ThermalTake UFO#2/HDD Cage Fan Tweak

[TRow]

PART 1:

I took the advice of BubbaDubba and removed the "blinking Cover" that protects the ThermalTake UFO#2 heatsink fan's Actual Blades.


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PART 2:
I also Tilted the 80mm Fan, which 'was' positioned evenly with the HDD Cage "Opening". Before it was secured flush with the "Front Case Metal." And now its.....

I tilted the fan about 35degrees out of the Cage, imagine a Fan that Looks as If its going to Fall out of the HDD Cage. The Fan is Pushing Air Down onto the NorthBridge, Memory Modules, and the RamSinks on the V.Card.

I also cleaned the Fans of Dirt/Grim.

I immediately noticed the CPU Temp drop 2c degrees. Right now my Idle Temps are:
CPU: 31c
Chipset: 27c
Mem: 27c

If I let the XPS sit for a while the CPU drops to 30c. Pretty cool little tweak if your using the UFO#2 and a HDD Cage Fan.

T.RoW

[TRow]

Load Temps were measured using: UT2k4
1024x768|Highest Quality Settings|AAx4 AFx2

CPU: 41c
Chipset: 29c
Mem: 29c

Overall: I dropped my Load CPU Temp by 3c degrees, and slightly lowered my Chipset by 1 or 2 degrees. I definately recommend this Mod/Tweak if your looking to shave off some CPU load degrees.

T.Row

[TRow]

Im using ATi Tool for the VGA Temp, and YES ATi tool is realtime linked to Mbm for Recording Stats. Lovin' it!

T.RoW

[crusier]

Any object placed within about ten inches of either the input or output of a fan will affect both the noise and amount of airflow of the fan ( the airflow of fans is really a conical effect on either side ). My gen1 running in the stock configuration and the access cover open would vary the rear fan speeds just by the placement and distance of my hand in the area in front of the memory slots. Any fan used in the front DELL shield area is very sensitive to this as there is little to no clearance to either the shield or the grates on the chassis. Unfortunately the DELL shield acts as a speaker surface here. You can place your finger tips lightly on it and other panels on the XPS and discover all kinds of vibrations, some of which can generate a significant amount of noise. I had issues with the motherboard tray. It uses some slide in/under clips on the fixed side of the chassis and a single screw to retain a spring locked retension. This allowed some nasty bibrations and sounds to be generated on the right side panel. I cut up some old plastic watch bands and placed them around the aforementioned slide in/under clip points to get a pressured fit of the tray. The vibration here with a fan mounted on the heatsink would manifest itself as a heavy vibration you could feel on the area directly under the cpu/heatsink on the right side panel. It came and went with the changing ambient/system temps and fan speeds. I figured to use a soft gel type vibration dampener between the fans mounted on my heatsink to further alleviate the problem. Here, the top panel and cover were very susceptable to a heavy vibration if there was any lack of the pressure cleats on the access panel to grasp the top of the case. Another area of concern is on the rear panel around the rear fans. The faster they run the more it become a significant issue for me. If both the rear fans are flowing in the same direction, you can have some nasty noise generated by the airflow area between the fans. If your curious about it, just use a stethoscope on the green shroud in the area between the fans on a stock configured XPS. Be carefull as you can get some very strong sonics generated which might not be good for your hearing!.
The harmonics generated by the vary fan airflows can be significant and irritating to listen to.
Any ways, I have, and have had, issues with my XPS gen1. However I usually manage to get them resolved to my personal satisfaction.

[crusier]

Just for laughs, take a running fan and place it on a table top facing down. Get that puppy running and figure out the airflow. Then flip it over and repeat!