# Dell cooling problems...



## Dustket

I own a Dell Dimension 8400 with a Pentium 4 3.0ghz processor. 775 socket i think it is. my problem is anytime i use a program my cpu's fan blows hard...very hard. It almost sounds like a jet. from what ive found out on the dell forums is that the heatsink dell first used was defective. Well my comp is old and not under warrenty. I talked it over with a guy at work and he said i should try some silver thermal compound. I did and the fan blows insanely loud still.I contacted dell and they treated my like a moron so im done with them. Heres my question. Do any of you guys know of a heatsink or heatsink/fan combo that would be a direct replacement as far as being able to ues the clips that Dell uses to hold the heatsink. Also the heatsink does not have a fan. it uses ducting to pull air thru it. but a heatsink with a fan would be nice. thanks guys.


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## blackduck30

there should be no reason why you couldn't use some thing like these if you have a decent tower case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118030

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

unfortunately I am pretty sure both of those will require you to remove the motherboard to install the cooler, so a self installation will depend on your skill level


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## Bruno

I deal with Dell's all day at work and I can suggest a few things to try that have worked for me in the past:

1. Go to the Dell site and download the most current BIOS for your machine. This is easily accomplished using the service tag# from the side of your PC case.

2. Arctic Silver has a very good cleaner/purifier set for under $10 that should work well for you. Flip the CPU shroud up and out of the way and you will see the very straight forward heatsink mounting clips/setup inside. Remove the heatsink and processor > use the Arctic Silver cleaner/purifier drops to clean and prep both pieces then reinstall the processor > apply Arctic Silver thermal paste evenly on the processor top and reinstall the heatsink.

3. Check to make sure the fan on the back of the PC is blowing OUT towards the back of the case. It should be removing heated air from the processor. 

Hope this helps!


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## Dustket

Thanks both of you. Bruno Ive updated my bios about two months ago with nothing changing with the fan speed blowing. As far as the Arctic Silver cleaner/purifier drops and the Arctic Silver thermal paste. done. nothings changed. the fan blows the right direction but blow out much cooler air than the psu does with the psu blowing warmer air but at a lower fan speed. So im guessing that pulling the mobo out my be the way I'll have to go. which brings me to Blackduck30's post.

The only thing i'm worried about is disconnecting all the componets in the comp and screwing up putting them back in. Or if i have to drill my mobo to put in a aftermarket heatsink/fan as ive heard some people have had to. I guess if there is directions I can do it...its worth a try.


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## magnethead

Dell is whack in the heatsink department- even a 15 dollar cheapo thermaltake will do better than stockers. When i got my antec 900, i got the dell mobo to last 2 weeks on passive cooling before i got an active heatsink. 2 weeks with no direct cooling to the processor is a long time. If you can flip the shroud up with ti running and the heatsink doesnt have too mnuch temperature to the hand, you're in good shape.mine was steaming hot to the touch while passive and still ran fine. (not advised to do that though- talk about dangerous, BIOS shoulda shut it off).


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## Dustket

Thanks. I kinda figured i'd just have to get a new heatsink/fan...Yeah this dell one is crap. The cpu doesnt get that hot at all really. Istill have the defective heatsink on it so it helps a little but not as good as it should.


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## discboy321

Wow ! I have had my Dell 8400 for over 8 yrs with no problems except having to reformat a few times.


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## zogpeanubutter

Hello, 
My wife has this exact same problem, sounds like a leaf blower lol. I removed the heatsink, cleaned and applied some artic silver compound, still have same results that fan is ramped all the way up. I have an identical computer but have no problems. I was wondering if thier is a way that the heat pipes used to dissipate heat have failed in some way or are defective. after i reseated the heatsink i shut it down and felt around some, the pipes/fins are cold, not even warm, just like you set it in front of a fan, but when i felt the aluminum block that is seated the the cpu, that sucker was HOT. I guess i can see if i can swap heatsinks from mine to hers or if it would just be better to purchase a new heatsink/fan.
If anyone can enlighted me on if/how heatpipes can fail that would be fantastic. thank you for any answers you may give


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## Redsauce

I'm kind of in the same boat. My 6 year old dell sounds louder than it used to. I'm not super techno-savvy, so am a little afraid of mucking around inside the computer. I'm pretty sure I need a new fan. I'd prefer to get a good one that minimizes how much I have to move components around inside the case.
I've found the technical specifications for my model, but I can't find what mm size the fan is. Once I've know that, what's the next step to insure compatibility? Do I need to check the power supply? 
Thanks in advance!


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## magnethead

The main isues with Dell's are that..people buy dell desktops. Yes they're good bang for the buck, but after a few years, that sleeve bearing and that thermal paste goes to %%%%. Also, Dells use a passive CPU heatsink, so that there's only 2 fans in the whole case- rear panel and PSU. PSU fan stays same temp..the rear case fan is temp actuated. So the first thing to do is blow the dust out of the case- pop the CPU duct up and blow everythign else out too. NExt is re-apply new thermal paste. Last is to shell out and put a REAL CPU heatsink on it that has a dedicated fan (what I did).


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## Redsauce

I'm going to admit that I'm an idiot here. How do I do that?
I've dusted out the interior of the case with no increase in fan performance. I have no idea how to do the thermal paste job & the CPU heatsink with a dedicated fan.


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## Viau

I have a Pentium 4, 3.2ghz and I used the fan that comes with it for a long, long time and my fan was making a very loud noise and the cpu temp was always very high.. just invest 30-50$ on a new fan and you'll have no more problems.


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## Thething

Hello:wave:

Here you go, an illustrated guide on how to install a socket 775 CPU with heatsink and fan:smile:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2231&page=6

This is the link to the heatsink page part, good luck.


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## discboy321

discboy321 said:


> Wow ! I have had my Dell 8400 for over 8 yrs with no problems except having to reformat a few times.


Well on 08-15-09 she died (Loud Jet Like case fan noise-Steady Amber power light in front and no diagnostic lights on rear panel),Just starting to diag.replace case fan,cables. Reseated cards,memory and optical drives. nothing works yet.Will replace power soon. Mother board seems ok !


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## KenMills

I have the solid amber light and the loud case fan. It's a Dimension e521. Since I bought this off ebay, I have replaced everything except for 

1) the cable that connects the power button to the motherboard

2) The CMOS battery

3) The heatsink

4) the motherboard

When I lived at my parent's home, we had a dimension e521 and I had to buy a new motherboard for it; the usb ports got fried. So I took that bad motherboard and tiried it. With new thermal paste, as far as I get is the normal green "3" that you should expect, but nothing on the screen, and a loud case fan.

So, in highly technical terms, this purchase was a total waste of money. Could it all be because of a bad cmos battery or a bad heatsink?


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