Dell Optiplex 745 SFF cooling

[Jamiem93]

Hey guys,

I know I'm going to receive a few responses such as "Upgrade the system" but unfortunately due to college and university, I can't really afford to change the system just yet. I settled for a cheap Optiplex 745 sff desktop from Dell. The main problem is the cooling, there isn't any.

The only real cooling is the heat sink which distributes lots of hot air all around the system and as the chasis is tiny which means, all of the components end up overheating. I wanted to know what could I do to cool the system enough for another few months until I can afford a new desktop build for university.

Someone on another website suggested this but I'm not quite sure what he meant. "Here's an idea... if you have a dremel, you could saw out a couple of 80mm holes to mount some external fans to blow into the system. Also, you could reverse the intake fan behind the CPU heatsink to suck out the front. That'll definitely help."

Could anyone give me some useful advice, tips to cool my computer down or things I can buy and install to help cool it down.

Thanks!

 

[higheststorm]

I have the optiplex 620 and mine had the same problem. Get a box fan (it will be noisy) and open the side of your pc (there should be a lever on top and it will open the case) and put the fan on high pointint towards the side. I would sa buy some 120mm fans to install on the motherboard, but since its a Dekl, like me, you cannot add anything like that, unless you are a pro on pcs. Try out the box fan, let me know how it goes

 

[higheststorm]

This is what mine looks like inside. Upload a pic of yours

 

[higheststorm]

Oh wait is your pc a standing or laying pc? If its standing try what I said, cause its not damaging the chasis in any way. But it is a vertical pc, then you will have to do some modifying. Upload a pic

 

[Jamiem93]

Here is a picture of mine.

http://i45.tinypic.com/5as5l0.jpg

I noticed the heat is being carried over the hard drive and some nights the hard drive can become extremely hot, practically painful to touch. I'm now using the machine without the side panels and I think that is slightly helping it.

A few members from the Dell community mentioned slot fans but I wouldn't know how to check if mine would fit in the PCI slots...

 

[jmacavali]

I'm sitting at one too. Never really had any heat issues (we have lots of them at my work). Not sure if that means we are lucky or if that means we are heading for issues....

 

[higheststorm]

Yea you're going to want to put a box fan on that until you can buy some small fans for the pc itself

 

[OhSnapWord]

Make sure the heatsink is clear if any dust or debris. Those things are very sensitive to being dirty.