I have one got it about 17 years ago, I was using it about 4 years ago, designed My logo on it. Heat sync is probably dry and why the fan keeps going nuts but apart from that and dirt it works. I replace the bios battery.
With the exception of drives, I have been using Simple Green and a small scrubby sponge, and a garden hose. I shake off the water and sit stuff on this small fan to dry. A 14 inch one pointing up. I even open up the power supply and do the same. Got one just like this I'm fixing to clean. Just needs a hard drive and more memory. Got a place that gives me free electronics.
Not sure what your talking about it not being good for retro games? Theres a whole list of games that run perfectly on it, Halflife and expansions with the HD upgrade mode (Looks great) GTA vice city, Command and Conquer Tibirian Sun, Red Alart 2, and loads of others. The only game I ever got that would not run on it was Black and white.
No doubt you can run some games on it, but it is limiting to not have a AGP or PCIe slot. If I recall this PC only had intel 915 integrated graphics, with no slots other than PCI.
Believe it or not, I used this to restore my old family PC of the same model. Was trying to find out if the heatsink was off the CPU, but apparently that's how they're all designed. And "what is it good for?" - loading up Linux and cloning my IDE drives!
@@Snickerrick exactly the form factor is what annoyed me, as I purchased some parts and as I was trying to install I was like wtf mobo not aligning up 🤣. It's just something about this case looks awesome
@@thealien_ali3382 HAHA I can almost picture trying to fit a motherboard in there not realizing it is a different form factor and going wtf when it dont fit lol. I also have a XPS 410 thats the same style, but white and silver, and it is also that damn BTX.
yea its even weirder that the mainboard (if I recall) had the pads for the PCIe slot, it was just never added, I can only assume they were cost cutting decisions to sell a cheaper model.
This PC is a BTX form factor, the motherboard layout is mirrored to a regular ATX, so it would take quite a bit of modding to make it work. It's not really something I feel like taking on, but it would be damn cool if someone was able to pull it off!
Make sure you have all drivers installed, check device manager to see if the ethernet port is disabled, and that it shows a driver is indeed installed. Other than that, it should work as far as I know
Check the RAM, or even reseat it and see if that helps. You could also try to unplug it and hold the power button down for a few seconds, do this like 3 or 4 times in a row, I have a Dell here that just needed a good discharge and for some reason it worked after that. Also you can probably narrow it down by the diagnostic lights, should point you in the right direction support.feelpcs.com/pc-spec/Dimension3100/adtshoot.htm#wp1124996
@@Snickerrick upgrade the ram to 16gb above 1333mhzt and a cheap SSD which will max the sata ports data transfer speed. That will give u. Plesent experience in windows 10 on a older pc
I have this same computer. I'm faced with an issue. Everytime I boot it it reads: Intel(r)915G/915GV/910GL PCI Copyright (c) 2000-2003 Intel Corp. All Rights Reserved: Any idea why it's stuck on this screen?
It sounds to me like it is getting stuck on the BIOS splash screen. Try to clear the CMOS on the motherboard. If that doesnt help, try to disconnect everything from the PC except monitor and keyboard, and see if it gets past it. Hopefully that will take care of it. Something is not initializing and it could be either a wrong BIOS setting, or a faulty part hanging it up, these would be my first 2 guesses.
If it is blinking orange and no beeps, my first thought would be power supply. If the PSU is good, then follow the diagnostic steps of disconnecting everything, remove all but 1 stick of RAM, etc if it works, connect things back 1 at a time until it fails again. If this doesnt help either then most likely there is an issue with the motherboard.
@@Snickerrick bro I can't understanding 923048263622 is my WhatsApp no plz help dear here is full lockdown )) I can't go outside )) IAM sending you videos
Check this site, I just found it, hopefully it can help you to diagnose. Also try unplugging the PC, and holding the power button down for a bit a few times in a row, then see if that helps, I just worked on an older dell that seemed to just need a discharge and then worked fine. support.feelpcs.com/pc-spec/Dimension3100/adtshoot.htm#wp1124996
I have one got it about 17 years ago, I was using it about 4 years ago, designed My logo on it. Heat sync is probably dry and why the fan keeps going nuts but apart from that and dirt it works. I replace the bios battery.
Good job restoring this pc, this teaches me how to protect old things from stop working
With the exception of drives, I have been using Simple Green and a small scrubby sponge, and a garden hose. I shake off the water and sit stuff on this small fan to dry. A 14 inch one pointing up. I even open up the power supply and do the same. Got one just like this I'm fixing to clean. Just needs a hard drive and more memory. Got a place that gives me free electronics.
I found this desktop at a local store in Lewisville, TX. Didn't buy it though, but it looks like it needs to be clean out.
Not sure what your talking about it not being good for retro games? Theres a whole list of games that run perfectly on it, Halflife and expansions with the HD upgrade mode (Looks great) GTA vice city, Command and Conquer Tibirian Sun, Red Alart 2, and loads of others. The only game I ever got that would not run on it was Black and white.
No doubt you can run some games on it, but it is limiting to not have a AGP or PCIe slot. If I recall this PC only had intel 915 integrated graphics, with no slots other than PCI.
Believe it or not, I used this to restore my old family PC of the same model. Was trying to find out if the heatsink was off the CPU, but apparently that's how they're all designed. And "what is it good for?" - loading up Linux and cloning my IDE drives!
Thats awesome!
Main use for My one when I first got it was games, then about 9 years ago used photo shop to make My logo, and also used music software on it.
Nice cleanup!
Thanks!
These dell demension pc case's look good for sleeper builds
Right! This one would have been gutted for a sleeper if it wasnt a BTX case, I hate that Dell ever used that form factor
@@Snickerrick exactly the form factor is what annoyed me, as I purchased some parts and as I was trying to install I was like wtf mobo not aligning up 🤣. It's just something about this case looks awesome
@@thealien_ali3382 HAHA I can almost picture trying to fit a motherboard in there not realizing it is a different form factor and going wtf when it dont fit lol. I also have a XPS 410 thats the same style, but white and silver, and it is also that damn BTX.
you have done a good work
Thanks!
Nice video
What does "BTX" referring to the mobo size, mean? What size is the front fan?
Btx is just like atx but mirrored. I dont recall the front fan size to be honest.
@@Snickerrick that's ok! I did a short test on the 3100 and it has Win XP Pro with SP3 on it! Worked like new! With an Intel Pentium 4!
As weird the psu is , i dont get why dell designed a Mainboard without gpu slot and only 2 ram slots
yea its even weirder that the mainboard (if I recall) had the pads for the PCIe slot, it was just never added, I can only assume they
were cost cutting decisions to sell a cheaper model.
what would it take to put an AM4 motherboard in that?
This PC is a BTX form factor, the motherboard layout is mirrored to a regular ATX, so it would take quite a bit of modding to make it work. It's not really something I feel like taking on, but it would be damn cool if someone was able to pull it off!
@@Snickerrick ok, cuz I saw one at a thrift store and was thinking about refurbishing it. :)
@@dominicguy9242 If you modded it for an ATX motherboard, and built a sleeper PC, that would be an incredible video! DO IT DO IT LOL
I have same model but the power botton is just blinking orange light, do you have any idea what could be the problem? Thank you in advance
First suggestion, check the power supply. Here is more info on troubleshooting that model support.feelpcs.com/pc-spec/Dimension3100/adtshoot.htm
I have the same one but it doesn’t start 😔
Oh no! Maybe it's just the power supply?
I connected Ethernet to it but it doesn’t work. How do you use internet?
Make sure you have all drivers installed, check device manager to see if the ethernet port is disabled, and that it shows a driver is indeed installed. Other than that, it should work as far as I know
@@Snickerrick Thanks for responding one question though where can I install the driver if it’s not installed?
check here www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/dimension-3100/drivers
can you make as a gaming pc
Not really, you would need to use a PCI graphics card, so pretty useless for that unless you are using windows 98.
Mine beeps 6 times and doesn't do anything any suggestions?
Check the RAM, or even reseat it and see if that helps. You could also try to unplug it and hold the power button down for a few seconds, do this like 3 or 4 times in a row, I have a Dell here that just needed a good discharge and for some reason it worked after that. Also you can probably narrow it down by the diagnostic lights, should point you in the right direction support.feelpcs.com/pc-spec/Dimension3100/adtshoot.htm#wp1124996
can you put gpu on it
There is no AGP or PCI X slot, just 2 PCI slots.
Same PC dell
Mine won’t ipen
Can you put windows 10 on it
I wouldnt, it would be very frustrating to use.
@@Snickerrick upgrade the ram to 16gb above 1333mhzt and a cheap SSD which will max the sata ports data transfer speed. That will give u. Plesent experience in windows 10 on a older pc
@@thealien_ali3382 2gb's of DDR2 is all that is supported by the motherboard. 4gb's may work if it supports 2gb dimms, but I doubt it will.
XP has a far better search function then 10 and highly useful. It's also got CD RIP.
I have this same computer. I'm faced with an issue. Everytime I boot it it reads: Intel(r)915G/915GV/910GL PCI Copyright (c) 2000-2003 Intel Corp. All Rights Reserved: Any idea why it's stuck on this screen?
It sounds to me like it is getting stuck on the BIOS splash screen. Try to clear the CMOS on the motherboard. If that doesnt help, try to disconnect everything from the PC except monitor and keyboard, and see if it gets past it. Hopefully that will take care of it. Something is not initializing and it could be either a wrong BIOS setting, or a faulty part hanging it up, these would be my first 2 guesses.
Snickerrick Thanks! I will try those soon as I get home
@@tommystrawnarm2810 remove the bios battery and wait 30 seconds and re insert the bios battery and test
What i should do now?
If it is blinking orange and no beeps, my first thought would be power supply. If the PSU is good, then follow the diagnostic steps of disconnecting everything, remove all but 1 stick of RAM, etc if it works, connect things back 1 at a time until it fails again. If this doesnt help either then most likely there is an issue with the motherboard.
@@Snickerrick bro I can't understanding 923048263622 is my WhatsApp no plz help dear here is full lockdown )) I can't go outside )) IAM sending you videos
@@Snickerrick I did all but nothing change then what i.shoud do now
Bro my PC is blinking ornage light
Check this site, I just found it, hopefully it can help you to diagnose. Also try unplugging the PC, and holding the power button down for a bit a few times in a row, then see if that helps, I just worked on an older dell that seemed to just need a discharge and then worked fine. support.feelpcs.com/pc-spec/Dimension3100/adtshoot.htm#wp1124996
ya my on beeps 6 times as will
Clear cmos
Put a Android OS on it and u have a new thing...
That's not a bad idea!
@@Snickerrick
use blissos or Android 86 .. there is 2 options 32 and 64 so use the 32 bit one.
@@Snickerrick Or some light linux would be good, lubuntu maybe?