Hey guys,

Here's the deal. I have a Dell xps210. Its a slim case desktop meaning it can only fit low-profile or half-height cards in the pcie slots. I'm planning on making an external PCIE slot so i can fit a full size video card to uber inhance my graphics. I was just curious if anybody knows where i can find an extension cable for PCIE slots. By the way, i want one thats longer than 6"(ive already seen those). And if you guys dont know anything about longer cables, if anybody has an inovative way to extend it some other way. I'll post pictures when im finished.

Any help would be nice,

Matt

Hi there Stubs24,
Firstly welcome to CompuForums, I hope that you can stick around and post here rather than vanish, never to return once we've given you our advice which is a really unfair thing to do.

You can get these, but they are very expensive [around $1000USD]. For that price you might as well return the computer to Dell, and use the money to build yourself one with plenty of expansion slots. If you've got the money, though, take a look at these:
http://www.gefanucembedded.com/products/775
Expansion Boxes
Newegg.com - IOGEAR GUC2015V USB 2.0 External VGA Video Card - Retail

You might be able to solder some wires from slot to card, if you've got a very steady hand and a lot of patience. But you'll very likely lose your warranty.

You might also want to consider getting an external USB video card - these are relatively cheap to buy. ATI are apparently developing technology where you can use many external cards [even five!] together to produce excellent graphical capabilities.

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Thanks for the help, i'll look into it. I just really want to get a nicer video card running on my machine. I currently have an ATI radeon x1300 256mb, but its not ideal for some of the more graphically beautiful games of today. I think it would be nice to have an external full sized card holder. Or better yet, use it as some nice desktop flare. (lol) and i promise ill stay on the forum. i decided it was finally time to find a nice forum where i could post crap on.

thanks again

Well, you might even consider buying a new case. A new case would allow you the room to get a getter vid card without the size restrictions. AAlthough, dell maybe be using a proprietary mobo form that may not fit in the new case.

Well, i could just customly mod the new case by making new mounts for the motherboard. Im excellent with any hands on maintenance or custom work. I just like the smaller desktop case i have right now, and i think it would be cool to have a little custom LED case with my video card in it. Maybe its just me...Whatever, im gonna do it anyway.

Thats a crazy idea, but I like it, plug your external graphics device into the PCIE port on the back of your pc. Easy to upgrade just like a removable hard drive! Graphics upgrades for newbs!, could be a marketable idea... Hope it goes well, would love to see the pics.

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Keep in mind that most current PCI-E x16 graphics cards generate A LOT of heat--mounting one in a small case that is not designed for those cards might cause a lot of temperature problems.

If you mod the case for the card, you might want to mod it for cooling too.

Why does your mobo have a PCI-E x16 slot if the case isn't big enough to accomodate the card? Most PCI-E x16 cards are about the same (ginormous) size. Oh, well, it's not like you invented the board. Just a thought.

Let us know how the mod goes--I'm curious to see pics!

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