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January 8th, 2021 08:00
390 SFF CPU heatsink alternatives
I was wondering if there were other heatsinks besides stock that would work and cool better than the stock CPU cooler on a 390 SFF.
It already had the i5-2400. I upgraded the BIOS, upgraded to SSD, 16GB of RAM and all that went fairly well until I added a GT 1030. I undervolted and underclocked the GPU and it uses 25w/26w and runs at about 74°c when benchmarking with Heaven.
The CPU is another matter. The CPU operates fine but the temp gets up to 69°c when gaming or benchmarking. I would like to bring that down a few degrees so I was looking for a fan adapter cable and a heatsink that would work with Dell's proprietary setup.
I'd swap to another case but the headers aren't removable.
For $230 this thing stomps over a PC I built for $1,000 in the early 2000's and the only thing it could use is a better CPU cooler.
redxps630
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January 8th, 2021 08:00
try wipe clean factory thermal paste and apply new Arctic mx-4 thermal paste. i5-2400 TDP is 95W. Stock hsf with copper plate ought to be adequate to control its temp if there is good thermal interface. try the new thermal paste (unless already done) to see if that helps bring down temp.
Cabbage
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January 8th, 2021 11:00
I will have to try new thermal paste.
It's the small case holding in the heat. If I remove the side, the temp drops significantly. I can't add another case fan because there isn't a place to put one. I thought if I added a better heatsink, the fan would at least cool-down the CPU and maybe move a little air inside the case.
redxps630
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January 8th, 2021 12:00
I concur the small case is not good for air flow. Heatsink copper plate itself is not bad but there is not good air flow to push hot air out of case, therefore fan keeps circulating warm air back to heatsink. As soon as case side panel is open, hot air rises and escapes from case. Exchanging to a different design of heatsink, you still have to deal with air flow issue. I suppose you could cut a circular air vent in the side panel directly on top of cpu heatsink (and possibly with 4 holes in 80-92 mm square to mount an exhaust fan), but it may look bad cosmetically (unless done by a skilled mechanic).
Cabbage
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January 8th, 2021 13:00
I worked as a mechanic and with construction gangs, I'd just have to get my hands on some tools. I was really hoping not to have to modify the case. As an absolute last resort I could drill 5 holes in a Die pattern above the CPU and if that didn't work, route it out to the outer 4 holes and drop in a fan.
redxps630
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January 8th, 2021 16:00
I see. The mod of side panel is made extra difficult due to the presence of latch. It is not a flat surface. I guess you could cut a piece of thin plexiglass sheet the size of side panel and mod the sheet instead of the panel to experiment. But try the thermal paste first and if that brings the temp down to mid 50 it is not bad at all.
Cabbage
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January 8th, 2021 22:00
It may be possible to drill some holes in the top of the case and add two tiny fans to get some air flow but like I said, that would be an absolute last resort and I'll have to see how many spare places there are to plug into or maybe two fans wired together and running a single plug.