My roomate in college had a Dell (it was a newer one - I forget the model), But it started making the obvious sounds of a dying fan, and was getting sluggish from overheating.
Since getting the computer repaired would've meant not having his computer for a couple weeks, we looked into it. *both* fans had bad bearings. We ran out to Radio Shack, picked up a couple 12v "muffin fans" (they didn't have "case fans" listed), wire ties, and a Molex connector.
We wire-tied the fans to the back of the case, connected them to the Molex connector, ran the wire through an empty card slot and plugged it into a spare 5.25" drive connector. We figured this wouldn't void the warranty, since the original fans were still there, and the new ones could be removed before it was taken in for service.
The next semster, when we moved back into the dorm, he still had the fans wire-tied to the case. Turned out he never took it in for service. He totally removed the original fans and kept the ones on the back of the case - they kept the computer cooler than the Dell fans... |
