power

I have an old Dell Pentium 90mhz. I want to put a new motherboard in the box. I was wondering if the power supply will output to much voltage and fry the motherboard. Will it? Is their a motherboard that will handle it?

You may be low on power (Dell et al generally spec PS's to meet demand, not much more). More important, the Dell mobo's are generally custom-fit to the cases - AT/ATX mobo generally won't go in. I'd go for a case/mobo combo (the case will only cost you about $50 - $60 that way) - you'll end up with all the advantages of a new ATX power supply and better cooling to boot!

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...hope this helps...

I still want to know if the power supply will fry the motherboard. I don't mind messing up the box.

If your power supply is only 200 watts and you install a new 400 watt power supply, you will not FRY the motherboard. You may not even be able to plug in the power supply if the plugs do not match.

Get a new case and power supply.

Dimes to dollars the new mobo won't even fit. Also, the dell 90's (some of them, we have the optiplex here do have the atc type connector on the power supply, but they also use an upboard - meaning a separate board where the pci/isa cards go. This means if you can actually fit a new mobo in you'll have no where for the cards to anchor...


Get a new case... pccost.com has a great one for $90 - multicolored even http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/wink.gif Or check out the local computer stores (not the big chains). I found a very nice case for $60 - has sleep button as well, which has been useful. Also came with a fan in the front and room for another in the back. I stole a fan from an old powersupply to put in the back and it works great...

Mine is a Optiplex and I was planning on cutting up some of the box and making one fit I don't mind. I know where to get cases I was hoping on saving some money. It has a floppy and 1/2GB HD and is a good box. I was hoping to save it. Ram is too expesive to upgrade it.