Hi BCGO,

I recall there was an issue with some of these systems similar to yours where a BIOS update fixed the problem. What BIOS version do you have now?

Hi OSPREY4

I did upgrade to A12 last year already. And my graphic card overheating issue if probably independant from that. Let me report how the fan behaves after a few days, now that I've removed the back cover and the motherboard cover.

Thanks for your reply

BC

The fastest way to get a part number is to call Dell. But it is not uncommon for the same system to take multiple motherboard part numbers. You could search Ebay to check for yourself.

Hi BC,

It seems like I'm having overheat problems with a brand new Dell XPS 2720 as well. Everything else is fine (maybe execpt the sound jackstik) so I'm hoping it's possible to make a quick fix by removing the motherboard cover or something similar. My fan 2 is very noisy (+3000 RPM) with no applications running. And I received the computer only two days ago!

How did it work out for your fan after removing the back cover?

The temperatur of my hard drive is 46C which I think is quite disturbing. Best temperatur is 30-40C and +45C will increase the risk for hard drive fails badly. I'm wondering if the warm harddrive is the reason of the noisy fan - even though the noise is quite loud from the start when the computer is started up and the hard drive is cold.

Does anybody have experiences by replacing the hard drive with a pure SSD solution?

Best regards,

Thomas

Hi! 46 degrees does not sound too much for a harddrive if you look at the specs? But the noice from the fan seems a bit much.

Two months ago I swapped my 2710 2TB HD for a 500 GB Samsung SSD and made a clean install of Windows 8.1.

It was a uncomplicated affair. Removed the back cover and the stand. Lifted out the HD and reused the fasteners on the SSD bracket and reattached the wires.

Result was a very quiet and smooth computer.

The only "complication" was this EFI business at start which has nothing to do with swapping drives, the RST drive (if present in your machines) was removed for use in a laptop.

All in all a very worthwhile mod, the old drive now sits in a dock with a 3.0 USB connection for backup and transfers.

Good luck with your conversion!

Hi Svanteg,

Thanks for your answer :-)

About the temperatur I just found an online guide warning against temperatures above 45C because it could led to higher failure rates. This and the many reports about hard drive failurs in Dell 2710 made me worry about the durability of my hard drive. And now after 2 hours work the temperature is even higher - 49C!

I think you have made a good solution replacing the hard drive with a SSD and then using the old hard drive as backup drive through USB. I have been considering the same solution. What Samsung SSD have you installed? I was thinking about using the new Samsung Pro 850 512GB (MZ-7KE512BW).

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7KE512BW

My XPS 2720 also has a 30GB SSD for caching (RST). When you switched to only one disk (SSD) I guess you had to make a change in the bios turning the SATA mode from RST to AHCI. Or was the changes detected automaticly? The reason I ask is that I couldn't find the SATA mode when I looked in the bios.

I very much appreciate your help :-)

Best regards, Thomas

Hello Thomas!

I dont think you should worry about your HD break down. I myself would start worry at 70+ centigrade ;-) The numbers are statistical and says nothing about your particular drive. It will break down tomorrow or "never". It sits not so well ventilated like in the 2710.

There is also the S.M.A.R.T. function to check. There is lies, *** lies and there is statistics!

Live with your drive as long you have it :) Even an SSD can break down, you know.

I put in a Samsung 840 EVO mainly due to good reviews, price AND the Samsung Magician software. Makes the SSD fly if you enable all functions. My 2710 is a bit outdated too. I would think the 850 is the best SSD you can have!

The 2710 have no RST option in BIOS, only ATA or ACHI and I had the latter enabled. You dont need the RST with a SSD.

All the best to you and let us know how it went.

Svante

P.S. Some other details in thread "What went wrong?..."

Hi Svante,

A technician from Dell has just checked the computer to see if he could fix the problem. His first thought was that the noise was loud but normal for the 2720. His opinion was that it is probably better in an open office with some noise than at home. I'm working from home at the moment and here the noise are just to much.

The technician changed the fan 2 (the big fan in top) but it didn't helped. As you wrote the temperatur at the hard drive wasn't to much according to the technician. And even though the work load at the hard drive was just about 0% the fan was still noisy. So I doubt a SSD will solve the noisy fan problem in my case.

It's a pitty because I think the rest of the computer (beside the sound jackstik) is very nice. But the noise is not something I can live with and I have to return the computer to Dell :-(

Anyway, thanks for your help. It is very appreciated :-)

Best regards, Thomas

Hi Thomas, nice to hear you and Dell acted fast and got the issue resolved.

To me the noisy Dell computer fans have followed me for the last 15 years through 4-5 different computers at home. Dell is a poor designer of fans. I dare say computers....

These 27" AIO (when silenced!) are a joy to use. My next home computer will have the noise level carefully checked in advance, or I then might have my brand changed for quiet HP or similar...