old ATI all in wonder won't fit dell dimension

[keng52]

the card is too wide help

[MarkA]

Dude, you shouldn'tve bought a Dell if you wanted to do anything with it (nothing aginst Dell, it's just the way it is). It's just the way Dell's are - you can't do anything with many of them really. They're the most twisted designs I've ever seen (some older HPs are crazy too though...). If the card physically is too big it does sound like you've got a smaller compact computer that can only fit half-height cards, and you're outta luck. Some of the Dell's you can do a fair amount with in all fairness, but you don't have one of them from what it sounds like.

[SimpleSimon]

What MarkA said.

General advice: Don't buy a "brand-name", high-volume manufactured machine. Find an established local shop and have them custom-build one for you. It'll cost the same or maybe a little more, but you know you'll be getting standard parts that can be dealt with by ANY local shop, and you won't get ripped - the local shops live and die by their reputations.

As an example, my shop is currently building XP-Home 2.4G/256M/40G/CD-RW Celerons for under $600, and XP-Pro 2.4G/512M/80G/DVD-RW P-IVs for under $1K. These are competitive with the same stuff from the big guys - except you get a REAL Windows CD from us. ;)

Note that I'm NOT soliciting business - just telling you to buy locally. :)

[nsafreak]

Or if you know computers well enough you can put one together yourself and save a ton of money. Really it's pretty simple to do if you can read instructions. The only really tricky part is dropping the CPU in the socket or in the case of some AMD CPU's dropping the CPU on the LGA. The rest is pretty much cake.

[HappyGoLucky]

And with some name-brand computers, you can scavenge the parts inside to make a new computer in a new case. Dell, however, uses proprietary power supplies/motherboard power connectors, so a standard case and power supply would NOT work with the Dell motherboard. Even IBM and Compaq gave up doing that a few years ago, Dell is the only one still in the proprietary mode.

With your Dell, you're pretty much stuck with what you have. You could probably scavenge the processor and drives, but that's all, the motherboard would be useless.

[SimpleSimon]

nsafreak: Sadly, you don't really save any money building your own any more - there's simply not much parts markup. However, it's still fun to do for those that want to. :)

HGL: Your Dell comments only apply to some machines. It appears that they change direction on that topic year-by-year - and so do the others. Gateway comes to mind. I upgraded a mobo in one a couple of years back and had to slice out part of the back panel because of their wierdness.

So, buy "white box" brand PCs! All parts replaceable, service available anywhere. ;)

[HappyGoLucky]

nsafreak: Sadly, you don't really save any money building your own any more - there's simply not much parts markup. However, it's still fun to do for those that want to. :)

HGL: Your Dell comments only apply to some machines. It appears that they change direction on that topic year-by-year - and so do the others. Gateway comes to mind. I upgraded a mobo in one a couple of years back and had to slice out part of the back panel because of their wierdness.

So, buy "white box" brand PCs! All parts replaceable, service available anywhere. ;)
I was referring to computers made within the last year. From observations, it appears that Dell is the only (major) manufacturer still using proprietary parts, especially motherboard/power supplies. There are some of the small systems that might appear to be proprietary, but they are actually using a new standard motherboard designed for small or odd applications.

[SimpleSimon]

I've got a Gateway slimline on my bench right now. It's new enough to use the new form mobo, but the power supply is the strangest I've ever seen - and it's fan is screwed down backwards so that you have to disassemble the whole thing to replace it - and of course, that's what's broke.

[cdru]

Or if you know computers well enough you can put one together yourself and save a ton of money. Really it's pretty simple to do if you can read instructions. The only really tricky part is dropping the CPU in the socket or in the case of some AMD CPU's dropping the CPU on the LGA. The rest is pretty much cake.It use to be this way, but almost anymore you can get a decent Dell for cheaper then you can build a system. A month or two ago you could get a 2.8GHz HT P4, 512 MB of memory and a 40GB drive for $224 from Dell. Pricewatch shows a proc/mobo combo at $200. Can you find a case, power supply, hard drive, memory, keyboard, mouse, and video card for $24?