Inspiron 5680, adding a front fan?

[zapt]

Inspecting my new 5680 (the version with the DVD drive), I see a space in the front panel that I think is intended for a fan. I’m going to be filling the drive bays by adding a Samsung 860 EVO (SSD) as a boot drive and an older 1.5TB hard drive for backups, and I’m concerned about heat.

Anyone have any info on adding a fan, if necessary, such as size, issues I may encounter controlling it, etc.?

[JOcean]

Looks like 92 mm would work. Try the following link.

https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron-Desktops/Inspiron-5680-i7-8700-needs-a-better-cooler/td-p/61...

[zapt]

92mm looks right. Thanks!

[zapt · Accepted solution]

As suggested, the spot on the front of the 5680 case is designed to accept a 92mm fan. I bought a Noctua NF-A9 PWM. Successfully installing it wasn’t as simple as I’d hoped (it had to be installed entirely from inside the case), but I managed:

1. Removed the two screws holding the black graphics card support cage in place and moved it out of the way.
2. Inserted the four rubber pegs into the large holes provided in the case and then slid them up and out (top 2) or down and out (bottom 2) into the smaller lock holes meant for them.
3. Threaded all four pegs into the matching holes on the fan and then pulled each peg hard to lock it in place—except the bottom left one. There’s no way to reach that peg from within the case.
4. Plugged the fan’s cable into the nearby 4-pin PWM header on the motherboard.

Notes

• Even without the last peg secured, the fan seems solid enough and doesn’t wobble.
• Although I also removed the front cover of the 5680, doing so didn’t give access to the fan holes. I also removed the 7 or so screws that secured the additional cover beneath it. But I didn’t see a way to remove it, so I just put the screws back in.
• Connecting the fan to the PWM does not cause a startup error. Like the two original fans (back and CPU), its speed is correctly controlled by the motherboard.

[slosaab]

Zapt does your Noctua fan ever get to its intended speed? I have the inspiron 5676 (amd ryzen 7 2700x system) and I did the Noctua NF-B9 redux 1600 rpm PWM fan. I can't seem to ever get the fan to go above 700 RPM.. I dont understand why.

[Mikey41a]

I am having the same issue, did you ever solve it?

[EvilDeadGuy]

Hi what size rubber pegs did you get can you post a link ?

[speedstep]

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/863404-dell-inspiron-gaming-5676-liquid-cooling/

This model can be INTEL or AMD

5680

LGA1151 Socket  Intel Core i7 processor Like the BX80684I79700K

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-NVIDIA-Storage-Memory-HDD-GTX-Intel-GeForce-Inspiron-16GB-Core-1TB-1...

or

5675

AMD Ryzen  AM4 Processor

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-212E-20PK-R2-Direct-Contact/dp/B005O65JXI/

Liquid coolers tend to start at $90 and go up from there.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dell-Inspiron-5675-Desktop-AMD-Ryzen-3-8GB-Memory-1TB-HD-AMD-Radeon-RX-56...

If you install standard fan and it complains then the fans use non standard wiring.

Otherwise its standard.

Dell MB Pin Number	Function	Dell wire color	Pin #	INTEL Fan wire color	Description
1	Sens (TACH)	White/Yellow	3	Green	Sens (TACH)
2	+12v	Red	2	Yellow	+12v
3	Gnd	Black	1	Black	Gnd
4	PWM	Blue	4	Blue	PWM
5	Key	unused

Dell May not use standard wiring or Pinouts on their fan headers.

This can lead to self-destruction for a dell fan on standard motherboard or the other way round.

For 3 wire they reverse 12v and tach. 

Black Red White not

Black White Red

https://www.amazon.com/Dedicated-Adapter-Conversion-Cable-Dell/dp/B07F7CTMVZ

 https://www.walmart.com/ip/48729225

This is the CPU FAN for Example.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Optiplex-Processor-Aluminum-Heatsink/dp/B079YVX6HC

Dell MB Pin Number	Function	Dell wire color	Pin #	INTEL Fan wire color	Description
1	Sens (TACH)	White/Yellow	3	Green	Sens (TACH)
2	+12v	Red	2	Yellow	+12v
3	Gnd	Black	1	Black	Gnd
4	PWM	Blue	4	Blue	PWM
5	Key	unused

DELL FAN WIRING

DELL FAN WIRES

[zapt]

The Noctua fan comes with rubber pegs/posts to install it. I assume that most fans come with some sort of mounting pegs, given that preassembled computers (like our Dells) don’t generally include them.

[Mikey41a]

Correction, same issue with low RPM front fan, Noctua, about 800-ish rpm's. But I'm running a 5675 (very similar).