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

Ill upload a photo with the top fan mounted tomorrow, I hit my 24 hour limit it appears.

Made a short video to show some friends of mine, Ill add it here just in case others are also interested.  Still cant believe how fast this thing boots.  YouTube link below;

https://youtu.be/PkUjF65jTag

Hi,

What model of the Be Quiet Case fans did you use at the front of the case to replace the Dell Factory single case fan? They have quite a few models. Also, any issues with the installation of these fans? Mounting to case?  Any connection issues to the MB to power the fans? Any issues on boot with Dell not recognizing the Be Quiet case fans? Appreciate any response these questions. By the way great job on your XPS 8950! Thanks for your time!

The case fans are the "be quiet! Silent Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed".  I enlarged the mounting holes in the metal fan brackets slightly with a Uni-Bit for the be quiet anti vibration rubber mounts to center correctly.  Used the L side of the anti-vibration mounts to the fan brackets to get the push pins tension better.  There is only two PWM chassis fan headers on the MB, so if you try to mount a third fan, you will need a PWM Y splitter cable.  The BIOS warned me the fans had been changed, just had to enter the BIOS setup, save, and continue, no issues since.

Thanks for taking the time and providing that information. Much appreciated! Do you feel as though what Dell provided for a front chasis fan was insufficient? Was it noisy? Just curious. I see the spot above the Dell case fan as an area to add another fan if needed. I would consider a Be Quiet case fan for that area but want to see what my thermals are and noise level once I receive my 8950. Thanks again!

The stock fans are very quiet at idle, its more my OCD and need for symmetry.  The supplied fans are 140+ CFM and can get very loud if they need to.  The BQ fans are half that and are much quieter anyways. I had a second fan bracket so added a second front fan.

Here is a photo showing the clearance between the top TF2 fan and the case, there is adequate room for airflow.

I hear ya on the ocd....lol... I suffer as well...lol. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to take pics and explain the process. I'll Await my 8950  and make a decision after setting it all up. I got the 12700k but with liquid cooling...Thanks again man. Much appreciated. Enjoy your 8950!

Thank you for the Update. You can continue using the system and get back to us for any other queries. 

Thank you for the updates! am I just wondering where did you find the second fan bracket?  Do you know the model number for it?

@theprime 

See this link for the Dell part number for the front fan bracket;

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8950-front-fan-bracket/td-p/8119553

I had an extra one laying around in all my spare parts.  One of the benefits working in the IT field.

Thank you for the reply, I guess I should wait for my 8950 arrives to see If I can 3d print the bracket

Thanks for this post. I am currently waiting for my 8950 to arrive and I've been thinking about the CPU cooling. What was the difference in temps between stock and after market? Did you look at Noctua? No Noctua fit the case?

Thanks for any input.

Not a fair comparison, I didn't measure the temps as the stock cooler would just peg out at 100C and thermal throttle and that was with the non-K CPU.  With the TF2 and I can stress tests for 5 min or so before it will warm up enough to thermal throttle and that's with the K CPU.

How's your clearance on the memory slots? I plan to use all 4, will I have an issue?

His last picture shows that fan/heatsink combo doesn't touch any of the memory slots.