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> get a Dell PC, ones I've read online that were serviceable When I "repaired" a Dell PC, I destroyed the machine. Dell power-supplies looked like standard PC
by denton-scratch 2y ago
> get a Dell PC, ones I've read online that were serviceable
When I "repaired" a Dell PC, I destroyed the machine.
Dell power-supplies looked like standard PC power supplies; they connected to the motherboard using the same Molex plug. But Dell's Molex connector wasn't wired the same as normal ones. Dell power supplies only worked with Dell motherboards, and vice-versa.
Things may have changed, but that experience blew away my illusions about Dells being repairable.
- sz4kerto 2y agoYou never ever swap cables between PSUs. It's not a Dell thing - you must use the cables that ship with the PSU. Many people have fried their mainboard like you.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- delecti 2y agoYou're talking about something different. In the early 2000s, before modular PSU cables, Dell used non-standard PSU power connector wiring arrangements. The 20-pin mobo power plug coming out of the PSU was wired differently than the ATX standard at the time, and swapping hardware could fry a motherboard. https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=339053 https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=339053 Edit: Better source https://superuser.com/questions/905705/atx-dell-psu-to-offical-atx-2-0-spec-pinout https://superuser.com/questions/905705/atx-dell-psu-to-offic...
- SoftTalker 2y agoNvidia does something similar with their server GPU cards, to prevent people from using cheaper desktop GPUs in servers.
- denton-scratch 2y agoYeah, I wasn't "swapping" PSU cables; the cable was part of the PSU. I replaced a Dell PSU with a standard one, and <smoke!> No more motherboard. Manufacturers who pull this type of incompatibility shit risk their reputation. I never went near anything with a Dell label again until last year, when I bought a second-hand laptop (I don't attempt laptop upgrades and repairs).