Flashing amber light

A flashing amber power button light indicates a problem concerning the power supply.  Call Dell tech support for help pinpointing the problem further.

Steve

uhh...I am no longer covered by my warranty. Can do I still get free technical support? or must I pay?

Depends on when you bought your system - and what warranty you had.  support.dell.com, enter service tag, choose System Details.

 

warranty expired 2 months ago. Is it gonna cost me to contact dell?

Hi TylerRon

as far its known to me, the support is for free for the lifetime of the Dell PC, but if warranty expired, they want money for the psu and shipping costs. Which is both expensive. You should ask them for the costs ;)

Its possible you can save a lot if you order it from http://pcpowercooling.com, click on the DEll link there
http://pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/selector/index.htm

YAY! i pinpointed the problem. It is the PSU, I think it might have overloaded. The link you gave me has some really expensive PSU's. I did some research and most ATX PSU's are compatible with the 8300. I'm just gonna get a 350W generic PSU.

Hmmmmmm ive read many times on this forum, other psu's than the psu's in Dell pc's could destroy the mainboard.

Source: http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/dellconverter.html
The power supply that came with your Dell computer manufactured since September of 1998, may look like a standard ATX power supply. A standard ATX power supply will even physically fit into the Dell computer and the electrical components will look like they line up, however if you don't use a proprietary Dell power supply or a Dell to ATX Power Supply Converter with your standard ATX power supply, your computer will not work and damage may occur to the motherboard and/or the standard power supply.

Your Dell Power Supply May Be Proprietary

Like many other pre-fabricated computer manufacturers, Dell has chosen to go with many proprietary computer components instead of using industry standard computer parts. When it is time for replacement or upgrade of these components, they have to be purchased from Dell. In Dell's case one of the proprietary parts is one you might not expect: your Dell power supply may look like a standard ATX power supply, but in fact cannot be replaced with a standard ATX power supply. The reason you need a proprietary Dell power supply is because Dell has been using specially modified ATX motherboards with non-standard pinout of the motherboard power connectors. This Dell to ATX adapter converts between the non-standard pinout to the standard ATX pinout and turns a standard ATX power supply into the equivalent of a Dell power supply.


Adapter To Turn Standard ATX Power Supply Into A Dell Power Supply

If you own a Dell computer and wish to use one of our quiet power supplies (all of which are standard ATX power supplies), you can simply add this converter to the quiet power supply and have a quiet Dell setup.

Known exceptions
Pentium 4 Dell Models that do not require a power supply adapter:
Dell Dimension 4300, 4400, 8200

So the big Question is, is the Dimension 8300 also a exception...

Would be nice to know for my Dimension 8400 too.

Th0rne.

 The 2200,2300,4300,4400,4500 & 8200 and above, the power supply units are to ATX standard, without the power switch.
The ones prior to these are not.

Bev.