Need Help & Advise On New Mobo For A Dimension 3000

Ok, to start off I know pretty much nothing about motherboards, however I want to change the motherboard in my Dimension 3000 to have a PCI-E slot, it also all started when I got BF2 and it wouldn't run on my current PCI card, and everyone recommended to get a new mobo, and a pci-e card as that would help in the "long run," so thing is I want to keep my Dimension 3000 Case and I want a motherboard that has a PCI-E slot (sorry for being reptitive) so I want to know what mobos would fit the case, I heard that the Dimension 4700 mobo would fit the case and run with the rest of the Dimension 3000 equpiment, is that true? As I've seen the 4700 mobo on ebay for around 70 bucks, if no what other mobo would also fit the case and run with the rest of the Dimensions 3000 equipment, and wouldn't require anything such as a new power supply? And one more question, would the new mobo + a pci-e graphic card, good enough to run Battlefield 2, all together cost more then $150? As I'm only 14, got my Dimension 3000 not long ago so I don't want to bug my parents about buying me something for it ago, and I'll be using my own money for it, so for me the cheaper the better, any help input and help with this would be greatly appreciated. Oh and if this info is needed, my Dimension 3000 has a P4 3.0Ghz HT Proccessor + 512MBs of RAM.

OK Miro, Welcome to Windrivers

Your Dell in under warranty - before you go changing out motherboards and invalidating the warranty I think you should talk to your parents - they may have paid for a 3 year warranty. I know I would be peeved if my son invalidated a warranty!

As to the rest of the problem - post the service tag (or pm me with it) so I can look up exactly what you have now.

I don't think we bought an extended warranty, but I send you the service tag anyways so you can have a look for yourself.

Looking at the specs on the tech site, both the 3000 and 4700 use the micro atx case. which means the mounting arrangements should be the same for each motherboard. Dell motherboards are proprietry and don't fit in any off the shelf atx cases. But this wouldn't be the end of your problems, the 4700 uses socket T for the cpu and ddr2 memory.

Looking at the various cases the micro atx stops at the 4600, which has an agp slot. This may be your best option. I would investigate this to see if it's feasable.

Miro here is your system spec Onboard everything.... You want a pci express video card which may mean a new case as well. your case looks like a standard micro atx, you may just have mounting point issues. Again, before you go replacing anything, check with the parental units.

Sorry, but you are essentially talking about buying a new computer to get where you want to go. Even if you replace the mainboard with a non-Dell board (often not so easy) Dell's system restore disks won't run on it. So when you look at the cost of a board, probably a case, and all the software (including the OS) you can't reinstall in the event of a hard drive crash, it's kinda prohibitive. Dell's mainboard prices are scary, too.

You can get a FX 5700 AGP video card for about $70 bucks. Not a perfect solution, but practical. It will get you running.

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Originally Posted by tommo666

Looking at the specs on the tech site, both the 3000 and 4700 use the micro atx case. which means the mounting arrangements should be the same for each motherboard. Dell motherboards are proprietry and don't fit in any off the shelf atx cases. But this wouldn't be the end of your problems, the 4700 uses socket T for the cpu and ddr2 memory.

Looking at the various cases the micro atx stops at the 4600, which has an agp slot. This may be your best option. I would investigate this to see if it's feasable.

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You seem to be correct, I've looked in a topic on the dell support forum and it was confirmed that the D4600 MoBo works with all the D3000's hardware, now only question is where can I buy it? And how hard would it be to install?

most Dell boards are made by Foxconn. They make about 90% of the mobos for the big oems.

You could try ebay, or even Dell but they may charge a premium.

Installation is easy peasy. the board is on a metal tray, so remove all cables, add on cards etc. Then towards the front of the tray, you'll see a green knob/lever. lift this and slide the tray forward. it will come out dead easy. One screw holds the mobo to the tray. Replace the bits and boot up. The correct drivers can be pulled from the Dell support site.

Like most OEM's there are usually proprietary connections on the motherboard that connect to items such as the I/O control panel and front access ports for items such as audio and USB and most of the time a standard motherboard cannot be installed. But tommo666 is right you may have to go directly to dell or check something like ebay to find a compatible board. So basically there is a really good chance you are going to have difficulty locating a board that will fit and connect properly and if you do you will most likely pay more. I work on Dell computers at my Job and I am a Dell certified tech and every dell I have looked at or repaired has propietary connections that would prevent using that motherboard in another computer or replacing the motherboard with something other than a Dell OEM board. Most OEM computer manufacturers do this and if you want more universal upgradibility you have to build your own computer using standard parts.

I would say doing what yer proposing is really not a good idea. Go with the idea that slgrieb suggested and the the AGP card.
There is absolutely no nessecity to using a pci-e card whatsoever.
I have a 9600XT AGP and i play BF2 all the time

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Originally Posted by Ferrit

I would say doing what yer proposing is really not a good idea. Go with the idea that slgrieb suggested and the the AGP card.

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I don't think the dimension 3000 series even has an agp port. The dimension 3000 is considered a low end (sorry entry level) computer for business and office use. And according to Dell's Warranty Parts Direct Website (where I order parts for the dells I work on) they do not have a dimension 3000 that includes an agp port. They are not machines designed for the gaming community. You have to go with a Dimension 4600 for AGP or a 4700 with PCI-e. So I would recommend that you build or purchase a new computer for your gaming needs and maybe make this a nice everyday use machine and for file storage. Besides you can never have too many computers. Right? I have 4 and my brother has 5.

Ouch! Bob Iroc is right about the lack of an AGP slot! I don't know off hand of anyone making an FX5700 in PCI version, But Sapphire and Jaton both make PCI Radeon 9200 cards, and BF2 will run on an 8500 or better. These cards are about $50.

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Originally Posted by slgrieb

Ouch! Bob Iroc is right about the lack of an AGP slot! I don't know off hand of anyone making an FX5700 in PCI version, But Sapphire and Jaton both make PCI Radeon 9200 cards, and BF2 will run on an 8500 or better. These cards are about $50.

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I currently have a GeCube Radeon 9200, the card is pretty good as I used it to play HL2, San Andreas, Vice City, Rainbow Six 3, and quite a few other games I have own, I even played the demo of the new game "Flatout" which has very nice graphics, with completely no lag, so I don't understand why Battlefiled 2 won't work, and also I heard people playing Battlefield 2 on overclocked Nvidia 5200's but now I'm having doubts about wasting cash just to play one game.

If you have a 9200 I would look at the driver side of things before considering upgrading - for the cost and the time needed - for one game - most definatly not worth it. Hope a driver solution turns up.

Good Luck.

Oh just for the record, according to the documentation by dell, it is a standard format Micro ATX motherboard, standard 6 hole configuration for the screw mounts. Although the front panel would have to be "tinkered" with.