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XPS 8930, how I solved fan noise (hope it helps!)
So I recently bought an XPS 8930 special edition with a i7-9700 (non K), a GTX 1660Ti and 8 GB of ram (I later added 24GB for WAY cheaper than dell's website). I have to say that I am really happy with the PC. Is powerful, efficient, compact and professional looking. Since i'm a professional in the life sciences I don't care about "flashy" PC's but I do care about design, aesthetics and capability.
So this brings me to the fans problem. Although I love how slim the chassis is, it is airflow's worst nightmare. The solution from Dell to overcome this was to include very small but very powerful fans. So TECHNICALLY, temps are well managed under load, but this creates a very annoying problem... NOISE, and a lot of it. I also do some gaming in my spare time and the second I double click the Battlefield 5 icon, the PC sounds like is about to be airborne. Again, temps are ok, but the noise was just unbearable.
So after reading this forum, which was really helpful, I put my own spin into the fan upgrade (pun intended).
1) I changed the OEM CPU fan and heat-sink for the one that was recommended in here (the Artic freezer 11LP) (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037AKXKM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- Cheap and easy to install, but did not solve the noise problem. Temps didn't improved significantly.
2) I then decided to change the top fan. So I bought the Aurora 5 120mm fan for the metal bracket (https://www.ebay.com/itm/133312563466).
3) I also bought the Noctua NF-S12A PWM, hoping this was it, but NO.
- This fan is capped at 1,200RPMs. This is NOT going to work since it's too slow to manage the horrible airflow from the chassis.
4) Then got this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFCR5BA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I know is more expensive but this this really helped since is 2,000RPM PWM and has 121.8 m3/h of airflow.
- Yes, is a little bit louder than other Noctua fans but is FAR FAR BETTER than that installed before. Which is a 3,200RPM noise monster.
5) Finally I bought this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C5VG64V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) as a front (bottom) intake fan.
- Again, these are not the cheapest options but I does work.
After all of this, I FINALLY have an efficient and quiet PC. On idle, all 8 cores are between 35 and 40 C (which is perfectly normal for coffe lake CPUs). Playing Battlefield 5 with all settings set to Ultra on a 1080p monitor brings all cores to 75-80 C, which is something I'm comfortable with.
Conclusion: The case has such a bad airflow design that I had to go through all of this just to keep temps under a normal range but with minimal noise. Just to be clear, is not that with these mods you are going to run a cooler PC (maybe 1 or 2 degrees but it's not significant), but you are DEFINITELY going to run a virtually silent PC under full load, which was my goal from the beginning. I included some pictures at the bottom.
Happy to answer any question you may have.
Dont install fans with less than 2,000RPM
I should have attached this one better but i'm lazy and this works.
GKDesigns
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May 1st, 2020 07:00
1) I changed the OEM CPU fan and heat-sink for the one that was recommended in here (the Artic freezer 11LP) (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037AKXKM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Good to know! I figured this after market CPU cooler may have a better/quieter fan, but would not cool the CPU much better than the stock CPU cooler. So, XPS 8930 owners should focus on improving the case fans first.
From my experience, the main goals for improving the case fans is two (or more) 120mm quality/quiet PWM fans. Hotter systems/usage (higher power consumption and waste heat) might want to favor fans with higher RPM and static pressure specs (and expect a bit more fan noise). General productivity systems can get by with less, as I did with two Noctua NF-S12A-PWM fans. Use the Noctua website to easily compare their fan specs: https://noctua.at/en/products/fan
GK
GKDesigns
258 Posts
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May 1st, 2020 08:00
@TomasBach
Happy to answer any question you may have.
How did you mount the lower front case fan? It appears to be sitting on the bottom with a side air gap between the fan and the case grill.
GK
TomasBach
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May 1st, 2020 11:00
Absolutely. My takeaway from all this is exactly that. If you want to improve temps in a 8930 you need to change the case fans.
That is also a good point. If you don't plan to stress the CPU for long periods of time then other types of fans will work just fine. So its important to think about what your goals are and what kind of user are you. Since I do both (i.e. light and heavy work) this was the best solution for my needs, while keeping decibels low.
Also, I wanted to invest early in this solution so I can upgrade my system in the future without having to deal with this problem.
Best,
Tomas.
TomasBach
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May 1st, 2020 11:00
Actually, I didn't attach it at all. I just place it there and since is very thick it doesn't move. But this is sub-optimal so I will put some double sided tape or maybe even buy the plastic case from other dells systems. But for now is working just fine.
TomasBach
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May 2nd, 2020 11:00
You're right, good point. I'm not using the left bay so I can move the right one to that positions. Thanks for pointing that out.
Cheers,
xpsistoohot
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October 15th, 2020 09:00
Very interesting solution. I used two S12A PMW 1200 rpm fans along with the stock cooler, which essentially did nothing. I gave up on the project, but after seeing how you used much faster fans, I will also give it a try. I will also be putting in the Arctic Freezer as well.
HanoverB
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October 16th, 2020 20:00
Good work.
I am assuming that you connected that S12A PWM fan to the TOP fan header since you are using a Y cable to that header on your pictures.
Problem with using that nice S12A Noctua PWM fan as upper exhaust connected to the TOP FAN header is the motherboard fan curve is too conservative and the fan never spins up fast enough to manage the heat from an air cooled CPU + heat coming off the GPU. That's why even with those industrial Dell fans turning at high RPM's the temps were still out of hand. By the time the Noctua fans are spinning at over a 1000 RPM, the temps are already out of hand.
It's been recommended that unless you have your CPU temps and GPU temps under control that you should use a fixed speed fan at the upper exhaust position. That upper exhaust fan is the most important fan in the case...that's been mentioned many times so you need that fan constantly pulling air out of the case. Hence, a fixed speed fan moving air constantly out of the case (to noise tolerance) is preferred and has shown to work in this case.
Using a 3 pin FLX fan like the S12A FLX fan connected to the TOP FAN header spinning at a constant 1200 RPM works well and balances noise vs airflow. That is how many power users have their machines setup.
The other option would be to use that S12A PWM fan at the upper exhaust position and connect that directly to the PSU with a molex adapter or using a SATA to 4 pin adapter so that the fan is spinning fixed speed at 1200 RPM. That particular Noctua model 4 pin PWM fan has the same exact specs as the 3 pin fan.
Since you need a fan connected to the TOP FAN header to prevent a start up error, after connecting the upper exhaust PWM fan to the PSU so it runs at 1200 RPM full speed, then connect the front intake S12A PWM fan to the TOP FAN header and let the motherboard control that fan to direct airflow into the case at that lower intake position and balance case pressures. Those lower RPM's are okay there.
You can use also that Y adapter by having the 3 pin fan at upper exhaust and the lower intake 4 pin PWM fan on the 4 pin leg. So there are several options depending on which fans you have on hand but the key is to have that upper exhaust fan at fixed speeds. I like @Anonymous setup where he runs all his fans fixed speed.
That Arctic CPU cooler is a slight improvement than the stock cooler as it only uses a 92mm fan. This case really hinders it, the fact that you have the shorter GPU is helpful. At least with the front intake and upper exhaust fan installed in your setup it suits your particular needs and you can keep the CPU temps <80C. Good work in coming up with a solution that works for you.
You did well as it's not easy with this case in getting a "virtually silent machine under full load". If you do it properly the GPU fan should be the loudest fan in the case.
In your case, that would mean that you are definitely not running that Noctua IPPC fan at 2000 RPM. I have used that heavy duty fan and at 2000 RPM that fan is REALLY LOUD. That fan was part of my trial and error testing with this case and my previous XPS 8500. At 1500 RPM, which is probably the upper limit of noise tolerance that I would run that IPPC fan, that fan loses about a 1/3 of it's airlfow. If that fan is silent in your case under load then it's probably running at less than that RPM.
So what I found out is that running that S12A fan at 1200 RPM actually moved more air that the IPPC 2000 fan at 1500 RPM and at a lower noise level. That's why I chose to go that route.
But there is more than one way to accomplish what you wanted, so glad you found your solution and thanks for sharing your pics too.