SUCCESSFULLY Re-casing the Dell Inspiron 3847 Prebuilt PC

Prebuilt PCs are great as a jumping off point for building a gaming PC, but re-casing them is often a nightmare due to proprietary connectors. That wasn't the case with the Dell Inspiron 3847.
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Hey folks! I just want to welcome all the fellow techy folks to the channel. I focus on PC hardware, but that doesn't prevent me from occasionally working with other tech as well. Hope you enjoy the content, and thanks for dropping by!
#PrebuiltPC #Dell #Recase

[@ARyan-yk9qh]

It would have been great to have you show us what exactly you did in order to make the pins from the front panel work in a new case since this seems to be the only issue with recasing.

[@cooldestroyer1337]

ikr

[@abdaimegaming2679]

yeah , i diden't get anything from watching the video

[@michael_christian9461]

Well this unless fuck thought that info was irrelevant

[@misterdude1787]

Important points I learned from this video: 1. You can use any standard ATX power supply so long as it has enough watts for your specific hardware choices. 2. The stock Dell power supply does NOT have the necessary power connectors for graphics cards. Workaround could be to buy a more efficient graphics card that does not have the 6 pin or 8 pin connectors on the side of the card itself. 3. The stock Dell CPU heatsink can be kept when changing cases. 4. You need to keep the Dell case fan as it is specific to the motherboard. If you change it with any other fan and it probably will burp up an error upon boot forcing you to press F1 to continue which is annoying. 5. No surprises that the wiring for the front panel stuff requires modding but bare minimum you just tap into the 2 wires for power switch, then put the rest of that front panel stuff inside the case while leaving the wiring attached to the motherboard. Failure to do this and once again you are pressing F1 at each boot to clear annoyinh error messages. 6. This video does not touch on the fact that some of these machines have built in wifi and bluetooth and thus have internal antennas which will need to be brought over to your new case. If you are gaming odds are you are using ethernet or will be using a more modern wifi card but it's still nice to have the factory bluetooth for gaming headsets. Fun side story: No joke I found one of these machines stripped of memory and hard disks that was brutally tossed onto the grocery store parking lot one evening after dark and just before a big rain storm. Case is trashed and front plastic panel is beyond repair. Will be transplanting into an very old Antec case and I will just run the power button assembly out of the floppy disk opening on the front of the case and then stuff the audio and front USB assembly inside the case to hide it since I won't need them but don't want any annoying error messages. Hope this helps others. Thanks OP for making video. Next time wiring tutorial being included would be amazingly helpful. Cheers!

[@Irontalyn]

I wanted a second computer to run linux on so I decided to get a Dell Precision t3600 with a xeon e5-1650. I paid $105 shipped and had an ssd, hdd, and gpu to put into it. So far I am really happy with it. I did have to remove a piece of metal from the side panel which was a pain but the only other thing I am planning to do is change out the thermal paste on the cpu.

[@tuxpowerpc]

My suggestion for splicing those pin outs would be to use a sleeve connector and heat shrink tube. The same heat shrink tube can be used for the pins themselves which in my opinion would not only look better but be safer than the electrical tape which can loosen up over time. Especially because this can be a liability issue if something shorts. That said, it was an interesting video.

[@donkeykong1234]

well, without the secret cables to jump - i've pulled out the actual power button from the 3847 and then used that on the connector , then put the PW SW to the tiny half height/short set of pins right above the front panel pins. only issue is they'll fall out if they brush against it, so it's a pretty delicate setup.

[@scottsent8120]

Hi, I'm trying to diagnose a no-power problem and need to rule out power button. There are 11 pins on the motherboard connection, all unmarked. I need to jump the power pins to bypass the button but I don't know which ones they are. Can you refer to a link with a diagram of these pins? Thanks

[@scottsent8120]

I mean a diagram specific to this Dell GGDJT motherboard. Dell doesn't show it, and I can't find it anywhere.

[@nakyer]

Did this with an HP once. The computer had been given to me in rough shape. Still ran fine, but the outer panels, even the front, were missing. A low cost Amazon case to the rescue, and I ended up with a nice machine. My Lenovo was a nightmare, tho', and in the end I had to get two add-on boards to make possible using the front panel audio and USB ports on the new case. (Thankfully the power button and LEDs were no problem.) Both mods were fun, tho'. Can't help but enjoy rebuilding a computer and having it still work fine.

[@swinoob616]

This is literally the video I was looking for! thank you!

[@checksandbalences]

That dell 3847 has been a great computer overall after 5 years. Just did a full dusting of the computer and my thermaltake power supply...soo clogged with dust. Feels like new and hopefully ready for summer temps.

[@brantcollins6433]

I bought this exact same Inspiron for my first ever build. I threw in an i7 4790, a GTX 760, 16 GB of RAM, an SSD, a Rosewill 550W PSU and a Cooler Master CPU cooler and it runs great. Instead of transplanting into a new case though, I just painted the inside of the Inspiron, cut out the side panel and added an acrylic sheet and put a USB LED strip inside. It isn't the prettiest, but it was less than $400 total, and I even sold the old i5 and 8 GB of RAM for an extra $50. I love seeing what can be done with old hardware!

[@ARyan-yk9qh]

I, too, have an i3847. What model of Cooler Master did you use since spacing in the case is always an issue?

[@brantcollins6433]

@@ARyan-yk9qh This is the cooler I used. The only problem is that it has a 3-pin connector instead of a 4-pin. I had to plug it into the front case fan header (it is 3-pin), and this header will regulate the fan speed as needed. When you boot, it will tell you that there is a CPU fan failure, but just press F1 and it will be fine. Or, you could get a 3-pin to 4-pin adapter! www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QNN9MW3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@ARyan-yk9qh]

@@brantcollins6433 - Thank you. I appreciate the info and the reply.

[@asosa7727]

Hi I have the inspiron 3847 with 088DT1 motherboard. planning to replace the processor. Do you replaced yours with the i7 4790k sr219? Thanks for your help

[@remoteinllc]

Do you have a site to where I can go to get the detailed info to do the front panel connectors? I just recased my inspiron 8347 and having issue of no nothing from display, or peripherals. Would it be easier to just pull the power button and connector, and rig it to the case? I need help please. God Bless.

[@danmagoo]

Congrats, and thanks for showing this. I had a very annoying experience with a Dell small form pre-built that I got at a "great" price from BestBuy, in an urgent situation when my son's old PC died during a Christmas trip. It didn't look too small, and I thought, well I'll just pop in my son's good GPU when we get home, and it's done, right? Wrong! The power supply was too lame for the graphics card, the case was too small for a normal PSU, I didn't think I could re-case it due to the proprietary connectors you mention....and so on. Ended up trashing the whole thing except the CPU, and building him a new PC from scratch. Dell isn't all bad, but I doubt I'd buy one with a plan to upgrade.

[@zdp-189]

I have a Dell 3847 I got 6 years ago...wanted to make it decent as far as midrange for room/price can go, Doubled to 16GB RAM (DDR3 still tho), added CPU i7 4790K when was only $120 years ago , added a Thermaltake 700 W, and Radeon RX570 because I was told that's biggest I could fit in case. Well I got it in, but it literally by mm kept a data cable from my CD ROM drive intro plugging into board, so I just unplugged that and use my USB CD-ROM drive for rare times I need to burn/install. This got me thinking, can I just put everything back in a BIGGER case like you're doing, and just invest in a bigger graphics card now that I'll have room??? Since I don't have $ or need for ultra high end PC, this that might be cost effective way to slightly improve.

[@ssjbart2003]

Anyone? Lol. I’m confused on the sodering part.

[@saadupaadu7]

In order to remove the Fan F1 error, you plugged in the original fan into the Fan header. Which one did you plug it into to make error go away? CPU_FAN or FAN_SYS. I want to confirm if the error goes away if we use an aftermarket cooler for CPU_FAN

[@michael_christian9461]

What pins did u bridge that's kind og important

[@kingkosher6231]

9:17 Correct. The Lenovo ThinkCentre computers are awesome for case transfers. Cards I own and have tested. GT 730 (works on almost everything made within the last decade) GTX 750 ti GTX 770 GTX 960 GTX 970 GTX 1060 3GB and 6GB GTX 1070 RTX 2060 and tested my buddies 1660 and 2060 Super, they also work. They all work on the Lenovo ThinkCentres sometimes you need to update the bios but it works. Any 4th gen and onward ThinkCentre is gonna be really easy to work with and if you buy a SATA front panel audio card you can have all your stuff back on the lower PCIe slot under the GPU. Personally on the one I kept for guests to game on I dont have it conntected so I can use a Wifi card and just have a USB hub and the audio stuff on the hub. But if I'm selling one I make sure all the stuff works like front panel audio and all of that but ya gotta spend some money to get that functionality back because the OEM connect not only doesn't work with non-Lenovo cases but it's covered by most respectable GPU's anyways so you're better off going this route anyways. Bought 4 Lenovo ThinkCentre M83's without HDD's only one came with an HDD to plug into all the machines to prove they worked during sale and I bought the HDD for 10 bucks lol. They're all Haswell 4th Gen i5s and I swapped them to RGB cases put the 1070, 1060 6GB, 970 and 960 to work in them all to make them run games. And sold them all starting at 500 up to 700 and now I am looking to buy 10 more Lenovos and do it all over again. These ones are cheaper SFF ones but I just bought one and swapped it all into a Cooler Master Elite 310 case and it's perfect now and running a 1060 3GB no issues. Time to buy a bucnah PSU adapters they're allllllll 14 pin and I gotta buy some Raidmax 700W psu's as well since they're juuuust cheap enough but not garbage since they're 80 plus certified and then I'll have the entire used PC market in my area. It will literally be mine. Lol. No one sells Gaming PC's where I live aside from Best Buy so I will be the only one! Ha!

[@kingkosher6231]

TL;DR just swap the stock cooler's 80mm fan and add ram and a GPU and buy an SSD and look up how to connect front panels on OEM's and you're golden My favorite ones to swap are Lenovo followed by Acer and then Dell. To me HP is a nightmare.

[@tomslattery1]

There’s a second fan header beside the sata sockets. I’ve added a second 120mm fan

[@mfb123617]

Nice catch Tom! This is really important for cooling two hard drives in the the bay. I had an extra fan and dropped it in behind the hdd rack. Thanks for again for your contribution. Where did you put your 120mm?

[@tomslattery1]

M Baldwin I removed the HDD tray and zip-tied the fan so it’s blowing underneath the GPU. It keeps it very cool, and allows for much longer GPUs!

[@mfb123617]

@@tomslattery1 Thanks! I'm running Openmediavault 5, three hard drives running less than 39 degrees celsius, motherboard fan @840 rpm, CPU four cores @29 degrees, CPU fan @500 rpm, onboard GPU @28 degrees, my Western Digital Black data and Seagate boot drive (hdd tray location) were hovering around 57 degrees before adding in the second fan behind HDD tray (fan is just sitting free for now). Very quiet setup. Thanks again for the tip on the second fan header! A 17+ degree temp drop is great. (second fan is similar to OEM fan, out of older Dell)

[@milkman1649]

Can I upgrade the default i5-4460 cpu to an i7-4790k since they use the same slot? Will it still be compatible with this motherboard (088dt1)?

[@daddygamer6634]

I have this dell. I am running the 4790. I od not know if I am running the same board as you.

[@Capybaracomputers]

Just use dell xps and vostros for those looking at prebuilts with standard atx motherboards Those are the easiest to case swap

[@Bluesman78]

I have this model and a full size GPU covers some of the sata ports you may need to use low profile data cables that fit under the gpu.

[@ARTISTICDEVASTATION]

How did you add the 1 TB Crucial NVMe SSD on this motherboard? And does it boot up with it? Thanks

[@tricky0]

I would like to know this also.

[@tronalddump8776]

A friend picked one of these up and asked for a hand upgrading it. I went to check it out and when I placed my hand on the running PC I got zapped, he's gonna grab a power supply but upon finding this video I'm going to talk him into one of these cases or the 50. My question is are they propitiatory power connectors on the board? Like hp or is it a normal 24 pin no wires swapped so I can use any new PSU? Thanks for your time.

[@sunnyvakkalanka2739]

I have a question: isn't there a problem with this build because the Graphics card that has a pci slot of 3.0 x16 doesn't fit in the motherboard (which has a pci slot of 2.0 x16)?

[@eatthecrow4113]

There are front panel Io adapters for these on eBay. Around 12 bucks. Waiting for mine to arrive. Searching for an adapter for the front USBs still.

[@kennywilliams3031]

where

[@eatthecrow4113]

@@kennywilliams3031 on eBay.

[@prog237.]

Are these adapters compatible with the Inspiron 3847 that is being used in this video or is it only for the optiplex PCs

[@eatthecrow4113]

@@prog237. not sure off the top of my head. The sell ads should list all compatible.

[@stevenanderson3205]

I would rather build a computer with a R5 3400 4 cores 8 threads or better yet go with the R5 1600 AF at 85.00 dollars and build around that platform you could go 3rd Gen Ryzen or 4th Gen Ryzen down the road.But for 300 to 400 you could build the R5 1600 Af.

[@ssjbart2003]

Hello. Do you think this could be done for my Inspiron 3670? I have it fully upgraded with psu, gpu now. Added holes for psu venting out the bottom. 2 molex 80mm exhaust fans out the back and another 80 mm for intake on the side and it’s still too hot with the side panel closed. (Gaming with a i5 8400 and a gtx 1070 inside the small space). I would want a case with top vents so I could run an aio cooler. Got off track, the power button for the 3670 motherboard seems to be directly in contact with the button on the front.

[@conclavioacademia]

i want to set my dell inspiron 3668 into A Kolink Horizon i can do this?

[@tricky0]

How did you get the nvme ssd installed on the board?

[@jhunephogz6252]

why dont show if its working or not

[@amanrashid8487]

hi brother i have a lenovo v520 pc can i re case it to gaming pc case ?

[@artfungeon8681]

Is there a specific guide to mod the insperion front panel connectors for the case? Can't find anything step by step

[@nakyer]

Would what's on the screen as of 3:11 in this video be of any use? (It's for an Optiplex, by the way.)

[@phreakwars]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/boKTpamBd5yno5Y

[@MrSonic731]

How about a new mobo in the dell case?

[@SILV-di3sj]

vostro 3671 can change my case?

[@vergz_oner]

I plan on throwing a Optiplex 3020 into a new case and flipping it

[@1gatomon]

Dell always wants your $$ so they make the computers as preperatory to their stuff as possible.. Which makes them crappy for reusing for a build.

[@Saztrah]

This video is completely worthless, the ONLY thing I came here for was hopefully a demonstration on rewiring the power button!

[@pranavm.9513]

I have this computer and i'm still running windows 7. Could i be able to run the game warzone or should i update to windows 10

[@travismparks]

I run warzone at 100+ fps on low with this computer and a GTX 1060.

[@unknown-yk4qd]

Grab a GT 1030 is enough

[@rippermkd1]

the USB is fucked, i just fixed the front IO, i feel like Tesla!!

[@rebelfromva]

Man this case blows. Terrible cable management. Very tight space to work with. Always go with the q300l for 44$. Much better cable management. Able to fit longer gpu without having to modify the hdd rack. Spot for 5 rgb fans.

[@Angry_Old_Man_In_Pain]

This is very misleading video, the facts are a gpu won't fit because of spacing and you have to use an iGPU..The one you show has no way to mount it. This doesn't really qualify as a success to me. I guess I'm not living in your world.