Dell Optiplex Gx260 Motherboard Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

                          30 minutes

Sections

Case
1 step
Main Fan
2 steps
RAM
1 step
Motherboard
6 steps

Flags

BackDell OptiPlex GX260
Full Screen
Options
History
Save to Favorites
Download PDF
Edit
Translate
Get Shareable Link
Embed This Guide
Notify Me of Changes
Stop Notifications

What you need

Step 1

              Case

Lay the Dell Optiplex GX260 down on a clean flat surface with the rear towards you.
Push the oval shaped buttons located on the top and bottom of the PC simultaneously and lift the case straight up.
Note: Some force may be required to push in the oval buttons open the PC case.

Lay the Dell Optiplex GX260 down on a clean flat surface with the rear towards you.

Push the oval shaped buttons located on the top and bottom of the PC simultaneously and lift the case straight up.

Note: Some force may be required to push in the oval buttons open the PC case.

1024

Step 2

              Main Fan

Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

Step 3

On the rear of the desktop, push the two circled black buttons straight in with a small pointed object while pulling up on the fan.
Once the fan is released, lift it straight up and out of the case.

On the rear of the desktop, push the two circled black buttons straight in with a small pointed object while pulling up on the fan.

Once the fan is released, lift it straight up and out of the case.

Step 4

RAM

Push out on the cream colored tabs on each side of each RAM module until it pops up and out of its slot and remove the RAM.

Push out on the cream colored tabs on each side of each RAM module until it pops up and out of its slot and remove the RAM.

Step 5

              Motherboard

Disconnect the ATX power cable to the motherboard.
Disconnect the P4 12V(4x2) power cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect the ATX power cable to the motherboard.

Disconnect the P4 12V(4x2) power cable from the motherboard.

Step 6

Disconnect the front panel ribbon cable by gently pulling it straight up.
Disconnect the hard drive ribbon cable by gently pulling the blue tab away from the motherboard.
Disconnect the optical drive ribbon cable by gently pulling the orange tab away from the motherboard.

Disconnect the front panel ribbon cable by gently pulling it straight up.

Disconnect the hard drive ribbon cable by gently pulling the blue tab away from the motherboard.

Disconnect the optical drive ribbon cable by gently pulling the orange tab away from the motherboard.

Step 7

Disconnect the floppy drive drive ribbon cable by gently pulling the black tab away from the motherboard.
Disconnect the optical drive audio cable connector from the motherboard.
Disconnect the audio input/output cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect the floppy drive drive ribbon cable by gently pulling the black tab away from the motherboard.

Disconnect the optical drive audio cable connector from the motherboard.

Disconnect the audio input/output cable from the motherboard.

Step 8

Lift the metal tab near the right corner of the motherboard.
Pull the green tab toward the front of the PC to release the motherboard.
From the rear of the PC, push the ports in while lifting the motherboard up and flipping it away from you.

Lift the metal tab near the right corner of the motherboard.

Pull the green tab toward the front of the PC to release the motherboard.

From the rear of the PC, push the ports in while lifting the motherboard up and flipping it away from you.

Step 9

Stand the motherboard up as shown.
Insert the flat end of a spudger into the slot in the motherboard mounting plate and press the release tab while pushing the extension plate to the right with your thumbs until it comes off..

Stand the motherboard up as shown.

Insert the flat end of a spudger into the slot in the motherboard mounting plate and press the release tab while pushing the extension plate to the right with your thumbs until it comes off..

Step 10

Remove the screw at the rear of the motherboard.
Grasp the heat sink with your left hand and the I/O port panel with your right hand and pull to separate motherboard from the metal base.
If you are replacing the motherboard refer to the great iFixit guide for removing the CPU.

Remove the screw at the rear of the motherboard.

Grasp the heat sink with your left hand and the I/O port panel with your right hand and pull to separate motherboard from the metal base.

If you are replacing the motherboard refer to the great iFixit guide for removing the CPU.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

                                                                                      15 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 10 other contributors

                    Kevin Schapansky

Member since: 10/05/2010

1,448 Reputation

                                      9 Guides authored                  



                       Badges:
                       15







                                                        +12 more badges

Team

                       Cal Poly, Team 4-48, Amido Fall 2010                        

                                                  Member of Cal Poly, Team 4-48, Amido Fall 2010 



                    CPSU-AMIDO-F10S4G48                     


                                            4 Members                     


                                            27 Guides authored

james dee - Sep 9, 2017

Mines stuck for some reason I almost bent the frame from pushing the ports in while lifting and pulling the tray tab away

Robert Stokes-Barnett - Oct 23, 2018

make sure you doing it the correct side!

Tony Fernandez - Jul 31, 2019

muy bueno gracias bro

jknox - Aug 7, 2021

Mine did not have the big green fan in back. Rest of the disassembly was similar, until I got to actually removing the PCB from the metal back plate. This says to simply slide it forward while holding the plate in place. Yeah… well, in theory. It actually took a fair amount of gentle prying to get the PCB to slide forward. The key is the little metal grounding clips in the corners. The fingers do not actually present much pressure. However, the vertical metal to which they press is an overhang. So the trick is to gently FORCE the PCB forward at each rear corner until such time as the overhang no longer exists. At this point the vertical metal tab will be full back against their respective slots. The PCB will simply lift out then.

What you need#

Team#

What you need

Team