Technical Overview: Dell Dimension 8100 System Reference
http://support.dell.com/support/edo...chovu.htm#system_board_connectors_and_sockets
At one time, the 8100 was described as having an Intel D850GB
motherboard, but in name only. This is the D850GB manual,
and while the chipset used is probably the same, the layout
isn't even close.
ftp://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d850gb/A2608002.pdf
The power supply pinout looks to be proprietary, so the PSU
probably cannot be reused. PS_ON# is on the wrong pin.
If you look at the board outline on that support.dell.com
page, it has a weird shape.
I'd open it up and marvel at what you find. Maybe what
you could do instead, is buy a new case, keep the hard
drive and CDROM etc. Then bung in a new motherboard
and power supply. Since the 8100 uses RDRAM, you might
even be able to sell the RAM on Ebay, and make enough
money to make a down payment on the new hardware. It
all depends on whether the RDRAM sticks used are
high capacity ones or not.
With the old case, it is quite likely that the front panel
wiring (switches for power on and reset, LEDs for power
and IDE) may have strange spacing, and may not line up
with a different motherboard. And the cooling solution
for a Dell, may not be suitable for another motherboard,
if the cooler is ducted and built to fit just that
motherboard.
Maybe you could use the Dell computer as a boat anchor
Paul