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  #1  
Old August 6th 10, 07:15 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
mc
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 188
Default gx240 tower

Does anyone know what other MB's that are usb 2.0 that would fit into
my gx240 tower.
mc
  #2  
Old August 6th 10, 07:57 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default gx240 tower

On 8/6/2010 2:15 PM, mc wrote:
Does anyone know what other MB's that are usb 2.0 that would fit into
my gx240 tower.
mc


Dimension 8300 and Precision 360 are the only USB 2.0 boards that would
fit in a GX240 tower, unless you count the lamentable popping-capacitors
GX270. There are also a couple of boards from the Dell XPS line that
would fit. The only REAL difference between the XPS line and the
Dimension 8000 series is that the case of an XPS is absolutely huge and
colorful, compared to the Dimension/Precision basic black that goes with
anything else you wear.

If you retain the CPU from the GX240, you can use the same memory. But
the 8300 and the 360 both can use better Socket 478 P4 CPUs with 800Mhz
FSB, paired with faster memory. Also, these boards have four DDR memory
slots, instead of two like the GX240.

I am unsure if the Optiplex GX260 also supports USB 2.0.

Why not an inexpensive USB 2.0 PCI card??? ... Ben Myers


  #3  
Old August 6th 10, 08:07 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
mc
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 188
Default gx240 tower

On Aug 6, 2:57*pm, Ben Myers wrote:
On 8/6/2010 2:15 PM, mc wrote:

Does anyone know what other MB's that are usb 2.0 that would fit into
my gx240 tower.
mc


Dimension 8300 and Precision 360 are the only USB 2.0 boards that would
fit in a GX240 tower, unless you count the lamentable popping-capacitors
GX270. *There are also a couple of boards from the Dell XPS line that
would fit. *The only REAL difference between the XPS line and the
Dimension 8000 series is that the case of an XPS is absolutely huge and
colorful, compared to the Dimension/Precision basic black that goes with
anything else you wear.

If you retain the CPU from the GX240, you can use the same memory. *But
the 8300 and the 360 both can use better Socket 478 P4 CPUs with 800Mhz
FSB, paired with faster memory. *Also, these boards have four DDR memory
slots, instead of two like the GX240.

I am unsure if the Optiplex GX260 also supports USB 2.0.

Why not an inexpensive USB 2.0 PCI card??? *... Ben Myers


Thanks Ben,
I tried a couple usb 2.0 cards but but some things like the pinnacle
usb TV has signal dropouts. I do not know the exact cause of this.
Maybe its the limit of 1gig of ram. I purchased a 550 watt Athena
power supply so the connectors should not be a problem. Which xps
boards would be a good choice to try?
mc
  #4  
Old August 7th 10, 12:56 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default gx240 tower

On 8/6/2010 3:07 PM, mc wrote:
On Aug 6, 2:57 pm, Ben wrote:
On 8/6/2010 2:15 PM, mc wrote:

Does anyone know what other MB's that are usb 2.0 that would fit into
my gx240 tower.
mc


Dimension 8300 and Precision 360 are the only USB 2.0 boards that would
fit in a GX240 tower, unless you count the lamentable popping-capacitors
GX270. There are also a couple of boards from the Dell XPS line that
would fit. The only REAL difference between the XPS line and the
Dimension 8000 series is that the case of an XPS is absolutely huge and
colorful, compared to the Dimension/Precision basic black that goes with
anything else you wear.

If you retain the CPU from the GX240, you can use the same memory. But
the 8300 and the 360 both can use better Socket 478 P4 CPUs with 800Mhz
FSB, paired with faster memory. Also, these boards have four DDR memory
slots, instead of two like the GX240.

I am unsure if the Optiplex GX260 also supports USB 2.0.

Why not an inexpensive USB 2.0 PCI card??? ... Ben Myers


Thanks Ben,
I tried a couple usb 2.0 cards but but some things like the pinnacle
usb TV has signal dropouts. I do not know the exact cause of this.
Maybe its the limit of 1gig of ram. I purchased a 550 watt Athena
power supply so the connectors should not be a problem. Which xps
boards would be a good choice to try?
mc


According to my spreadsheet/cheat sheet about older Dell systems, the
XPS Gen 2 uses a motherboard virtually identical to the Dimension 8300
board. Same Intel 875 chipset, same layout, different BIOS.

For sure, the XPS Gen 5 board is not an option. It is LGA775, not
Socket 478, and they require the unique power supply found inside the
chassis. I do not have first-hand experience with the Gen 3 and Gen 4,
but the specs on the Dell web site say "DDR2 memory", so these are also
LGA775 unsuitable for a GX240 chassis... Ben
  #5  
Old August 8th 10, 02:22 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
William R. Walsh
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 930
Default gx240 tower

Hi!

I tried a couple usb 2.0 cards but but some things like the pinnacle
usb TV has signal dropouts. I do not know the exact cause of this.


How about the USB host controller? Whose USB 2.0 controller is on this card?

I've had the best results with the NEC-based cards. The VIA ones work "most
of the time" but sometimes they act strangely. And, as the chipsets from VIA
are the cheapest out there, you can find that the quality of the card you
used is lacking.

Never heard of Athena power supplies...not saying they aren't perfectly
good, but you ought to be sure it's honestly specified! Dell's power
supplies from this timeframe are of good if not excellent quality and will
produce more power than the rating suggests.

William


  #6  
Old August 8th 10, 03:44 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Ben Myers[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,607
Default gx240 tower

On 8/7/2010 9:22 PM, William R. Walsh wrote:
Hi!

I tried a couple usb 2.0 cards but but some things like the pinnacle
usb TV has signal dropouts. I do not know the exact cause of this.


How about the USB host controller? Whose USB 2.0 controller is on this card?

I've had the best results with the NEC-based cards. The VIA ones work "most
of the time" but sometimes they act strangely. And, as the chipsets from VIA
are the cheapest out there, you can find that the quality of the card you
used is lacking.

Never heard of Athena power supplies...not saying they aren't perfectly
good, but you ought to be sure it's honestly specified! Dell's power
supplies from this timeframe are of good if not excellent quality and will
produce more power than the rating suggests.

William



I agree about USB 2.0 PCI cards with NEC chips. They have always
treated me well. Most recently, my son was having trouble with his USB
audio recording/editing hardware, for which the vendor, Avid, stated
that the USB built-into the 915 chip on a Dimension 4700 was not
compatible. They also said a USB card was not a solution. Ha! The NEC
USB card fixed the problem.

There are also USB 2.0 cards with VIA chips, but I have not tried... Ben
Myers
  #7  
Old August 8th 10, 07:07 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
William R. Walsh
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 930
Default gx240 tower

Hi!

There are also USB 2.0 cards with VIA chips, but I have not tried... Ben
Myers


The few Acer USB chipsets I've seen were pretty bad, only meeting a very
loose definition of working on most operating systems. They worked the best
on Windows, but I never pushed 'em as hard as I did on the other systems. At
USB 1.x rates they worked fine. At USB 2.0 rates they turned into garbage.

The VT6202 was VIA's first USB 2.0 chipset, and it has some problems under
*ix operating systems with maintaining connections at differing data rates
across differing ports. Other than that, and the fact that it is somewhat
slower than the Intel USB 2.0 implementation, I haven't had too many
complaints.

VT6212 is supposed to be an improvement on the 6202, focusing mainly on
performance. As far as I know it did that in some ways and fell short in
others. I remember the ones I used being more stable with mixed USB 1.x and
2.0 devices.

The VT6214 is a 6212 that supposedly allows for the placement of another
device (SATA, Ethernet, Firewire--all usually also from VIA) on the same
board, for a multifunction card. I don't think it has any special PCI-PCI
bridge or arbitration logic on it, as every card I've seen appears to have
the PCI bus directly connected to both ICs. Some motherboards have serious
problems with this idea.

I know I've seen boards with a Silicon Image (!!) USB chipset onboard, but I
have no idea about them. Never got a close look at one.

If you want a combo board (USB+1394), Adaptec and Orange Micro both made
some nice ones--HiNT PCI-PCI bridge, NEC USB 2.0 and a Texas Instruments
1394 IC...basically the best of everything in my opinion. These show up on
eBay now.

William


  #8  
Old August 9th 10, 04:07 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
mc
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 188
Default gx240 tower

On Aug 8, 2:07*am, "William R. Walsh"
m wrote:
Hi!

There are also USB 2.0 cards with VIA chips, but I have not tried... Ben
Myers


The few Acer USB chipsets I've seen were pretty bad, only meeting a very
loose definition of working on most operating systems. They worked the best
on Windows, but I never pushed 'em as hard as I did on the other systems. At
USB 1.x rates they worked fine. At USB 2.0 rates they turned into garbage..

The VT6202 was VIA's first USB 2.0 chipset, and it has some problems under
*ix operating systems with maintaining connections at differing data rates
across differing ports. Other than that, and the fact that it is somewhat
slower than the Intel USB 2.0 implementation, I haven't had too many
complaints.

VT6212 is supposed to be an improvement on the 6202, focusing mainly on
performance. As far as I know it did that in some ways and fell short in
others. I remember the ones I used being more stable with mixed USB 1.x and
2.0 devices.

The VT6214 is a 6212 that supposedly allows for the placement of another
device (SATA, Ethernet, Firewire--all usually also from VIA) on the same
board, for a multifunction card. I don't think it has any special PCI-PCI
bridge or arbitration logic on it, as every card I've seen appears to have
the PCI bus directly connected to both ICs. Some motherboards have serious
problems with this idea.

I know I've seen boards with a Silicon Image (!!) USB chipset onboard, but I
have no idea about them. Never got a close look at one.

If you want a combo board (USB+1394), Adaptec and Orange Micro both made
some nice ones--HiNT PCI-PCI bridge, NEC USB 2.0 and a Texas Instruments
1394 IC...basically the best of everything in my opinion. These show up on
eBay now.

William


Thanks Ben and William for the info. William the power supply from
Athena was designed for the dell systems and seems to work well in
both the dime 4550 and the gx 240. The cards I tried were Ultra and
some cheapie from compusa that only says controller card on the box.
So I will see if I can find a NEC and try it out. If you see one that
you think might work perhaps you could post the site. Ben what is it
about the gx240 chasiss that does not work with the 775? Is it some
type of grounding issue with the power supply? mc
  #9  
Old August 9th 10, 04:24 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Christopher Muto
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,222
Default gx240 tower

mc wrote:
On Aug 8, 2:07 am, "William R. Walsh"
m wrote:
Hi!

There are also USB 2.0 cards with VIA chips, but I have not tried... Ben
Myers

The few Acer USB chipsets I've seen were pretty bad, only meeting a very
loose definition of working on most operating systems. They worked the best
on Windows, but I never pushed 'em as hard as I did on the other systems. At
USB 1.x rates they worked fine. At USB 2.0 rates they turned into garbage.

The VT6202 was VIA's first USB 2.0 chipset, and it has some problems under
*ix operating systems with maintaining connections at differing data rates
across differing ports. Other than that, and the fact that it is somewhat
slower than the Intel USB 2.0 implementation, I haven't had too many
complaints.

VT6212 is supposed to be an improvement on the 6202, focusing mainly on
performance. As far as I know it did that in some ways and fell short in
others. I remember the ones I used being more stable with mixed USB 1.x and
2.0 devices.

The VT6214 is a 6212 that supposedly allows for the placement of another
device (SATA, Ethernet, Firewire--all usually also from VIA) on the same
board, for a multifunction card. I don't think it has any special PCI-PCI
bridge or arbitration logic on it, as every card I've seen appears to have
the PCI bus directly connected to both ICs. Some motherboards have serious
problems with this idea.

I know I've seen boards with a Silicon Image (!!) USB chipset onboard, but I
have no idea about them. Never got a close look at one.

If you want a combo board (USB+1394), Adaptec and Orange Micro both made
some nice ones--HiNT PCI-PCI bridge, NEC USB 2.0 and a Texas Instruments
1394 IC...basically the best of everything in my opinion. These show up on
eBay now.

William


Thanks Ben and William for the info. William the power supply from
Athena was designed for the dell systems and seems to work well in
both the dime 4550 and the gx 240. The cards I tried were Ultra and
some cheapie from compusa that only says controller card on the box.
So I will see if I can find a NEC and try it out. If you see one that
you think might work perhaps you could post the site. Ben what is it
about the gx240 chasiss that does not work with the 775? Is it some
type of grounding issue with the power supply? mc


here is a quality card with nec chip set...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815104216
if you click on the photo and zoom you can see it has the nec chip and
the reviews confirm that it worked when others did not.
  #10  
Old August 9th 10, 04:29 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
mc
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 188
Default gx240 tower

On Aug 9, 11:24*am, Christopher Muto wrote:
mc wrote:
On Aug 8, 2:07 am, "William R. Walsh"
m wrote:
Hi!


There are also USB 2.0 cards with VIA chips, but I have not tried... Ben
Myers
The few Acer USB chipsets I've seen were pretty bad, only meeting a very
loose definition of working on most operating systems. They worked the best
on Windows, but I never pushed 'em as hard as I did on the other systems. At
USB 1.x rates they worked fine. At USB 2.0 rates they turned into garbage.


The VT6202 was VIA's first USB 2.0 chipset, and it has some problems under
*ix operating systems with maintaining connections at differing data rates
across differing ports. Other than that, and the fact that it is somewhat
slower than the Intel USB 2.0 implementation, I haven't had too many
complaints.


VT6212 is supposed to be an improvement on the 6202, focusing mainly on
performance. As far as I know it did that in some ways and fell short in
others. I remember the ones I used being more stable with mixed USB 1.x and
2.0 devices.


The VT6214 is a 6212 that supposedly allows for the placement of another
device (SATA, Ethernet, Firewire--all usually also from VIA) on the same
board, for a multifunction card. I don't think it has any special PCI-PCI
bridge or arbitration logic on it, as every card I've seen appears to have
the PCI bus directly connected to both ICs. Some motherboards have serious
problems with this idea.


I know I've seen boards with a Silicon Image (!!) USB chipset onboard, but I
have no idea about them. Never got a close look at one.


If you want a combo board (USB+1394), Adaptec and Orange Micro both made
some nice ones--HiNT PCI-PCI bridge, NEC USB 2.0 and a Texas Instruments
1394 IC...basically the best of everything in my opinion. These show up on
eBay now.


William


Thanks Ben and William for the info. William the power supply from
Athena was designed for the dell systems and seems to work well in
both the dime 4550 and the gx 240. The cards I tried were Ultra and
some cheapie from compusa that only says controller card on the box.
So I will see if I can find a NEC and try it out. If you see one that
you think might work perhaps you could post the site. *Ben what is it
about the gx240 chasiss that does not work with the 775? Is it some
type of grounding issue with the power supply? mc


here is a quality card with nec chip set...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815104216
if you click on the photo and zoom you can see it has the nec chip and
the reviews confirm that it worked when others did not.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Thanks Christopher, if anyone is interested this is the power supply
I'm using
http://pcpowerzone.com/apmps3atx55e.html
and it does list some compatibilty with the xps 400, 410, and 420.
Which MB generation is this?
 




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