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

[RoHe]

Mouse over that icon and you'll see temps for whatever other devices it's monitoring too, eg GPU, HDDs etc...

And if you haven't already done it, enable Speccy to load automatically at boot too.

That's what Search is for on this forum...

[Colorado_scott]

Yes, thanks. I did this and it worked fine. (mouse over icon - I actually clicked on the icon and the temp stayed on the taskbar). I'm not sure I want this running all the time as I just want to monitor my temp now and then to see what they are, and once I'm assured my temps are OK, I'll check every few months, but a neat feature.

Yes,... I get the search function.. and it works well at times. But come on, let's help (and by that I mean you - as your knowledge transcends many - but I'll help out when I can) those that don't know or use this and give answers (if you know them - and I'm sure you know most) - it just saves time. But I know it's hard - but it is helpful. They are not trying to cheat the system, some just want fast answers if available. Just a thought. 

Scott

[Colorado_scott]

Did the fan modification tonight.. yes, simple to do, about 45 minutes. These Nactua fans are amazingly quiet - but they are running slow as mine are plugged into the MB headers - which ensures no BIOS errors. There may be a point where I get the controller and control the fan speed manually, but this won't be for a while. I'll be checking temps in the summer when it's 95 outside. It's 67F in my room and the temps are about 8F over this (see picture). I will say these fans came very professionally packaged - it's not often I think I get what I pay for, but when you get these, and see the packaging and quality of the fans and heat sink, you wont regret getting them. Glad I made the mod. (I made the mod using the black spacers that came with the kit (as others have done) - you will get 3 sets of spacers, white, gray/brown and black. Plenty of Noctua thermal paste and some left over. As many have said, only need the 3mx16mm (4) and washers. Got mine at Ace hardware.

[Anonymous]

@Colorado_scott      Did the fan modification tonight..

Nice work . . . looks great!

If you switch to Noctua 3-pin fans they will not be modulated and run at max rpm. If you switch your temp readouts to centigrade the values are a lot cooler 

[Colorado_scott]

Thanks Dell...but as we know most anyone can do this and come up with the same results. I was not aware of the 3 pin change running at full speed... but does that throw a BIOS error? I can also get the NA-FC1 controller which I will be considering for future hot days. I'll need to test this for a while before doing that. Good point on the C readings... funny!

[Anonymous]

@Colorado_scott    I was not aware of the 3 pin change running at full speed... but does that throw a BIOS error? 

Most of my experience is over on the Alienware side    but my XPS 8930 is all 3-pin fans with no BIOS error. The Noctua fans usually come with some LNR adapters . . . so there is some optionality as to exactly what "full speed" means.

[Colorado_scott]

Hey Dell, does your 8930 have 3 or 4 pin headers on the motherboard? I did get several cables with the fans but none were 4-3 pin. I could easily remove the RPM wire (4th wire) and try it. I’m sure at high RPM the noise would be loud; but if would be an interesting test.

[Anonymous]

@Colorado_scott     does your 8930 have 3 or 4 pin headers on the motherboard? 

The TOP_FAN and CPU_FAN headers on the XPS 8930 are both 4-pin. I have a 3-pin top exhaust fan connected to TOP_FAN and a lower front intake fan and upper front intake fan (both 3-pin) connected to CPU_FAN with a Y-splitter. Both my CPU and graphics card are liquid cooled . . . so no fans. I wish I still had my original Noctua fans installed, which were much more quiet than the current fans.

[Colorado_scott]

Dell... that is a serious Computer!! Nice to see. As you state: I see you are running some liquid into the fittings I see on the CPU and graphic card. Amazing. Thanks for the info on the fans. I'll play with this. 

I wanted to post that I put too much Thermal Paste on my CPU when I made the fan / heat sink change... too much thermal paste actually degrades the transfer of heat to the heat sink. I did a lot of reading - after the fact, and found 'less is better'. Originally I put a thin layer of grease on the heat sink AND the CPU. In removing the HS I found way too much thermal paste had leaked over the sides (I should have put the thermal paste on just the CPU or the heat sink, not both). I then cleaned all and put a very thin layer of grease on the HS (I used a credit card to spread the thermal paste VERY thinly), then reattached. My temp dropped about 4-5 degrees on average. Below is a picture of the new temp.. I am happy now.

 

[dennis0201]

I'm new here. 

One question, in order to install that black backplate(included in NH-U9S) that we need to take out the entire MBD since we to attach on the rear side? Or is there anyway we can open the other side of 8940 chassis to have a easy way to access to the other side of MBD? thank you!