so they mustn't have been too tight. Does the screwdriver slip in the screw head or just won't move. If it slips you probably need a different size philips bit(I usually use a #2 philips), or if it won't move, maybe you can use a ratchet with a philips socket on an extension, that'd give you some leverage.

Exreaction: The link is in swatx's post above, at xoxideforums.com.
Here it is
http://xoxideforums.com/showthread.php?t=49394
Crazy mod I'll admit.

I still need to paint my side panel, and get another led fan, but otherwise, not too much to do.

My 6200 doesn't go over 80C with the new "gpu" fan on the window, before it reached 100C and over. It really helped, as did replacing the thermal paste on it's core. Although 80C is still very hot, I love it compared to 100C, at least I don't get artifacts anymore.
Click to expand...


so what exactly did you use to move the those small studs that hold the black case to the frame?
 
I think I used my leatherman to unscrew the standoffs, so they mustn't have been too tight.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but my guess is my leatherman multitool(which has needlenose/regular pliers).
I know I didn't use a socket, but I would have if they were tight. Did you get the black hsf holder off the board(the square black thing with the tabs that hold the heatsink on?)
 
Silversierra said:
I'm not sure, but my guess is my leatherman multitool(which has needlenose/regular pliers).
I know I didn't use a socket, but I would have if they were tight. Did you get the black hsf holder off the board(the square black thing with the tabs that hold the heatsink on?)
Click to expand...


nope. i could only remove two of the four screws that are holding the black hsf holder. the other two are shut tight. i dont know what i should do now.

i got all the parts i ordered which includes AMD64 3000 and the motherboard. so the leatherman tool can remove those small thing like screws that hold the back of the case. because i think i need to move the whole black case to get access to the frame so i can attach the black holder that i got with the AMD mobo. just like what you did.

i will post pics in a bit
 
I'm a bit confused by the last sentence you wrote. I think since there aren't any "real" names for the parts were talking about, it gets confusing.

I used my leatherman to get the brass standoffs removed from the case's motherboard mounting plate, these standoffs are hexagonal(like a bolt head), and thread into the metal of the case. I just unscrewed them. I used a screwdriver to remove the screws that hold the cpu's heatsink mount(black thing) off. Maybe the dell assembers had a little fun with locktite on your system? ;)

My new cpu heatsink mount was integrated with my new board, so I had to remove the old standoffs that corresponded to their position, since they were in the way.
 
do u know any tool(or is it leatherman) that can be used to remove these things





and i cant remove these flatheaed screws even with a regular screwdriver. it taking forever. i took out 2 of those 4 screws but as you can see there are still 2 more that are not coming out
 
The "studs" in your pic are the rivets that hold your case(sidepanel to frame) together. To remove them, you could use a dremel with a cutoff wheel, or you could use a drill with a bit that's slightly bigger than the center of the rivet. I'd guess about a 1/8"+ bit would work. Why do you want to remove the case rivets?
If you remove the rivets and the case's top and side this is all you'll see.

I think the sidepanel(opposite the removable sidepanel) is a false side, the frame itself has a side attached to it that the mobo is attached to, the side that you can see, just covers the
screws, and makes it look pretty.

Here's what the studs that hold the board in place look like, they're what the mobo screws screw into.


Ok, I see that you can't get the two screws out.
Not sure what to tell you besides "Righty tighty, lefty loosey", but I doubt that's any help. :p Umm, if you really can't get them, you might have to cut the heads off with a dremel, it shouldn't hurt the board, it may ruin the black shroud though. It may be possible to also use a drill with a bit that's larger than the screw's shaft,but smaller than the head(if it's a phillips screw. If you drill out the center of the head, nothing will be holding it to the rest of the screw. This might cause less damage than a dremel, but may not be easy to do. Other ideas would be to maybe superglue a small bolt on the screw head and then try to unscrew it using the bolt glued to it once the glue's dry, but it needs to be very strong superglue.

Hope this helps, I'd hate to have your project stopped by something like this.
Best wishes.
 
okay so you are telling me the the side the motherboard screws into can be removed? :confused:
 
What the motherboard screws into isn't the black shell of the case, it's a metal part of the chassis behind the "shell". If you remove the case's shell by removing the rivets(in the back and front), you'll still have the motherboard mounted to the chassis, and you'll see the backside of the motherboard mouting plate, with the tips of the mouting screws protruding through it.

I'd assume that the motherboard mouting plate that's part of the chassis can be removed if you remove the rivets that hold it to the front and back of the case(or where ever the rivets are, I've never dissassembled the whole case into it's parts, so I can't be sure.

Here's a diagram to possibly help.
 
hahahah wow i got one of the two screws with ease when applied with some WD40 and while removing the otherscrew i destroyed my motherboard. oh well 55$ down the drain.

well now to putting AMD in
 
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