Changing an XPS 720 to ATX

nvm this post

Thanks, i have been doing some reseach since my last post and i think i know what i need to do for the mod now, im currently wating for my mobo tray to arrive

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7234/xps878ew7.jpg

I havnt found a power switch yet, i am currently working on getting one, and getting the USB and the LED's on the front to work.  I finished the mod on suday, and got the computer booted up monday.  I worked on the mod all weekend, took about 5 hours total of straight work and alot of time waiting for parts to come.  I did this all in my dorm :).  I replaced the dell fans (48db) with better ones from newegg (32db), it has alot of airflow and is very quiet.  Becasue my mob is upsidedown, air comes in the front of the case threw a 120mm, goes right into my upgraded heatsink, and then out the back into another 120mm.  My CPU is at 27 C on average and 9800 GTX is at 48 C and 58 C when being used. :smileyhappy:

I also bought my case off of ebay (couldnt find it anywhere else), i think i just got lucky because it only has a small scratch on the top and a tiny one on the side...phew!  The supplier is called cinco tech, they said on the ad that they have more cases and would post them, but i dont see them on the site. Here are pictures of it all together, i only have a camera phone so pics are less than steller....man this case is awsome!  Looking forwad to seeing your mega-silver case when you finish it

http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0907081803aib2.jpg

http://img369.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0907081804rj1.jpg

(Lian-li mobo tray)

http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=downsized0905081524amo4.jpg

http://img93.imageshack.us/my.php?image=downsized0908081102lp1.jpg

http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0907081801lp8.jpg

(Im going to put some kind of fan cover over the back fo that hold cutout to cover up the cut marks, my cutting is a bit sloppy, but my dremel could only do so much)

http://img93.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0907081802gs4.jpg

3DMark06 of 12,433!!!  a nice upgrade from my laptop (my primary computer before this) which got 846

GTSRboy2000, Awe$ome job, Pointguard1122 should see this.

Peace

 I used a EVGA Nforce 750i, its an awsome moterboard

Yes thats the origonal PSU, i thought i woudlnt be able to use it, but it turns out only one cable needed to be changed to get the whole thing to work.  Thank god it was such a easy fix, because this is a very nice PSU, and 1,000 watts.  Plus, it essentially came free with the case so i saved like $200 there.

I changed the 20-pin to an 8-pin, just pick up a 8-pin secondary power connector and a staple gun size stable to push the pins out, then put four 12v and four GND wires into the 8-pin and let the others hang:

http://img367.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0905081524xh3.jpg

PS- make sure to individually wrap the spare 12 wires!  At first i bunched them up and it shorted out the system

Wow! Really good job modding that 720 case! :)

I got the power button to work, its set up so that its green when the computer is on and flashes orange as a HDD activity light.  Im going to get the LED's on the front to work soon.  Here is a picture of my current setup http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=computer025ji0.jpg

        http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=computer029bx7.jpg

I love this case!!  Im going to put a media card reader in it that also does audio.  Since i dont have the dell pin assignments on the fron I/O pannel, i cant really get the audio to work.

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Madbirmy: Here how to do the mod, i cant say this is the best way to do it but its how i did.  Check out some links listed below to see how people did it.  I learned how to do this from reading pointguards thread and someones mod on xtremesystems.com, so you should check those out

What you will need:  12v+ Drill

                             1/4" Drill bit

                             3/16" Drill bit(?)

                             Dremel kit

                             Lian-Li ATX mobo tray (currently out of stock)

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3387

                             8-pin secondary power connector

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3850

                             Pack of staple gun staples (unless you have molex tools)

                             8"+ Screwdriver

                             Two 120mm case fans (the single dell 120mm wont work & is too loud)

                             Lots of nuts and bolts, try to get 1/4" and 3/16" dia.  Washers.

                             5-min Epoxy

                             +lots of random tools like electro tape and needle nose plyers and wrenches ect

Step 1: Take the whole case apart.

                -Take the side pannel off, un screw the power supply in the back, take the black plastic peices out of the HDD bays, and unscrew the screws holding the HDD bays in.  Pull them out, (its not easy getting them out). Take the 80mm HDD fan out.  Now that all this is out you can pull out the power supply.  Unscrew the 400 screws holding on the other plannel.  Now that the side pannel is off, unscrew the screws holding on the rear black plastic peice.

Step 2: Take out the silver BTX expansion slot and rear I/O panel.

                 -Youll need 1/4" drill bit in your drill for this.  Youll notice that the silver BTX pannel is rivited to the back of the case.  Youll need to drill out these rivits and the pannel will fall out.

Step 3: Cutting

                 -Cut out the BTX "L" shape into a rectagle, following the lines. Look at picture to see what i mean. http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lshapeav4.jpg

                 -Cut off the long tab sticking out on the right side of the rectangle.  Youll notice its in the way if you want to slide in the mobo tray.

Step 4: Insert Mobo Tray

                 -(Remove the 80mm fan of the back of the mobo tray, and use it as the XPS HDD cooling fan.  Take dell one out of its case and put this one in.  Also, use your first 120mm fan and put it in that dell fan hosuing that goes in the front of the case.  Use your second 120mm to put in the very back (if you want)).

Slide the tray in the back.  You may notice that this tray is too tall to fit in buy about 1/4".  Cut knotches out just lage enugh to allow you to slide it in. This part is hard to explain, so youll just have to mess with it untill you get the mobo tray in.  Once its in, youll have to decide where you want it bolted in, you may have to drill some holes to line up with the holes alrady in the case.  Bolt the mobo tray to the back of the case.  Try to get it as upright as possible, and be sure not to cut to much when fitting it.

Step 5: Attach rear fan

                  -I decided to put a second 120mm fan in the very back of the case (behind the heatsink).  If you want to do this, youll have to do some drilling, cutting and bolting, to get the fan bolted the the back of the case from the inside. The hole in the back of the mobo tray is 80mm, so youll have to cut it out to fit the 120mm.  you may want to do this before hand, if you make sure you cut in the right spot.  This part is loud and annoying, and will probabaly be sloppy.  Im going to put a 120mm fan cover over the back of my case to coverup all the sloppy cutting as i made the hole larger.

Step 6: Modify the rear black plastic peice.  Youll notice when you put the back peice back on, it wont go flush up agasint the back of the case like it did before.  Cut knotches and holes into the plastic peice so that it can go down enough to be bolted in.  You will also need to do some cutting to allow for your monitor cable to plug into the expansion slot.

Step 7: Attach mobo tray to side pannel

                  -Bolt the side pannel back on.  Its up to you how you want to secure your mobo tray to the side of the case.  I did a combination of bolting and epoxying.  If you dont plan on ever getting it back out, you can epoxy it, if you want it to be removable, figure somthing out is my best advice.

Step 8: Mod the PSU

                 -Use your staple gun staple to remove the 20 pins from the 20-pin connector. Using pin assignments from the XPS 720 Manual and your motherbaord manual, figure out which 8 you will use.  Put those 8 into your 8-pin connector.  Youll need four 12v and four ground wires, the 12v are the colored ones, the ground are the black ones.  Pay attention to which side of the 8-pin the line of 12v goes, i cant remember at the moment.  Follow this thread for in-depth info on the PSU mod:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=186919&page=6

Step 9: Put it all back together.  I dont have pictures of my build becasue the only camera i had wasnt avalible when i was modding it.  Use that thread above, and pointguards thread to help along the way.  Things wont go perfectly so youll have to figure it out if you run into some snags.  Good luck!

I know this thread have been dead for a while but i want to share my 720ATX mod though i used a little different approach.. it may help someone out.

Unfortunately its written in Swedish, but the pictures explains it all pretty well.  

www.sweclockers.com/.../1010058-xps-720-h2c-atx-modd