How to silence a noisy Dell?

[shredisn@tdead]

Switch it off! D'Oh!

Way back before I upgraded my amd palomino box to a P4C 2.6 @ 250fsb (cheers all you folks who helped out there) I bought a Dell Precision.

Dell claim these things are supposed to be quiet, but it's crunching 24x7 (ie warm) and it's FAR from quiet.

The noisiest bit I figure is the exhaust fan that's taking the heat off the passive CPU cooler. It's a 3.06Ghz and having this kind of cooling seems mad. The exhaust fan is thermistor controlled which is why its whirring away like mad all the time.

So, the first step I think would be to take the shroud off and see how much space there is for a replacement HSF, no? I've got the stock HSF from the P4C 2.6 - would this thing mount on the P4B in the Dell? Not sure about socket mounts etc. Ideally I'd shove on a Zalman 92mm jobby but until I open it up not sure if there's enough room in there, plus why spend money if the stock HSF will do for now?

Anyone out there done this to a Dell? There's no intake fan at the front, as far as I can tell, airflow must be an issue in these boxes. Anyone got any other suggestions to keep this thing cooler and quieter??!!

The other noisy bit is the PSU fan, but that I believe is a much larger job to sort out...

[Austin]

Being made by a big co like Dell really limits your options, it may be best to seek out a slower P4B to stick in there, 3.06ghz should get you a nice price 2nd hand because it's the only way those with 533FSB only mobos can really get top perf and HT. Otherwise I think you'll have to mod the case in order to enhance ventilation and airflow. I think you'll find the P4C cooler will fit as both sockets should be Skt478, should be easy to see when you open it/them up.

Turning down the FSB slightly isn't likely to be an option. Your only likely option is to enable 400FSB instead of 533FSB dropping your CPU all the way down to 2.3ghz although you should keep HT. Changing the PSU is likely to be very hard as Dell tend to use their own mounting and connectors, you may have to chuck out the whole case and maybe mobo too.

[shredisn@tdead]

Just found this artice: Newbie Silences a Dell OptiPlex GX-240 at silentpcreview.com. Anyone ever heard of a TS Heatronics Heatlane Zen NCU-1000 CPU Radiator - if there's an award for the biggest HS then this surely would win hands down! (you'll need to look at pg2 of the article) The guy's also replaced the PSU so will eagerly await the next article that details how he did the necessary mods.

As for reducing the speed, I'm not really up for that - I'd rather put up with the noise I didn't pay all that money for a 3.06 to run iat 2.3!!!

Hadn't thought about replacing the case... will have to seriously consider that, although knowing me if I have to replace the mobo too (don't tell me this uses non-standard mount positions..) I will probably get carried away and replace a whole lot more!

Wasn't sure if the mounts for Bs & Cs were the same. I think I may well try that first and see how it goes. MBM currently tells me 45 / 32 / 63. I'm not sure which is which, guessing the 63 is the CPU which is rather high. At least I can monitor what happens when I replace the HSF.

[sparky191]

Whats the problem with fitting a better heatsink? and swapping the case fans for quieter ones. I kinda like the look of this one link But one of the Zalman jobbies should be enough link. Check out the ratings of a few HSF here. I'm using a Zalman flower which is quiet and cooles well but bracket is a pain.

[chrisf6969]

Take the plastic shroud off and put in trash... as its meant to direct air over the passive heatsink. Replace the Dell HS with the stock one from the 2.6C that you bought. You may need to change the plastic retention clips on the mobo b/c I think they are made to hold on to the bottom of the dell HS instead of going over the top like the Retail Intel HSF.

[shredisn@tdead]

Originally posted by chrisf6969
You may need to change the plastic retention clips on the mobo b/c I think they are made to hold on to the bottom of the dell HS instead of going over the top like the Retail Intel HSF.

Just took a quick look - you're absolutely right. Where can I get hold of some correct plastic retention clips? I don't have any of those with the HSF.

I was happy with the Dell when I got it, but the more I learn the more angry I get, anger leads to hate, etc etc...

[Jonny M]

They are very well made OEM systems. One of the quietest on the market for desktops.

[chrisf6969]

Yep, I'm using a Dell Dimension 4550 (2.53Ghz, 256MB DDR33, GF4mx , etc... ) at work I guess I cant complain. I play Wolf ET when I have a stretch of free time. (I thought it was a GF4mx440 only to realize upon delivery it was a mx420 = crap) Its a decent built machine & it is quiet.

Also, you might be able to use a HSF that is made to be attached from the base too.. LIke this one... http://www.2advancedcomputers.com/pr...cpu%20fans.htm (dont know if it definitely fits)

Instead of changing the plastic retention bracket... this guy on ebay has lots of them on sale... $8
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=44943 (should fit, unless Dell used some proprietary placement of mounting holes for plastic bracket - doubtful though)

[shredisn@tdead]

Agreed, Dells are OK in an office environment where the ambient noise is MUCH higher than your room at home (when the stereo isn't on!). When the machine is 100% loaded the CPU gets hot and the exhaust fan is at full what then you start to notice this at home...

Not sure which fan you're pointing me at, but I might just give the retention bracket a try for a tenner.

[sparky191]

chrisf6969

What heck to you do with all those machines in your sig? And of all of them which is your favorite and why?

[chrisf6969]

http://www.2advancedcomputers.com/pr...ns/JACA44C.htm <--- this one, sorry

Sparky:
Of the machines on that page.... THere's really only 3 PCs total

the 3.6Ghz in the Lian-Li has been evolving... (changing parts & mods - multiple pictures of it at different times/different configurations) for the past year & half or so. And is my favorite of course! (notice the dates above each one)

The old 1Ghz is my "old faithful" as back up and guest gamer PC.

The 3Ghz in the black case, I just built for my 2 little brothers still living at home with mom. Used a few old parts (CPU & vid card) and mostly new parts (everything else)

[sparky191]

Some serious kit there. I'm still on a P4 1.8@2.4 so hitting the 3ghz+ will be my next upgrade. But not for a few months yet.

[shredisn@tdead]

Well, ordered a CPU retention bracket off Ebay. Bang goes the Dell warrant I guess!

chrisf6969,

Your 3.6Ghz is running on air, right?? Must be some magic trick to that! I can get my 2.6Ghz up to just short of 3.3Ghz, but even if I switch mem from 1:1 to 5:4 can't get it higher than that so I'm guessing the CPU is maxed out. Are the 2.4's generally the best OC'ers - most like to achieve higher FSBs than the rest?

If I can tame the Dell I might build a quiet but fast SFF, just not sure how well Shuttles or new Soltek clock over 250fsb...

[chrisf6969]

A lot of people have problems getting over 260Mhz with the 5:4 (or 1:1) ratio, the newer bios is supposed to help. But so many people dont even try the 3:2 ratio, so they dont even realize how much headroom they had left.

I'm only giving it 1.575 in bios (reads 1.52-1.50 in windows), temps are 51-52 idle, 59-60 full load.

I like to find out the max of my ram & CPU seperately then maximize them.

So put some loose settings on your ram (2.5-4-4-8) and the 3:2 ratio and see how high you can get your CPU. Once you know that you may be a border case where you can stay at 5:4 and get great memory scores... or when you change to 3:2 you can get more CPU, but your memory scores are only slight lower (or higher).

For me it was cut & dry. I could get to like 3.120Ghz at 5:4 and my memory scores were ok I think around 5400Mb/s or go to 3.6Ghz and get memory scores around 5900Mb/s

And obviously my benchmarks were much better at 3.6Ghz.

[chrisf6969]

tell me how it works out

[shredisn@tdead]

Sure, but can't promise I'll get the time straight away!

Here's the current stats although have taken fsb down from 255 to 252 so Prime95 is totally solid.

What memory are you running? I've Adata PC4000 CL3 which doesn't seem to want to run at tighter settings. The box is a SETI cruncher, BTW, so I think I need high memory bandwith as well as high CPU Mhz, no?

Thanks for the tips!