Tip on how to keep dust out of XPS 8910 and 8920 top fan

Or you could use one of these. :emotion-4:

Seriously?

SpeedStep was joking. Can you post a picture of your suggestion? To what "top vent" are you referring? The picture is of the 8920.
 
"Cut a piece of paper the size of the top vent and tape it on one side, this will act as a one way valve."

While Visually Amusing to have paper vent flap,  I doubt that it is required or effective because air is drawn in from below and the sides.

Dust will still accumulate inside the case and power supply.

It's beyond simple and needs no picture. Have you seen a "rainbird" on a tractor exhaust pipe? The air comes up and the paper goes up, no air; paper goes down. The scotch tape goes at the front of the top/rear vent, attaching the paper.

Is that your computer?......lol.

How many times have you dusted off the top? Do you really want all that dust in your top fan? If it's distracting you can use black paper or cardstock. No black paper? Spraypaint one.

People with Pets especially cats have an issue with vicious dust bunnies.  Smokers and other harsh environments also are problematic.  

C

No, not a farmer. What you are describing is a modification which might change the airflow design. You should not need to modify the case for airflow. On all of my desktops, I open them up once a quarter and blow out any dust from the chassis and all fans.

Many trucks and tractors have rainbirds that don't affect horsepower etc. A piece of paper is NOT going to cause ANY restriction. It's actually a very good idea if you care about your computer. This open top feature is new to Dell and I'm sure the engineers wrestled with it a lot before using the "hot air rises" advantage. It is also protection from spilling etc, plus you can keep an eye on the fan action. I know of no other case that has a top vent.

The fan action would cause the cat to leap onto the machine toppling it over killing the hard drive.

OK leave yours open.

Chris, how many top vents are there, and lifting a piece of paper is going to hamper the fan flow? I shouldn't have to "modify" the airflow? That whole post baffles me.