There's some very good information in this thread, thanks Jamesbeat for starting the topic 😀

I mentioned previously that I'd also considered this - now I've bought a second Dell motherboard, but I don't have a second dell power supply.

The ATX connector fell off:

This required some careful desoldering with the solder sucker, it seems there's timing / technique involved in getting the grounds to clear out properly:

I checked the ATX pinout with the pins on the ISA connector, which has everything but 3.3v - these all matched up:

So I soldered the connector in - note that the Dell ATX connector has pin 19 of the connector missing.
This is one of the 5v pins on the standard ATX connector, giving me only 3/4 of the 5v lines. I intend to rectify this later using a donor ATX connector, which is on its way from China right now:

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector:

This also required soldering on the front panel connectors, because I don't have the custom Dell cable to spare for this board, getting the grounds cleared out on these was just as bad:

Multimeter, big solder sucker & TS100 with big tip, all the tools required:

And it boots, no fire 😁

PS: Mods, if required I can move the images off to somewhere like Imgur.

Impressive. Who knew that repositioning the PSU connector to a different spot was all it took to make those Dell motherboards work with ATX power supplies? 😮

What is that adorable little LCD panel you have there?

That's a one of a kind screen I made, the first thing I made long before I had a 3d printer to make things up in CAD. 😀 It uses some plastic right angle plastic that I cut & glued into a frame.
It's an N070ICG with a VGA/DVI/HDMI driver board, along with a USB power input to get 12v.

Go ahead and shift the connector over. This will work great if you don't want to wait for adapter cable.

Cheers,

If anybody needs a PSU from a XPS710 I am happy to send it to somebody. I am done with this shit motherboard and I just wanted the tower to pimp up a medion pentium d.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2018-08-18, 00:02:

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector: DellAL440LX- (6).jpg […]
Show full quote

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector:
DellAL440LX- (6).jpg

This also required soldering on the front panel connectors, because I don't have the custom Dell cable to spare for this board, getting the grounds cleared out on these was just as bad:
DellAL440LX- (7).jpg

Multimeter, big solder sucker & TS100 with big tip, all the tools required:
DellAL440LX- (8).jpg

And it boots, no fire 😁

DellAL440LX- (9).jpg

PS: Mods, if required I can move the images off to somewhere like Imgur.

Hey mate. Hope you dont mind me replying to such an old post.
I am trying to restore a Dell Dimension XPS R450 with a blown PSU. Going to look to move the 20 pin connector along like you did and use a regular PSU.

Did you need to do anything with the auxillary power connector or was the board fine without it?

LewisRaz wrote on 2022-11-11, 22:57:

Hey mate. Hope you dont mind me replying to such an old post. I am trying to restore a Dell Dimension XPS R450 with a blown PSU […]
Show full quote

Thermalwrong wrote on 2018-08-18, 00:02:

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector: DellAL440LX- (6).jpg […]
Show full quote

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector:
DellAL440LX- (6).jpg

This also required soldering on the front panel connectors, because I don't have the custom Dell cable to spare for this board, getting the grounds cleared out on these was just as bad:
DellAL440LX- (7).jpg

Multimeter, big solder sucker & TS100 with big tip, all the tools required:
DellAL440LX- (8).jpg

And it boots, no fire 😁

DellAL440LX- (9).jpg

PS: Mods, if required I can move the images off to somewhere like Imgur.

Hey mate. Hope you dont mind me replying to such an old post.
I am trying to restore a Dell Dimension XPS R450 with a blown PSU. Going to look to move the 20 pin connector along like you did and use a regular PSU.

Did you need to do anything with the auxillary power connector or was the board fine without it?

Not OP, but I know the answer.

You can ignore the aux power connector. In Dell machines its there to supply 12V and other voltages that are 3.3 V which is not accessible through the main power connector. If you move over the connector to have a standard ATX pinout, you'll get 12V 3.3 V from the power connector directly.

I'd desolder it while I'm moving the other one.

Be sure to resolder the ATX connector in the correct position (lock facing the same way it was facing initially, just slide it)

Good luck.

EDIT: sorry for brainfart. In Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V. My recommendation is still the same: I'd remove the connector. If you leave it there and you later get a PSU with an AT style AUX cable and plug it in, you might damage your equipment since the AUX connector from PSUs supplies 5 V and 3.3 V.

slivercr wrote on 2022-11-11, 23:23:

Not OP, but I know the answer. […]
Show full quote

LewisRaz wrote on 2022-11-11, 22:57:

Hey mate. Hope you dont mind me replying to such an old post. I am trying to restore a Dell Dimension XPS R450 with a blown PSU […]
Show full quote

Thermalwrong wrote on 2018-08-18, 00:02:

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector: DellAL440LX- (6).jpg […]
Show full quote

With the connector in place, it looks like a standard Intel AL440LX except for that extra connector:
DellAL440LX- (6).jpg

This also required soldering on the front panel connectors, because I don't have the custom Dell cable to spare for this board, getting the grounds cleared out on these was just as bad:
DellAL440LX- (7).jpg

Multimeter, big solder sucker & TS100 with big tip, all the tools required:
DellAL440LX- (8).jpg

And it boots, no fire 😁

DellAL440LX- (9).jpg

PS: Mods, if required I can move the images off to somewhere like Imgur.

Hey mate. Hope you dont mind me replying to such an old post.
I am trying to restore a Dell Dimension XPS R450 with a blown PSU. Going to look to move the 20 pin connector along like you did and use a regular PSU.

Did you need to do anything with the auxillary power connector or was the board fine without it?

Not OP, but I know the answer.

You can ignore the aux power connector. In Dell machines its there to supply 12V and other voltages that are not accessible through the main power connector. If you move over the connector to have a standard ATX pinout, you'll get 12V from the power connector directly.

I'd desolder it while I'm moving the other one.

Be sure to resolder the ATX connector in the correct position (lock facing the same way it was facing initially, just slide it)

Good luck.

Thanks a lot for the reply!

Looking forward to getting it running. It is totally stock with V550 16mb and an aureal vortex 2 from turtle beach.

Soldering besides it seems a fairly easy modification too so that is ideal.

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V.

My recommendation is still the same: remove the connector.

If you leave it there and you later get a PSU with an AT style AUX cable and plug it in, you might damage your equipment since the AUX connector from PSUs supplies 5 V and 3.3 V.

Apologies for brainfart.

slivercr wrote on 2022-11-12, 03:44:

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V. […]
Show full quote

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V.

My recommendation is still the same: remove the connector.

If you leave it there and you later get a PSU with an AT style AUX cable and plug it in, you might damage your equipment since the AUX connector from PSUs supplies 5 V and 3.3 V.

Apologies for brainfart.

thanks again. I plan to print a warning to place inside the machine to note the modification should the machine ever leave my hands 😀

LewisRaz wrote on 2022-11-12, 10:34:

slivercr wrote on 2022-11-12, 03:44:

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V. […]
Show full quote

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V.

My recommendation is still the same: remove the connector.

If you leave it there and you later get a PSU with an AT style AUX cable and plug it in, you might damage your equipment since the AUX connector from PSUs supplies 5 V and 3.3 V.

Apologies for brainfart.

thanks again. I plan to print a warning to place inside the machine to note the modification should the machine ever leave my hands 😀

I'm working on my XPS T500. I'm confident in my soldering skills enough to mod my motherboard, but I'm not clear on the ATX wiring. Is my motherboard a candidate for this mod to use standard ATX power supplies?

middle_pickup wrote on 2022-11-14, 20:26:

LewisRaz wrote on 2022-11-12, 10:34:

slivercr wrote on 2022-11-12, 03:44:

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V. […]
Show full quote

Correction to my post above: in Dell machines the aux connector is 3 pins for ground and 3 pins for 3.3 V.

My recommendation is still the same: remove the connector.

If you leave it there and you later get a PSU with an AT style AUX cable and plug it in, you might damage your equipment since the AUX connector from PSUs supplies 5 V and 3.3 V.

Apologies for brainfart.

thanks again. I plan to print a warning to place inside the machine to note the modification should the machine ever leave my hands 😀

I'm working on my XPS T500. I'm confident in my soldering skills enough to mod my motherboard, but I'm not clear on the ATX wiring. Is my motherboard a candidate for this mod to use standard ATX power supplies?

If it has those unpopulated pads next to it seems like it can be modded!

Don't wanna necro a thread, but I feel like this is a rather important discovery. I'm not a fan of sketchy PSU adapters, and I own a Dimension 4100 that didn't have its power supply... so I took matters into my own hands. I managed to get the system to boot without an issue!

Attached is an image I made with some information on the matter and also a couple of system photos. Not sure if the PSU cooling is all too adequate but it's what I've got on hand and I shouldn't worry too much considering this is a Pentium III... I'll add more to the system soon but I really wanted to try this. Also no (working) 2400s were harmed, I just had a scrap motherboard. :^)

Welcome to the forum 😀 That's great it's worked for your Dell as well and brought it back to working. Thanks for creating the graphic that neatly summarises what to alter too.

Since posting about the AL440LX, I've done this on other Dell branded Intel boards like an SE440BX2 which I think is from an XPS T500 - as far as I'm aware this mod is applicable for every Intel-designed Dell-branded motherboard with the 6x unpopulated holes to the side of the Dell-specific ATX connector.

Some of the earlier Dell ATX motherboards didn't have the extra holes so are fully custom, in which case the mod won't work. Early ATX stuff is a mess, Compaq made their own customisations, Dell decided that computers needed much more 3.3v & 5v power. I do wonder if it was just luck that the ATX connector was just shifted across like this, or intentional for vendor lock-in.

Hi guys - I have a 4100 but not sufficiently tooled up or able to swap the ATX connector on the board.

Would it not be possible to use a 20 to 20 pin extension cable between a new PSU modified to resemble the correct pin out instead? Would this work? I’ve done this on some old Mac’s of mine in the past. Appreciate anyone’s thoughts.

I believe there are adapter cables already available on eBay, specifically for adapting with these Dell connectors.

I think there used to be - I can’t seem to find one that’s suitable at all now regrettably - unless I am missing something really obvious out there that’s passed me by.

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-09-19, 21:31:

I believe there are adapter cables already available on eBay, specifically for adapting with these Dell connectors.

http://athenapower.com/product/converteradapt … placement-cable

The Cable-DELL-X

Cant remember where I got mine. There are other threads on Vogons about it like Converting ATX Power Supply to DELL w/ Adapter (Safety Check!)