Post by avsforsberg21 on Jul 12, 2004 14:11:16 GMT -5
I finally completed modding my XPS and wanted to share my results. First off, thanks to TROW for providing so much information and inspiration. When I first purchased my XPS, I found myself asking two questions: 1) Is the unit supposed to be this loud? 2) With all these fans, why are the temps still seem high?
The unit did seem loud as compared to my other CPUS at home which are:
1)P4 1.4 2)Celeron 1.2 3)P3 500 4)K62 500
I did find out that there are two camps on this matter. There are those who are used to the noise because of the unit being a gaming beast and those who are new to the increase in noise. I fell in the second category. I was however concerned about the temps. With all the fans in this unit, one would expect it to be cooler. As TROW best put it, they want to sacrifice cooling while maximizing sound reduction.
You learn by experience so I bit the bullet and went for journey of modding my XPS. I used stage 1-3 by TROW as a guide and installed the following:
Cables:
Replaced flat ribbon cables with UV rounded cables.
Rear Fans:
Replaced stock fans with (2) 92mm fans. 34 CFM. 34.5 DBA. Connected them using multi-connector to PSU.
Front Fans:
Replaced stock fan with (2) 80mm fans. 32.5 CFM. 28.3 DBA. 1 mounted on grill at spare hard drive space. 1 mounted on front grill.
HSF Fan:
Added 80 mm fan. 32.5 CFM. 28.3 DBA. I mounted on top of unit securing to bottom of plastic plate using (2) zip ties.
Video Card:
I added the Spectrum Dual Adjustable Fan which fits into your PCI slot just below the VGA slot. 17-30 CFM. 25-36 DBA.
Results:
CPU CHIPSET VGA
Idle Temp 27 30 64
Load 33 33 69
3D Mark 6681
Notes:
Now this rig sound like an Airport but it’s so much cooler. My temporary solution to the excessive noise is to put the unit in standby when I am not using it. The next solution is trying the Spire Acoustic Absorbtion Mat to see if I can cut some of the noise. According to the product, the mats are heat resistant so in theory it should work without increasing temps. For the VGA cooling I did consider the Zalman ZM80C-HP unit but checking with a few buddies who have it installed complained about the weight of the unit. They both said the unit works great will maximize over-clocking your card, but after time the weight of the unit damages the card. As I do not wish to damage my 9800XT 256MB card, I found another solution which got great reviews in the Spectrum Dual Adjustable Fan Card. For my result I have the fan running on medium. You can drop the temps by cranking it up to high but you also increase the noise. Medium works great as I play UT2004, BF1942, BFVietnam, on regular basis. I choose using 80mm fans on the front and HSF to maximize CFM and not DBA. I thought about 92mm but didn’t want to increase the DBA.
XPS Specs:
DELL XPS GEN 2
P4 3.2HT
800 FSB
1024 GB DDR PC3200@400mhz
120 GB WESTERN DIGITAL HD
ATI 9800XT 256MB
Audigy 2 Sound Blaster Card
5.1 Logitech Speaker System
52X32X52+16 CD/CDR/RW/DVD Player Optical
4X4x40 DVD +/-/RW Optical
The unit did seem loud as compared to my other CPUS at home which are:
1)P4 1.4 2)Celeron 1.2 3)P3 500 4)K62 500
I did find out that there are two camps on this matter. There are those who are used to the noise because of the unit being a gaming beast and those who are new to the increase in noise. I fell in the second category. I was however concerned about the temps. With all the fans in this unit, one would expect it to be cooler. As TROW best put it, they want to sacrifice cooling while maximizing sound reduction.
You learn by experience so I bit the bullet and went for journey of modding my XPS. I used stage 1-3 by TROW as a guide and installed the following:
Cables:
Replaced flat ribbon cables with UV rounded cables.
Rear Fans:
Replaced stock fans with (2) 92mm fans. 34 CFM. 34.5 DBA. Connected them using multi-connector to PSU.
Front Fans:
Replaced stock fan with (2) 80mm fans. 32.5 CFM. 28.3 DBA. 1 mounted on grill at spare hard drive space. 1 mounted on front grill.
HSF Fan:
Added 80 mm fan. 32.5 CFM. 28.3 DBA. I mounted on top of unit securing to bottom of plastic plate using (2) zip ties.
Video Card:
I added the Spectrum Dual Adjustable Fan which fits into your PCI slot just below the VGA slot. 17-30 CFM. 25-36 DBA.
Results:
CPU CHIPSET VGA
Idle Temp 27 30 64
Load 33 33 69
3D Mark 6681
Notes:
Now this rig sound like an Airport but it’s so much cooler. My temporary solution to the excessive noise is to put the unit in standby when I am not using it. The next solution is trying the Spire Acoustic Absorbtion Mat to see if I can cut some of the noise. According to the product, the mats are heat resistant so in theory it should work without increasing temps. For the VGA cooling I did consider the Zalman ZM80C-HP unit but checking with a few buddies who have it installed complained about the weight of the unit. They both said the unit works great will maximize over-clocking your card, but after time the weight of the unit damages the card. As I do not wish to damage my 9800XT 256MB card, I found another solution which got great reviews in the Spectrum Dual Adjustable Fan Card. For my result I have the fan running on medium. You can drop the temps by cranking it up to high but you also increase the noise. Medium works great as I play UT2004, BF1942, BFVietnam, on regular basis. I choose using 80mm fans on the front and HSF to maximize CFM and not DBA. I thought about 92mm but didn’t want to increase the DBA.
XPS Specs:
DELL XPS GEN 2
P4 3.2HT
800 FSB
1024 GB DDR PC3200@400mhz
120 GB WESTERN DIGITAL HD
ATI 9800XT 256MB
Audigy 2 Sound Blaster Card
5.1 Logitech Speaker System
52X32X52+16 CD/CDR/RW/DVD Player Optical
4X4x40 DVD +/-/RW Optical
