Dell Studio XPS 435MT Case Problem

The only thing I had to mess with was the pin out for the front panel. Someone had a schematic (www.techpowerup.com/.../showthread.php) which made it easy as pie. As for which card to choose....I guess it would depend on your budget. Any of the cards mentioned above would work granted you looked into your power supply unit. IMHO the 7850's offer great bang for the buck, but the other two cards mentions are beast as well. Good luck and let me know if I can help in any way.

What's up col_forbin,

 Thanks for the quick reply.  Well I am already lost just reading that schematic post so I will have to find a friend to actually do the manual work haha.  Could I also ask what PSU you ended up buying?  I think the requirement for these high end GPUs are 500w, but since your is already built it would be nice to know the one I buy will definitely fit in the ranger case.  Also did you add any extra fans or are you just using the three included on the case?  All four of my cores are running at average 55C and all I'm doing is typing on the internet (I also live in California though so that might contribute to it a bit)!  

 I was doing more reading and I've also read that a non overclocked i7 920 could handle a HD7870 no problem, but would bottleneck a GTX670 so I think I'm set on a HD7870.  

 Lastly do you have pictures of your setup?  I would love to see what it looks like!

   Thanks,

       Jay

As far as the link just look at the pic in the second post...that is all you need. I have a Coolmax 700CUG - 700watt but anything 500w or better will do. I also had a coolermaster 500w in it before too (just found a great deal on the modular PSU and upgraded). I have 5 fans mounted in the Ranger Case. I moved the 140mm top fan to the bottom and added two 120mm fans on the top. You will be really happy with Ranger Case if you decide to get it. I got it off of New Egg for $39.99 on special one day. No pics right now, but I will try to put some up tomorrow. Thanks.

Steve

What's up Steve,

  I just bought a SeaSonic 520W power supply (all I need is a case and a GPU now haha)!  Another question I wanted to ask was if any case would work for the transfer, or if you selected your rosewill case specifically because it had the right layout for the 435mt motherboard.  I don't think I can wait that long for a sale on the ranger to come up again haha.  I'm really liking the CM storm enforcer case (and have read another thread where they didn't have problems transferring a 435mt into it as well).  I also decided to just go with a HD 7850 (The $50 price difference is alot for a small improvement in performance).  Can I ask what brand you got?  I'm reading good things about the MSI twin Frozr and the Sapphire cards.

    Thanks,

       Jay

You need to have a standard ATX case (full or mid tower). I haven't read anything on storm enforcer, but it should do nicely. I have a XFX 7850 Black Edition.

With the recent drop in prices on the 7xxx series....I would go with this MSI 7870 www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx. For $250 after rebate you can't go wrong.  

What's up Steve,

   Well I took the next step and bought the CM Storm enforcer case and I was just about the buy the 7870 when I noticed it was PCI Express 3.0 x16 connection.  Does our dell motherboard support it?  Also I'm wondering if I bought the right PSU.  It is rated as a psu with dual rails at +12V@ 20 amps each.  Am I right to say the total output would be around 35 amps which I've read should be fine for a HD 7870?

  Thanks,

      Jay

Those cards will work on the dell mobo as they are backwards compatible. The PSU will be fine as well, as the 7xxx series are not power hungry at all. Unfortunately,  it looks like prices have spiked $50 bones today......not sure why. Here is an ASUS for $259 www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_9

What's up Steve,

  Yeah I did miss out on that MSI... now they have a HIS 7870 card for 240 after rebate but I really want those dual fans haha.  One last question on the motherboard... it uses the standard 8 pin and 24 pin power connections to connect to the PSU right?  I was reading that early dell motherboards used proprietary connectors to connect to certain PSUs but the newer ones (post 2000) do not.  A friend told me I should double check that my PSU is compatible with my motherboard (output wise) before i start putting it all together!

Yes standard 8 & 24 pin. The only thing proprietary thing on the mobo is the front panel connection. You are good to go.

What's up Steve,

 Alright everything is here and I am ready to start!  Here is my checklist (based on your instructions from another thread):

1. Unplug CPU/Remove side panel (haha)/ and bend back the hooks holding the wires in place.

2. Unplug video card and remove

3. Unplug hard drive and remove

4. Unplug power supply and remove

5. Unplug cd drive and remove

6. Unscrew and remove motherboard

7 Go backwards and put everything back into the new case.

I am sure my PSU cables will be longh enough because I bought a new one, but I am still confused to what you mean about not being able remove the rear i/o plate and to use the mesh.  Does this only apply to the CM enforcer?  I guess I will see what you mean when I start though haha.

Another question I had was about making sure you don't short your system with static electricity.  I'm wondering if I wear rubber gloves... will that prevent any chance of me transferring any static to my components?  I think this is what I am most afraid of doing haha.

I also read that you suggested getting a new sata cable because the one included in the 435mt case is short.  Here is a picture of my planned set up in my CM storm enforcer case, and I am planning to put the hard drive exactly were they did, except at the top slot.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/cases/SGC-1000-KWN1/cooler_master_storm_enforcer_installed4.jpg

Do you think it will be long enough or should I spring for the new sata cable before I start?

And lastly with regards to connecting the wires to the front I/O panel... the wires are paired with sockets at the end that I just connect to the i/o panel of the new case right?  I just have to follow your diagram and it's going to work I hoping!  I'm thinking if this involves any splicing I am just going to pay the 200 and have it done professionally haha.

Well that's a ton of questions, but I truly thank you for all your guidance in this.

  thanks,

     Jay

What's up again Steve,

 I got confused with dom99 on another thread about the instructions on how to remove the components from the case, but I am sure this probably the same process since we all have the 435mt case haha.  Anyways one more question about the connecting the plugs from the i/o panel onto the motherboard.  In this video it shows the cables for pwr led as having a green and white wires.

My question is if you can reverse the order of these wires (say i plugged the connector upside down so the white wire is on the right and the green wire is on the left) or if they have to go in a certain way.  Is there a way to tell?  Should the label side always be down like in the video or does it matter?

  thanks,

     Jay

Dell's front panel is proprietary so that is why I would recommend looking at the diagram I attached earlier in the thread. It may take a time or two. Like the the first time I hooked it up I had no power. The second time I had power but no HD LED, and the last time I did it everything worked. Good luck.

What's up Steve,

 Well it's done!  Everything went well other than almost breaking the connector to the hard drive (piece of plastic broke off and the pins got bended) because the sata cord they provided was too short haha.  Thanks again for all your help!  Also what did you put on the back panel (since the cutout thing on the backpanel doesn't come off the 435mt case)?  Did you leave it bare?

    Jay

I've just updated my ATI 5770 to an MSI GTX 570 (twin frozr edition).  The card runs hot (idle =40's and under load 80's celcius).  The card fits like a glove, but the dual GPU exhaust fans are blowing hot air out into the 0.5 to 1 cm space remaining between the card and the lower case panel.   In an effort to protect my GPU investment I have ordered the Rosewill Challenger case.

The 435MT is amazing, purchased it over 3 years ago, and with this setup I can run BF3/Skyrim on ultra with 30-50 FPS.  Upgrading to a more breathable case in my opinion is a great investment into this great PC and hopefully will help me keep my temps down.  I will update you regarding the temps as soon as I complete this task.  

KN1GHTRYDR,

Somebody gave me a reference a Dell XPS 9100 i/o backplate may fit. I looked at the part and the i/o configurations match. But that's all I know. Dell prioritizses a lot their cases. The i/o plate looks like it's an ATX design, so I thought it might be something of interest. Just a suggestion. Hope it's helpful.

Wreks