Converting a Dell Optiplex into a regular desktop

CHW

Sounds like a decent reply. Of course, the cheapest option would be to do it yourself (might be specific orientation, and you don't want any stray solder on the traces, so not for the novice), or get someone to do it (TV repairman, if they still exist - most electronic stuff these days is throw out when it fails, so someone able to do it for you might be hard to find). Do you know anyone? I've no idea how much a service like that would cost, but I'm guessing maybe €50 (2 hours work)? Parts are probably very cheap, about €5-€10 I'd say. Might be worth getting one on eBay for £30-£40 in the end - if it's been refurbished with good caps, and tested, you'll likely get enough time out of it before an upgrade becomes desirable.

MT

How long do think the spec. of my GX has before software development leaves it obsolete and pretty much unusable? The one I have was four years old already in september.

Oh, the other thing I was going to mention to you concerns the chip itself: the flat side was coated in a sort of grey putty/goo that had actually cemented the thing to the underside of the heat sink. I prized the chip off and removed the goo from it - leaving it on the heat sink - so that I could check the spec. details printed on the chip. Is this stuff normally used here and what's it for: to improve the realise of heat from the chip or something? If it is useful for this purpose, where might I get some more or at least a good substitute?

Finally, I have to confess that I dropped the chip at one stage and it landed on my foot; this bent some of the pins at one corner. Heath Robinson style, I gingerly bent the pins in questions back into their correct position and was able to reinsert the chip - I now appreciate why they dispensed with pins on newer processors. Maybe a dumb question, but do you think this could have damaged it?:o

CHW

How long will depend on what you use on your PC. XP should be good for security updates until 2014, though mainstream support (software compatibility requests, non-security hotfixes) ends next April, IIRC, so if you tend to upgrade your applications regularly, you may need to upgrade to Vista shortly after that. Maxing out your RAM will make Vista a better experience. Your processor is pretty much as far as you can go on that board (3.0 I think is max, maybe more with a BIOS update, but you'd have to research that). Don't know what graphics card you have, but this can make a difference with Vista too, as can multicore processors. Other alternatives are any of the Linux based OS's if your needs are modest (I've started experimenting with these myself), and the hardware requirements will be lower than Vista. (Talking about obsolete computers, I still have a P3 933MHz that I was using regularly until about a year ago, and it now exists as a backup and storage, connected via remote desktop to my main PC, and is serving my needs well. Even though it's nearly 10 years old, it runs XP great, boots in less than a minute when I need it, and gives me a lot of peice of mind).

The grey stuff will be needed when you put the heatsink back on. Search on eBay for thermal heatsink compound, and you'll see the choices, from small syringes for a few quid to toothpaste sized containers claiming x% better thermal transfer. I got myself one of the cheapest, and I haven't had any issues with it. You'll only need about half a pea-sized amount to cover it. Wherever you get the board from might be able to sell you some, or throw in a half-used syringe if they have it spare. You'll probably also get it in a local computer shop (especially if they do repairs or builds).

CPU should be fine, as long as the pin isn't broken. Don't forget to use the lever to loosen and grip the pins when taking it out or putting it in.

MT

Well, from what you've said there my Optiplex should hopefully do me for a few years yet! Plus, my needs are very modest so I should hopefully be able to struggle on with the fewest number of upgrades necessary to keep the thing ticking over.

As for the state of the chip after its, er... accident, the computer switched on - eventually as usual - and went into the DOS/set-up mode so the chip seems to be working.

I think I'll go with the option of sending the board over to that guy on ebay to have the capacitors removed and replaced with superior ones. Unfortunately, the two sealed boards that had been recapped in a factory have already gone but he reassured me that he does a 'professional' job when doing the work himself and his CV includes 25 GX270 boards and one GX280 that he's recapped already; he also does a check on each board with diagnostic software - if I've remebered that correctly - to ensure that its working properly before returning it. So that plus his reliable trading record gives me cause to believe he's not a cowboy.

I imagine he has that thermal heatsink compound so I'll ask him to throw in a bit when he's posting back to me.

CHW

Best of luck with that. If the guy has experience doing them, then it should probably be fine. Shipping will probably be the biggest expense though - finding someone local would be difficult, I'd say. It's not something I'd attempt myself if it was someone elses, or my own main PC, but if it was a secondary motherboard, and I was sure what was wrong, I'd give it a go.

With the caps replaced, the PC should last you a good few years; I'd expect to still be using mine in another 3 or 4 years, my requirements aren't too extreme either.

One thing I've noticed with those smaller cases, is that (in some environments) they can accumulate a lot of dust, especially around the processor fan, shroud and heatsink. While you have it opened up, might be worthwhile giving it a bit of a vacuum or blast if you have compressed air. Keeping the dust out can help prolong the life of the computer. Another place you can get dust is in the PSU, but it's harder to clean this. Compressed air is probably the best (if only) way of getting this done effectively (you might be able to get it in a can in some of the DIY places).