Dell Studio Slim Graphics Card Cooling

Hi everyone,

Am a complete newbie to modding pcs and playing with the insides of them, other than changing a graphics card or adding more memory. But I have come across a problem and the only solution is to start altering the PC.

I have a Dell Studio Slim, and when I initially bought it, my idea was to not play computer games and use it only for work purposes...yeah right! It ran beautifully with only Visual Studio and SQL Server running but now that am no longer doing any development at home, the PC has turned into a World of Warcraft machine, and am slightly addicted.

Now I bought a new graphics card XFX GeForce 9500GT 1024MB DDR2 Low Profile/Half Height PCI Express 2.0 Video card, and its awesome. I can up all the settings to almost the top in WOW, and if I don't play for more than a couple of hours at a time, everything is fine. However I started to see the screen flicker on and off, and at first I thought it was my monitor. I switched to an old monitor and things seemed to be fine. So I blamed the monitor.

Dell replaced the monitor with no questions, and things settled down again for a while. Until a couple of weeks ago when I put in a weekend of gaming. The screen started flickering again. I went inside the machine and noticed that it was REAL hot, and the graphics card was noticeably warmer. So it could be the graphics card is not liking the slim case and (now I notice) very little airflow other than the fan on the processor and the fan on the power unit.

So am in need of a bit of advice. I want to buy a new case - put all the components of the dell into it, and make sure there are plenty of fans (quiet ones please) and airflow to keep the graphics card cool. This would have the added benefit of maybe buying a higher end graphics card as the slim/half height issue would be removed and be able to add in some funky stuff to make the pc look awesome.

Would anyone know what type of motherboard I have in my Dell and are there cases out there that will fit it, as I have unfortunately heard its a hard thing to find (or it was as the posts all seem to be really old that I read).

Thanks for any help

Colin

Ok so I have been checking lots of websites and forums out and generally the opinion is forget it mate and live with your choice...well thats really not me. So I have come up with a new idea...build a new pc!! Woo!! Thinking about turning the Dell into a media centre, put all my music on it, get Spotify on it, and link it up to my stereo and tv (IG 37" 1080p Full HD). Watch blu-rays on that machine instead of the stupidly noisy PS3.

Will post questions in a more app area of the site.

Thanks

Colin

Yes Colin
Its a hard thing to find because there might be a problem with the motherboard processor or graphic card which get more heater because it depend on processor or power supply.

Tim

well you have a few options on that dell system, but without know what model you have, its hard to determine if you could swap it into a different case, or swap the cooling system on the graphics card to something superior.

But if you are interested in making a new pc and turning your dell in to a HTPC, just post up in the PC Hardware section of Dev, and just break down what it is you need the PC to be able to do and the kind of budget you have to work with, and we can help you find the best bang for your buck