XPS 8940, Better 3rd party cooler

@LikeHerdingCats  I use paper towel and the Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal Material Remover & Surface Purifier Kit, ACN-60ML, that I bought from Amazon.

I have plenty of 3D printing capacity and located in the northeastern USA. I plan to print a 120 mm fan mount (same that was linked earlier to Thingiverse)

Looking forward to receiving my machine soon!

@LikeHerdingCats just to add another variation to the great advice you already got on removing the paste, I did it using one of those cotton discs and a bit of rubbing alcohol. I wanted to use that rather than a tissue for fear of the tissue coming apart and leaving lint. I also preferred cotton to paper since it doesn't create static. 

Not sure what's going on, but some of my posts have been quickly disappearing today.  Anyway, I hope that this stays posted this time.

I’m still struggling to purchase the Voltage Regulator (VR) heatsink, Dell P/N 612F7, for my XPS 8940 here in UK, even the overpriced Deal4GO heatsink is currently unavailable on Amazon UK.

So, I’ve been looking at other solutions.  As I understand it, the reason to fit the heatsink is because there’s a possibility for reduced air flow over the VRs when using a tower cooler rather the original downdraft cooler fitted to non-k processors, which could lead to the VRs overheating.  Ensuring the area has sufficient air flow should therefore provide an acceptable solution.

The area of the VR heatsink is around 60mm x 30mm.  I’m looking to design a 3D-printed mounting frame that will support two 30mm square Pi-fans.  These small 5V 2-wire fans are only 7mm or 8mm thick.  I’ve not designed for 3D printing before but OpenSCAD doesn’t look too hard to learn, so I’m going to give it a go.

What do people think?  One question I have, directed to those who are using the Noctua NH-U9S cooler in a twin fan arrangement, is whether there is sufficient room under the exhaust side fan to install a couple of small 8mm thick fans over the VRs, especially the taller ones closer to the CPU socket.

@Jon-62  (and others here)

You are right to be concerned about cooling the VRMs! In fact, I am surprised that so many people are putting tower coolers into the XPS8940 without putting the accompanying required heatsink onto the motherboard VRMs.

I ordered my VRM heatsink from Dell. They had stock in the Netherlands. I paid for this part and the for UPS shipping. You need to telephone the main Sales number (NOT technical support), say hello and then immediately ask to be put through to the "Out of Warranty" sales colleagues. Once you are put though, tell the person that you want to purchase the VRM heatsink, part number  0612F7 (or 612F7) for the XPX8940 PC. Also ask them to provide you with your UPS tracking number.

Below is a link to pics of my project -- which also included the new VWD01 cooler (I ordered that from eBay), plus a Noctua NF-A9 PWM rear extractor fan (ordered from Amazon). The thing I like about the VWD01 tower cooler, is that the fan sits low enough to blow air directly over the black VRM heatsink. ps. I notice that the fans of other manufacturers' tower coolers can be sitting a couple of centimeters higher (than the fan in the VWD01), so their airflow could be too high and could miss the VRM heatsink.

Another thing to note: I have also blocked-off the large grille/vent in the rear of the case, situated immediately above the rear fan port, so that air is better drawn through the case from the front-bottom grilles upwards and rearwards over the components to the extractor and expelled. See the image I've included, I've highlighted the area I've blocked-off, with a bright red circle...

ps. By having that big hole there -- ie. right above the rear fan -- air is just being sucked in through that hole, and blown straight out again by the fan just below it, without going over any components. It also reduces the negative pressure that you need inside the case.

NB. I haven't installed an intake fan at the front, because forcing air inside would also counteract the differential negative pressure which the extractor is trying to maintain inside the case.

Hope this helps.

Link to images of my project...

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1D8nq0z1ERwdO-e84fa9-hxt3Pt2EOcRP?usp=sharing

@Mart_320 I totally agree that putting a heatsink on the VRM (even if not the official Dell one) is even more important for those of us with aftermarket tower coolers. At one point, I was also thinking of getting a 4mm Noctua to install under the 2.5" SATA drive bays to blow cold air towards the VRM heatsink. But in all my stress testing, the VRM never goes above 80, so I guess the heatsink and the residual air it gets from the CPU cooler (Noctua NH-u9S with 2 fans) is enough. 

Dell doesn't sell the VRM heatsink direct in Canada either, it looks like only US folks are lucky to get that at $5. I ended up buying mine from Amazon.com for a total of about $40 CAD with shipping. Other options are to buy any square or rectangular heatsink (there are many cheap options on Amazon, like this ) and stick it to the VRM chips with adhesive thermal pads. 

I have a XPS 8940 with the K i7 cpu, the unit has an upgraded  CPU cooler.

@bertro514 

For customers in North America region, apparently Amazon.com is re-stocking the VRM heatsink on 23rd April here:

Amazon.com: Deal4GO VR Voltage Regulator VRM HeatSink Cover Replacement for Dell XPS 8940 OptiPlex 7080 G5 SE 5000 0612F7 612F7: Industrial & Scientific

ps. I used a clean microfiber cloth to get the old paste off the CPU when changing the cooler.

@SteveK318 , I just found a guy on Etsy (from Toronto) that prints custom and can deliver to Canada and the US for $5 or $9 depending on item size. I've just sent him the STL file for this bracket and asked for a quote to print it and deliver it to me in Montreal. I'll let you know what he says. The cost might be the same to deliver to you since you're in the same part of the continent

@SteveK318 I heard back. The printing job is $8.75 CAD and shipping to US fully tracked 5-7 day via USPS is another $8 CDN. So a total of about $13.5 USD

For anyone else in Canada interested, domestic shipping is $4 (no tracking) or $8 with tracking. I got the cheaper one. 

Thanks @bertro514 ! I appreciate you looking into that for me... I don't know if you saw my post above yours that I have already ordered the part. 

But Thanks again !

No worries @bertro514 ! I find myself missing things and also trying to find posts that I've seen or written .... I know I've posted in many threads here and on Reddit, as I'm sure you have too... it gets confusing at times for this old guy !!

Wow, that's' great that he got it done so quickly for you ! I hope you get it soon, I would love to see photos ! I sure hope you can get those masonry screws out !! I wonder if I can say screw-ed ?!?!

Maybe I'll try your Toronto guy out on the next part I need made !  Do you know if anyone has designed a bracket (or plate) to mount the Dell fan under the graphics card where you did ? Or a Noctua NF-A9 that I hope to move down there after I install the NF-A12x25 on the new bracket ? I guess it may be time to get my hands on a 3D cad program... It's been over 5 years since doing any 3D cad work. That was when I retired after a 30+ year career as a product designer ! But I think I could pick it up again for some simple parts !!

-- Steve

@SteveK318 I should wear my glasses more often, haha 

For some reason, I honed in on the last sentence of your post where you were asking LikeHerdingCats if they were willing to print and ship a part to you. I'm glad you found a supplier! The guy in Toronto has just shipped my bracket too and I hope I get it before the end of the week to reinstall my fan properly (right now it's brutally screwd into the front panel of the case using two masonry screws  . It works, but I'd like to make it more elegant).

PS: so silly that the forum thinks I'm saying bad words if I spell the word "screwd" correctly