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XPS 8940, 10700k, 3070 cheap effective case mod
Just sharing a simple case mod I done to improve thermal performance and lower the temperature of the XPS 8940.
This mod takes about t 1 hr.
My budget was limited to less than $50.
The stock/Dell CPU cooler for 10700k was pretty good (it was the larger one for 10700k cpu) so I didn't replace it (not economical).
I think the thermal problem was due to the lack of air exchange between hot air inside the case (generated by the 125w cpu and 230w gpu) and the external cooler air (at room temperature), xps only have a tiny 80mm fan@4500rpm max (very noisy > 2000rpm).
Modification:
1. change case fan from 80mm (4500rpm) to 90mm 2300rpm fan ($12).
This lowers the noise rather than temperature.
I think anything less than 2000rpm (92mm case/cpu fan) is not sufficient for the xps 8940 case, but more than 2000rpm the fan gets noisy. So I end up with Scythe Kaze Flex 92mm Fan, 300-2300RPM, it is cheap.
2, change CPU fan from 90mm (3500rpm) to 90mm 2300rpm fan ($12).
This lowers the noise rather than temperature, same comment as point 1 above.
3, Added a 120mm fan to the side panel blow fresh air directly into the area upper left corner (next to the CPU cooler and the RTX-3070)
See photo. This significantly improve air exchange and lower temperture of both CPU and GPU.
The item was: "AC Infinity Ventilation Grille for 120mm Fan" $20 (not include fan, I used a old fan I got)
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
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February 9th, 2021 11:00
Nice work.
Might help to mention how you cut the hole for that fan grill, and where you connected that side fan for power...
Colorado_scott
110 Posts
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February 10th, 2021 19:00
Aside from where you connected the fan, having a 3000, 2000, 1500 RPM fan that is controlled by the motherboard (8940) only means the fan will spin that fast when the PWM is at 100%; and the inside temps are very hot. I think we’d all agree that lowering the temps is a good idea but if the fans are spinning at 300-500 RPM, not much air is moving. I was hoping to use the Noctua FC-1 fan controller on the 8940 to increase the fan speed but that didn’t work, I could only slow the fan down from the motherboard dictated speed, I could not increase the speed. In many emails to Noctua, they confirmed this. I hope someone can confirm they have been successful at running the fans at high(er) speeds - 1500+ RPM but it did not work on my 8940 system. I returned my FC-1 yesterday.
that said, I have my 8940 sitting on a pull out desk drawer laying on its side. The side of the chassis is removed and I have 3 12v fans laying across the open chassis. The fans are voice controlled via Echo and a smart switch. This works great as the chassis can be totally enclosed inside the desk, and I pull open the drawer, turn it on, when I’m ready to work on the computer. I only turn the fans on when it’s warm in my room.
I like you mod though!! Nice job
John-Jay
358 Posts
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February 11th, 2021 06:00
Hi, @ShaneX ,
An excellent/neat looking modification!
However, if I may raise a small query, since you are blowing into the Case, had you considered incorporating simple filter (to try to minimise Dust Build-up)?
StillAnalog
1 Message
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July 22nd, 2021 13:00
Hi @ShaneX, great work, looks like a tremendous boost to airflow.
Being much more knowledgable about working on PC hardware than with the things one finds in a hardware store I would also appreciate hearing more about how you modified your side panel
Jasperr53
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August 1st, 2021 23:00
What was the GPU and CPU temperature difference after doing the side panel fan?
GrafXXX
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April 19th, 2023 08:00
Did you think of putting a 120mm fan at the upper front above the stock lower fan? Then cutting the front plastic and adding the grill there. Reason I’m asking is that is a thought of mine as I already added the upper front fan but airflow is restricted by the solid upper part of the front plastic cover. Your setup is very clean, I am just concerned with a lot of air turbulence created by having the side fan you mounted blowing across the natural front to back air stream and possibly pushing hot air all around other components before it finds its way out of the back of the case. Also I noticed that image of the cpu fan and saw it was a different persons build, but is it possible to swap out just the stock fan that sits between the 2 finned radiators without removing the whole cpu cooler?