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XPS 8940, Better 3rd party cooler
Hello there
I would greatly appreciate any help to find a new/better 3rd party cooler for my XPS 8940. It came with the thin and small stock cooler and is overheating the whole time. I got a i9-10900 processor with 128 GB of RAM and I need this computer to generate some GIS layers. These jobs take 2-4 hrs every time and I can see that the processor is throttling or C° 97+ all the time.
I tried the Noctua 15S but the problem is there is no space for the bracket under the motherboard. The stock fan screws directly into the chassis from above.
Thank you very much
HanoverB
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September 16th, 2020 20:00
120mm fan based CPU cooler would be better than a 92mm fan based cooler.
@Noorss did a nice video installing a Cooler Master 120mm Hyper TX3 EVO into a G5 5090 with a similar chassis.
No cutting required and no backplate removal....he removed the plastic pins and replaced them with M3 bolts.
Fit was tight under the side panel....needs to be verified that this would fit into the XPS 8940. It should.
This one fits as well without cutting or drilling, but is 92mm fan based: Cooler Master Hyper T2
The fact that Dell created a location in the top front of the XPS 8940 chassis for a 3.5" HDD is great. Was wasted space in the G5. The Corsair H60 AIO CPU liquid cooler can mount in that front location and would have been great for CPU cooling. Move that 3.5" HDD mounted in the front location up to that top bracket and install the AIO. However, in their infinite wisdom they proceeded to block all the airflow through the upper part of the XPS 8940 front bezel. The G5 front bezel had some nice slats for airflow....the XPS 8940 is a solid upper front bezel......no airflow in that location. No liquid cooling folks unless you want to modify that rear 80mm fan location for a 120 mm fan on that H60 cooler.
All you can do is update that rear exhaust fan to a 92mm fan and add an intake fan in that lower front position to help with airflow and update the CPU air cooler.
The Asetek 645LT is possible in the XPS 8940 case, but a 92mm liquid cooler is for SFF cases where there is no option for a 120mm AIO unit. Temps aren't that great....ithe 92mm fan and small radiator are limiting and temps are similar to the 120mm air coolers.
svdgabriel
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September 17th, 2020 17:00
Thank you
No, I did not got any error because of the new fans. Not for the exit fan on the chassis neither for the two on the CPU cooler. I'm using the Y-cable included with the fan to be able to connect the two to the same CPU fan header.
HanoverB
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September 21st, 2020 17:00
@svdgabriel
I did go back to the beginning of the thread and saw u did modify the motherboard backplate to use the Noctua NH-D9L cooler.
That cooler does use the same Secufirm2 mounting system as the other coolers known to work on the G5/XPS 8940 motherboard. I am wondering now if you did have some M3 x 13mm bolts on hand from the hardware store if in fact it would have installed like this:
Bolt
washer
mounting bracket
spacer
motherboard
Little late with this info and fortunately you were able mount yours in another fashion, so do you think you can add the NH-D9L cooler to the list of coolers that can be used without motherboard mods using the M3 bolts?
studmonkey77
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June 3rd, 2021 09:00
@FartManly Im using the vetroo v5 with great results. I didnt use their 120mm fan though, im using an arctic fan that spins at 1800rpm max speed.
Jon-62
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July 21st, 2021 12:00
@karobertsDell I originally fitted the Arctic Cooler but, after discussion with Arctic themselves, replaced it with the Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.Black with two fans and haven't looked back. I've also got a 92mm fan at the front and a 120mm and 2 x 80mm fans at the front.
The Arctic Cooler didn't go to waste, as it's now on the i7-6700 in my XPS 8900.
Anonymous
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September 9th, 2020 22:00
@svdgabriel The stock fan screws directly into the chassis from above.
That sounds mighty peculiar Any chance you could drop some photos of the inside of your case so we could see what you have going on?
Anonymous
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September 9th, 2020 22:00
@svdgabriel The stock fan screws directly into the chassis from above.
OK, I found a schematic. The "from above" characterization was confusing me. You will not need a bracket behind the motherboard with that mounting design. The Noctua NH-D15S should fit, as it is compatible with the LGA1200 socket. The mounting holes for the Noctua should line up with the existing mounting holes.
svdgabriel
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September 10th, 2020 00:00
I found this in the manual of the 8940. That cooler pictured is not the one that came with mine, the one I have is like a pancake with a small fan on the top and not heat pipes. However if you look at the image, you will see that the mounting here are just 4 screws that goes through the motherboard into holes on the chassis itself. Once in place there is no space for a third party cooler mounting bracket. I cannot find the part number or where to purchase even a cooler like the one in this picture (since it looks like a better solution than what I have).
svdgabriel
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September 10th, 2020 00:00
Hello,
thanks for your help, I will try again and let you know, I do think the Noctua needs a plate in the back for LGA 1200 sockets, but that interferes with the case, which has holes for the stock cooler to be screw in directly. I will post some pictures
thanks again
Anonymous
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September 10th, 2020 07:00
@svdgabriel I cannot find the part number or where to purchase even a cooler like the one in this picture (since it looks like a better solution than what I have).
You have a 65 watt CPU . . . I suspect the 125 watt "K" processors get the bigger CPU cooler.
Below is another schematic of the XPS 8940. In this photo you can see that the CPU cooler mounts to studs that are attached directly to the back panel of the chassis. This should be as strong (or stronger) that any back plate. You should be able to mount your Noctua to those same studs. You may have to use the screws that came with your tiny cooler if the Noctua threads do not match. Don't forget to apply some good quality thermal paste.
svdgabriel
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September 10th, 2020 18:00
Awesome, I will try to use the screws of the stock cooler. I will post my results once I install the new cooler.
thank you!
Anonymous
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September 10th, 2020 18:00
@svdgabriel Awesome, I will try to use the screws of the stock cooler. I will post my results once I install the new cooler.
Great . . . take some photos of your mod and post them . . . if you don't mind sharing. That would be more helpful for the next XPS 8940 owner that needs additional cooling than the schematic.
im784983
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September 14th, 2020 19:00
@svdgabriel how'd it go?
svdgabriel
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September 14th, 2020 22:00
svdgabriel
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September 14th, 2020 22:00