techrecovery | OT, but useful (Reply)

I didn't know about this, and neither did a lot of the computer people I talked to about it, so here's a heads-up:

Between 1998 and 2003, Dell used non-standard motherboards and power supplies custom-designed for them by Intel. They look like they're ATX-compatible, but they're not -- there's a proprietary connector in there somewhere, and a few other things. You might manage to get a standard ATX power supply to talk to a Dell motherboard, but they'll blow each other up pretty quickly.

I have to go return a power supply to the local computer store because the guy who sold it to me didn't know about this, even though I told him I had a three-year-old Dell and brought in the old supply for him to look at (guess he didn't look hard enough at the connectors, though he checked the screw holes). Hopefully this information will help some of you folks out in the future, though I can tell you that your Dell owners looking to replace or upgrade will not be happy to hear about this.

(Before anyone goes off on me for owning a Dell, my dad bought it for me, and I wasn't about to argue with the man holding the wallet. Next time, I'm building my own.)

EDIT: I seem to have fucked up my computer real good... check here for details. Damnit...