Dimension 8300 vs 8400 case advice please

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi,

I have a Dell Dimension 8300, with a P4 3GHz.

I'm just wondering what the difference is between the 8300 case and the
newer 8400 case. I can see an extra air inlet (I presume that's what it
is) on the front at the bottom. Is that the only difference?

Is there any great benefit to be derived from this air inlet? I thought
perhaps the extra air-flow was to handle faster processors that the 8400
came with? Is that true? (And does that imply that my 3GHz doesn't need
the extra air flow?)

If I could get a cheap 8400 case would it be worth swapping my innards over?

I can't say I've had any problems with overheating, as far as I know. We
have had hot weather latley though, and the fan has accelerated up to a
fairly high speed on a number of occasions. Would that bit of extra
air-flow prolong the life of my CPU?

Or, is all this largely pointless and not worth wasting time on? ;-)

Or maybe I should just drill some holes at the bottom/front of my 8300
case? ;-) ;-)

John

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I woundn't think this was worth doing unless you have overhating
problems, but below is some info I saw posted.

Ken

> Dell 8400 Chassis/Cooling changes (from Dell 8300)
>
> 1) Chassis ventilation increased through use of a lower "scoop" vent below
> the front USB/Audio door (below the interior hard disk cage). Also virtually
> all of the (formerly solid) area behind the front I/O door has now been
> vented to nearly the full length and shape of the door itself, and the
> intake area below the door enlarged. Also, there appears to be a *rear*
> intake grilled area added below the CPU/Chassis fan, and above the video
> card PCIex slot. The rear grill had formerly consisted of only the exhaust
> area for the CPU fan.
>
> 2) Heatsink is heavily modified, over 4" tall, with shroud closely
> encompassing it.
>
> 3) CPU fan, which did not appear to be a DaTech or NMB, seems to be larger
> in diameter, and generates quite a lot of exhaust. To me, seemed as quiet
> as the
> 43XX-83XX series.
>
> 4) Power supply is 350watts, main (P1) connector is 24-pin versus the old
> standard ATX 20-pin. I assume this is prepping for the BTX form factor. ?
>
> 5) No IDE1 controller, just (4) SATA connects along with floppy and IDE2
> controller. Lots more room for airflow as a result.
>
>