1 Rookie
•
9 Posts
0
2343
January 14th, 2023 12:00
Stripping an XPS 8940 (dec 2021) component and put in a new ATX case w/ new mobo & new PSU
I work in IT for 21 years and I own a 1 year old XPS 8940 (i7 10th Gen with the RTX 3060-Ti GPU) and I waited until the end of the factory warranty to check for eventual upgrade, especially the case and the cooling. Since Dell XPS use several proprietary stuff (case, mobo and PSU), they are not easy to upgrade, I know that.
So I decided to go another way who's to strip out my XPS 8940 and put everything into a new ATX gaming case, with a real ATX motherboard (looking at an ASUS PRIME H570M-PLUS now) with a real high-end certified PSU.
Before I begin to dig into it... is there any concern to have and that I should be aware of? I know that DELL use proprietary mobo, case and PSU, but is there anything else that can be somehow proprietary and may cause issues? CPU? GPU? RAM? NVMe SSD? etc.?
Thank you for your advises!
JOcean
9 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
0
January 14th, 2023 13:00
The components you mentioned, CPU, GPU, RAM, NVMe SSD, etc., are all standard and will fit into any ATX MB. A new case, MB, and PSU will make for a very decent build.
SimmZ
1 Rookie
•
9 Posts
0
February 22nd, 2023 05:00
Just a quick follow-up/conclusion to this thread for people who cares about.
I finally put my hand on a slightly used i3 10105 for 50$ (CAD) and after installing it into the XPS 8940 and power it on, it refused to power on, exactly like with the Celeron G5920 where it power on for 3 secondes then shut off. After searching a bit online, I found the steps to perform a motherboard CMOS hard reset on these 8940 (which is to hold the power button precisely 30 seconds, but not less than 25, not more than 40) and BAM!, the computer booted right away. Apparently while swapping CPUs, you need to hard reset the CMOS on these DELL computers, something I never seen in 20 years working in IT on "generic" brand motherboards (such as Asus, MSI, etc.).
I was too lazy to remove the i3 since I applied thermal paste and installed the cooler and put back the Celeron G5920 for further tests, but based on the computer behavior, my guest is the Celeron would have worked too with a motherboard CMOS hard reset! But anyway at this price the i3 10105 is a way better option for resale than the Celeron. This was just FYI.
Thank you to all of you for your help!
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
1
January 14th, 2023 13:00
Just to add to what @JOcean said, you may need a new heat sink and CPU fan too. The XPS 8940 heat sink uses captive screws that might not align with the mounting holes on the new motherboard.
You may also need to reinstall Windows on the SSD to work with the new motherboard hardware. Even if Windows does work without a clean install, you'll have to purchase a new OS license from Microsoft because the license you have now is tied to the Dell motherboard.
JOcean
9 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
0
January 14th, 2023 19:00
Glad we could help out!
SimmZ
1 Rookie
•
9 Posts
0
January 14th, 2023 19:00
Thank you to both of you @JOcean and @RoHe !
@RoHe I'll upgrade the cooling as well, this is one of the goal of swapping everything into a new case. If the motherboard has been standard ATX I would have kept it, but since it's far from a standard ATX, this is why I'll change the mobo, case, PSU and cooling.
SimmZ
1 Rookie
•
9 Posts
0
January 16th, 2023 15:00
@JOcean may I have your opinion on something else? In the case I would like to re-use the old XPS 8940 stuff to build a "super budget" PC for the kids for homework (Ms Word + internet browsing), I only miss CPU/RAM/HD and since I have lot of spare part at home, the only thing I would miss is a LGA1200 CPU. Someone offered me (for 20$ LOL) a brand new Celeron G5920 CPU with the Intel cooler, which is LGA1200. Do you see any issue to put this CPU on the XPS 8940 motherboard? Maybe some Dell custom firmware/BIOS or something like that? The guy isn't too far from my home, but not near neither, so I don't want to pick the CPU if it wont work, even for 20$!
Thx!
JOcean
9 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
0
January 20th, 2023 18:00
They are the same socket however Dell specs do not indicate a Celeron as compatible. And more so the 8940 has the Intel H470 chipset and this page at Intel does not list the Celeron as compatible either. So for $20 is it worth the chance? Possibly but Intel is the authority on their chipset so I would think it would not work but for $20 it may be worth a shot. If you do decide to take a chance please come back to the forum and let us know how it turned out.
SimmZ
1 Rookie
•
9 Posts
1
January 21st, 2023 05:00
@JOcean very good point, I hadn't thought about looking at the H470 chipset specifications from Intel and I totally agree that Intel specs sheet for the H470 chipset doesn't list the Celeron CPU family as compatible, however if you look further at any motherboard manufacturer featuring the H470 chipset, such as Asus, and MSI they list it as compatible with any i3, i5, i7, i9, Pentium and the Celeron family.
Take the Asus Prime H470 as an example :
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/prime/prime-h470-plus/techspec/
So except if Dell uses some kind of outdated or custom BIOS/firmware, what is totally possible, I have good hope that the Celeron CPU may work. You are right, 20$ is a very small amount, however I have to add a bit of extra handling/shipping fees because the person who offered me the G5920 CPU is located a few hours away from my home. So realistic speaking, let's say 35-40$ (CAD) to my door. Still not a lot for doing the test as well.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
January 21st, 2023 16:00
But if Dell didn't include microcode for Celeron CPUs in BIOS, it doesn't matter what Intel says about chipset compatibility.
Since Dell doesn't list Celeron CPUs as being compatible with the XPS 8940, either they aren't compatible and/or Dell never tested/validated Celeron CPUs in this model.
Either way, it's still iffy, but post back and let us know. And if it doesn't work, I guess you could always sell the Celeron...
SimmZ
1 Rookie
•
9 Posts
0
February 4th, 2023 07:00
Hello @RoHe and @JOcean, unfortunately it turned out that the Celeron G5920 CPU is probably not recognized by the XPS8940 motherboard because after putting the CPU in the socket and powering on the computer, the power LED only cycle for a few second and turn back off. The computer didn't even POST. Okay well, 20$ lost or about the price of three coffees at Starbucks these days, I'll survive! LOL
I found a used 10th gen i3 10105 CPU for 80$, is there any chances that the XPS8940 motherboard would not work with that CPU?
JOcean
9 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
1
February 4th, 2023 08:00
It will per the specs at the 8940 support page here. I am curious though, can I assume that you are putting the i3 into the system for resale? A great idea if so. And FYI the i3 10100 and 10105 are identical in every way except the 10105 is very slightly clocked higher.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
1
February 4th, 2023 11:00
And just to add, an i3 or i5 CPU will limit RAM speed to 2666 MHz, while an i7 or i9 allow RAM speed up to 2933 MHz, regardless of the RAM's rated speed. (XPS 8940 is shipped with 3200 MHz RAM.)