Dell optiplex gx620 SFF cooling issues

You can try something like this device:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Newegg also has several other cooling devices that may help. Also, make sure your CPU fan (probably the only fan other than the one in the PSU) is as clean as possible. If needed, get a can of compressed air and clean the fan and PSU to optimize what cooling capacity you do have.

Good luck!

How much is the mobo recapping cost?
I have a dell precision 450 and when my caps went it was cheaper (53 us shipped Ebay) to replace mobo then to replace caps.
Just a heads up.

Thanks for the response.. Sadly, that device on newegg (item# N82E16817122110) is a 5.25" drive-bay intake fan that provides 3.5" harddrive cooling hookup. - it wont fit in a 3.5" floppy bay.

It seems I have searched the web high and low for a 3.5" floppy bay intake fan... NO LUCK! I think there's a huge market for floppy bay intake fans, but no one seems to make them. One dude said he could construct one for me, but before I pay him money, I'd like to find a professionally fabricated one.

In regards to motherboard re-capping, $60 parts and labor, for the rubycons. I did look at used/cheap motherboards but I dont trust the life of the capacitors on them.

I love my gx620 sff, i just wish it had better ventilation.

You are right on the dimensions, sorry I didn't read more closely. Mea culpa.

leave the cover open and blow one of those huge old fashioned box fans at it  

What about a small pci cooler if you have a slot open.
Or is it possible to cut/drill into the case preferably dead center of case or near pci bus?
I have a Dell Precision 450 workstation that I used a PCI cooler and I cut the front of the case(drills and jigsaws do wonders) it lays flat longways across and used a Dell cpu shroud (green) and created a ducted intake.
I also drilled extra vent holes above the pci bus.
Kinda looks a little Frankenstein but my cpus stay at 41c and my GPU OC'd stays at 40c at idle in a 77f room.
It depends on your level of handtool skill and how far your willing to go (the look of the tower might be important to you for example) with chopping the case.
Be careful if your not sure what you are doing.

You could try one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...) or a 3.5 inch HDD cooler mounted in your available 3.5 inch bay. Both of these solutions may move around enough air to cool down your hot spot. You could also try to cable tie an 80MM fan (tilted slightly) in the bay as well.

We have these Dell Optiplex SFF machines at work, nearly 5 years old now but my company has no interest in replacing them since they "work"  

It's true I suppose, but I've upgraded mine with a dual-monitor graphics card. Nothing fancy just a basic Nvidia NVS280, which has passive cooling so I thought it would be ok even in my little Dell case...

I was wrong. The cooling is utterly hopeless, there are two weedy little fans in the whole system, one in the front and one in the PSU. After about 7 or 8 hours use the side of the case is hot to the touch! Not good at all. I've already lost a hard drive due to the heat.

Now it's a cumulative effect, the heat only builds up after several hours and even then it's still working, just very hot... Which tells me that A: There's little / no air moving through the case and B: It's not going to take a lot of airflow to get the temps down.

My options are:

Something to go in the 3.5in bay (seen plenty of devices for a 5.25 bay but so far nothing for a 3.5)
Something to go in the slimline DVD bay (unlikely lol)
Something to go in the PCI slot that vents out the back of the case (I've seen hundreds of full-height PCI blowers, but no half height)
Something to strap on to the graphics card that vents out the back of the case (same as above there's loads of custom GFX coolers but nothing in half-height.
Replacing the case blower with an uprated fan. (Probably the most feisable solution)
Attaching a fan somewhere else...


Anything I've not thought of? Come on Dell Small Form Factor owners, someone must have conquered this??

is this the pc?

That's old Betsy alright, or one of her sisters at any rate. Mine doesn't have a floppy drive installed though.

I've been with her several years now and have spent more time amongst her ports and connectors than I'd really like to admit to.

Looks like nobody can help  

cut a hole in the top and put a big 120mm fan sucking out the hot air. seriously im not kidding  

Riiight.

One problem with that. It's a work machine, located at work. I can't take it home to cut a hole in it as it has sensitive company files on it.

Also it's less than 120mm wide, so any large fan would need to go in the metal side panel. I doubt my colleagues would appreciate the unique tone of a Dremel being used to cut metal in the office.

I've bought a 40mm fan which I hope to attach to the vents at the back using zipties.

Ghetto modding at its finest, but might just work.

put one of these zip-tied sideways to the exhaust vents
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I replaced the CPU with a cooler-running Core 2 Duo E6420 chip and everything is now fine  

Let me see if I got this right:
You are saing that you sucessfully replaced the stock processor of a dell optiplex gx620 (I suppose it was a pentium 4) with a core 2 duo processor? And that it works? With no mods?...

I'm asking because since I have the desktop version, I would like to do the same, but everywhere I read that it's not possible because the BIOS wont allow it (its no limitation of the chipset). I even found a forum where a guy tried a e4000 (I think...) cpu and it didnt turn on, folks even said he probably might have burned the cpu...

Open it and disconnect the blue wire going to the main fan. This will make it go full speed. It will be loud, But my temp is 35 Degrees under load.

Best answer selected by mousemonkey.

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