looking to mod my dell 4700

hello everyone,

i came to this forum for some help. i'm very interested in looking to mod my dell 4700. i've never modded before and don't know much about adding fans or about the connectors to the mobo.

here is my current air flow:

(red arrows show where the fans are blowing)
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so what im trying to do is add a front intake fan and a side fan, and maybe 2 rear exhaust (replace the single)

help and suggestions please.

Thoes Dell cases are tight for space. They dont really give you any room to play with. If you can live with one dvd drive, you can put a fan bank in the empty drive bay. They help cool your dvd drive aswell.

id rather just leave them in. i think i can fit a fan in the 1rst hard drive bracket, and maybe screw the harddrive on to the floor of the case?

also look at this dell 2300 mod, the 2300's and 4700's have hte same stuff pretty much,


http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=902472&page=1

I too also have a Dell 4700, except my airflow is the opposite of yours? Odd? Anyways, Cana-Ballistic is right when he said there Isn't much room to do... well anything really. You can add a fan in the front, that would be easy as heck. Just put one in there and tah dah. A side fan would also be easy to do. Drill some holes and screw it in and tah dah once again! You MIGHT be able to get dual exhaust if you really want it. I personally would go with more side fans and a really good exhaust fan.

Dont you just hate that big ugly green duct?? lol I DO! Glad to see a fellow dell sucker. ;)

Oh also, you can also just get a brand new case to mod? They are pretty cheap. I am getting mine at www.newegg.com. You'll find most people using that website due to their truly amazing service.

GOOD LUCK!
SF

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SnowFire

I too also have a Dell 4700, except my airflow is the opposite of yours? Odd? Anyways, Cana-Ballistic is right when he said there Isn't much room to do... well anything really. You can add a fan in the front, that would be easy as heck. Just put on in there and tah dah. A side fan would also be easy to do. Drill some holes and screw it in and tah dah once again! You MIGHT be able to get dual exhaust if you really want it. I personally would go with more side fans and a really good exhaust fan.

Dont you just hate that big ugly green duct?? lol I DO! Glad to see a fellow dell sucker. ;)

Oh also, you can also just get a brand new case to mod? They are pretty cheap. I am getting mine at www.newegg.com. You'll find most people using that website due to their truly amazing service.

GOOD LUCK!
SF

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well as you might now know, dell shipped most of their 4700s with the rear fan as an INTAKE blowing air into the green chute, it should be EXHAUSTING. i took the fan out and flipped it around (brought temps down quite a bit). when you say put the fans in there, can you explain how? i need a 4 pin connector on the fan right? that connects to the psu? should i mounth the harddrive on the floor of the case so the fan can hit everything?

i would love to put all my stuff in a new case, but i heard you can't due to the power switch or something.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zombeh

well as you might now know, dell shipped most of their 4700s with the rear fan as an INTAKE blowing air into the green chute, it should be EXHAUSTING. i took the fan out and flipped it around (brought temps down quite a bit). when you say put the fans in there, can you explain how? i need a 4 pin connector on the fan right? that connects to the psu? should i mounth the harddrive on the floor of the case so the fan can hit everything?

i would love to put all my stuff in a new case, but i heard you can't due to the power switch or something.

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It brought the temps down? Wierd, Didnt think it would do that since to me it seems it would be better to pass air over and through the heatsink to help cool it off? Eh, In any case I dont need to do that with my rockin P4 2.8! :dead:

Hmmm, the power switch you say? Well as I understand it, when you buy a new case it comes with a power switch built into the case already. So just unplug your current one, which you have to do anyways if you take the mobo out to transfer, and plug in your new one where your dell one was previously. I haven't switched over just yet, but I can't see a problem with switching over. Maybe I am overlooking something though? Anyone know why people say you cant switch over?

-SF

My current comp is actaully frankensteined from the ashes of a dead Dell. The mobo and PS are proprietary (Like emachines). There's a possibility that other things are set up unique. Perhaps the plug in for the power is reversed? I do know that if you attempt to mix and match the major dell parts, you can destroy the componants. From my Dell (mobo died) I was able to salvage and use:

1. Proc
2. Memory
3. CDROM
4. Floppy
5. HD

The case I had to chuck, the Powersupply was wired differently than normal, and the mobo was just plain dead.

You know, you can always pull the powerswitch out of the Dell.......and mod it into your new case.

Be aware though, it's possible the Dell mobo won't fit in your new case, you might have to get "creative".

THATS IT! Thanks ReverendBob!

Like he said, in some cases the motherboard will not fit into your new case or you will have some issue or another with it. Dell uses very... eh... unique mobo's. Why? I havent a clue.

How to solve this or prepare for it? Measure your Mobo and look on newegg.com for case compatibility. A standard ATX Mobo is 12" x 9" I believe. So if your mobo is that, then you shouldnt have a problem with fitting it into any case other than cases like MicroATX and smaller.

-SF

well i didnt think so either but i noticed a huge change in my gfx temp about 10-15 celcius when i reversed the fan. so can you explain the fan thing? have you done it to yours?

i'd rather try modding some fans in it this way first before i transfer.

Well you can always try to rig something up to have a fan blowing on it on one side and a fan on the other side blowing out? Then you can do some other stuff as you see fit to your case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ReverendBob

My current comp is actaully frankensteined from the ashes of a dead Dell. The mobo and PS are proprietary (Like emachines). There's a possibility that other things are set up unique. Perhaps the plug in for the power is reversed? I do know that if you attempt to mix and match the major dell parts, you can destroy the componants. From my Dell (mobo died) I was able to salvage and use:

1. Proc
2. Memory
3. CDROM
4. Floppy
5. HD

The case I had to chuck, the Powersupply was wired differently than normal, and the mobo was just plain dead.

You know, you can always pull the powerswitch out of the Dell.......and mod it into your new case.

Be aware though, it's possible the Dell mobo won't fit in your new case, you might have to get "creative".

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bummer man, so you had to get a new version of windows right? and as i see you live in arizona as well, you know heat is an issue in this state lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SnowFire

Well you can always try to rig something up to have a fan blowing on it on one side and a fan on the other side blowing out? Then you can do some other stuff as you see fit to your case.

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thats what i wanna do, i want like a 80mm fan in the front and upgrade the back to a 120, but i dont know if its possible?

Just about anything is possible with the right tool and know how.

Unfortunately I am limited on both! lol

So at this point, all I can say is this.

GOOD LUCK!

-SF

thanks, check back here in a week or 2. i'll put together something. still in need of help by others!

here is a picture of my harddrive situation.

i'm pretty sure i can take one of the brackets with the harddrive and fit it directly on the ground of the case, is it safe?

and as far as the molex 4 pin connectors i think i ran out :(

is there an adapter out there that gives you more connections, kind of like a usb hub?

and what did you drill in the front of the case for the intake? here is a picture of mine, i shouldnt need to do anything but screw in the fan right?

i honestly appreciate all help you can give me :D[/QUOTE]

You can purchase molex splitters, or you can build yours pretty easily if you have a scrap PSU lying around. Just grab a couple of molex, and wire them to an existing molex on your working PSU and it should works fine. Don'T you dare put 3 more molex on the same line tho, cause if you plan to use them all, you may burn your power line :O

thanks for the warning lol, i should get this right?


http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16812189003

Yes, Thats what you need.The hardrive placement doesn't really matter. The HDD can be on the bottom of you're case, or on the top. Lon as you have the IDE/SATA connection to it and the molex connection.

But I suggest buying a new Powersupply. Dell,Emachine,Gateway...ect. They all have the worst power supplies. There only good for maybe a years time?

Yes that would be fine!

ok great, ill probably just put it under my cd drives (take out the stupid floppy)

The poblem with that is that dell powersupplies are custom made by dell and the outputs are in different places arent they? That is wot I found with 3 different PSU's! Correct me if i am wromg

-gaz

well mine has lasted 2 years and has worked fine.

Yeh plus i see no need to change the power suply if it is fine!

I've had mine for about a year as well. No problems yet. But mine is only a year old so either they fixed whatever issues they were having or I just havent put enough time into it to see it do something that it shouldnt.

That floppy drive has to be the most useless thing I had in my dell. I ripped it out for experimentations about two weeks ago. It's not really even a good spot to put anything. I wish they would of changed it to a media reader instead! Now that would of been useful!

You could also try and make your own hard drive cage if you cant find a spot to put them. That would give you expansion possibilities and enough room to put in a intake fan.

-SF

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gaz_the_chav

Zombeh, Are you satisfied that you have found the right product then (before this goes anymore off topic?!) Just thought I would make sure!

-gaz

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no i have not.

i did my first mod today!! :)
So i decided to go to staples the other day and pick up a 80mm fan (gonna return in 14 days) as a tester i had to put the harddrive on the floor of the case and take out my pci slot fan.

i have the harddrive taped cuz its only temporary right now.

i have seen a few degree temps drop, im pretty happy. the fan i got doesnt blow much air, but i can now feel cold air moving through out the case. i still have the front bezel on it.

the air is coming through the squares and from the bottom.

would you guys recommend leaving the fan where its at? or between the front and bezel?

either way, i don't think you'll see a huge difference in airflow, it's mostly an aesthetic decision

if you want to continue the mod to improve airflow, i'd cut out some of that metal grill to allow more air through :p those puny holes have got to restrict it something fierce.
although, i'm not sure if you'll get enough intake through the bezel to make much of a difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ajmilton

either way, i don't think you'll see a huge difference in airflow, it's mostly an aesthetic decision

if you want to continue the mod to improve airflow, i'd cut out some of that metal grill to allow more air through :p those puny holes have got to restrict it something fierce.
although, i'm not sure if you'll get enough intake through the bezel to make much of a difference.

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yes i know lol, so would you recommend putting the fan between the bezel and case? im planning on cutting out the silver dell logo thing to help. i know its pretty limited. but im planning on replacing the 80mm with a 92 or 120. its going to be hard to cut the front bezel since its uneven.

i don't think i'd put the fan between the bezel and the case - the fan's sides would block airflow at that point. this way, you can get interrupted airflow from anywhere inside the bezel air can get in :P
i'm not sure about cutting the bezel. i'm still rather new to the modding stuff myself. lots of the worklogs on here show a sort of air tunnel being created through the bezel. check some of the worklogs out and you'll probably find more coherent advice than i've got.

can't find anything on creating tunnels.

Just wondering In dells... the fan inside the lil vent thing over the CPU supposedly that is pushing air out.... through the little vent.. wouldnt it be better if it was pushing air onto the CPU

**EDIT**

thort u mite like 2 see my parents dell dimension 3000... It looks exactly the same

no it should be exhausting, dell shipped them wrong. try it out.

No but if it is spun around then it would be giving air to the CPU not taking it away, therefore the air isn't really going to cool it down... its just going to get taken away

Taking air away creates a vaccuumm (I never could spell that word) which pulls air through the whole system therefore creating a cooling effect.

For a cooler system (I did this on an experiment not even realizing it was a mod) put intake fans near the bottom of your case and exhaust fans near the top (out the very top if yer able).

Since hot air rises anyway, you're actually pulling all the cooler air into the system and over all your parts, then blowing the hot air out the top which is where it was headed to begin with. Let the air work for you... be the air...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ironcat

Let the air work for you... be the air...

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Ooooh that was so cheesy :D :alien:

i removed the floppy drive, but now i get an error everyboot up saying no floppy drive, hit f1 to continue, etc. can i disable this?

EDIT

after i did all my measurements, i decided to just go with a 92mm intake (front), 92mm exhaust (rear fan replacement), and a 80mm side (by the x850xt card) , and a 80mm fan between the greenchute and memory (helping exhaust). who has the largest selection of my sized led fans? inputs welcome. give me your opposition.

Does you computer try and boot from the floopy drive? or does it does auto detect that one is misssing?.

If it is trying to boot from it go into the computers bios by pressing either F12, F8, or Delete on startup. Go into the basic options and it will have boot order with like boot 1 floppy boot 2 HDD boot 3 optical drives etc. Change the first bootable device to HHD and save the change and exit the bios the computer should restart and the problem should be fixed.

thanks, i figured it out before. i had to disable the device in bios lol. thanks

Anytime man. Good to see you modding a stock standard computer like a dell. Good luck.