Bump, anyone?

Hi

I am looking at changing the 435mt case now ive had it for a year and a half.

Was wondering if you actually went ahead and changed it? because I have a few questions.

Firstly I have never changed even a motherboard before so am a complete noob. I need to know if it is possible to use the same dell heatsink in a new case with the same motherboard? and if there are any difficulties in doing so?

Also what did you do about the non-detachable I/O panel?

Plus was wiring up the motherboard to the front I/O ports on the new case easy?

thanks

Dominic

If you are a noob, this may not be a project for you as it's not an easy swap. But to specifically answer your question, YES, you can reuse the heatsink on a generic x58 motherboard or the Dell mobo, but you'll have to remove the Dell mobo from the XPS case to get to the "X" clamp under the motherboard for the new case+motherboard.

The reason I don't recommend you do it is because very likely the Dell ports on the motherboard will not match up to any generic case's back panel w/o some custom cutting and drilling. If you're good with that sort of thing, then go for it :) Good luck and post some pics if you do!

Thanks for the reply,

Taking out the old motherboard as you say could prove tricky, plus there is no freely detachable I/O backplate so I would have to knock one up myself. I had the same problem with not enough airflow through the case so my GPU temp would hit huge numbers and crash. So I moded the case by cutting 2 92mm holes in the side panel to point 2 fans directly at the GPU however now the case is too loud as the fans must sit on the outside of the case pushing air in. So I give up and am looking at just getting a new case. Most likely the CoolerMaster CM 690 II.

I think the motherboard is just a standard mATX, but I am thinking about getting a new motherboard anyway so I can crossfire some hd  6870 graphics cards. If I get a new case, motherboard and heatsink will the old RAM work ok with the new one? Also I have installed an upgrade version of windows 7 over the dell edition of Vista, will it just be a case of plug it all in and off it goes or will it need a clean install? Plus is it easy to remove the old heatsink so as I can just literally pick up the cpu form the dell and drop it into the new motherboard and is the cpu (mines an i7 920) compatible with all x58 LGA-1366 motherboards?

Motherboard will most likely be:

Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 1366 Motherboard

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-p6x58d-e-intel-x58-s1366-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-2000-(oc)-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid-atx?source=froogle&utm_campaign=googlebase&utm_medium=googlebase&utm_source=googlebase&utm_term=Asus+P6X58D-E+Intel+X58+S1366+PCI-E+2.0+(x16)+DDR3+2000+(OC)+SATA+6Gb%2Fs+SATA+RAID+ATX

Heatsink will most likely be a noctua because I think they are brilliant

I have already installed a new Power supply and gone through a few new graphics cards so am not a complete noob with some things but never touched a motherboard before and never not had a dell before so its a bit new to me. So lastly is there anything I have not mentioned that I should be aware of?

Thanks

Dominic

If you use a non-Dell motherboard you will also have to buy a new Retail Copy of Windows.  The Dell provided OS disc will only install on a Dell motherboard.

 And, with new hardware you will have to do a complete new install. 

Hi Dominic,

I was able to transfer the Dell heatsink+fan+cpu (you must remove Dell mobo from XPS435MT case and get the X clamp below), and I am also using the Dell 6x1GB DDR3 ram in my new setup; Thermaltake V3 case, XFX 550w PSU, Asus P6T SE motherboard, Corsair 100GB SSD, and a pair of XFX Radeon HD 5770 in CrossfireX. When you take the RAM out of the Dell mobo, I believe the slots (or the RAM sticks) are marked 1 to 6; be sure to make a note of that as you ideally want to put them in the new motherboard in the same order. Tri-channel memory is kind of sensitive.

In the new mobo and case, along with just one 80mm intake and 80mm outlet fan, I was able to overclock the i7 920 to 3ghz stable, but anything more, you may wish to get a better CPU cooler. Good luck!

Oh and you can use the Windows 7 update media/key that you bought to do a fresh install in the new motherboard setup, but you WILL have to do a fresh install. You may have to contact Microsoft to get it reactivated again as well; just mention your motherboard died and bought a new one.

Hi,

The best case scenario would be if I could simply swap everything from one case to the other, however there are some things I am not sure about, the main one being wiring up the front I/O of the case to the motherboard and how that would work. I dont have a clue what would go where, here is a link of the board manual:

Secondly could I get away with not having to take the heatsink off atal if I simplify unscrew it from the backplate and lift the motherboard out with it on, is this not a good idea?

Also there is a problem with the back I/O motherboard panel, it is not removeable form the case hence I would need to make one myself, is it acceptable to not have one atal? There is a wire mesh that also covers the back I/O panel on the inside of the case so I am thinking of using that as a stencil and cutting out the rite holes from somehting plastic, then using the mesh and plastic together to make a panel, if that makes sense?

I will be doing it just after christmas. Just cant make up my mind whether to go for a new motherboard or to save alot of money and try and do it with the existing one first?

Also just thought I dont know how the backplate for the heatsink works really. Is the heatsink backplate attached to the back of the case? If so how do you put it in a new case? I dont really get how that bit will works could someone explain in detail considering I have never installed a heatsink before.

Also is the card reader bit on the front I/O panel able to sit in an optical bay?

Thanks

If you are a noob, this may not be a project for you as it's not an easy swap. But to specifically answer your question, YES, you can reuse the heatsink on a generic x58 motherboard or the Dell mobo, but you'll have to remove the Dell mobo from the XPS case to get to the "X" clamp under the motherboard for the new case+motherboard. The reason I don't recommend you do it is because very likely the Dell ports on the motherboard will not match up to any generic case's back panel w/o some custom cutting and drilling. If you're good with that sort of thing, then go for it :) Good luck and post some pics if you do!

Hi

I have finally got the case and need to know one thing, to swap the motherboard over to the new case do I have to remove the heatsink from the motherboard atal?

Thanks