1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
69226
XPS 8930 SE, top fan not same as XPS 8920
I bought an 8920 SE a while ago and was surprised/pleased at how large the top fan was. It's super quiet too - but I don't do allot of heavy rendering or game play. I thought, big fan. slow speed, moves allot of air compared to small noisy fan at higher speed. Nice design. Until today.
I just got an 8930 SE today and did the usual internal inspection before power on and was shocked when I saw the top fan. Google images implies the 8930 initially had the same large fan my 8920 came with. The 8930 Service Manual also shows the large fan.
I'm afraid though that this is just cost cutting by Dell. Because someone had to design a special mount on which to mount this tiny fan. My 8920 has a K CPU and uses the same cooler - but a fan the size of the one shown in the 8930 Service Manual.
Or, maybe Dell had so many problems with the large fan (noise) that they just gave up. I'll call and see what they have to say. I see no mention online of this tiny replacement so maybe no one noticed/cares. I suppose if I can find nominal temperature specs to compare against and this case meets that it would be ok.
8930 top fan
8930 Service Manual
HanoverB
798 Posts
1
January 18th, 2019 22:00
There have been others that have had the same issue...it's wrong. I think you should contact Dell and tell them you were sent a unit with a wrong size fan. Worse case scenario you buy one off the big auction site.
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-possible-to-install-a-front-case-fan/m-p/6215868/highlight/true#M20058
rh310
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
January 19th, 2019 08:00
Thanks so much for that reference. I wasn't going to go as far as installing a front case fan so I glossed over those threads and missed the discussion you pointed out. I only got the unit yesterday so I'll call Dell and offer to let them either make it right or take it back. For what I paid, I have no interest in hunting down replacement parts even before I plug the thing in.
I'll have more SSD's than spinners in this one, compared to the 8920, but still, that tiny fan just doesn't make sense.
546insp
732 Posts
0
January 19th, 2019 10:00
So it looks like the 8920 (like mine) came with the 120mm top fan and the 8930 came with the 95mm fan. Mine was still noisy until I added the 120mm bottom front fan (with all the air directed from outside). It looks like Dell went backwards on an already bad design.
rh310
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
January 29th, 2019 15:00
It took a little back and forth discussion since the design has apparently changed, but Dell support was able to locate the correct part. Now I've got a 120mm top fan just like the 8920. Super quiet just like the one in my 8920.
ES7
11 Posts
0
February 13th, 2019 19:00
I do not care for the fan noise in my XPS 8930 SE either.
Just to clarify, did Dell send you the larger fan? Did you contact them over chat?
And you were able to install OK? Did you need to remove the smaller fan mount?
Sorry for all of the questions, but trying to figure out if it's possible to quiet this unit down a little bit.
546insp
732 Posts
0
February 13th, 2019 21:00
rh310
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
February 15th, 2019 09:00
Mine wasn't noisy, but I just protested that the small fan was a bad decision on their part - given the original case design and my experience with the 8920. They replaced it with the 120mm and all is well.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
•
17K Posts
0
February 15th, 2019 14:00
According to those two pics, looks like the (fan-air ) Heat-Sink/Cooler on the CPU itself has been upgraded as well.
Interesting to see the great-lengths and re-engineering Dell went through to keep this machine on old-school air-fan cooling (and not giving the nice Intel-i7's Liquid-Coolers).
546insp
732 Posts
0
February 15th, 2019 16:00
I guess they figured that thing on the CPU would compensate for the tiny top fan.
rh310
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
February 15th, 2019 19:00
From what I've read, certain level (K?) CPU's get that heatsink/fan combo. My 8920 had the same one and has a K CPU.
546insp
732 Posts
0
February 16th, 2019 08:00
Instead of just using that circular fan on the overclockable cpu's they should have put them on all of them. Don't they know there is a big fan noise problem? Skimp and lose sales; makes no sense to me. I would never buy an 8930 now that I know what they did to the upper case fan (92mm), and knowing how noisy my 8920 was before I added a lower front fan with ALL the air coming from outside, and all the tape I had to use to block all the extraneous air to make it work right.
rh310
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
February 17th, 2019 10:00
Given that - with gentle encouragement and persistence on my part - Dell was willing and able to obtain and install the 120mm that should have been there in the first place (and WAS there in my 8920), I wouldn't hesitate to get the 8930 and it's the reason I didn't return it. So I appreciate they did that. In the end they probably achieve their goal of cost savings because how many people other than this small tight knit group are going to even notice the new smaller fan?
I don't have a big a grief over the CPU fan because I've only had the K series CPU's. But if I didn't, then yes, why not use the better cooling solution on all their models. I suppose I can appreciate that someone along the way decided the K series NEEDED something more and took the time to implement that. But maybe it would just never passed testing without it. Who knows.
As far as fan noise, I've never had that issue on any Dell. But then I don't game or do allot that would run the system hard for an extended time. I guess that's where all the liquid cooling stuff comes into play.
546insp
732 Posts
0
February 17th, 2019 18:00
546insp
732 Posts
0
March 8th, 2019 18:00
Do the heatsink yourself, if you can change spark plugs you can do that. (very easy) Call them back and tell them you want a 120mm fan! They know there is a fan noise problem, don't let them get over on you.
ryfly
2 Posts
0
March 8th, 2019 18:00