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Colorado_scott

110 Posts

3182

January 13th, 2021 09:00

XPS 8940, remove side of case for cooling?

Hey Guys.. and any Gals...

I could use a bit of advise and have a few questions.. thanks in advance for the help.

I'm making the assumption that many are wanting better cooling on the XPS 8940 for faster CPU speeds? Running 2.9Ghz min and 4.8Ghz (10th gen, i7) if the CPU is cooler.. is this the main reason so many are looking at this? If not, what might be the reason?

I've read every post on cooling the XPS 8940... mine system arrives tomorrow. I had the XPS 8700 for years and about 3 weeks ago it just stopped working - I won't go into the details but I use to work at a company called Micronics (long ago - a motherboard manufacturer) and know a fair about about motherboards, building computers, etc. As technology has passed me by (I'm 69 now - man that seems old!), I seek knowledge from others that "know" what they are doing. I plan to turn the 8940 on its side, take the side cover off, and run it like that (see picture). I have two thoughts on this: 1) opening the chassis may not provide better cooling as the air flow is not constrained inside the chassis, pushing the air over the CPU and Memory, or 2) as many have done, monitor the temperature and see if I need to add any fans to pull / push air. I have a very good Fluke meter, which measures temperature to +/- 1 degree using an external probe I can place the probe inside the chassis. I don't play games on the computer (have not so far - but thinking on this).. but I do video editing a fair amount, burning the movie (of vacations / travel / Christmas... ) to DVD. 

I'm just looking for facts about leaving the side off the chassis or not - and if it will help cooling, or not. 

One other question. I read people connecting fans to the spare SATA power connectors.. how is this accomplished? Is there a cable that connects into the SATA plug and feeds out to 12V so I can connect fans? I know of other options but wanted to ask about this as I have not done this before. 

ThanksHP computer.jpg

Colorado_scott

110 Posts

January 18th, 2021 17:00

It seems I need to select a solution; but there is no real solution for this; it depends on airflow and any modified heat sink. As we have all seen, many have added 3rd party fans. Airflow into the system, and exiting the system also matters.   I will mark this as the solution but there are many solutions that will solve keeping the components cooler. 

Colorado_scott

110 Posts

January 13th, 2021 10:00

Thanks Red... I

I'll take some temp readings but think you are correct. Appreciate the SATA to Molex link.

 

Scott

redxps630

9 Legend

 • 

13.3K Posts

January 13th, 2021 10:00

“running the computer with the chassis side open wide is worse than having it closed (assuming the closed chassis has proper air flow). Air flow is important, and if you just open the side of the case, the air stops flowing from front to back (the usual direction anyway), and instead lots of hot air just hangs over the components due to the lack of air actually moving.” Worry less about the CPU or anything with a fan on it, and more about the stuff that's passively cooled, as passive cooling depends on the air moving through the case, pulling the hot air away.

redxps630

9 Legend

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13.3K Posts

January 13th, 2021 10:00

RoHe

10 Elder

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44.9K Posts

January 13th, 2021 18:00

@Colorado_scott  - You could install something like Speccy (free) to monitor CPU, GPU and HDD temps.

Speccy can be configured to load at boot, and run minimized with an icon in notification area of taskbar that shows whichever temp you want to see all the time. And simply mouse over that icon to see a popup with all temps that are being monitored...

Colorado_scott

110 Posts

January 13th, 2021 20:00

Thanks, I will do this when my computer arrives.. now 2 days late, but at least it's in Denver, CO.. it's getting close.. I like the 'excuses' - Ice was the delay - and it was 60+ today in Denver, but unsure about TN where it came from.. hey, I have a spare computer I'm using now, so not a big deal.. 

Colorado_scott

110 Posts

January 19th, 2021 20:00

I'll just post this for those that may read. I have removed the side of my 8940. I just loaded Speccy earlier tonight which let's me see the CPU temperature. I have my system set up just like the picture in the original post. I ran the system for about an hour, the CPU temp was 95-100 degrees F. I turned the machine off, removed the side, let it sit an hour,, ran for another a hour and the CPU temp as 85 degrees F. This is just a fact based on Speccy readings. I plan to put more airflow (different fans) in the system but have not done this yet. I'll keep updating this thread as I get more data. 

One thing I think about, as the CPU temp goes down with the side off, this tells me the Chassis fans are not working real well (removing the heat from the chassis). If the temp stayed the same, the fans would be working efficiently. The ambient air temp is 66 in my room.  

Vic384

4 Operator

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3.2K Posts

January 20th, 2021 04:00

@Colorado_scott Just a thought. If you have the side of the case removed and the case sitting on its closed side, the hot air will rise out of the case which may help hot air flow out of the case. But if you have the side of the case removed and the case sitting on its bottom, the hot air will rise to the top of the case and more hot air will be trapped inside.

Colorado_scott

110 Posts

January 20th, 2021 05:00

Thanks for the thought. I want to be clear that I’m not recommending anyone remove the side of their computer - however I will do this for now; until I can show (get) better fans and a larger CPU heat sink to cool my system better with the side left on. My chassis is raised about 1” to allow airflow under it (but not much air flows there). My desk has deep drawers, and in the back of this drawer are 3 five inch computer fans (12v) that pull air from the front of drawer, past the computer, and out the bottom of the desk. These fans are voice activated so I can turn them on and off easily as I’m working on the computer. This is working well and the temperature measurements above are with the fans off.  I plan to take measurements with the fans going to see just how much cooling they provide - but the fans are their to remove warm air from that area, not too cool the computer. 

As many have stated running a cooler system will not only help longevity but increase the CPU speed. 

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