Re-use old parts to make Mini PC?

AIR-AUSSIE

Hi I have an old Dell Dimensions 5150, that seems to be having overheating/fan noise issues.

What I want to do with it is:
Troubleshoot what element is causing it to overheat.
Find out what parts I can use and transfer into a smaller case.
What I need to buy new to make it work.

Here is the current Specs:

Redfox25

Those parts are pretty old. Instead of going out and buying a new case and other bits it might be more prudent to buy or build a basic pc.
When did you buy it?

Redfox25

Have you cleaned out the vents and case? Wkll help it along for anotherwhile.

TerrorFirmer

Yeah, you could get a PC with the same performance 2nd hand for about €100, wouldn't waste too much time on it - unless the problem is something simple.

When you say overheat, is it turning off? Or just noisy?

AIR-AUSSIE

It is very noisy, like an airplane taking off.. I have tried to clean the ducts etc. Will try and give it a better clean again.

The fans will not turn off. I assume I can check the fan settings in the bios?

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

AIR-AUSSIE wrote:

It is very noisy, like an airplane taking off.. I have tried to clean the ducts etc. Will try and give it a better clean again.

AIR-AUSSIE wrote:

The fans will not turn off. I assume I can check the fan settings in the bios?

There's a tool you can download to check the status of each device. I can get the name of the one I use when I am at my pc. I wouldn't change the settings of the fan as this could permanently damage the system.

Start by cleaning the case from as much dust as possible. Make sure the airflow in the case is not obstructed. Tidy up the cables. Make sure the case is closed and there are no open slots.

If you are comfortable, replace the thermal paste and source a new fan. There are much better heat syncs and bequiet fans that may be compatible with your machine.

You can also throttle you cpu which may help with the heat problem but further slow down your pc. Hope that helps somewhat.

Redfox25

Also check to see if pc has space around it. I was asked to look at my parents as it was very noisey. I couldnt fond ir for a minute as it was shoved under a pile of paperwork and junk. It was totally blocked up and had no airflow around it at all.
Wet cloth and some dumping of junk and it was fine again.

Johnboy1951

I have a couple of P4 Dimension 5150 PCs ..... really old now ..... and the PSU is what generates heat.

What is the rating on your PSU?

I am presently using one with a couple of dual tuner cards as a backend for LiveTV & media streaming.
It runs Openelec and the P4 is only lightly used.

Yet the PSU is running hot.

I don't have a graphics card in it as the on board graphics is sufficient for admin purposes if required (usually ssh into it).


I am debating with myself whether it is worth the cost to upgrade the PSU.

Your machine, although apparently the same Dell model is far superior from the hardware perspective.


Can you give some idea what type of use you wish to make of it?

AIR-AUSSIE

Thanks for the replies.

My 5150 is 5/6 years old.

It was purchased for high end Finite Element processing. Which it did quite well at the time. The graphics did need to be replaced during that time.

I would like to just use it for basic word processing and excel etc to keep in my office. I have a main computer I now use.

If it's possible for me to clean it out to fix the noise issue and/or replace something for relatively cheap to get it back up and running it would be worthwhile.

I will check the PSU when I have a chance.

ED E

As its DELL it wont be ATX so swapping in parts will be a pain.

If it has mounts for a regular PSU you could pick up a nice quiet Seasonic or something and some SATA-> IDE power adapters and that would help, if it is infact the PSU making the noise.

Really though and old Core2Duo laptop would only be slightly more than a new PSU and would run cooler and faster(?).

AIR-AUSSIE

Hi guys, had a chance to look at this problem.

It is a DELL Precsion T3500 not a Dimension (that's my older computer).

The noise seems to be coming from the heat sink, top right of the photo. It's located at the bottom of the case, so probably took in a lot of dust. I will try and clean it.

The core is running at 80C degrees when I open to watch a youtube video and the fan starts to make noise.

AIR-AUSSIE

I cleaned the fans, which did not seem too dirty to be honest.

I have been running just with chrome open and this is what speedfan is showing.




It looks like some process is overloading the processor. I think maybe a system format might be worthwhile to see if that sorts anything out.

Is it worth trying to remove the heatsink to clean it?

Alcoheda

I've found speefan to be unreliable, could you install coretemp?

Also listen carefully to the sound, is it possible that one of the bearings is gone in the fan?

Alcoheda

I've found speefan to be unreliable, could you install coretemp?

Also listen carefully to the sound, is it possible that the bearings is gone in the fan?

AIR-AUSSIE

Right I removed my heat sink which didn't seem dusty either. I reattached the heat sink again, may have been attached slightly lose before?

I played minecraft for 20 minutes to see what would happen. With the case open it no longer had the very loud fan noise, but the core is still very hot see below.



What type of sound should I be looking out for?
The fans sound fine. They don't look amazing or anything but I believe they're not damaged.

If I took the graphics card, hard drive, memory, got a new case, psu, i5 processor and motherboard relatively cheap would this be a deccent computer?

Alcoheda

Those temps are fine, If the noise isn't bothering you, I wouldn't worry.

A damaged bearing gives off a grinding noise eventually but initially, it could be mistaken for above average fan activity.

AIR-AUSSIE

When the processor was being worked hard it; a plane taking off would be the best way to describe it. It hasn't gotten quite that bad since I repositioned the heat sink. I will keep an eye on it.

Alcoheda

You could always buy/borrow some thermal paste and lash it on.

I find that prebuilt pc's use cheaper stuff that has a tenancy to dry out over time.

I would forget about upgrading it as the parts are dell and as such non standard.

They probably wouldn't be of the best quality either so you couldn't count on them lasting.

It would probably make a decent file/movie server.