XPS 8930, GPU and CPU Liquid Cooler, PSU, Case Swap, Upgrade

---

@AlienBlaster wrote:

Now we have one successful case for each of 8910, 8920 and 8930, I think it's time to make a master thread with focus on case swaps. I know Zeus already has a very nice and detailed thread but that's more specific to a particular model (8920 SE) with a particular case (NZXT H500). As you have experienced, there could be a lot of variables for different scenarios. It will be very useful to have them documented in a central thread.

There is a lot of useful information that we can share regarding to case swaps and cooling and noise control of XPS desktops in general, such as cooler and fan choices, configuration and placement. In my experience, they can make significant differences to the final outcomes.

I know this thread has a lot of related information already, but the problem is that your original title and motivation suggests on liquid cooling which may not be attractive to many users. I recommend you take the lead on making the master thread as you are a true expert and pioneer in many things, and are really good at documenting them. We can then link or copy all related information (such as Zeus's thread) to the master thread to make it easy to read and discuss for everybody.

 

---

AB

Thanks for the compliments  Nice of you, but hardly.  I am just a tinkerer that is willing to step outside of the box to figure things out.  I fortunately have the rest of the community to help me out when I have questions.

In regards to a main case swap thread, I sent a PM on to Zeus about perhaps changing the title on his NZXT case swap thread to a more generic title.  As you mentioned, the H500 case on the title limits the participation in that thread and those instructions wouldn’t work for the XPS 8930.

I am still waiting for a response.  In the meantime I slightly changed the title of this thread to reflect some of the other content.   Let’s wait on Zeus’ response before making a decision on a main case swap thread.   Your case swap is definitely worthy of being the initial post, its well written and has good pictures.  Who starts the thread isn’t so important. 

---

@AlienBlaster wrote:

Glad it all worked out! Great job HanoverB. I am sure the extra miles you went brought you extra pleasure.

How are temps now? Seeing any improvement? It might be the key deciding factor for you regarding whether going back to the old case.

---

AB

The CPU temps in the NZXT case are perhaps 3-4C degrees cooler than in the original case with liquid cooling.  Similar setup as intake fan in the upper position. Thought it would be more because of the wider 25mm fan on the cooler, better airflow and one more fan in the case as exhaust.   However, the machine is a lot quieter under load at these lower temps.  This is because the CPU cooler fan on the radiator never got above 670 RPM on the testing due to the conservative motherboard fan curve.

The GPU temps were pretty much the same. I think that is because I am running the GPU as exhaust in the new case whereas I had it as intake on the XPS 8930.  The fan on the GPU did run at a lower RPM and that is probably because of the lower intake fan pulling cool air in below the GPU(same setup as yours).

I think perhaps the effect of the new case might be more obvious if we were overclocking where we would then be testing the thermal limits of the radiators.  Right now the radiator and fans are just cruising along (CPU fan 600-700 RPM at load).

NZXT H500 Temps:

Windows 10 Home 64 bit
CPU  i7 8700
16GB stock Dell RAM
Corsair H60 (2018) CPU cooler with stock SP120 PWM  fan to CPU FAN header, tach cable to TOP FAN header
MSI SeaHawk GTX 1080 Hybrid GPU with liquid cooler and stock SP120 fan fixed speed to PSU. 
(2) NZXT Aer F120 case version fans fixed speed to PSU  (1200 RPM, 50.42 CFM, 28 dBa)
Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850W PSU
Samsung 970 EVO 1GB NVMe PCIE M.2 2280 SSD as boot drive
Samsung 860 EVO iTB SATA III 2.5" SSD

***Prime 95 v2.66 CPU Torture Test, Small FFT, 12 cycles.  30 minutes:    

CPU temp end of test runs 68C.  Max temp 72C 
Thermal throttling: NO
Clock speeds stable at 3492 mHz (~10% overclock @ 65W TDP), max 4290.5 mHz
Voltage stable at 1.022, max was 1.3

Upper Intake Fan (CPU FAN) for CPU cooler max RPM 670

***3d Mark Fire Strike Test for system at 1080P, ~ 7min.:

CPU Temps during  test max temp 66C 
Upper Intake Fan (CPU FAN) for CPU cooler max RPM 601

GPU Temps: Max 58C
GPU Fan speed, 1679  RPM 
GPU Clock max at 1987 mHz

Picture of the rear IO panel without a shield on the NZXT 500.  The Meshify case has the panel a little more inset rather than close to flush on the NZXT case.

Not hideous, but could be cleaner looking with a shield there.

Also a picture with that mesh DIY shield from the big auction site. Nice color match, black.  Adhesive on one side to attach outside the case or can be maneuvered inside the case behind the IO connectors, especially in the Fractal case that AlienBlaster is using where there is a large gap there to work with.

---

@rwgordon wrote:

More good work HanoverB, do you have a link/ brand of your pcie cards. Seems like if you go to the big auction site there is alot of them but questionable brands and sources. Did Windows require any drivers for them? Did you try the 20 pin to 9pin in a mix with your new case 20 pin usb to see if that would give you an error free start up?

---

RWG,. here are the two cards I used.  Both were plug and play with W10.  Tesla and Speedstep were discussing USB 3.0  PCI E cards in a thread somewhere and how certain cards were better than others in the Dell machines.  I thought I had it bookmarked.  They mentioned certain chipsets made better USB controllers.  I will keep looking for it.

I do know that these USB 3.0 cards depending on if they are PCI x 1 or PCI x2 can offer more power.   (longer card that take up more connectors, up to x4 in the XPS 8930) I also know that if you pay two to three times as much, you can get a USB 3. card  that has dedicated bandwidth for each USB port rather than sharing the bandwidth across all the ports for a particular card.  So it comes down how demanding the user is with the USB 3.0 interface.

At some point when you factor in the cost of a PCI-E card, then you have to look at a new motherboard that can do the same without the limitations of the loss of the XPS motherboard headers in a new case.

Here is the Realtek (Fresco on Device manager ) chip, non-powered card

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JFR2H64

Here is the Via chip with onboard power

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SJGGAE

Both relatively inexpensive.   Looking for a card that can handle Oculus on reviews would give you an idea how robust a particular card is.

Both cards tested out with similar USB 3.0 speeds when connected to the front panel of this NZXT case as when connected to the original front headers of the XPS 8930.  I used a non-powered Toshiba USB 3.0 portable HDD to test the speed as that should test the power capability of the PCIE card with no power.

Pic of installed cards and connectors

Powered card

Non-powered card in case with working case swap, IO panel hidden.  The front radiator is hidden in front of the fan behind the front bezel.

Here is a pic of the USB 3.0 female to USB 2.0 male connector that did not cause a startup error when connected to the black header on the motherboard.  I  could not get the front headers on the new case to work when I tried different combination of connectors using this cable.  That blue cable has to be connected into the blue header.

---

@HanoverB wrote:

---

@rwgordon wrote:

The case by the old harddrive location I trimmed with tin snips best I could get at it then used dremel with grinding wheel  for the rest, probably removed about half the thickness. Wish I had removed more as bottom of radiator  partially  blocked a  guide hole(closed side of case) for front bezel so had to shave it a bit. The H75 kit would have helped there with it's shorter radiator.

---

Good points. I had written down that there is 154mm under that metal lip that bends down  The H75 radiator is 5mm shorter in height and probably would fit right under that lip where the H60 hits..   It's a little thinner than the H60 radiator but should work fine.

---

rwgordon install of 25mm fan on Corsair H60 Radiator

Thanks to your install of the 25mm wide fan to the H60 CPU cooler I did a little more trimming on the case to be able to do this to replace the 15mm slim fan.  I have the case empty from the case swap so went ahead and did it.  Still on the fence if I go back to the original case.

I cut this piece off here

Now there is more room between the back of the fan and the connectors at that location.  Thank you!  The radiator slides forward under that metal lip now and rests against the two threaded posts for those two HDD bracket screws on either side.  Thought about shaving those down as well.  Looks like you are able to get under those posts so assuming you did that as well.

Like you said, the  H75 radiator should fit there under those posts as it is a little shorter. 

Space behind the fan for the main power connector and the USB connectors. 

BTW I used that reinforced Dremel cutting wheel, seems to hold up better than those thin ones.  Always wear safety glasses, a mask and move the wife's car out of the way when working in the garage just in case!

Update: I did cut those short posts off where the HDD bracket screws thread into.  The H60 radiator now fits under the side of the chassis.  The screws will still thread properly afterwards..  But I discovered (afterwards off course) that you can take a lineman plier (or any wide jaw plier with electrical tape on jaws to protect the metal) and slightly bend the sheet metal upwards to get more clearance.  Thanks again Ray.

---

@HanoverB wrote:

How to add a lower intake fan for $15.00:

 Alienware Aurora R5/R6 Fan with bracket, usually available on the big auction site.

 

Will fit in the lower front position of the XPS 8930 at chassis openings without any modifications.  It just snaps in. The Aurora R5/R6/R7 have a similar metal chassis as the XPS 8930  and these front fans are stock in those machines.  There is a mounting location on the XPS 8930 that isn't being used.

OEM fan is the same fan used in the upper exhaust location and is a 4 pin PWM fan you can connect to a Y cable to your TOP FAN header along with that existing upper exhaust fan.  This is the easy route to take, but look for any noise problems from these two fans depending on how hard you push your machine.

You can change the fan easily as well to a quieter and slower turning 3 pin fan if you choose to run fixed speed off your PSU or if you have your top exhaust fan already running at fixed speed (more on this below)

If you have the i7 8700 and are having problems with fan noise you should consider the change to a quieter fan in the front intake location.  The Noctua NF-SA12 FLX fan at fixed speed of 1200 RPM connected to a molex adapter off your 850W PSU would be the best fan you could put at this location.  It does come with the molex adapter,Y adapter, and extension cable in the package.  Nice balance of airflow/noise for the lower compartment and to create some airflow into the machine.

Ideally you would have both the top exhaust fan and lower intake fan changed to the Noctua NF-SA12 FLX fan and running them both fixed at 1200 RPM connected to a 3 pin Y adapter to the TOP FAN header.  You will have constant airflow through the case at acceptable noise levels.

The stock case by design is a negative pressure case with no intake fans and the single top exhaust fan pulls air into the case from any openings in the case: front, back and bottom.  Unfortunately there are many obstructions in the upper compartment and heated air is pulled into the case at the back of the machine where the blower type GPU exhausts heated air.  Adding any intake fans help change the case to a balanced pressure state which directs the airflow where you want it across the key components and reduces the airflow coming in from the back of the case.

You should also remove any unused hard drive brackets in the lower compartment and also the metal pci tabs at the back of the case.

 

I bought the fan with bracket to install in the XPS 8930 before I decided to pull the MSI Sea Hawk GTX 1080 out of my XPS 8500 and put the GPU cooling radiator in that location.

Picture shows the bracket installs in same location as the Aurora at the front of the chassis.  Easy snap in upgrade on the XPS 8930. 

 

---

Yes, I bought this bracket and fan off ebay, and you have to put a different 120mm fan in the bracket, the fan that comes with it will make the box sound like a vacuum cleaner.

Listen here 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eArz6z1m6BQb2paS7

---

@chosmer wrote:

---

@HanoverB wrote:

---

---

Yes you have to remove the SE cooler. The connection for the top fan is under the heat sink ( poor design there ). That being said, it gave me a chance to redo the thermal paste.  So I had a Thermaltake 120mm fan available and replaced the 92mm one. Connected it to the top fan plug. Now the front fan is not connected to that top fan plug and is now running on direct power. So that makes the machine sound like a vacuum cleaner now if I have that plugged in. The video here show the temps I get with that fan plugged in and the new top fan. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NKzECLo5EXSBHDCJ7

As you can see, not to bad, CPU of 70c and GPU of 74c. Getting 80FPS. Downside is that front fan is noisy as **bleep**, and I know that would bother a lot of people.  I can connect it back to the top fan plug using the Deep Cool FH-10, just going to be a pain since I have to remove the SE cooler again. It will run a little quieter since it will only run up with higher temps, but then I get an error on boot. It would be cool if they made some sort of internal fan control that you could connect via usb and was software controlled. 

Though I did run without the front fan for about 3 hours last night and I was getting about the same temps. CPU of 74c and GPU of 79c.  I might be able to live with that 4-5c difference. Maybe if I am doing some heavy raiding I can connect the front fan, since I will have headphones on anyway LOL. 

---

Just swap out that lower fan in the bracket to a quieter fan and you should be GTG with those temps.  Good work. 

I had forgotten that that cooler blocks both fan headers as well as the 4 pin power connector from the PSU.  Putting a fan control hub makes sense in that situation when you are setting up the airflow in your machine.

NZXT and Corsair both make controllers that can do fan controls and LED lighting that connect to USB 2.0 headers.  It is possible to set that up in this machine, let me know if you have an interest.  Possible to control fan speeds and noise levels though using the correct fan and low noise adapters available with connections to the motherboard and fixed power.

---

Duh! I didn't think about replacing that front fan. That was the one that came with the bracket that I ordered off ebay and is the stock fan for the Alienware box. I have another Thermaltake 120mm fan available I can use. I will certainly look into those controllers as well, though I will probably not need is once I put a quieter fan in the front. I let you know :) Thank for all the input too!!! 

---

Update, I put that Thermaltake 120mm I had in and MUCH MUCH quieter! So ran some WoW for about 6 hours and never went over 80c on either the CPU & the GPU. I certainly would love to get it under 70c which is where my older box would run, but I am happy with those numbers. Besides I do not think I will be doing any OC anytime soon. 

HanoverB, 

Your trimming the case frame is much cleaner / precise looking than mine came out! Are you going to move back to XPS case? As for me, I am stuck in a loop, already purchase a Fractal Arc Midi case for $40 @ Newegg , need to add pcie usb internal header card $20+ or upgrade mother board Z370 or  Z390 $110-$150+ then have to deal with activating windows on it as upgrade to Dell XPS license/key. Or just live with the few short comings of the XPS 8930 case. I hate to lose the usb C connector on the front of the case as a few years from now it could be handy to have there. So like I said , I just keep going in circles on this, but like you I like to tinker!

---

@HanoverB wrote:

---

@AlienBlaster wrote:

Now we have one successful case for each of 8910, 8920 and 8930, I think it's time to make a master thread with focus on case swaps. I know Zeus already has a very nice and detailed thread but that's more specific to a particular model (8920 SE) with a particular case (NZXT H500). As you have experienced, there could be a lot of variables for different scenarios. It will be very useful to have them documented in a central thread.

There is a lot of useful information that we can share regarding to case swaps and cooling and noise control of XPS desktops in general, such as cooler and fan choices, configuration and placement. In my experience, they can make significant differences to the final outcomes.

I know this thread has a lot of related information already, but the problem is that your original title and motivation suggests on liquid cooling which may not be attractive to many users. I recommend you take the lead on making the master thread as you are a true expert and pioneer in many things, and are really good at documenting them. We can then link or copy all related information (such as Zeus's thread) to the master thread to make it easy to read and discuss for everybody.

 

---

AB

Thanks for the compliments  Nice of you, but hardly.  I am just a tinkerer that is willing to step outside of the box to figure things out.  I fortunately have the rest of the community to help me out when I have questions.

In regards to a main case swap thread, I sent a PM on to Zeus about perhaps changing the title on his NZXT case swap thread to a more generic title.  As you mentioned, the H500 case on the title limits the participation in that thread and those instructions wouldn’t work for the XPS 8930.

I am still waiting for a response.  In the meantime I slightly changed the title of this thread to reflect some of the other content.   Let’s wait on Zeus’ response before making a decision on a main case swap thread.   Your case swap is definitely worthy of being the initial post, its well written and has good pictures.  Who starts the thread isn’t so important. 

---

Zeus changed the title of that thread to a more generic title for the XPS 8190, 8920, 8930

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8910-8920-8920-SE-8930-Case-Upgrade-Mods/m-p/7239064#M22250

---

---

@rwgordon wrote:

HanoverB, 

Your trimming the case frame is much cleaner / precise looking than mine came out! Are you going to move back to XPS case? As for me, I am stuck in a loop, already purchase a Fractal Arc Midi case for $40 @ Newegg , need to add pcie usb internal header card $20+ or upgrade mother board Z370 or  Z390 $110-$150+ then have to deal with activating windows on it as upgrade to Dell XPS license/key. Or just live with the few short comings of the XPS 8930 case. I hate to lose the usb C connector on the front of the case as a few years from now it could be handy to have there. So like I said , I just keep going in circles on this, but like you I like to tinker!

 

---

Back in old case, changed a few things.

1) Using a 25mm wide single fan on Corsair H60 (2018) CPU cooler radiator like your setup.

 OEM Corsair SP120 fan on the H60 fine since the fan speed never gets above 1000 RPM with the cooler.  Noise is really not an issue with this fan.  

2) Wrapped the tubing on both the Corsair H60 and MSI Sea Hawk units with NTE Self closing wrap.

Will run some stress tests again sometime this week just to check things.

This Corsair fan never spins above 700 RPM with the managed CPU temps and is fairly quiet and is muted by the radiator in the pull position behind the radiator.  No reason to use a different fan unless you choose to fix the fan speed by connecting it to the PSU for lower temps.

Used the CJR SATA to 3 x 4 Pin Fan Power Adapter here to connect the upper exhaust fan and lower front intake fixed speed fans.  Easier cable and connector management than using the bulky molex connectors in the area below the GPU.  I was able to remove the molex modular cable from the PSU.  PSU cable bundle and lower compartment looking less cluttered.

Final connections:

Corsair H60 CPU cooler pump power to SATA connector from PSU, 3 pin tach cable to TOP FAN Header

CPU cooler radiator fan:  Corsair SP120 fan 4 pin PWM fan connected to CPU FAN header on motherboard  

GPU cooler radiator fan: Noctua NF-A12x15 FLX, 3 pin fan at fixed speed 1400 RPM using LNA to PSU

Upper Exhaust fan:  Noctua NF-S12A FLX 3 pin fan at fixed speed 1200 RPM to PSU

---

@chosmer wrote:

---

@chosmer wrote:

---

@HanoverB wrote:

---

---

Yes you have to remove the SE cooler. The connection for the top fan is under the heat sink ( poor design there ). That being said, it gave me a chance to redo the thermal paste.  So I had a Thermaltake 120mm fan available and replaced the 92mm one. Connected it to the top fan plug. Now the front fan is not connected to that top fan plug and is now running on direct power. So that makes the machine sound like a vacuum cleaner now if I have that plugged in. The video here show the temps I get with that fan plugged in and the new top fan. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NKzECLo5EXSBHDCJ7

As you can see, not to bad, CPU of 70c and GPU of 74c. Getting 80FPS. Downside is that front fan is noisy as **bleep**, and I know that would bother a lot of people.  I can connect it back to the top fan plug using the Deep Cool FH-10, just going to be a pain since I have to remove the SE cooler again. It will run a little quieter since it will only run up with higher temps, but then I get an error on boot. It would be cool if they made some sort of internal fan control that you could connect via usb and was software controlled. 

Though I did run without the front fan for about 3 hours last night and I was getting about the same temps. CPU of 74c and GPU of 79c.  I might be able to live with that 4-5c difference. Maybe if I am doing some heavy raiding I can connect the front fan, since I will have headphones on anyway LOL. 

---

Just swap out that lower fan in the bracket to a quieter fan and you should be GTG with those temps.  Good work. 

I had forgotten that that cooler blocks both fan headers as well as the 4 pin power connector from the PSU.  Putting a fan control hub makes sense in that situation when you are setting up the airflow in your machine.

NZXT and Corsair both make controllers that can do fan controls and LED lighting that connect to USB 2.0 headers.  It is possible to set that up in this machine, let me know if you have an interest.  Possible to control fan speeds and noise levels though using the correct fan and low noise adapters available with connections to the motherboard and fixed power.

---

Duh! I didn't think about replacing that front fan. That was the one that came with the bracket that I ordered off ebay and is the stock fan for the Alienware box. I have another Thermaltake 120mm fan available I can use. I will certainly look into those controllers as well, though I will probably not need is once I put a quieter fan in the front. I let you know :) Thank for all the input too!!! 

---

Update, I put that Thermaltake 120mm I had in and MUCH MUCH quieter! So ran some WoW for about 6 hours and never went over 80c on either the CPU & the GPU. I certainly would love to get it under 70c which is where my older box would run, but I am happy with those numbers. Besides I do not think I will be doing any OC anytime soon. 

---

Good work.

That's a lot of raiding...6 hours straight?

Hi BanoverB,

Thanks for the info about temps. I was genuinely interested. 

Those numbers look very good either way. I understand your choice of going back to the XPS case, since you already achieved optimal temps and noise level with your out-of-the-box thinking and doing. You will see very little benefits with case swapping when you can liquid cool both CPU and GPU and have sufficient air flow for both radiators. If you have no difficulties accommodating other parts in the case (I see you use SSDs only), the XPS case also has the advantage of having a much smaller form factor (25L vs 35L for H500). Your moddings with the front panel RGB fan frames look really cool and unique.

Your exploration will still greatly benefit others who consider trade-offs and even viability between various options. Case swapping and/or air cooling may still be easier and/or more economic than case modding and/or liquid cooling for many.

Also thanks for working with Zeus on creating and maintaining threads documenting the subject.  

---

@AlienBlaster wrote:

Hi BanoverB,

Thanks for the info about temps. I was genuinely interested. 

Those numbers look very good either way. I understand your choice of going back to the XPS case, since you already achieved optimal temps and noise level with your out-of-the-box thinking and doing. You will see very little benefits with case swapping when you can liquid cool both CPU and GPU and have sufficient air flow for both radiators. If you have no difficulties accommodating other parts in the case (I see you use SSDs only), the XPS case also has the advantage of having a much smaller form factor (25L vs 35L for H500). Your moddings with the front panel RGB fan frames look really cool and unique.

Your exploration will still greatly benefit others who consider trade-offs and even viability between various options. Case swapping and/or air cooling may still be easier and/or more economic than case modding and/or liquid cooling for many.

Also thanks for working with Zeus on creating and maintaining threads documenting the subject.  

---

You are welcome.   I went back to the old case, just for those reasons you astutely stated.    

I also put my computer into an enclosure and the NZXT 500 case would not fare well with the airflow from the side.  The NXZT 400 case would have been better due to the dual intake and better airflow in general.  If I would have kept a case swap I would have kept the first case we swapped, the Fractal Meshify Mini that has the airflow from the front.  

The Fractal case belonged to a friend and I was able to use it before he used it for his build,  I gave the NZXT case to my grandson after swapping back to this case.  

Man, it took only 30 minutes or so to disassemble the old case for the case swap.  Took me HOURS to get it back into the old case.....those cramped quarters and the PSU bracket are a pain.  The behind the motherboard cable management and PSU shroud in those other cases are really great.

Update on another case swap:

I did a successful case swap.using a Phanteks Eclipse P350X.

Obviously, the need to do a case swap is primarily aimed at addressing the lack of cooling options we have with the XPS 8930 case.   I like this case as it gives you these options, and adds built-In subtle RGB lighting in an affordable package ($60-$70). Sweet case!

Priced the same as the NZXT H500, less than the Meshify C Mini.

Case swap went well, followed the workarounds, brought the upper IO panel into the case, and there were no problems.

Wi-fi Antenna locations before I finished the cable management. Tucked into tie down tabs.  

I’ll add some more pics after I add some fan frames and details.

Little more about the case

http://www.phanteks.com/Eclipse-P350X.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJEaKt7zv5o

Details on next couple of posts about rear IO shield and this case swap.

Full summary on this case swap here

Finished pics: