Will a P4M890T-M support the CPU from a Dell Dimension 3100

My Dell Dimension 3100 E310 stopped working and the problem was traced
to a faulty motherboard. I want to transfer the parts to an ECS
P4M890T-M. The board states that it is Core 2 Duo and Celeron D, but
it is an LGA775 motherboard.

Although the board does not explicity quote support for the CPU in
Dell, a 3Ghz Pentium 4 with hyperthreading is it likely to be
compatible?

The power supply from the Dell also appeared slightly larger and
wouldn't fit the case I was moving it to.

Is there a special kind of power supply I should look for when I get a
new case?

vfclists wrote:
> My Dell Dimension 3100 E310 stopped working and the problem was traced
> to a faulty motherboard. I want to transfer the parts to an ECS
> P4M890T-M. The board states that it is Core 2 Duo and Celeron D, but
> it is an LGA775 motherboard.
>
> Although the board does not explicity quote support for the CPU in
> Dell, a 3Ghz Pentium 4 with hyperthreading is it likely to be
> compatible?
>
> The power supply from the Dell also appeared slightly larger and
> wouldn't fit the case I was moving it to.
>
> Is there a special kind of power supply I should look for when I get a
> new case?
>

Your Dell appears to use an LGA775 processor. Item 4 in the motherboard
picture appears to have the metal arm used to secure an LGA775 pressure
plate. One problem you'll have, is you're going to need to pick up
a processor heatsink/fan for LGA775, to cool your processor when it is
in the new case. The Dell cooling solution probably cannot be moved
out of the old case.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3100/en/sm/techov0.htm

This is an example of a cooler. I wouldn't buy this myself, but a number
of other people have used it. It has the pins like an Intel retail cooler
has, as near as I can tell. I selected it because it is $20, whereas to
get a good cooler, you can spend a lot more than that. It uses heat pipes,
like many others do.

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

You'll need some thermal paste as well, to apply to the top of the
CPU. Arctic Silver Ceramique or AS5 are in the $5 a tube vicinity.

The Intel install movie is here.

http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/100617.htm

The power supply pinout on that page appears to be standard ATX 2.2,
same as is shown here.

http://www.formfactors.org/devlist.asp?FFID=1&CatID=2 (download page)
http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5Cspecs%5CATX12V_PSDG_2_2_public_br2.pdf (file)

The only other issue, would be the Dell case wiring. But since your
post suggests you are using a separate computer case for the rebuild,
then the new case will have the more or less standard wiring for
the PANEL connector on the ECS motherboard.

One nice improvement on your new ECS motherboard, is provision of the
PCI Express x16 video card slot. Your old machine was limited with
regard to video options (best slot on it was PCI Express x1).

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-135-054-04.jpg

You can get an ATX supply, with 24 pin connector on it, and put that
in the new case. If you plan on getting a more powerful video card
for the big video card slot, then purchasing a power supply with a
bit more power than the current one, would help.

This may seem like overkill, but I scrolled through the Newegg list
until I found something that didn't have DOAs reported. The connectors
on this one are splittable (24 pin comes apart into a 20 pin piece and
a 4 pin piece, in case you ever connect to a 20 pin motherboard. 8 pin
processor power splits into two 2x2 connectors, and the 2x2 is suited
to most modern desktop boards). The current ratings are such, that for
any individual rail which is heavily loaded, this can handle it.

ENERMAX EG465P-VE FMA 2.2 ATX12V 460W Power Supply 115/230 V - Retail $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194011

HTH,
Paul