Dell t3500 remove cpu backplate

[KyleZee]

Was wondering if there's any way of removing the cpu backplate so I can upgrade my cpu cooler.

[unclewebb]

The Dell OEM heatsink works really well if you ghetto tie a fan to it.

 

 

What CPU do you have?  The above can easily handle a W3680 / W3690 overclocked to 4.0 GHz.  

And yes, the T3500 supports overclocking Xeon processors.

[KyleZee]

its an x5675, and yeah I figured putting a fan on that cooler would work, my issue is my house is extremely hot in summers and with wood heat hot in the winter, so I wanted something with a bit more heat pipes, something like this which is meant for lga1366 servers, my issue is that my board has cpu screws already for the stock cooler to mount, I was wondering if they come out? no one seems to know lol, but I guess no ones upgraded the cooler

[unclewebb]

What CPU core temps are you hitting?  The X5675 cannot be overclocked so it will run cooler than the W3680 that I had in my T3500.  These CPUs do not use AVX instructions so that makes for less heat output and much lower temperatures compared to modern CPUs, especially when stress testing with Prime95.  X58 CPUs can run reliably up to 100°C.  That is Intel's recommended safe maximum core temperature.  When stress testing, strapping a fan onto the OEM cooler quickly dropped temps by ~35°C.  A fan less heatsink was a nice design goal for office workers but not really a wise design choice for enthusiasts.  I used an old Antec case fan which I hooked up so it was running at 7 V instead of 12 V.  It ran quieter at the slower speed.  It was not necessary to run it at the full 12 V to keep the CPU cool.

 

If you are still set on mounting the cooler you have, try contacting Retrorockit on the TechPowerUp forum.  He started a thread about overclocking X58 CPUs in the Dell T3500 and similar desktop motherboards.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/throttlestop-overclocking-desktop-pcs.235975/

 

He is also been a regular on the Dell Workstation Owner's Club forum.

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/dell-workstation-owners-club.243124/

 

Those stands in the Dell motherboard look like they should be easily removable.  In theory at least.  If that does not work, maybe you could remove the screw and springs from your new heatsink.

 

Edit - Here is an example of the temps.  Only the TS Bench but 12 threads at full load, 4133 MHz and the CPU was not even close to breaking a sweat.