New PSU for Dells

[smurkin]

Chaps, Hi!

I bought a Dell XPS420. Some may recall:

https://forums.freddyshouse.com/techie-discussion3/223836-dell-not-dell-question.html

Now sure enough this all went badly wrong. I got the pc, and the pc makes this awful whining noise coming from the psu. After awful whining from me to Dell, three replacement psus, 2 mobos, six HDs and three engineer visits, Dell finally send me a replacement system and forgot to pick up the "faulty" one.

So now I have two systems that make an awful whining sound. But I'm not complaining anymore because I got 2 for the price of one (both have 8800gtxs inside) Now I want to use the spare in my living room to hook up to my HD telly and surround.

So first off. Can anyone recommend a really good wireless keyboards suitable for a media centre and some sort of mouse that could play a decent fps.

My other question. How the hell am I going to stop these whining psus? I have had a look at the Dell psus. The power blocks to the mobo look standard (but I cant vouch that the wires are in the correct order). The dell psus have the standard spacing for the four screws that fix to the chassis. Can anyone suggest how I can get something with a bit more wattage that will fit. The Dell psus are 425 watt.

 

[ford prefect]

I have taken apart a few dell machines in my time, but not for a few years now. They did used to use standard PSU's, one of the few standard components in them. I remeber replacing one Dell PSU with a low DB PSU I bought off dabs. I would be suprised if they aren't still standard.

 

[Bodhi]

Can't comment on the PSU's (ask Kryten, I suspect he may know), but as for the wireless keyboard have a look at the Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave. It's a natural stylee keyboard but it has lots of media buttons plastered all over it. What's more you can customise these buttons to do just about anything you want. I've had one for a month and it's been excellent. Comes with a laser mouse as well, which is more than useful in FPS's.

Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave - Retail

 

[Jonty]

Hi smurkin

Regarding the keyboard, I have the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 (try saying that after you've had a bit to drink ). It's a really beautiful keyboard, very low profile, and it has media centre controls plus Vista-specific buttons. It's Bluetooth connection and Intelli-software has worked fine for me, and you can customize quite a few things (although not everything).

The downsides are the slightly curved keyboard shape, which takes a little getting used to; and the laser mouse, which is fairly generic and boring next to the keyboard's design (although it should be accurate enough for gaming, although some people say it lags from time to time). The biggest drawback is the price: it's around £75 the last I checked. You're definitely paying for the style, but it really is very beautiful.

A word of warning: don't pay the extra for the 8000 version. I usually like to save more and buy the best, but it's around £150 and the only major differences are the keyboard is rechargable and it has backlit keys. These are nice additions, but not at that price.

Kind regards

Jonty

P.S. I have a as-new media centre keyboard, IR receiver, and remote control here in Taiwan. It's not cutting edge, and you need Windows Media Centre for the media buttons to work (Microsoft doesn't offer any additional software, so Media Centre is important), but if you want it then just let me know. There's no box or anything, but for £20 it's yours. No mouse though, sorry!

P.P.S. Bodhi's spot on, Kryten is probably your man for PSUs

 

[Kryten]

The XPS power supplies are indeed "standard" - cabling is identical but different colours to standard, meaning you can pick and chose a replacement to suit.
Usual suspects - corsair, seasonic, enermax, tagan, antec, akasa.

You're suffering with Dell Power Supply Syndrome - if they're not exploding due to faulty capacitors they're generally making one hell of a noise due to crap fans.
Believe it or not, if the engineer was to take away the old kit, I'd have probably ended up with it - it would have been stripped down and separately boxed, and ALL scrapped.
Meaning I'd have ended up with a free 8800GTX to sell
So, curse you!

 

[smurkin]

Believe it or not, if the engineer was to take away the old kit, I'd have probably ended up with it - it would have been stripped down and separately boxed, and ALL scrapped.

So thats where all the little calculators go .

So for the psu, the Dell unit has no underside fan and trying to find a replacement in the 500 - 650 watt range is proving chalenging as this limits the options. If I get a replacement with an underside fan, should I be concerned about chainging the internal airflow - or do the psu fans extract from the case?

I like the look of both those keyboards. I already have a logitech, which I quite like - but the MS option is also nice. I was playing with media centre. The interface is excellent and the Dells come with a remote - so I might try that first. I need to keep the costs down a bit because I also need to buy an HDMI splitter and a long optical or coax lead .

Jonty, did you say you are in Taiwan? I'd imagine the postage would be costly

 

[Kryten]

Yeah, PSU fans typically extract air from the case. I'd not worry too much about the airflow - the 420's iirc are on the BTX standard and cooling is a little easier on those than the normal kit. Only normal problem you might find is if there was a plinth that covers wholly or partially where the fan is.

 

[smurkin]

Thanks m8y.

I got an Antec Truepower Trio 550 watt in the end. It was an arch pain in the cock trying to fit it, though. The old Dell power leads were routed behind the cpu heatsink and fan so I had to pull all that out. The trio only has 4x satas, two on each wire and the RAID drives are on the bottom of the case so that was tricky at a stretch. I also had to rework the case a little to allow the psu switch to fit. I dont think I'd recommend the Antec as a replacement for the xps420. However, plugged it in and it all worked first time (which is a first for me ).

Funny though, the new one isn't as silent as i thought it would be../edit..also can't understand why the 8800gtx takes two pcie power inputs

 

[Jonty]

edit..also can't understand why the 8800gtx takes two pcie power inputs

The design of the 8800 GTX requires a lot of power (officially the TDP is 185W), even more than the dual-chip 7950 GX2. Therefore it requires dual power connectors, and a good quality PSU is also recommended for reliable operation. Well done for sorting everything!

Kind regards

Jonty

P.S. As for the keyboard, no problem, I hope you find what you're looking for
I just have a pile of unused kit that I would like to clear (22" Asus LCD, Microsoft keyboard/remote/IR receiver, Logitech VX Revolution, external LG DVD burner, AverTV USB Digital TV Tuner etc.). I was thinking about eBaying it, but people are suspicious when they see a UK buyer selling things from Taiwan If anyone is interested, please just private message me.