BleepingComputer.com: internal fan for Dell Dimension E510?

Hi all,
I'm sure if you have looked at my profile, you'll know that I own two computers, both of them Dells. One is a Dell Dimension E510, and the other is a Del Inspiron 1525. My first computer is the one I'm asking about. Since it is four years old, but still running great, I've discovered that it has issues with the heat of the day. If ambient temperatures reach 80 degrees or above, the computer doesn't freeze, but the CPU and fan go wild. Do you folks know of any internal fans that are compatible with the Dell Dimension E510? If so please let me know.

Many thanks,
Chromebusterb

Most fans are usually standard, unless they are designed for a special case. You just have to find the right size. I live in a hot climate too and temperatures in the room my gaming PC is in can get into the low to mid 80's, at which point the fans really start to kick in.

Thanks a lot. I wasn't sure, but now I have something to look into. The question is now, how many fans the computer comes with in the first place and if there's room for another one.

chromebuster, on Aug 11 2010, 03:54 PM, said:

Not to my knowledge. Dells typically use a proprietary fan connector that snaps in. It helps ensure that the fan will never accidentally become unplugged.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimE510/

From researching pictures of the motherboard (below) the fan connector is the black one on the bottom left - near an electrolytic capacitor and onboard speaker. Only fans from Dell will work with that type of connector. You can most likely buy them on Ebay.

This post has been edited by JonM33: 12 August 2010 - 05:21 PM

Thats not to say he can't add fans. You don't have to plug them into the motherboard, in fact if the computer already has one fan, chances are that ones already taken. All he has to do is find a fan that plugs straight into the power supply via the 4 pin molex (which most do standard, or have an adaptor) of the proper size. It will run at 100% but if he finds a somewhat silent one it won't be a big deal and it will help cool it down a bit. If hes short on 4 pin molex connectors, some fans come with these, if not theyre easy to find and cheap, they have splitters that allow you to plug 2 low voltage items into one 4 pin molex (like a fan and a optical drive or 2 fans for example)

1. Dells (in general) do not have standard fan mounts. So you can't just add a fan. At most you can add a PCI slot blower fan but those are generally worthless. The last one I tried didn't even lower internal case temps by 1C.
2. On a Dell, if you do not plug a (working) fan into that CPU FAN connector it will not boot. I speak from experience on many Dells with this.

The Dell Dimension E510 actually has a good design. The fan is in the front and pulls in air directly over the CPU heatsink, which is quite large. The Dell Dimension E510 came with either a Pentium 4 Prescott or a Pentium D. Both of those are inherently hot running processors. I would suggest that he 1) blow out the front vents and the fan area with an air can and 2) seek in replacing the fan by getting a new one on Ebay. Those fans are PWM fans and the circuits can go bad on them.

Where there is a will, there will be a way. There are several different ways that you can get around the given mounting holes, you can even drill new ones. If you are resourceful, you can even make a bracket to adapt the mounting holes for the case and new fan.

I suppose you can use zip ties to mount a fan on the back vents on that case.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, guys. I'll be looking into that one. I've only seen the inside of that computer once, and that was when my Ex-boyfriend was over fixing it. It was covered with like a million layers of dust if I remember correctly. I am very resourceful on that note, and My dad's a carpenter, so I'll let him take care of the drilling if it comes to that LOL.

Oh ya, creativity goes a long way. I had a case I needed a fan mounted over the CPU, and there wasnt one in the side case, Dremel took care of that right fast, little creativity and I had a 4 LED 120 mm fan mounted right over the CPU. It looked cool the way I did it, and it worked extremely well. There is always a way to do something if your creative enough. And while Dells dont always have extra fan mounts, they do, they just arnt usually screws, but thats easy to solve, like DC3 says, a drill goes a long way (just make sure you remove the components before you drill and clean it out before putting them back in) and even ways to work with their brackets, not real hard to do. Fan sizes isnt a big deal, you can get any size fan off of newegg pretty cheap that will fit any size case mounting imaginable.

Oh wow. I can't get over this one at all. I'll tell you that the vent in the side of the computer's case looked more like something coming off of a clothes dryer than an air slot for the cooling of a CPU thanks to all the lint stuck up in there! It took my dad to notice it! So it doesn't look quite like it's a fan I'm worried about, but more like a vacuuming of the vents and a nice blowing out of the inside.

I used to have a Dell E510 with an Intel Pentium D Dual-Core and it also got really hot.

The mobo uses a regular fan connector for the power IIRC, I figured it out with a voltmeter one day.

As far as the vent in the front/side, that design sucks because its awesome at catching lint. I ended up cleaning it monthly because I have a dog. Every 6 months I would disassemble the case and clean the insides thoroughly.

The best advice I can give is get rid of that case but unfortunately you have a Dell Custom Mobo so you can't. What I have seen pictures of though is someone taking small fans that connect direct to the power supply and screwing them to the rear of the case to promote exhaust flow. Another idea is take a coffee filter or another thin/porous cloth and place it over the front vent to act as filter. Lastly turn the PC off in the summer, letting it idle does not help the heat problem.

I would suggest not using a vacuum cleaner on the inside of your case. A vacuum clean is a static electricity generator of the first order. All it takes is about 10V to kill a IC, a static discharge that you can feel is above 2,000V.

I would just buy a can of "canned air" and blow out the computer.

Remember, if you are going to touch anything on the inside of the case, touch the metal of the case first to discharge any static electricity you have in you system. I would also suggest unplugging the computer as well.