Noisy Supermicro Xeon D 5018D-FN4T

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buzurk

New Member
Sep 27, 2019
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Hi

Trying to build a nice quiet server to slot into my 6ru rack instead of my current tower based one that takes up room.

Anyway, bought myself a second hand SuperServer 5018D-FN4T which came with 32gb Ram for a good price

Firing it up firstly, it was noisy! it only had the two rear 40mm stock fans, and no shroud (missing?) as well as the passive HSF, I tried setting different fan modes and updating BIOS etc, but no avail

So, I ordered the Supermicro SNK-C0057A4L Active HSF Kit, and the plastic shroud.

I also ordered som noctua nf-a4x20 fans and mounted them against the rear of the chassis with the rubber mounts, then modified the shroud to direct all air from these at the newly installed active HSF

Now, booting this thing back up and its almost quiet - Great i thought! but it seems now as soon as there is a bit of CPU load, say 50%, up ramps the new CPU fan and temps raise to 70 - 80deg C and the server is back to being a bit noisy for my liking

Im at a bit of a loss here, i thought active HSF + Dual fans pushing air across it would help, Ive tried with the rear fans too, but no luck

I could try reinstalling the standard 40mm fans back into their holder + shroud, this will push a bit more than the noctuas no doubt, but i thought at the expense of more noise surely

Am i just at a loss with the 1ru? close to just going back to my ITX Tower which has a Xeon Quad in it, and even at 100% cpu its quiet
 

buzurk

New Member
Sep 27, 2019
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What is the expected temps of this thing at say half load, i was seeing 70 - 80 degC

Wondering if its worth going to a small ITX case and still retiring my tower
 

ullbeking

Active Member
Jul 28, 2017
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London
Yes, 1U servers are always loud.
Some 1U servers can be pretty quiet if they are not powered strongly and pushed hard.

For example, the Supermicro 1U SuperServers based on the C2000 series of Atom SoC are not loud and make for excellent home servers (provided the above condition is met).
 

Slavearm

New Member
Apr 15, 2017
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All of mine are quiet... custome watercooling loop in one, and the other, went with an active cooler and some of the nidec 40mm fans. The non-watercooled one can get audible if CPU utilization gets high, but nothing major.