Does Dell make its own motherboards?

[Lem]

Do all Dell PCs (for the UK market) come with Dell's own
motherboards?

I am thinking of getting a Dell but I don't want to find that it uses
a Dell proprietary motherboard that may have little technical data
available.

ISTR hearing that Dell used a non-standad wiring on the 20 or 24 pin
mobo power connector. And I imagine there may be several other Dell
quirks.

 

[Robert Hancock]

Do all Dell PCs (for the UK market) come with Dell's own
motherboards?

I am thinking of getting a Dell but I don't want to find that it uses
a Dell proprietary motherboard that may have little technical data
available.

ISTR hearing that Dell used a non-standad wiring on the 20 or 24 pin
mobo power connector. And I imagine there may be several other Dell
quirks.

They don't make their own boards, but they do have boards made for them
(usually by Intel) to their specs. I don't think they do the nonstandard
power connector anymore, but they do still do the nonstandard front
panel controls connector. Also, some boards have had a somewhat
nonstandard shape which may prevent replacing with a standard ATX board.

Essentially, don't count on being able to change out the motherboard in
the original case..

 

[Gordon Scott]

Do all Dell PCs (for the UK market) come with Dell's own
motherboards?

I am thinking of getting a Dell but I don't want to find that it uses
a Dell proprietary motherboard that may have little technical data
available.

ISTR hearing that Dell used a non-standad wiring on the 20 or 24 pin
mobo power connector. And I imagine there may be several other Dell
quirks.

most every stupid branded maker has proprietry hardware.
Get a clone.

 

[Aosmosis]

most every stupid branded maker has proprietry hardware.
Get a clone.

A company called Hon Hai makes them in China

 

[Immuno]

Do all Dell PCs (for the UK market) come with Dell's own
motherboards?

I am thinking of getting a Dell but I don't want to find that it uses
a Dell proprietary motherboard that may have little technical data
available.

ISTR hearing that Dell used a non-standad wiring on the 20 or 24 pin
mobo power connector. And I imagine there may be several other Dell
quirks.

If your ever considering "looking under the bonnet", or peeking at the
BIOS - don't do Dell!

Pete

 

[Ed]

most every stupid branded maker has proprietry hardware.
Get a clone.

Plus the BIOS usually has 75% of the features/options pre-set/disabled
that you will find on the same/similar mobo you can buy off the shelf.
Ed

 

[Venom]

Anybody that buys a brand name computer is an idiot.
Build it yourself using good brand name hardware and build it the way you
want it. You will be very pleased with the results.

 

[DaveW]

Dell uses PROPRIETARY motherboards. They are NOT standard.

 

[FG]

Dell does not make its own motherboards.
But they are made to its specifications.

 

[WoofWoof]

Dell does not make its own motherboards.
But they are made to its specifications.

But there's a range of possibilities in that statement.

Any OEM of any significance has motherboards (and other hardware)
"made to its own specifications" but in many cases that simply means
they take the vendor's (say Intel's) spec. and incorporate it as their
own. They then order parts to this (their own) spec.

The advantage for the OEM is that it freezes the vendor's spec for the
board so that they can't make subsequent changes without the knowledge
and agreement (by a corresponding spec change) of the oem. This is a
very common practice amongst oems in all industries.

In other cases, large oem's do the whole design job in house, and
have someone make it for them (or make it themselves).

 

[Rob Stow]

They don't make their own boards, but they do have boards made for them
(usually by Intel)

Intel hasn't made a motherboard for about 6 years now !

There was a big hubbub in the IT/tech news about it at
the time - how could everyone have forgotten already ?

 

[daytripper]

Intel hasn't made a motherboard for about 6 years now !

Really? So these two dual-Prestonia/Lindenhurst server boards that we got from
Intel (one is a "Roadrunner" and the other is a "Coyote") don't actually
exist? Wow - that's a scary reality! ;-)

There was a big hubbub in the IT/tech news about it at
the time - how could everyone have forgotten already ?

Possibly because it wasn't true?

/daytripper

 

[Rob Stow]

Really? So these two dual-Prestonia/Lindenhurst server boards that we got from
Intel (one is a "Roadrunner" and the other is a "Coyote") don't actually
exist? Wow - that's a scary reality! ;-)

You weren't paying attention. I didn't say Intel
wasn't selling motherboards - I said they weren't
/making/ them.

 

[GB]

Anybody that buys a brand name computer is an idiot.

Let's see, now. I've built about 20 PCs in my time. Yet, recently, I have
chosen to buy in some Dell PCs for the office. One reason might be that I
am, as you say, an idiot. The other reason might be that the Dells do the
job I need for the office, and they cost 20% less to buy in ready-built than
the price at which I can buy the parts.

Your generalisation is a bit idiotic.

 

[Tx2]

Let's see, now. I've built about 20 PCs in my time. Yet, recently, I have
chosen to buy in some Dell PCs for the office. One reason might be that I
am, as you say, an idiot. The other reason might be that the Dells do the
job I need for the office, and they cost 20% less to buy in ready-built than
the price at which I can buy the parts.

20% for not being able to support them *properly* when the machine goes
down is worth it is it?

"But I have 3 year on-site warranty" you say

Good luck then.

Personally, i'd spend the extra 20% (which is how much on a home brew
machine, £100?) and be able to replace stock parts.

Buying Dell is false economy, IMO

 

[Will Reeve]

20% for not being able to support them *properly* when the machine
goes down is worth it is it?

"But I have 3 year on-site warranty" you say

Good luck then.

Personally, i'd spend the extra 20% (which is how much on a home brew
machine, £100?) and be able to replace stock parts.

Buying Dell is false economy, IMO

Remember you need to factor in the time taken to spec, order, build, test,
run-in the system, install the operating system etc. etc. your £100 has just
jumped to £500 at least (remember to also factor in the additional accounts
required to source parts from more than one supplier).


Keep well,

Will

 

[daytripper]

You weren't paying attention. I didn't say Intel
wasn't selling motherboards - I said they weren't
/making/ them.

Define "make". Do you mean simply that Intel doesn't have any board shops of
their own and thus contracts out fab and assembly?

If that's it, I must have missed what significance was being attached...

/daytripper

 

[ric]

you are an idiot.
say you've got an enterprise company. you supply them with a large
quantity of desktop pcs you've built yourself. these may end up at
various sites, being used at weekends and holidays. you're going to
support them all, are you? on site response with a guaranteed SLA?
you can guarantee exactly the same configuration will be available for
a minimum of say, 3 years, so that their IT guys can standardise a
build image for them, are you?
i build all my own systems and a lot for other people, but for
corporate use you want something with a low Total Cost of Ownership,
not just cheap.

ric

 

[Rob Stow]

Define "make". Do you mean simply that Intel doesn't have any board shops of
their own and thus contracts out fab and assembly?

That is what I meant.

However, I should have qualified it a bit.
Intel no longer makes boards for x86 but I
have no idea if they make any for Itanic.

If that's it, I must have missed what significance was being attached...

The significance goes back to someone else's statement
that Intel makes motherboards for Dell. Intel contracts
out - just like Dell.

As a matter of fact, the reasons Intel cited for getting
out of the x86 motherboard market were low profit margins
combined with their failure to land any of the big OEMs as
a customer.

 

[Lem]

Let's see, now. I've built about 20 PCs in my time. Yet,
recently, I have chosen to buy in some Dell PCs for the office.
One reason might be that I am, as you say, an idiot. The other
reason might be that the Dells do the job I need for the office,
and they cost 20% less to buy in ready-built than the price at
which I can buy the parts.

I've also noticed that Dell have aggressive pricing and that no
matter how much I shop around for cheap components and software, I am
unlikely to match a Dell for price compared to a PC I build myself.

I have the impression (correct me if I am wrong) that the component
qulaity and the build quality of a Dell is pretty decent. Sure it is
not going to be as good as a very carefully chosen PC put together by
a home contructor. But as a mass-market PC I have the impression
that Dell is rather good.

ISTR that reliability too is better than average.