Dell MOBO

[AYDANN6ix9ine]

So I just cleaned out 7 years worth of dust from my Dad's old i5-2400 HP PC. The motherboard included is an IPIS8-CU Proprietary board that uses the H61 chipset. It only supports up to 8GB (has 2-DIMM Slots) but my dad wants to upgrade to 16. So, we might have to try to do a whole refresh. Maybe get a newer board and CPU (maybe 4th gen Intel hardware), get 16GB of DDR3 that is faster than 1333mhz, add an SSD, or upgrade to a more reliable and efficient PSU. My only worry is that the OEM case doesn't support normal motherboards. The proprietary board is 9.6 inches x 9.,6 inches, which is the same for mATX but HP classifies it as "uATX". Is this like mATX or does it just have different mounting holes/process?

[Crunchy Dragon]

uATX and mATX are the same thing, just different names.

 

If you're really not sure, the best way to find out is to check where the standoffs are on the OEM board compared to an aftermarket board.

[AYDANN6ix9ine]

Also, what is likely the estimated efficiency of this OEM PSU (Seems pretty bad)?

 

http://www.circotech.com/bestec-replacement-power-supply-model-fh-xd301myr-1-part-number-667893-001.html

[Crunchy Dragon]

5 minutes ago, AYDANN6ix9ine said:

Also, what is likely the estimated efficiency of this OEM PSU (Seems pretty bad)?

 

http://www.circotech.com/bestec-replacement-power-supply-model-fh-xd301myr-1-part-number-667893-001.html

It's not 80+ certified, that's for sure.

 

You could probably get away with it for a while longer, but if it bothers you that much, you can buy a CX450M.

[AYDANN6ix9ine]

8 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

It's not 80+ certified, that's for sure.

 

You could probably get away with it for a while longer, but if it bothers you that much, you can buy a CX450M.

Thanks. Honestly, my family (at least one of my parents) is very supportive of saving money (even just a little bit) so upgrading the efficiency to 80-85 would be pretty good on the electricity bill.

[TomvanWijnen]

32 minutes ago, AYDANN6ix9ine said:

mATX & "uATX"

Some additional information because I like to give it.  mATX is (or should be) indeed the same as uATX. uATX is the "simplified" spelling of μATX. This μ (Greek Mu) is the universal prefix for "micro", and the "m" in mATX stands for... you guessed it: "micro". The reason for the usage of uATX and mATX is that the μ is more difficult to type, making it "understandable", and probably some other reasons too. Either way, μATX = uATX = mATX... unless the motherboard manufacturer has done something weird with the motherboard.

 

From my own experience (I own like 7 of them lol), Dell prebuilts often have a very different standoff layout, making mounting a different motherboard difficult. The IO shield is also often not removable (unless you use power tools). >.< Furthermore, sometimes the pin layout in the motherboard power plug is different (would maybe need to repin a few, should be doable - but do be sure to check this beforehand) (and PSUs are often a different size too), and there often are proprietary front panel stuff connectors that (likely) cannot be connected to a regular motherboard... Basically, when you're wanting to replace everything, you'll be better off just buying a different case (possibly cheap second hand) and making a second computer. I would, however, recommend you to start with the SSD, as they improve the speed of "everyday tasks" and smoothness greatly, even when it might be limited by SATA 3Gbs. More could always be done afterwards (and an SSD could always be moved again!). Good luck, have fun, and if you have any more questions, don't hestitate to ask them.