XPS 8950, aftermarket CPU Cooler - Be Quiet TF2 - fits

It looks like you actually might have the K-series according to your pictures. Do the K-series normally include front intake fans as well?

Thanks for this.  I ordered my 8950 with their AIO cooler.  It was extremely loud.  So they sent out 2 more replacements, still annoyingly loud.  I bought a Corsair replacement, STILL loud.  So I'm going with your suggestion in the hopes that I can finally have a computer that produces less than 45 decibles at idle.

I am having a problem with the bios where my fans (Noctua A12x25s) are having a problem with the bios even when saving and restarting. How did you do it when you were in bios? thanks.

I am considering something like in the following link, a vertical fan / heatsink arrangement, thinking the back case fan will exhaust the heat from the cooler, no??

I think this one is too tall for XPS 8950, do you have any recommendation of this type of cooler  arrangement that will fit inside the XPS 8950?

https://www.amazon.ca/quiet-BK007-Elegant-Surface-Technology/dp/B087VL2Z21/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CSRIWZ6HJ63J

If the cooler is for LGA1700 , the installation will not require working on the bottom side of the motherboard (removing motherboard from case) ?

How much height clearance do you have?

Noctua NH-D12L  is "low profile" 145mm tall

Noctua NU-U9S  is only 125mm tall . . . smaller 92mm fan, but you can add a second fan for push/pull.

Both coolers come with a motherboard backplate. I'm not sure if your comment up thread was to imply that the LGA1700 socket has a substantial enough backplate that installation of the Noctua backplate is not necessary. Personally, I am not familiar with the XPS 8950 motherboard backplate, so I cannot say whether it is sufficient to support the Noctua Tower CPU air coolers.

Consider starting a new thread for this topic.

Hi:

I can only approximate. About 140 - 145 mm . All those "vertical fan-heatsink" types that I came across are higher than that.  XPS 8950 has a small case; I have one of those vfertical one for my older i7 system, it works really well temperature-wise except the height, it is really tight ;almost touches the case cover.  in my old i7 system , the installation requires me to work on the back of the motherboard which I really don't want to do. For the XPS 8950 , I definitely don't want to do that, just want to find a vertical fan-heatsink type that only requires installing some standoffs/screws  on the top side of the motherboard. Any suggestion on a good brand for this type of cooler?

Hi, I really appreciate if you might see this and be able to respond on an old post thread.  Did you require any adapter for the CPU fan wiring header?  Did you get any BIOS warnings about the fan swap? I have read that sometimes Dell switches the pinouts trying to be proprietary - which could harm the fan/mobo.  I have ordered this cooler and screws and will soon attempt to do the same swap.  I just hope to be prepared and avoid any issues.  Thank you!

Hi,

know this is an old thread but I have also installed, fits great but I’m getting bios (v 1.8.0) error cpu fan not detected. Did you see this? Is there a work around?

Simply select continue, then once at the Windows login page, reboot.  If you dont reboot after you continue from a fan error, the fans will run full speed.  The POST error your seeing is only from a cold start where the fans are not above a minimum speed by the time the cold boot tests are performed.  I let my computer sleep, this issue is not present waking from sleep, only from a cold boot.  I only ever do a cold boot after a BIOS update.

I just finished installing this cooler in my XPS 8950.  On boot I received a BIOS CPU fan error.  I continued to boot into the OS (Win11) and the thing is making so much noise I had to do a hard shutdown.  Anyone else have these issues?  I didn't see anywhere in the BIOS to change the CPU fan or fan speed.

I just installed the Be Quiet TF2 and it's a marked improvement.

I am also getting the BIOS CPU fan error on startup. I am using only one fan in the TF2, and it is plugged directly into the motherboard. Should I have used the Y-cable that came with the CPU cooler, even though I am only using one fan?

PLEASE verify you did NOT need to remove motherboard....just removed the pancake cooler, placed the rubber standoffs on the top of the motherboard, and used Ms-0.5 X 20 mm screws and mounted the Be Quiet Dark Rock TF2.  Thanks.