Can i upgrade the Mobo on a dell?

[wabbit_season]

So I'm thinking about upgrading to a new computer. But before I do that, I'm wondering if my Dell XPS 630 can be upgraded at all? E.g., can the motherboard be changed for a new one? That is pretty much all I'm wondering at this point, because if that's the case then I can upgrade everything else without a hassle. I've just heard that Dell equipment is a pain to upgrade due to its proprietary parts and restrictions. Is upgrading this machine possible? The current MoBo is a Druid a00 i believe.

 

[smorizio]

So I'm thinking about upgrading to a new computer. But before I do that, I'm wondering if my Dell XPS 630 can be upgraded at all? E.g., can the motherboard be changed for a new one? That is pretty much all I'm wondering at this point, because if that's the case then I can upgrade everything else without a hassle. I've just heard that Dell equipment is a pain to upgrade due to its proprietary parts and restrictions. Is upgrading this machine possible? The current MoBo is a Druid a00 i believe.

dependson the size of the case and if the mb they used was a stock atx or mini atx sized mb. a lot of times they use smaller then stock mb and trying to use a stock mb is trying to shoe horn it in. your better off using a newer standard atx case (40.00 like the antec one case). and pulling the drives and ram and cou out of the dell into a standard case. you also need to drop in a new power supply as dells are under sized.

 

[k1114]

If you want to reuse the case then it is atx compliant. If you mean keeping the same cpu and "upgrading" the mobo, that is useless since there is no gain in performance.

 

[wabbit_season]

i think the case size is big enough. in regards to my psu, it is 750W so i feel that that is sufficient. k1114, i plan on upgrading the cpu and RAM as well as the mobo, i was just wondering if i could upgrade the motherboard without any proprietary issues. does anybody know the form factor of the druid mobo?

 

[k1114]

It's full sized atx.

 

[GhislainG]

i think the case size is big enough. in regards to my psu, it is 750W so i feel that that is sufficient. k1114, i plan on upgrading the cpu and RAM as well as the mobo, i was just wondering if i could upgrade the motherboard without any proprietary issues. does anybody know the form factor of the druid mobo?

This article may help you: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/operation_upgrade_how_we_rebuilt_three_old_pcs_part_part

In The Upgrades section, they wrote "We also had to mind the Intel-style front-panel connector, which rules out any Asus board without doing some wiring surgery. " That's why they chose a Gigabyte motherboard.