# [SOLVED] Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?



## kevalb

Hi everyone!

Well, my first post here is unfortunately a question, but I hope it's a simple one.

A little background: I have two computers functioning basically non-stop at home. A Dell XPS Gen3 and a Dell Dimension 9100. Had the XPS for over 3 years with no problem except the heatsink issue which was easily fixed. The 9100, had that 2 years with no problems until this weekend.

So, time for the question: The computer was functioning normally on Saturday night and when we woke on Sunday morning, it was off. When we tried to boot, nothing at all happened. The light on the switch in front blinks orange, and there's a green light on the motherboard, but no drives spin up and no fans start, it just sits there. I instantly assumed the Power Supply might have gone bad, or maybe it was something with the connections. So I tried a new outlet, a new power cord, and got the same results. We had some windy weather in our area over the weekend and had a couple problems with the power being cut to our house in a "brownout" sort of fashion. It happened a couple times (if I had expected it, I would have turned the comps off of course) and then we seemed to be fine.

Anyway, I just wanted to see what you all thought might be the problem before I started buying parts. The current PSU that's in there is model number L375P-00 (full model: DELL P8401 Dell 375W Power Supply M/N L375P-00). I found it online for about $40.00, so that's not that bad. But before I order one, anyone think it's something else I could be missing? Bssic Comp specs are: (I don't have the full specs in front of me...)

Dell Dimension 9100
Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz
ATI Radeon X800-XT
2 GB Ram

Any known issues with PSU failures from this particular unit?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Kev


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

Dells are know not to have the best psu personally i would measure to see in the pus is in atx form factor and if it is spend around $50 for a quallity unit.


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

Yeah I heard *somewhere* that the PSU's from Dell have a respectively high failure rate.

Not sure if Dell issued this in ATX or BTX... I'd have to look and see. If I have room, what suggestions do you have for better PSU's? (name brand, place to purchase, etc...)

Thanks!


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## linderman

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

Antec Trio 550 watt


Coolermaster Real Power Pro 600 watt (only real power pro)

Corsair HX-520 watt look on clubit.com ( A+++++ unit)

Antec Neo HE 550


there is alot more junk out there in the world then there are good units, be careful a good PSU for your rig will be about $80.00


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

Linderman-

Thanks for the information! 

I'm assuming there's no compatibility issues with the hardware in switching from the 'factory' unit to any of these? (meaining wiring configurations and such).....


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## HawMan

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

No any of the PSUs Linderman (God) listed will work with no problems in your machine.


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## mattlock

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

There are 4 diagnostic lights on the front or your PC, are any of them lit?
http://support2.jp.dell.com/docs/systems/dim9100/en/sm/adtshoot.htm#wp1054146


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

So..... I've been sitting here at work surfing a bit and trying to find out more information. I'm not 100% positive (the terminology is new to me) but I think I'm dealing with a BTX case (all the google searches indicate the Silver and White case as BTX: http://desktops.webbuyersguide.com/reviews/3798-wbgDesktops_reviews.html)

I don't know if this further limits what PSU I can put in there? This isn't a massive gaming system (I use the XPS) fior that, my wife just uses it for email/occasional gaming/etc... so I don't think it's that power hungry. Anyway, I still don't know which way to go. If I can get a 500 W unit like the Corsair and know it will fit in the case, then that's what I'll do.


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*



mattlock said:


> There are 4 diagnostic lights on the front or your PC, are any of them lit?
> http://support2.jp.dell.com/docs/systems/dim9100/en/sm/adtshoot.htm#wp1054146


Truthfully, I'm not at home and not in front of the computer, but I don't recall any lights coming on when I tried to power up. But then again, I don't recall any lights at all under normal operating conditions. Forgive my ignorance, I just didn't pay attention to this comp as it's more my wife's email machine and not my gaming/usual system. I'll certainly check this when I get home from work. But I'm about 92% sure that I didn't see any lights when I tried to boot. :4-dontkno


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*



HawMan said:


> No any of the PSUs Linderman (God) listed will work with no problems in your machine.


LOL Very cool. I love to be in the presence of computer gurus. ray:

Sorry I can't be more specific on stuff. I should have pulled out the specs on this unit before asking questions. I'll get more information tonight and clarify in the morning. I'd like to go with the "Linderman A+++++" model (i.e. the Corsair HX-520).

I'll post back tomorrow with the correct information.


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## linderman

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

you will need to remove the side cover from your computer and give us the rough dimensions of your existing PSU length>>width>>height

nearst 1/4 of an inch is fine


I hope your case is not one of those Dell "mini" jobbers ???????


fingers are crossed


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*



linderman said:


> you will need to remove the side cover from your computer and give us the rough dimensions of your existing PSU length>>width>>height


I'll do that tonight.



> I hope your case is not one of those Dell "mini" jobbers ???????
> fingers are crossed


OI! Well again, I'm not sure, but I think it's the mini one. Short and compact. But that's compared to my XPS tower which is a monster. Anyway, here's what I know about the power supply:

Model Number: L375P-00 (a.k.a P8401)
For what it's worth, here's a site selling it:
http://www.centrix-intl.com/details.asp?productid=1097

For the life of me, I can't find specifications on size for this unit online, so I'll have to measure it tonight. I'll get back to you on this.


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*



linderman said:


> ...give us the rough dimensions of your existing PSU length>>width>>height - nearst 1/4 of an inch is fine


OK update.... looks like it's the big box and NOT the "mini-jobber" 

The dimensions are as follows for the PSU currently installed......

5 and 1/2" x 3.875" (3 and 7/8") x 5.9375" (5 and 15/16")

Sorry it took so long to post that.... I'm having internet issues.

Thanks!


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## linderman

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

ATX standard power supply measures roughly

5.5"(D) x 5.91"(W) x 3.35"(H)


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## linderman

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

the Corsair HX 520 is ready for take off :wave:


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*



linderman said:


> the Corsair HX 520 is ready for take off :wave:


Great! Thank you so much Linderman! I'll be ordering that today and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. Your help is greatly appreciated!


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## kevalb

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*

UPDATE!!!

OMG. so so sorry it took this long for me to get back to you all. November and December were insane! 

So... the story goes: turns out it wasn't the power supply, it was a bad Mother board. So, it was replaced at the cost of $140 and it's up and running. All is well in my world!


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## mattlock

*Re: Dell Dimension 9100 Power Supply Problem?*



kevalb said:


> UPDATE!!!
> 
> OMG. so so sorry it took this long for me to get back to you all. November and December were insane!
> 
> So... the story goes: turns out it wasn't the power supply, it was a bad Mother board. So, it was replaced at the cost of $140 and it's up and running. All is well in my world!


Thanks for update Kevalb. It's good to hear all is well.


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## anthony6911

First time posting on this site. I like the way everyone helps. I hope I can get the same great advise. I'm having the exact same problem as KEVALB with my Dell 9100. I purchased a Corsair HX-520 watt . Same problem, light still blinks yellow. 
My questions are;
Is my old power supply still good?
Should I replace my mobo? If yes what should I replace it with? or
Should I just replace my computer? Mine is only less then 3 years old and hardly used. 
What would cause my computer to go bad, I have it hooked up to a UPS.


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## kevalb

Hi Anthony-

Yeah, I just replaced the mother board and all has been well ever since. I'd assume that your power supply is still good, but I never checked mine. Once the new Corsair was in and the machine was running, I left well enough alone.

sometimes mobo's just go, just a fact of life. I don't think I did anything in particular to cause it to fail, maybe there's just a fault in the production of these particular ones. Replacing your computer depends on what you need it for and how much 'free' cash you have to spend. I have 4 computers, Dell 9100 - which is just used for general software and internet applications, an XPS Gen 3 for gaming and graphics, a Powerspec and a HP which are both just old backups for email/internet access. If you are looking for a gaming machine, you might want to consider building from scratch. Probably get a better machine than going with a "production" Dell. I know for sure, the next machine I get will be one I build myself.


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## anthony6911

Thanks for your fast reply. I use it for some bookkeeping and internet. What mobo would you recommend?


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## linderman

from my 10+ years of shop experience I have concluded OEM motherboards are cheap & weak boards for sure, but then they are powered by even crappier power supplies which have no overvolting protection or crappy overvolting protection.

so when the PSU fails it kills the motherboard too! :4-thatsba



I advise you to look to mwave.com / click on refurbished / then click motherboards you can pick up a *high quality * retial motherboard instead of an OEM trasher for about $35.00 to $70.00 depending on what you pick


stick with asus and gigabyte


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## anthony6911

Thank you for your response. Would you know which board would be a replacemant for a Dell CN-OX8582? Thanks again for both of you for your help.


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## mlv2148

How did the Corsair fit into your computer, will most PSU like that fit? I have a Dimension 9100 and I am looking to upgrade to an 8800 GT G92 PCI - express version and I need a new PSU with at least 450 W it says. Do they all fit? I do not know much about replacing Psu, and was wondering what was with the mixup with BTX/atx Fitting?

Also, I was looking at possibly putting a new motherboard in there. But from all the pictures online they all look, well like mine is backwards I guess. I guess I just have to hold off until I want to do a complete overhaul?


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## mlv2148

Side Note- Is It possible I may not need to upgrade the PSU. Supposedly the PSU can run 8800 GTS. Do you think I will be able to do this?


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## linderman

Hello



you have a couple of key considerations to evaluate


your Dell 9100 I believe to be a BTX motherboard with a smaller than usual case, the small than usual case is not good for cooling an 8800GT G92

your current cpu will be the botleneck for that video card for sure..... expecially with only a single core Pentium 4 @ 2.8ghz

your power supply will need to be ugraded for sure! and I hope your power supply dimensions arent the micro one ! measure your existing power supply length width and height >>>>>> closest 1/4 inch is fine on the measurements


in your shoes I would do the following and you can do this incrementally:


replace the case = under $50.00

replace the motherboard with one that will be retail motherboard that will not limit your bios upgrading and allow overclocking if desired $50.00 to $100.00

Power Supply = you can hunt for a deal for around $100.00


if you are patient and look to mwave.com / click on refurbished / then click on the catagory for all these items you will save plenty of money to take away the pain from a major overhaul

be sure to ask here first before buying anything ! they sell alot of junk in there too, we can steer you to buying only the best high quality parts

as time goes on you can then upgrade your cpu to the newer / much faster intel core two cpu's........ the new motherboard will be compatible! your existing board is not


mwave.com moves their stock in and out very fast; if you are patient you will get what you want and need

example= coolermater centurion case = $35.00

example = this one is a steal for $80.00 it normally sells for $159.00 or more


THERMALTAKE W0106RU toughpower 700w modularized ATX 12v v2.2 nvidia quad-sli / 80 plus certified active pfc power supply (refurbished bare product no accessories w/15-day warranty) (*Limit 1 pcs/customer) $80.00 

SKU: CB23200 Mfg. Part No: W0106RU 
More Info View Full

motherboard = $30.00

ABIT IB9 INTEL P965 CHIPSET ATX FORM FACTOR 1xPCI-E(X16)/3xPCI-E(X1)/2xPCI/4xDDR2 W/SATA2,LAN(Gb),USB 2.0 & AUDIO (Refurbished Bare Product No Accessories w/15-day Warranty) (*Limit 1 pcs/customer) $29.92 

SKU: CB23404 Mfg. Part No: IB9 
More Info View Full

or better yet for $80.00 this motherboard was $170.00 ish


ABIT IP35 PRO INTEL P35 CHIPSET ATX FORM FACTOR 2xPCI-E(X16)/1xPCI-E(X1)/3xPCI/4xDDR2 W/SATA2 RAID,eSATA,LAN(Gb),1394,USB 2.0 & AUDIO (Refurbished Bare Product No Accessories w/15-day Warranty) (*Limit 1 pcs/customer) $84.75 

SKU: CB23927 Mfg. Part No: IP35 PRO 
More Info View Full

if you run your new video card in your old system / make sure to remove the side cover off the box and keep a house fan blowing air into it !!!


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## mlv2148

Ahh I feared that! Yea do not have the money to start building a new computer. That will have to wait for a little while. I will have to stick to the x850 xt video card and pentium d 820. Unless you have another solution, As far as PSU size I think it is the same size as the original poster. The model is a L375P-00. Have not found a ruler to measure yet! As far as room in the case, I have quite a bit of room extra beyond my original x850 which is pretty big. There is at least 6 inches probably. I will try to get up some pics for you to look at.

Side Note - My main goal of getting this is because I just bought a new monitor/tv samsung t240hd that runs 1920x1200 that I would like to be able to play Warcraft fullscreen on 1920x1200. If you have a suggestion for a cheaper card that would work with my current power supply that you think would work.


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## jayjay33

kevalb

i have the same problem you had. i get the blinking orange light and I think my issue is the motherboard as well. did you replace it with the OEM Dell motherboard or did you go with a aftermarket version. I read somewhere that the Dell Dimension 9100 only fits the OEM motherboard.

any help is appreciated.


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## kevalb

jayjay33 said:


> kevalb
> 
> i have the same problem you had. i get the blinking orange light and I think my issue is the motherboard as well. did you replace it with the OEM Dell motherboard or did you go with a aftermarket version. I read somewhere that the Dell Dimension 9100 only fits the OEM motherboard.
> 
> any help is appreciated.


jayjay-

To be honest, I'm not sure what the new MB was. :4-dontkno I'm not into building/fixing everything (I can only do the basics on computer hardware), so I took it to a local shop. It was so long ago that I'm sure I don't have the receipt, so I can't even look it up for you. I just needed it quick and didn't care what the cost was. Overall, it was $140 for the new MB and like $45 in labor. I maybe paid too much, but it was my second machine and I just needed it right away.

Sorry I can't help you on that front, but I'm sure someone here can help. Just FYI also.... ever since the replacement, things have been smooth sailing .... knock on wood. :smile:


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## anthony6911

jayjay,
I had the same problem as both of you, I replaced with a used mb for $117.00 @, and also a new psu.


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## jayjay33

Thanks guys for your response. I decided to just purchase a PSU and see if that will fix the problem. I went to my locals Frys and bought a 430 watt Thermaltake power supply and replaced it last night. The computer works great now. Im glad I tried that out before I replaced the motherboard. The thermaltake does not fit properly in my dell dimension 9100 but one screw is hold it in place.


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## davidkw

Hi there,

I just started having this same issue - blinking amber power light. I had my 9100 (P4, 2.8 GHz) in hibernation. When I went back to turn it on a day later, it was blinking amber. No matter what I tried, it would not spin anything up. No noise, just the blinking light. The green light on the mobo was solid and the ethernet light was also lit.

I unplugged the 9100 and let it sit for several hours. I then plugged it back in and I tried turning it on. It started up for about two seconds (front green panel lights lit, HD/fan started spinning) before it all stopped and the power light started blinking amber.

Because the 9100 started up for a few seconds after being unplugged for hours, I'm leaning towards a bad PSU as the culprit. I don't have a lot of hardware experience beyond adding extra memory so I'm just taking a guess.

I know the mobo could be fried too but I'd like to buy one piece at a time to see if I can fix it as inexpensively as possible.

The PSU is the same as kevalb's - model L375P.

I appreciate any help and advice on where to start!

Thanks!
David


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## andrew_nyc

I, too, have a Dimension 9100 that has stopped working. (Dimension 9100, 3.2 GHZ Pentium D 820, 3 gigs ram). But, I'm getting slightly different errors than other posters.

Firstly, after a power failure about a year ago, I was forced to replace my motherboard. I got an identical motherboard through Dell, upgraded the RAM, and the machine was running fine. But, idiot that I am, I didn't replace the thermal grease between the heatsink and my CPU. So over the past year, my machine has been getting increasingly louder as it tries to keep itself cool.

So, over the past week, the computer has been continually restarting itself with no warning, whether i'm working on it or whether it's idling. Finally, it started shutting itself down, but the power light would remain green, and the fans would ramp up. One time, when I tried to turn it back on, the power light went to a solid amber. But I let it sit for 10 minutes, and it fired back up, no problem.
I figured I was overheating, and ran out, got some arctic silver, and cleaned the old gunk off of the CPU and heatsink and put in a line of arctic silver. That was yesterday. The computer started up fine, ran for around 10 hours, and then shut down with the power light still on some time overnight. Now I've got the solid amber again, and it won't start up, no matter how long I let it sit.

So, I've had it with this piece of junk. I don't see any reason to replace the motherboard a second time, if that's the problem. And if the CPU has burned out, I might as well upgrade. So, I'm going to get a new PSU, CPU, Mobo, and case and then pilfer all of the working parts out of this machine.

So, it's almost a year since the Corsair HX-520 recommendation. Would people still recommend that?

I'm on mwave right now looking at refurbished motherboards, but I realize I don't know quite what i'm looking for. I need at least 3 PCI slots, 4 DDR2 SDRam slots, a slot for my nvidia GForce graphics card (that's not standard pci, right?) and at least 2 SATA connections, and ideally a temperature censor by the CPU, since that has now become a concern to me. I don't need integrated audio, but don't mind getting it. And some integrated USB would be nice.

In terms of a case, I'm looking to keep it cool, and I need a standard amount of space for 2 dvd drives, 2 HDDs, nothing out of the ordinary. Again, looking at refurbished from mwave.

and finally for the chip, I'm looking to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processor because I'm doing some fairly intensive audio work, and could use the extra muscle. Should I be looking at mwave for that too? newegg? tiger direct?

Thanks for any and all help!


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## Wrench97

The refurb prices are decent at Mwave but price shop the rest.
Look for a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L Motherboard about $85, E8400 C2D about $165,
What Video card do you have? X300, X800 or ??
To stay with the card i the dell the HX-520 or maybe the 550VX Corsair
The Cpu's have the temp sensor in them OEM boards don't take advantage of them which is why you can't get temp readings from the setup screen.
Your card should be a PCIEx16 in the 9100 not PCI( I know close)
This is a pretty decent case for the money or look around for some other you may like> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106 

Also you'll need a new copy of windows as your OEM version is tied to the Dell


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## andrew_nyc

The NVidia card is a "GEFORCE 6800 PCI E X16 256MB WITH DVI", you were right on on that one.

My windows isn't OEM, I got the system with XP home and got an upgrade to XP Pro (cheaper than getting XP Pro pre-installed), so I think just moving the hard drives shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the advice, I'm gonna shop around a bit and see what I can find, and I'll post back here on what I find.


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## anthony6911

Well now my fan is dead, or so I think. Is there any way to test or should I replace? Fan is a Nidec TA450DC, 4 1/2 across.


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## linderman

what does that fan do ? is it just a common case fan or cpu fan or power supply fan ?


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## anthony6911

Hi, my computer shuts down because of overheating. Opened case and found case fan dead. Fan conects to mb.
Thanks for your help.


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## dmedia

This must be a fairly common problem with Dell 9100s as I came across this thread while Googling. My 9100 just came down with this symptom (blinking amber light, won't power on) so I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a power supply and see if that solves the problem or if I should strip the 9100 for parts as I don't want to spend more than $50 to fix it.

Thanks.


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## linderman

will cost more than $50.00 for a quality power supply ....... to put any less into it would be a self inflicted wound


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## dmedia

I was looking at this PC Power & Cooling unit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703017

Just about $50 after rebate. I've heard nothing but great things about PCPC units.

Thanks.


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## linderman

thats a fact ........ any model made by PC power & Cooling is an awesome performer

The coolermaster real power pro 650 watt is $50.00 after rebate also ........ and that unit would have a future in your next build ....... a 420 watt wont


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## dmedia

The new PCPC power supply just came in today and I popped it into the 9100. Machine now powers up so it's off to do a few burn-in tests.

This particular machine does nothing but office & 2D work. I doubt that I will ever bother sticking a high powered 3D card inside so 420W is plenty of power. As for future builds, I will probably use this machine for awhile so I'll just buy a new supply if I need to.

Thanks.


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## taurin

I figured I would post this question here since it also deals with a Dimension 9100 power supply. The power supply on my computer has recently had the fan stop working. This obviously will cause the computer to shut down. After unplugging the power cable and plugging it back in the computer will start back up. Sometimes the fan will start and sometimes I need to "coax" it to start by spinning it by hand. It almost seems like something is holding the fan up. My question is, is this something I can fix myself or should I just chuck the power supply in favor of a new one? I have replaced a lot of the guts of this machine, so I am fairly comfortable removing and replacing the psu if need be.


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## Wrench97

Replace the PSU the failing fan will have caused other components in the supply to overheat and fail also probably right after replacing the fan if your luck is like mine.


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## mprubin

This is an old thread, but as there still seem to be a lot of 9100s in use, I can provide the following upgrade info.

I usually build up my own systems, but got a nice offer from Dell, less then cost of parts for building up on my own, as long as didn't go for their overpriced upgrades.

But I gradually followed a conservative upgrade approach on my own.

Reflashed bios to A03, then put in pentinum D 950 for about $100, believe Dell originally wanted $600 for an 830, so originally stayed with stock 630 single core. BTX case limits pretty much any serious upgrades, but it sure cools processor well, and 950 runs slightly cooler than 800 series. Worked fine just dropping it into 775 slot, after getting heat sink out of way.

The x300 radeon stock video pretty limiting, so took advantage of deal on HIS 4850 turbo, uses two slots and exhausts out of rear, so no cooling problems. Video probably choked by processor limitations, but price so good, decided to give it a go. Was able to overclock HIS card quite a bit using standard radeon control center, to almost 700 mhtz on main core, 1100 memory. But I thought stock psu was iffy. It worked, but I had stability problems, blue screen of death and corrupted HD which was real pain to reimage and update to current machine config.

So replaced psu with cosair 650w. 9100 will take standard ATX power supply, standard mounting holes and connectors, but slightly less tall than original, so ended up with 1/4" gap between bottom edge of psu and case. A little electrical tape took care of that. Kind of a pain to free up old psu as dell did a nice job on original build with power leads either clipped or tucked behind or under other components, but not too bad. Cosair worked just fine. 

Still some crashes, so sent HIS in for warranty replacement, and new one passed some burn in runs with no problem. Also overclocks better than original. 

Also put in blu-ray drive which gives good HD playback on 24" HP monitor. 

Along with memory upgrade, for some reason won't take all 1 gig modules, got post failures, no matter how I rearranged slots, so settled for 3.5. Put in some large new HDs as well. They report SATA II transfer speeds, though original machine specs are for slower SATA 1 standard. So not sure if Dell did mid production upgrade or not, on machine I got. 

With limitations imposed by dell, believe machine now upgraded as far as possible. Don't really game, but do photo editing, and I think will run with windows 7 if I decide it's worth that upgrade. But machine is really at limit and can't compare to newer core 2 and quad chips. But hope to get another year or two out of it before a new build up.

Anyway, above is what original system will support without any problems. At least they are not using propritary connectors and psu any longer. While BTX case is odd, it really gives good cpu cooling and build quality looks pretty good.


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