Hey all, I have Dell OptiPlex GX280 and recently (yesterday) I bought ATI Radeon 4850 HD. The problem is that I can't insert the graphic card into the PCI Express slot because of two reasons: 1. The PCI Express is the last slot on the board and the card "uses" two slots (due to the fan). 2. There's sort of big black thing connected to the motherboard (the fan is behind it), which I'm not surely I know what it is used for. I cannot place the card because of it (simply not enough space). As you may see, I have a brand new graphic card, but I can't use it. What are my options? To buy a Tower case (tho it seems the 'black' thing is connected to two spots on the metherboard so it won't make any differences, but maybe I'm wrong). Or should I do something else? And please don't tell me that I need to buy a new computer Thanks
i think i have seen those. aren't they some kind of "cooling shroud" or something? are there wires connected to it?
Does this or this reflect the layout of your motherboard? Also, I'm not sure you'd be able to transplant either motherboard to another case since I believe that Dell doesn't adhere to any form factor standards. I might be wrong on that, though.
Sorry, no picture at moment. I can post the spec if it somehow helps: Small Mini-Tower (SMT) Chassis: Two internal 3.5" X 1" hard drives; Two external 3.5"; Two external 5.25" ,Three 4.2" high PCI (length:& three 11" ), One PCIe x16 full height graphics, One PCI x1 full height: 42.6cm/16.75in W: 18.0cm/7.13in D: 44.7cm/17.61in From I read, it looks like I'm gonna need to replace my motherboard to make things work. If this is the case, do you have any recommendations (in a suitable budget)? Thanks.
Those are PEG x16 slots. By the way, the first layout is from the socalled "Mini-Tower Computer", while the other is from the "Small Mini-Tower Computer" (according to Dell). All in all there are 5 models under the heading Optiplex GX280.
The way I see it you would need at least 3 parts to "unDellify" your pc; a case, a motherboard and a cpu cooler. A new PSU would probably not be a bad idea as well, depending on its form factor and its wattage and ampage. Let me amend that. You probably *will* need a more powerful PSU no matter what. From what I can see the beefiest PSU for the GX280 is 305W and that's a bit on the low side.
Yeah, I was planning to buy a new PSU anyway so that's no the issue. What do you recommend for a mother board and the case? I saw many recommened the ASUS maximus formula, but that I'm afraid would be too expensive at this point.
ditch the dell... Their special form facters and "interesting" parts inside are a real pita when you need to upgrade something.
It very much depends on what you want to do. The ASUS Maximus Formula is a very good board. I have it myself. It's probably a bit overkill, unless ultra high-end and/or need ECC memory support. The latter was my reason to get it. Most people don't use ECC memory, though... Truth be told, I haven't quite kept up with motherboards of late. Maybe you should have a look at the latest bit-tech buyer's guide.
No, it's going to be my all-purpose system. I just always use ECC memory, except for the one time I didn't. Guess what happened...
you might be able to fit the card in there if you modify the shroud but I wouldn't recommend it. I was recently in a similar solution. My advice, dump the dell. All you can really re-use form your old machine is the hard drive, optical drives, CPU itself and memory (if you aren't overclocking and can stand the dell parts). if you can, I would start over and build a new machine. As already stated, the budget and mid range builds on the front page are great starting points.
It shouldn't actually cost too much to buy a new motherboard, case and PSU if you follow the buyers guide (speccing the affordable all-rounder), here.
Just sell the dell and put the brass towards somthing nicer. Otherwise your gonna loose alot of money stripping the dell.
