Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

[4tified]

In my personal experience, Dell power supplies are crap. If it isn't the boards that are failing, it surely is the power supplies...Full tower, Mid tower, and SFF alike. My question is are there any alternatives to Dell power supplies out there (ie: differnet vendor)? I know Dell uses different voltages and a standard ATX power supply won't fly. (Found that out the hard way)

Any help is appreciated.

[stevo1210]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

I heard that you can change the pinout through buying a converter cable to use with your Dell PC. Personally I feel that Dell PSUs are very good. Usually they are made by Delta and Hipro, which make the best PSUs I've ever used. Heck, I even go out buying Dell second hand PSUs by the lot because I can rely on them. But yes once in a while, the Hipro ones will have bad caps and can be cured by a simple recap and about $4-5 in capacitors.

Thanks.

[Junk Parts]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

I don't think the voltages are different on the offending Dell PSU's its the pinout on the plug. If you "Google" it you will find the instructions you need to switch the wires around on the ATX connector. I have one here with an off the shelf Hipro PSU in it and it works fine. I didn't have to change anything on that one. I do have a newer Dell here with the non-standard pinout on the PSU but its working just fine for now. Good Luck! You can do it!

[Junk Parts]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

Don't listen to me.....I was wrong!!!! Your system will Blow up if you do!!!


Buy the adpter if needed. Its neat and clean and will allow you to use a standard PSU in place of the Dell non-standard PSU. I found one on "End PC Noise" The price was $14.95. The site also lists some Dells that need it as well as some that don't.

[4tified]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

I heard that you can change the pinout through buying a converter cable to use with your Dell PC. Personally I feel that Dell PSUs are very good. Usually they are made by Delta and Hipro, which make the best PSUs I've ever used. Heck, I even go out buying Dell second hand PSUs by the lot because I can rely on them. But yes once in a while, the Hipro ones will have bad caps and can be cured by a simple recap and about $4-5 in capacitors.

Thanks.

I wish I knew what system genenration of power supply you're using, becuase the ones for the GX150's and GX270's go bad, but never show any sign of failing caps.... though maybe they are just worn out and and haven't bursted, which is why I need an ESR meter to guide me around.

Don't listen to me.....I was wrong!!!! Your system will Blow up if you do!!!


Buy the adpter if needed. Its neat and clean and will allow you to use a standard PSU in place of the Dell non-standard PSU. I found one on "End PC Noise" The price was $14.95. The site also lists some Dells that need it as well as some that don't.

Well, that would take care of the power conversion problem...now what about the reversed plug-in on the back of the power supply itself? I'd hate to have to gut another power supply just to reverse everything...

Note: You know what? I might as well buy a Dell power supply as this converter costs $15...if I spend $15 or more on a power supply, I haven't saved any money at all.

[Krankshaft]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

Modern Dells observe the standard ATX pinout unless you have an old Dell then this shouldn't be a problem.

I believe Dell went astray on the ATX pinout around 1998 or so as soon as they released their first Pentium 4 system they went back to the standard pinout.

I just installed my 4th recapped Antec Smartpower on my brothers Dell Dimension 4700 yesterday without any problems.

I must say though Dell mobos are CRAP I went into Speedfan to check the temps and voltages and I got nothing.

This is either because Speedfan doesn't have the drivers to access the sensors or more likely these sensors were left out of the mobo to cut costs .

No matter after every recap I connect a HDD to the PSU as a dummy load and read the rails to make sure that everything is within spec before plugging it into a mobo.

[severach]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

Dell didn't faire any better or worse than other companies at the time. Whether you call them bad or not depends on whether you can fix them. If not it's just another system for warranty or scrap. If so then it's another good system at scrap prices. Supplies that don't burn out the boards are a major benefit.

GX150 and GX270 supplies are standard ATX. Dell GX1 and similar Pentium II boards had a different ATX layout. Compare the wire colors. My GX1 supplies were usually Delta and had a low failure rate.

All of my GX150 supplies died without any bad caps. Once the Power Good got below 250ms as measured with the CoolMax PS-224 power supply tester the supply didn't have long to live. The high quality reclaim caps were worth more than the supplies. I use rebuilt GX270 supplies for the few GX150 systems that need to stay running.

GX270 HP (Hi-Pro) with Arcon caps always revive with new capacitors. HiPro with Teapo caps fail for non cap reasons so I take the Teapo caps and put them into an Arcon equipped HiPro. Dead HiPro supplies seem good about shutting down without destroying motherboards and are visibly better built than the others so I prefer them. NPS (Newton) and PS (Lite-On) supplies fail for non cap reasons.

I ran all of my GX270 systems with HiPro formerly Arcon and Antec supplies.

I traded my GX270s in for GX280s and I am seeing the same non cap high failure rate that the GX150s had for the PS-5201 supplies and the failure might destroy motherboards. The ones that still power lose control of the 3.3v line. All were discarded. I'm running a NPS-250KB to see if it holds up. The rest have Antecs out of the GX270s.

The CoolMax PS-224 is much more informative than any hand operated volt meter.

[4tified]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

Dell didn't faire any better or worse than other companies at the time. Whether you call them bad or not depends on whether you can fix them. If not it's just another system for warranty or scrap. If so then it's another good system at scrap prices. Supplies that don't burn out the boards are a major benefit.

GX150 and GX270 supplies are standard ATX. Dell GX1 and similar Pentium II boards had a different ATX layout. Compare the wire colors. My GX1 supplies were usually Delta and had a low failure rate.

All of my GX150 supplies died without any bad caps. Once the Power Good got below 250ms as measured with the CoolMax PS-224 power supply tester the supply didn't have long to live. The high quality reclaim caps were worth more than the supplies. I use rebuilt GX270 supplies for the few GX150 systems that need to stay running.

GX270 HP (Hi-Pro) with Arcon caps always revive with new capacitors. HiPro with Teapo caps fail for non cap reasons so I take the Teapo caps and put them into an Arcon equipped HiPro. Dead HiPro supplies seem good about shutting down without destroying motherboards and are visibly better built than the others so I prefer them. NPS (Newton) and PS (Lite-On) supplies fail for non cap reasons.

I ran all of my GX270 systems with HiPro formerly Arcon and Antec supplies.

I traded my GX270s in for GX280s and I am seeing the same non cap high failure rate that the GX150s had for the PS-5201 supplies and the failure might destroy motherboards. The ones that still power lose control of the 3.3v line. All were discarded. I'm running a NPS-250KB to see if it holds up. The rest have Antecs out of the GX270s.

The CoolMax PS-224 is much more informative than any hand operated volt meter.

Interesting....I took apart a GX150 power supply and could nit diagnose the issue (at least not visably, there were no bad caps or other signs of failure.) i guess my other problem is that I don't have any testing equipment at the moment. Other than my multimeter (which I'm told can't measure components in-circuit), I am running blind. I did however just order an ESR meter, hopefully that will be my light in the dark, so to speak.

P.S. - I just found some NPS-250KB PS's on eBay, I'll take my chance and see how they fair. Thanks for the help everybody.

[370forlife]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

Modern Dells observe the standard ATX pinout unless you have an old Dell then this shouldn't be a problem.

I believe Dell went astray on the ATX pinout around 1998 or so as soon as they released their first Pentium 4 system they went back to the standard pinout.

I just installed my 4th recapped Antec Smartpower on my brothers Dell Dimension 4700 yesterday without any problems.

I must say though Dell mobos are CRAP I went into Speedfan to check the temps and voltages and I got nothing.

This is either because Speedfan doesn't have the drivers to access the sensors or more likely these sensors were left out of the mobo to cut costs .

No matter after every recap I connect a HDD to the PSU as a dummy load and read the rails to make sure that everything is within spec before plugging it into a mobo.

Our family computer is a dimension 4600, speedfan registers 3 fans, (only has 1.) shows two that run at 26,000 rpm, 1 runs at 1920rpm (thats the real one,) but that uses a standart atx connector. So does my optiplex Gx150 1ghz p3, I put a bestec psu in it from a compaq, and it works just fine.

[pfrcom]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

My problem is the other way around

I bought some new Dell HP-P2507FWP power supplies, guessing they were Hipro built, to use with generic motherboards

Each supply will power up if I connect it to a HDD and FDD for load, then on its 20-pin ATX connector, short the PSON wire to a GND wire beside it

But after plugging its ATX connector onto a motherboard, as well as the 12v connector, nothing happens when I touch a screwdriver tip to the motherboard's PwrSw pins

Have tried with an Abit SG72 board, as well as an Intel D845GVAD2

Same procedure with a generic ATX supply - comes on straight away

Pity - the HP-P2507FWP appears to be a quality supply, especially compared to some of the flimsy junk where bling is more important than function

[pfrcom]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

BTW, the HP-2507FWP appear to have standard pinout, judging by colour coding and measured voltages

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Alternative to Dell Power Supplies

I was able to hook up an Antec to a Dell Dimension 4600 without any problem noticed.