I have an overheating Precision 350. Performance begins to lag severely near the end of day. According to Speedfan one of the sensors shows it's 81C!

As I look at the setup, Dell uses the case fan, a heat sink on the CPU, and some ductwork to cool both the case and CPU. Not a good thing if the fan goes south...

So my question is this, how can I find out what fan/s and heatsink I can use to replace the existing setup? I suppose I could always just use a better case fan than the current JMC 9232-12HBTL-2 fan.

(The other wonderful thing is that Dell uses proprietary connectors so you can't just switch out fans, you have to also switch out connectors.)

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

"According to Speedfan one of the sensors shows it's 81C" Is that the cpu temperature ? I would also check the temperature in the bios if that's possible just to see if speedfan's reading is accurate.
"a heat sink on the CPU"-there's no cooling fan with the heatsink ?

Thanks for the reminder about the BIOS. I'll check it to see if there's any way to verify the temp sensors in there. I have no reason to disbelieve SpeedFan though. It does seem to overheat.

Correct. There is no cooling fan with the heatsink. Dell uses the case fan in combination with a heat sink on the CPU, and a little duct work to pull the air movement generated by the case fan across the CPU. It's no surprise to me that there's a hot spot in the PC somewhere.

So my main question is how to modify this. In other words I'd like to do away with the stock heatsink and ductwork, and put an aftermarket fan/heatseak combo on the CPU,
AND... either replace the case fan with higher CFM fan or get one that works better.

Anyone have any experience with this, or can point me to a PC cooling forum, or a manufacturer of cooling equipment that will help me with this?

Don't trust Speedfan. Check the BIOS as kx5m2g suggested. If you find that your CPU is running hot, you don't necessarily have to change the cooling setup, but a thorough cleaning might be worthwhile. You could also remove the heatsink from the CPU, remove all traces of the old thermal pad, then apply a small dab of paste. RadioShack heatsink paste goes for about $3 a tube....it's as good as any.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/app...

"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"

The box has already been thoroughly cleaned. I can get some of RadioShack's heatsink stuff tho...

If you decide to go with installing a better heatsink/fan, there are adapters that connect to a power supply molex connector and have a fan connector with a speed sensing wire that can be connected to the motherboard.

aegis,
I'd be interesting in looking at such a thing. Where can you get them, and how does it connect to the motherboard?

I'm leaning toward leaving the case fan as is, since it plugs into the MOBO anyway, and just replace the heatsink/ductwork with a new CPU cooler. I'm just not certain what to get...

It's apparently worked OK for years, right? I see no reason to invest $25 or more in a HSF when it's entirely possible that applying a fresh layer of thermal compound will fix the problem.

"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"

Depends on what you mean by "worked OK".

The HD just went out recently, and it always has gotten slower each afternoon for quite some time....

WkEndHacker, do a Google search for 'fan molex' and you will see several options for an adapter.

You might want to consider just getting a fan to install on your current heatsink.

I should say that I don't want to appear as encouraging you to make this change. I'm just giving options in case your mind is made up to do it.

in my experience the 3 pin fan connectors have the three pins at the same distance apart as standard (non dell) motherboards / fans and if you use a sharp knife to modify the plastic around the socket or the plug you can use them with eachother (but you have to make sure you connect it around correct way as once modified, the plug would fit either way around)