[SOLVED] Dell XPS 420 CPU hot after upgrade

[ptam101]

Hi guys,
I just recently upgraded my XPS 420 with a Seagate 4TB storage drive and Q9650. I kept the stock heat sink and fan with a thin layer of Arctic Silver 5. The CPU is 40-45C idle and goes to 70, 80 or 90C under load. I notice it goes up when watching YouTube using the new Edge browser or SlingPlayer. The PC runs great but the fan goes nuts. Any ideas how I can fix this? Another fan? Something I'm not thinking of?
Appreciate any thoughts

 

[Mooons]

Define "thin"?

I suggest steering away from the stock cooler. Get an aftermarket one. Plenty of choices on Newegg and Amazon.

 

[ptam101]

Define "thin"?

I suggest steering away from the stock cooler. Get an aftermarket one. Plenty of choices on Newegg and Amazon.

I put 5 grain of rice dots of paste and used a credit card to spread thin. From what I saw, there were no good after market heat sink solutions for the XPS 420. If you know of any, I would really appreciate a suggestion.

 

[Math Geek]

didn't realize you could put that cpu into that pc.

but it's a power hog so better cooling for sure is needed. that'd be my guess after verifying you did not put too much paste on it. if you spread it across the whole cpu, you should be able to read the serial number and such through it. that thin!!

i have on of these with the q6600 cpu and it runs warm when running flat out already. not sure it can handle the upgrade on that stock cooler.

it's an lg 775 mobo so should take any cooler that fits that board. the big heatsink mounts like any normal cooler would, just the fan is on the side instead of on top of it.

newegg shows 231 coolers for that socket so you're bound to find one you like at the right price.

other thing to note is that case has little airflow. so be sure you're getting all the air it can from that single front fan. make sure its clean and so on. it's an old pc so might be time to replace that front fan as well. i replaced mine couple years ago and saw a couple degrees cooler just due to that much better fan i put in.

 

[Mooons]

I put 5 grain of rice dots of paste and used a credit card to spread thin. From what I saw, there were no good after market heat sink solutions for the XPS 420. If you know of any, I would really appreciate a suggestion.

Go ahead and remove that thermal paste application. You just need a pea sized ball in the middle of the CPU. Let the CPU cooler spread the paste around when you attach the cooler.

Here is a link to Newegg for some coolers:

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=lga775+heatsink&N=100008000&name=CPU Fans & Heatsinks

There is some low profile ones there as well if you cant fit some of the bigger coolers in there.

 

[Math Geek]

There is some low profile ones there as well if you cant fit some of the bigger coolers in there.

the stock cooler is HUGE!! so should be able to get a decent modern cooler.

dell had to cool the 105w+ cpu and went nuts on the heatsink. pretty much runs all the way to the other side of the case from the mobo!!

 

[Mooons]

the stock cooler is HUGE!! so should be able to get a decent modern cooler.

dell had to cool the 105w+ cpu and went nuts on the heatsink. pretty much runs all the way to the other side of the case from the mobo!!

Good to know thanks!

 

[Math Geek]

one of the newer models with the side mounted fan would be best to match what's in there now. the shroud that helps funnel air straight to that fan from the front would still be useful. i've not measured but should be easy to do to ensure you don't get one too tall. case opens nice and easy

 

[ptam101]

didn't realize you could put that cpu into that pc.

but it's a power hog so better cooling for sure is needed. that'd be my guess after verifying you did not put too much paste on it. if you spread it across the whole cpu, you should be able to read the serial number and such through it. that thin!!

i have on of these with the q6600 cpu and it runs warm when running flat out already. not sure it can handle the upgrade on that stock cooler.

it's an lg 775 mobo so should take any cooler that fits that board. the big heatsink mounts like any normal cooler would, just the fan is on the side instead of on top of it.

newegg shows 231 coolers for that socket so you're bound to find one you like at the right price.

other thing to note is that case has little airflow. so be sure you're getting all the air it can from that single front fan. make sure its clean and so on. it's an old pc so might be time to replace that front fan as well. i replaced mine couple years ago and saw a couple degrees cooler just due to that much better fan i put in.

So I cannot see the serial number so maybe I will try to put on less. It seems to be a fine art to get the right amount! I agree about the airflow issue. I was thinking about putting a PCI fan or a fan on the exhaust grid on the back to help with more flow. Did you replace your fan with the exact one or an OEM? Thanks!

 

[ptam101]

Go ahead and remove that thermal paste application. You just need a pea sized ball in the middle of the CPU. Let the CPU cooler spread the paste around when you attach the cooler.

Here is a link to Newegg for some coolers:

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=lga775+heatsink&N=100008000&name=CPU Fans & Heatsinks

There is some low profile ones there as well if you cant fit some of the bigger coolers in there.

Thanks, I will reapply the past again. As far as the coolers, I have no problem getting a new one. From what I read, there was no real OEM replacement so I am not sure which is the right one for my model.

 

[Mooons]

Just make sure the CPU cooler is LGA775 compatible!

 

[SamirD]

Okay guys, it's not the paste.

The Dells of this era came with different coolers--some were just aluminum, some added a copper core, and some added heatpipes. You need the heatpipe version and I'm guessing you have the aluminum version for some reason.

Dell part numbers:
Aluminum: 0w5685
Heatpipe: 0dn004

Luckily, you can get the right one for about $15 including the plastic shroud which you will probably need. This heatsink is supposed to be good enough for the hottest pentium4s of that day which were will over 100w, so it should work well for the q9650.

 

[ptam101]

Okay guys, it's not the paste.

The Dells of this era came with different coolers--some were just aluminum, some added a copper core, and some added heatpipes. You need the heatpipe version and I'm guessing you have the aluminum version for some reason.

Dell part numbers:
Aluminum: 0w5685
Heatpipe: 0dn004

Luckily, you can get the right one for about $15 including the plastic shroud which you will probably need. This heatsink is supposed to be good enough for the hottest pentium4s of that day which were will over 100w, so it should work well for the q9650.

Interesting, thanks for the information. I will try this and ordered a new case fan. When I get the new case fan and heat pipe, I will reapply the past in a better way. I do have the aluminum one. I will update once I have some results.

 

[Math Geek]

i replaced my front fan with one i ordered online. def not OEM. artic 12 or 14 or something like that if i recall right.

 

[SamirD]

Interesting, thanks for the information. I will try this and ordered a new case fan. When I get the new case fan and heat pipe, I will reapply the past in a better way. I do have the aluminum one. I will update once I have some results.

i replaced my front fan with one i ordered online. def not OEM. artic 12 or 14 or something like that if i recall right.

You don't need to mess with the fan, and more than likely a third party one won't even fit. The problem is the aluminum heatsink for the heatpipe one. As you can tell, even the aluminum one will cool it, but the fan has to be floored. That's actually what I do for my upgrades since the systems are remote and I can't hear the fan noise--keeps them all nice and cool. I've actually had a motherboard fail because pwm didn't kick in and the whole system went into meltdown, so now fans on 100% all the time--noise means it's cool.

 

[Math Geek]

i actually have the same pc sitting on my desk. trust me the front fan is a standard size and replacing it def had a positive effect on airflow considering the system is over 10 years old and the fan was not very good when it was new.

the case itself has NO vents other than a small one on font and the back exhaust!! poor design really.

what you are saying is correct in general but this specific pc and its case are part of dell's btx design systems they made years ago. which is why i am offering my experience with the pc since i have one and have been inside it multiple times.

still running great after all these years with only a gpu and ssd upgrade over the years. that q6600 is a nice little cpu for the testing machine i use it for. the q9650 should offer a decent little boost to the machine as well.

 

[ptam101]

Okay guys, it's not the paste.

The Dells of this era came with different coolers--some were just aluminum, some added a copper core, and some added heatpipes. You need the heatpipe version and I'm guessing you have the aluminum version for some reason.

Dell part numbers:
Aluminum: 0w5685
Heatpipe: 0dn004

Luckily, you can get the right one for about $15 including the plastic shroud which you will probably need. This heatsink is supposed to be good enough for the hottest pentium4s of that day which were will over 100w, so it should work well for the q9650.

Thanks for all of your help everyone! The newer type of Heat pipe (Dell Model #
0DN004) seemed to be the answer. I got it today and added a pea size of Arctic Silver 5 in the middle of the CPU. I also did get a new fan but I was wrong with the pins so I guess I will return it. I immediately saw a difference, the CPU was low 30s (which it never was) and maxed out at 44C under 100% load. The PC is fully maxed out (500 GB SSD, 4TB HDD, 8MB RAM, Q9650 and GeForce 730) The PC works really well and more quiet with the cleaning I did and it was a bit of a "badge of honor" to get it to work like this. Thanks so much!

 

[Math Geek]

very nice. glad it worked out for you.

those are some good temp numbers there

 

[SamirD]

Thanks for all of your help everyone! The newer type of Heat pipe (Dell Model #
0DN004) seemed to be the answer. I got it today and added a pea size of Arctic Silver 5 in the middle of the CPU. I also did get a new fan but I was wrong with the pins so I guess I will return it. I immediately saw a difference, the CPU was low 30s (which it never was) and maxed out at 44C under 100% load. The PC is fully maxed out (500 GB SSD, 4TB HDD, 8MB RAM, Q9650 and GeForce 730) The PC works really well and more quiet with the cleaning I did and it was a bit of a "badge of honor" to get it to work like this. Thanks so much!

Awesome. Glad to hear you got the temps down with the heatsink swap.