XPS 8930, GPU upgrade, #7

OK thanks for that. I'll follow your advice and carefully remove the pre installed thermal pad and clean the heatsink surface with isopropyl alcohol and apply the Arctic MX-4 to the CPU before I install the heatsink assembly.

The Focus Plus series PSU's are still available, just not from any of the CDN suppliers. They were indicating them as being back ordered ( 750W and 850W) with no firm delivery dates available. I contacted Seasonic and was told that the OneSeasonic initiative was an effort to streamline their product naming scheme, and the Focus GX series was the Focus Plus series equivalent in both specs and dimensions, and they are available through newegg.ca

https://www.newegg.ca/seasonic-focus-plus-850-gold-ssr-850fx-850w/p/N82E16817151188

I agree with you and @Vic384 about carefully removing and cleaning off the pre-applied thermal paste and applying the Arctic MX-4 when I install the heatsink. I really wasn't sure about it, but when you both made reference to it not having any type of removable protective covering, I thought that removing it would be the most likely advice. Thanks for confirming this.

I have watched a number of youtube videos about applying the thermal paste, and see that there are a number of different opinions about the best application method (pea, line, etc.) I haven't yet decided which method I'll use, but I'm leaning towards spreading a thin layer of paste to make sure that the CPU is evenly covered and the MX-4 came with a small spreading tool. I've never done this and want to do it properly. Spreading the paste seems like the most effective method to ensure the CPU is completely covered, and the least likely way to screw it up by not getting complete coverage.

Thanks

According to the OneSeasonic page, the OneSeasonic Series Name 'FOCUS GX-850' is equivalent to the OLD Series name 'FOCUS PLUS 850 Gold'. It appears the reason for the change is to streamline product naming, but other than the name it appears that the specifications are exactly the same. Here is the OneSeasonic page: https://seasonic.com/oneseasonic

Check that....thanks

I was going to post that OneSeasonic link as it was all part of my communication with them, but figured people were probably already aware of this and I was just late to the game in finding this out.

Thanks again

So newegg.ca ends up sending me a Seasonic Focus Plus Series 850W PSU (SSR-850FX) instead of the Focus GX-850 Series advertised on their website and ordered as such.

Wasted a couple of hours on the phone with them trying to get it sorted out and have the GX series sent. They finally concede that it's not what was ordered, but they only have the FX Series in stock.

May be able to get a GX Series from Amazon.com but the delivery wouldn't be until sometime later in February, and frankly I'm not confident that it won't end up being a repeat scenario of ordering the GX Series and being sent the FX Series which would put me back to where I am right now.

I understand the OneSeasonic initiative, but any thoughts on just going ahead and using the FX Series?

Thanks

Thanks Vic

Don't believe as per @Anonymous's fan/psu upgrade, that I'll have any need to use the Molex to SATA 3.3 Adapters.

I was more annoyed by the blatant product misrepresentation on the newegg.ca website and the time wasted trying to explain to them that the GX is a more recent version of the FX. Only to finally, after directing them to the OneSeasonic page, have them admit that their product description is incorrect, and all their current inventory is in fact the FX Series.

Unfortunately as indicted in the excerpt below from email correspondence with Seasoninc previous to the purchase, they have no control over what customers will be sent when purchasing from their partners:

 "The new FOCUS GX/PX is currently distributed. However, we cannot guarantee the way stocks between FOCUS Plus and FOCUS GX/PX are handle by our partners. While the two reference might still be available, you may end to have one or the other."

I get that, but again, the product misrepresentation exhibited by newegg.ca is the more important factor that goes completely unaddressed. Lesson learned about doing any further transactions with newegg.ca which I would discourage in the strongest possible terms.

Thanks again

Thanks for that and now that I've received pretty much all the items for the project, I will post some images as I proceed with it. Be prepared for more questions!....and thanks to all for answering many of the questions that I've had so far.

Online shopping can be convenient for a lot of items, and have never encountered any issues with Amazon, but there's still something to be said for 'brick and mortar' distributors where you can actually see and touch what your purchasing, and not simply hope that they send you what's displayed on their website. 

Thanks again

Have completed the Fans and PSU upgrade mod on this project and can now proceed to the next step, which is replacing the existing GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050TI to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super Founders Edition GPU.

I started this thread looking for information regarding replacing the GPU while staying within the original 460W PSU's power capabilities to avoid changing it out, but soon realized after reading so many knowledgeable replies from posters on the forum, that this simply wouldn't be worth the effort, and that I should probably reassess changing out the PSU in order to broaden the range of GPU's that could be used, and to also consider installing the fans in order to facilitate air flow throughout the case.

Many thanks to everyone who replied and offered advice and opinions about how to go about doing this, and again special thanks to @Anonymous  who answered many of my questions, and who's excellent thread regarding the Fans and PSU Upgrade, provided the required information and was used to allow me to complete this mod. I would strongly recommend anyone contemplating changing their fans and psu, to read and follow this thread carefully, and all the other useful information that so many others shared. Once again, thanks to all.

I wanted to post some images of this mod being preformed, and although they are in no way as informative as the images @Anonymous  posted in his thread, they may be helpful in providing some additional visual insight to anybody thinking about carrying out this mod.

XPS 8930 Unmodified

92mm CPU Fan Heatsink

Motherboard Connector / Can not overemphasize @Dell630i's comment regarding being extremely careful when removing to avoid damaging the pins

GPU Removed

CPU Connector / Top Exhaust Fan Connector / CPU Fan Connector

92mm Top Exhaust Fan / CPU Connector / Top Fan Connector / CPU Fan Connector (removed)

92mm Top Exhaust Fan Removed

i7-8700 Processor Cleaned and Prepped

Original CPU Fan Heatsink / Replacement CPU Fan Heatsink

Seasonic Focus Plus PSU 850W / Dell OEM PSU 460W

Exact Fit / Simple 4 Screw Installation

Noctua 120mm Top Exhaust Fan Installed with connector tucked underneath fan / Seasonic CPU connector installed and bent at 90 degrees and also tucked underneath fan

Arctic MX-4 Thermal Compound

Thermal Compound applied to CPU

Heatsink Assembly Installed / CPU Fan Connector threaded underneath heatsink

CPU Fan Installed

Noctua 120mm Upper Intake Fan Installed using @Dell630i's weather stripping bracket method / Seasonic motherboard power connector installed

Noctua 120mm Lower Intake Fan Installed using the R5 Bracket / Front Intake Fans powered directly from the PSU with use of the SATA fan splitter cable

Lower rear HDD cage removed / GPU re-installed

SATA Power Adapter Cable for HDD and intake fans secured / Slimline SATA Power Adapter cable for optical drive also connected but not visible

Wasn't able to get the cable management quite as good as @Dell630i but will take another run at it when the GPU is swapped out

Vented areas to the inside of the case sealed off with Gorilla tape / Optical drive has not yet been re-installed and connected in this image

Top cover / front bezel / optical drive / side cover re-installed

Thanks very much

Carefully following the procedure that you laid out in order to complete the upgrade made it possible, and the results of doing this speak for themselves. I would still recommend that anybody doing this mod, closely follow the instructions in the upgrade link that you posted for a completely detailed explanation of the procedure. If any of the images that I posted provide some additional visual cues that might be useful, then that's just paying it forward a little bit.

There does seem to be a marked improvement in the core temps as indicated in the HWMonitor screen image posted below, and the fan noise is a little more noticeable, but not to the point of distraction. Knowing that the fan noise represents some airflow being introduced into the case, doesn't bother me at all.

The one aspect of the HWMonitor that I don't understand, and this question may have already been answered in doing some online research into it, is why the fan speed is represented in a percentage format (20%) as opposed to an RPM indication. If I'm understanding correctly what I have read so far, is this because all fans are no longer connected to the motherboard? Only the CPU fan and top exhaust fan are pinned back into the motherboard, with the two front intake fans being powered directly by the PSU. Or am I completely missing something here?

I can visually confirm that all three of the Noctua fans are spinning at a good RPM, and the CPU fan is also rotating at a good rate. So it's not critical for the MWMonitor to display the fan speeds in RPM, I just wondered if changing the display from a percentage to an RPM indication was possible or even required.

Thanks

I agree with your thinking, and realized after I had posted, that there was no way for the two front intake fans to be seen by any sensing program as they are being powered directly from the PSU, and the top exhaust fan is a 3 pin so it's not modulated and is spinning at 1200 RPM as are the two front intake fans. And yes you are correct that the CPU blower fan was a 4 pin connector.

I only installed the HWMonitor after the mod had been completed, so I don't know exactly where higher readings for the max core temps were gathered from, and the screen image was taken with the system under no load other than the MWMonitor running. So I'm not sure if this would have any bearing on the CPU blower fan only indicating 20%. (Although in just checking it now as I'm posting this, it's still registering at 20%)

Would perhaps clearing the min/max values under the 'view' tab in HWMonitor and allowing it to refresh the information be of any use?

Again, I ultimately agree with you, that the lower core temps are the most important factor, and can live with the HWMonitor information, as long as there are no issues,  but can't help still being curious about that fan reading of 20%.

Thanks