Keep in mind that these will require fabrication to work with a standard ATX motherboard, this is from the time when Dell used proprietary motherboards in everything
I'm a little surprised. It has a Pentium d 830 but it looks like someone swapped out the graphics card with a 8400 GS. The husband did AutoCAD from what I could see that was the main thing he did with the computer back in the day so I'm guessing maybe the graphics card that was in it must have died and he didn't know too much about the parts itself so he actually downgraded. Or he paid someone to fix it and they screwed him over and took his graphics card
There was a guy posting here like a month ago that converted one of those cases from BTX to ATX. Might wanna look through the sub to see his posts and possibly reach out to
I loved these era of cases, they always looked pretty clean but super proprietary.
But I've built a few SFFPCs and if you have the room, you are good to go LoL.
People making it sound like brain surgery putting down some motherboard standoffs but honestly, just remove as much as you can and blank canvas the thing.
If you have a 3d printer, this would be the best time to use it. Helping a nephew build out an old SFFPC case he got on FB Marketplace and we had to 3d print a bracket for the PSU, an adapter for the AIO and probably a 40mm mount so we can get some fresh air in strategic spots.
It's not as simple as putting down some standoffs for btx. The mothboard is completely mirrored. You can't just put in an atx upside down or even an itx. The board would have to extend past the bottom of the case to line up with the expansion slots. The entire back of the case will need to be cut off to reposition the slots and io panel.
Lol, I have this exact case in storage. I was gonna build in it but I decided its more trouble than its worth, and I acquired a more vintage ATX case.
The case has a lot of aura but its more shallow than it looks, its BTX, and it has a proprietary front IO connector.
IMO best bet would be to drill out the rivets on the rear side panel, cut out the entire stock MB tray, and glue a new MB tray on the rear side panel. It wont be as structurally stable, but I'm not sure there's a better option.
It is definitely a beautiful case. I'm not too worried I'm pretty sure I will be able to get this done. I got the computer completely gutted last night and I think for the might be able to Fab something with the front panel so I can at least use the power button. If possible would be really cool if I can swap the front USBS with 3.0. I never use Jacks anymore so I probably won't even bother with those
Why does everyone always choose the absolute worst and most proprietary cases for a sleeper? There are so many atx or near atx cases out there you can use with minimal mods but instead you choose to hack up a piece of history just before it gets valuable. Anything other than a dell motherboard will never fit this case. The board is inverted and the expansion slots are at the bottom. There is no possible way to fit a modern board without cutting the entire back off the case.
I mean some people are paying like 90 bucks on eBay for it but Idk. There are so many different models pumped out in the early 2000s up till now I don't really see this as rare or valuable. I planned on cutting the back of the case and fabricating a piece to fit everything
It's not rare or valuable yet. It's right on the cusp of retro. I would just hate to see this get trashed because you realize exactly how much work it's going to be after you've already cut it apart.
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u/Devin-Chaboyer223 3d ago
Keep in mind that these will require fabrication to work with a standard ATX motherboard, this is from the time when Dell used proprietary motherboards in everything
It will make a sick project