new mainboard for dell dimension 4600

I confess not to having tried an old power supply with a new motherboard. :) All my builds have had new ones; the 3000 (which sports an ASRock AM3+ has an OCZ Fatality if I remember correctly.

I'd post a picture of it, but the maximum allowable file size is 64K and it's too big.

[quote user="shesagordie"]A non-Dell Micro-ATX motherboard would require case modification to the rear panel.

You probably will need to rewire the front panel connections to the motherboard, also, purchase a new heatsink, the Dell 4600 default unit is proprietary, RAM [4600 has DDR] and a processor, the Dell motherboard has a Socket 478.

The $1 replacement front panel parts will replace the OEM unit, which has a regrettably short cable terminating in a standard 2x5 Molex socket. The USB connector has a standard 2x5 Molex socket with a reasonably long cable that should reach, but it has a ninth, non-standard lead that should be removed. The audio connector does require rewiring to work with a standard 2x5 Molex audio header, but the port itself is fully compatible.

I suggest a budget motherboard like this (which offers USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0). Of course, a new CPU and memory will be required, but the result will be Windows 8-compatible at a significantly lower price than a pre-built. It's true a good used 4600 motherboard would be cheaper, but it won't be future-proofed.

Regarding the power supply, I think the power supply does have the four-pin connector needed for modern motherboards. I think that was introduced with the Pentium 4.

BTW the motherboard I linked to has a $20 mail-in rebate offer that brings the price with shipping down to $40 or so.

Good quality power supplies are cheap enough, I suppose. I think I paid $30 for the one used in my relative's boffo 5150 upgrade.

As for XP, the OP should be reminded that support is going away in a few months, and that they are well-advised to consider upgrading to a newer version of Windows. My preference is 8.1 (cheaper and more modern than 7), but that version won't run on the 4600.

I confess not to having tried an old power supply with a new motherboard. :)

I was thinking of getting this board for the 4600 case. Dell Connolly Intel LGA775 mATX Motherboard Pentium D CPU. It's missing a heat sink for the cpu. Don't know how difficult it would be to find a heat sink or if the one on the 4600 would fit.

Help appreciated.

I installed a dimension 3000 board into a 4600 case as mentioned by rdunnill. I was surprised to find that the hard drive from the old 4600 board was able to boot with the 3000 board.

I was wondering if there are other, maybe more advanced boards, that would fit into the 4600 case? Also, is there a list somewhere showing which boards can fit into old cases? We also have an 8100 dimension that I'd like to upgrade at some point.

One thing I was concerned about is the position of the cpu since if it isn't in the same place as the old one I'd have to get a fan that wouldn't line up with the case opening. But I leave the case side panel off anyway so I guess it wouldn't make a lot of difference.

I just replaced a MB in this same puter but my screen says "No signal".  The OS is not recognised nor does the BIOS show up.

Is it a 4600 motherboard?