XPS 8940, Better 3rd party cooler

@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

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

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.

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

@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.

Thanks, but I am just trying to upgrade the existing cooler on a 65 watt 10700.

..paa55112

No Noctua is compatible with the LGA1200 of our Xps8940. There is a fixed 4 nut bracket fixed from behind the motherboard that is flush. This avoid the use of the noctua X bracket

The nuts thread is to narrow to use the bolts provided for the LGA22XX

The only solución to use a noctua is to cut the 4 nuts fixed to the Dell case

The original Dell studs are not compatible with any of Noctua models. The threads are narrower and you cannot use the bolts designed for the LGA22XX coming in the kit. The same studs don't allow to use the X bracket coming with your Noctua.

You need to cut the studs

@brimstn What is the width of the m3x16 you used?  Like others have said, it has to be quite narrow.  I found the ones on the original cooler to be very narrow at the end (narrower than the bolt's shaft).  It looked lie a .3 to me but I am not certain.

Noctua NH-U9S Cooler - CONFIRMED FIT..!!

Hi all I just want to tell you from personal experience (because I just did it today), that the Noctua NH-U9s cooler DOES fit without modification.

Simply remove existing pancake cpu heatsink then fit the supplied Noctua curved mounting arms (not the angled AMD ones).

Make sure you use the longer WHITE spacers that come with Noctua cooler for this.

As mentioned earlier in this thread (or another) someone mentioned using M3 10mm screws but I don't believe that is accurate, I used 16mm M3 screws. I also used both M3 and M4 washers on each screw.

That's basically it, new cooler screwed right on with no issues. (don't forget your new thermal paste).

And that is with TWO (Noctua NF-A9) fans on the cooler.

I have 2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance Dimms in mine with large heatsinks, and the new cooler with the extra fans easily clears the ram.

I also added another Noctua NF-A9 fan replacing the case exhaust fan.

Note**: I connected all the fans to motherboard but they seemed extremely slow, so I used the SATA power cable that others have mentioned, and the fans work great.

**OK so now the caveat....!!

Your mileage may vary, but as others have reported my BIOS did give an error at boot, because I had disconnected the fans from the motherboard.

So I simply reconnected them and tie-wrapped them in the case. Problem solved

I benchmarked the CPU with Cinebench and Prime95 before replacement and was easily hitting 95 degrees.

Which is just insane, I don't know how Dell has the nerve to sell this machine.

I retested after new cooler install, and I have not gone over 70 degrees during benchmarks.

That's a massive 25 degrees cooler...!!!

Picture uploaded as requested. 

You can see room for RAM and the provided WHITE spacers used on cooler mount.

I hope to get rid of original fans once I find a working fix for the BIOS complaining if they're removed. 

FYI... 

I crunch data for science using shared computing network (BOINC) 

This pc is running tasks non-stop for MilkyWay@Home, Universe@Home and Rosetta@Home fighting Covid-19.

It's been running 4 hours since cooler upgrade @100% cpu usage, and still hasn't gone over 70 degrees.

Very happy so far, and shame on Dell for their peice of junk pancake cooler. 

You are getting those BIOS errors because of no fans hooked to the motherboard. You could hook the rear one back to the chassis header on the motherboard, leave the CPU cooler ones with SATA, and then just get another 92mm Noctua fan and stick it on the lower front and hook it to the CPU header. It would be only one extra fan.