Supermicro 4u 24 bay chassis with SAS2 expander

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Rain

Active Member
May 13, 2013
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I understand the graph. The issue might be that I've got 120V AC instead of 240V AC; they were tested at 230V 60Hz AC, which leads to higher efficiency.

To do further research before switching to the 920P-1Rs, I unplugged PSU2 to put a bit more load on PSU1. This lead to 176W of load, 212W from the wall, for 75% efficiency; and that's still 20% load. I'm just going to assume the 1K21Ps quickly degrade below 20% load, especially on 120V.

I got the two 920P-1Rs in though, and they're much better! Right around 80% efficiency for both despite being at 10% load, and the load is evenly divided between them.



More importantly though: They're MUCH quieter now; don't judge by the RPMs in the above picture, its night-and-day! Not living-room quiet by any means, but I can't hear them through the door anymore!
 
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canta

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Nov 26, 2014
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Rain said:
I understand the graph. The issue might be that I've got 120V AC instead of 240V AC; they were tested at 230V 60Hz AC, which leads to higher efficiency.

To do further research before switching to the 920P-1Rs, I unplugged PSU2 to put a bit more load on PSU1. This lead to 176W of load, 212W from the wall, for 75% efficiency; and that's still 20% load. I'm just going to assume the 1K21Ps quickly degrade below 20% load, especially on 120V.

I got the two 920P-1Rs in though, and they're much better! Right around 80% efficiency for both despite being at 10% load, and the load is evenly divided between them.



More importantly though: They're MUCH quieter now; don't judge by the RPMs in the above picture, its night-and-day! Not living-room quiet by any means, but I can't hear them through the door anymore!
Click to expand...
this is my other system, just 1 PSU with 1K21P. 110v AC

mine does not generate noise much, compare with 501P(less noise)...
rpm speed on 3520 rpms
 
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halfelite

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Oct 10, 2014
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What board are you all using to get the output of the PSU. I run the X9scm board and My PMbus information is no where near as indepth as what you post.
 
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Rain

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May 13, 2013
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halfelite said:
What board are you all using to get the output of the PSU. I run the X9scm board and My PMbus information is no where near as indepth as what you post.
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I have a X9SCM as well, the -F-O model, specifically. Make sure you're using the most up-to-date version of IPMIView (2.9.32, as far as I'm aware). I've heard that older versions of the software just show garbled characters or nothing at all. Might need to update the BMC firmware as well, but I'm pretty sure mine is still what came on the board originally and I purchased the board shortly after it was released if I recall correctly.

Edit: Here's a link to SuperMicro's FTP server where they keep all the latest versions of IPMIView available: ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/utility/IPMIView/ (Edit: Seems the forums are breaking that link and removing the :, copy-paste instead!). I'm using the cross-platform Jar package, but it shouldn't matter.
 
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PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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The information you get also depends on what Rev SMBus is provided by your psu. Older modules with SMBus 1.1 or 1.2 provide very little real info. Newer ones with Rev 1.3 or 1.4 are needed to get the full output seen above.

Check the supermicro power supply matrix to see what Rev SMBus is provided by each type of psu module.
 
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rsbuc2000

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Feb 5, 2015
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Hey guys, i'm new to Supermicro server hardware, and i bought one of these 24bay chassis, can i swap out the 1200watt power supply units for any 1U style supermicro hotswap power supply? or does the power supply need to match the power distribution module in the server chassis?

The noise these 1200watt power supplies generate is pretty impressive, i'd love to quiet this machine down; and the majority of the noise is coming from the power supplies.
 
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Rain

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May 13, 2013
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rsbuc2000 said:
Hey guys, i'm new to Supermicro server hardware, and i bought one of these 24bay chassis, can i swap out the 1200watt power supply units for any 1U style supermicro hotswap power supply? or does the power supply need to match the power distribution module in the server chassis?

The noise these 1200watt power supplies generate is pretty impressive, i'd love to quiet this machine down; and the majority of the noise is coming from the power supplies.
Click to expand...
Here's a link to an older ServeTheHome post that may be of use to you: https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/supermicro-noise-levels.1004/#post-11277

I can confirm that the PWS-920P-1Rs are great! There are some listings for ~$70 on eBay right now, some allowing offers: PWS-920P-1R | eBay. Just keep in mind you're not going to make this thing "living room" quiet; its still going to have to be in a room dedicated to equipment, not next to your TV. As I said before though, I can no longer hear this beast through the door with the 920W-1Rs in it.
 
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canta

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Nov 26, 2014
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Rain said:
Here's a link to an older ServeTheHome post that may be of use to you: https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/supermicro-noise-levels.1004/#post-11277

I can confirm that the PWS-920P-1Rs are great! There are some listings for ~$70 on eBay right now, some allowing offers: PWS-920P-1R | eBay. Just keep in mind you're not going to make this thing "living room" quiet; its still going to have to be in a room dedicated to equipment, not next to your TV. As I said before though, I can no longer hear this beast through the door with the 920W-1Rs in it.
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get 501p for less noise than 920P :D... but hard to find on ebay.. the price is $$$.

speaking on 1k2P, mine is not making much noise than 501P. I have no Idea on your 1k21p fan is ~7000rpms...
and you can see my IPMI view on PSU, the difference is ~10W between input-output.
I tested my other 2 1k21P and give me identical result....

the key to less noise is to let PSU running low rpms, 7K rpms definetly not low :D.
 
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PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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You can't use "any" SM 1U module (a few are different sized and the higher-power modules have "fatter" connectors that won't fit). There are a lot of compatible modules to choose from.

The ones you want to look for to deal with that fan are:

PWS-920P-1R - 80+ Platinum, quiet
PWS-920P-SQ - the "super quiet" version
PWS-501P-1R - 80+ Platinum, quiet
PWS-721P-1R - 80+ Gold, not quite as quiet but usually found a lot less expensive on ebay
 
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rsbuc2000

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Feb 5, 2015
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Cool, thanks guys, i'll start hunting around on ebay for either a 501P or a 920P, Thankfully this machine isn't competing against anything else for noise, its just noisy in the room that its in; I've checked the IPMI, and its using ~120Watts at average load, ~220Watts under load, clearly the 1200w power supplies are overkill.

Is there any way to find the power supply fan RPM through the IPMI web interface?
 
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rsbuc2000

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Feb 5, 2015
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Just to followup, i swapped out the dual "PWS-1K21P-1R", which were putting out almost 80dB worth of noise, for the quietier "PWS-920P-1R" and they certainly are quieter, roughly 72dB worth of noise - The Decibel readings were taken with a cheap iphone app, so you might need to take them with a grain of salt.

I'll keep looking for either the 'Super Quiet' or the 500w versions.

Thanks guys!
 
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halfelite

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Oct 10, 2014
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Yours is reading a lot higher then mine did. I took my readings with radio shack digital SPL meter

The stock PWS-902-1R - 67db from a foot away
PWS-721P-1R - gold rated 59db from a foot away
PWS-920P-1R- platinum rated 57db from a foot away
 
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canta

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Nov 26, 2014
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rsbuc2000 said:
Just to followup, i swapped out the dual "PWS-1K21P-1R", which were putting out almost 80dB worth of noise, for the quietier "PWS-920P-1R" and they certainly are quieter, roughly 72dB worth of noise - The Decibel readings were taken with a cheap iphone app, so you might need to take them with a grain of salt.

I'll keep looking for either the 'Super Quiet' or the 500w versions.

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...
using phone apps to calculate dB is not accurate.
you need to use a real one.

80dB is too loud for 1K21P.
overage is lower, 70dB could make sense...

wanna quite one(well not quite as desktop PSU), get 501P, or SQ version.
I have 501P, less noise than 1k21P. the plus one is 501P is platinum.
the main noise is coming from my Raid card cooler fan 40mm. hiss..... sound
 
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NetWise

Active Member
Jun 29, 2012
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Edmonton, AB, Canada
Why the hate for Canada? ;(. They have to box the unit either way and we pay customs. Oh well. I'd like to get a couple of those 36 bay front/back 4u boxes....
 
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Kristian

Active Member
Jun 1, 2013
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Does anybody know how to contact them via eBay?
When I try to do that I keep getting the message:
"We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, this seller is not able to respond to your question. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

Wrote them via their facebook site to ask for measurements and weight to see if I can afford to have it shipped to Europe via mail forwarding companies
 
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