XPS Desktops

[svdgabriel]

Hello there

I would greatly appreciate any help to find a new/better 3rd party cooler for my XPS 8940. It came with the thin and small stock cooler and is overheating the whole time. I got a i9-10900 processor with 128 GB of RAM and I need this computer to generate some GIS layers. These jobs take 2-4 hrs every time and I can see that the processor is throttling or C° 97+ all the time.

I tried the Noctua 15S but the problem is there is no space for the bracket under the motherboard. The stock fan screws directly into the chassis from above.

Thank you very much

[HanoverB]

@Anonymous is correct 100%.    I did mention that particular 120mm low profile cooler but it isn't optimum for this type of case.  It's quiet and it will get the same 70 degree C temps as the 92mm cooler but an upright cooler with airflow directed back to front is better in the XPS 8940 case.  The air through the cooler exhausts straight out of the back.

It was mentioned that the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO did not fit the G5 case,  it was too tall at 158.5 mm.   

So would need to double check if the 158mm height coolers would fit the XPS 8940.

In regards to the two (so far) Noctua 92mm coolers mentioned that would fit using machine screws for the installation of the mounting bracket, here is a NH-U9S and NH-D9L performance comparison 

9L Compatibility OC headroom

[Flying Elbow]

I will have the i7-10700, RTX 2060, 500W PSU, 32Gb RAM, 1Tb Nvme m.2 ssd.

I see that NH-D9L's height is 110mm so it will fit. is it clear that Nh-U12A which is 158mm will fit?

[HanoverB]

RE: 158mm cooler

From this post, @theone0612  measured about 151mm to the side cover...

"this one's height was 136mm with a clearance of about 15mm to the case cover. "

Check the XPS 8940 case, just slide the cover back and check height next to the stock cooler from motherboard to cover.....should be similar.

He also used some M3 x 10mm (body) +6mm hex male-female standoffs to use a spacer to install the TX3 EVO after removing the plastic pins......then used a M3 x 12mm machine screw and washer to fasten the CPU cooler into the threads in the standoff on the motherboard.   Pretty slick.

Pic of his install is on that post.

Standoffs Look like this

[svdgabriel]

well, I did not had the hardware to try that, sounds like it should work. I honestly was a bit desperate on getting this running ASAP. I was also concern about the tolerances and the last thing I wanted was a bad mounted CPU cooler. So I stick with modify the case to make the back plate provided with the Noctua fan fit. I hope future users find this and get some ideas about what they can try before cutting anything. I'm sure there will be a lot of people that will benefit from better cooling solutions on these high performance chips. Thank you

[brimstn]

Re: Noctua NH-9DL

I installed this over the weekend using m3x16 screws using Screw -> m3 washer -> bracket -> spacer -> board.  The 14mm ones (first pic) are too short to go through the washer, bracket and spacer and have enough threads to engage the threads, 16mm is perfect (second pic).  Used the black 115x spacers and got excellent thermal paste spread.

m3x14m3x16

[Anonymous]

@brimstn    Noctua NH-9DL

Great Job!  . . . and great photos. Thanks for sharing.

Is that a 92mm fan at the back exhaust, or still @ 80mm?  How do your CPU temps and noise level compare to OEM?

[brimstn]

It's a 92mm NF-A9.  Neither the case nor CPU fan threw any POST errors, boots up like normal.  Honestly, I didn't take any pre-install measurements...I just knew the stock CPU cooler was inadequate and immediately set to replacing it.  Noise is about the same, maybe a little quieter...but since I hadn't ran the machine under load prior to installing these I really have no baseline except for idle noise/temps.

During the CPU portion of Passmark, the CPU got to around 68c.  Idling with Chrome running it currently sits around 29-30c.

[Anonymous]

@brimstn    During the CPU portion of Passmark, the CPU got to around 68c. Idling with Chrome running it currently sits around 29-30c

Awesome!  That is a success story.

[paa55112]

I have the standard Intel 10700 + RX2060 +32 GB + 2 SSDs.

Should I replace the fan on the CPU cooler? If so, what Noctua model would be a good choice??

Thanks,

paa55112

[HanoverB]

@paa55112 

Just follow @brimstn lead, he did a great job with pictures on the post above using the Noctua NH-9DL.

Just get 4- m3 x 16mm machine screws and m3 washers and use the spacers that came with the install kit.