Need Supermicro replacement parts, where to get for reasonable price

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
Okay PWS-203-1H bought new on amazon. Cost me an arm and a leg... but sleep is priceless.
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,234
793
113
Denver, Colorado
The 801's are designed for DC's... well the server is too... not to mention the design and maybe build date on that PSU is probably 13-14 years old.

the 501's are much quieter than the 801's... but yeah there's definitely a slight high pitched whine that I don't hear with the 920P-SQ..

If you can easily get your hands on a 501 ( SuperMicro PWS-501P-1R 80 Plus Platinum 500W Watt Power Supply | eBay ) that will ship to Canada. I've purchased some 501's from this reseller. they were used but in good condition.

laternatively in the WTB thread you may want to create a thread and see if someone up your way has a 920P-SQ they will sell you or maybe someone south of your border who will ship to Canada...

the 501's are were about 3x less than a 920P-SQ - but the 920P-SQ is going to be your best bet as a first step to quiet this down. You'll probably want to work on fan tuning after that. There's some threads here about putting in some quieter SM fans...

Edit - just checked pricing and seems like the secret on the 501's is out as well. I was getting mine in the 20-22 USD range. looks like they are now approaching 40USD as a common price. yikes.

Other thoughts, if you are using an active small fan size heatsink with your cpu, go passive 2U and use the 836 shroud to channel the air. Start by disconnecting one rear 80mm, if temps stay safe, try disconnecting the other one. You may be able to just rely on the front fan wall.

Alternatively you could look at a 3U 115x heatsink, with a LARGE slow fan and see use that, no shroud and disconnect the back 80mm's.

But PSU should be your first priority before messing with anything else.
 

i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
4,220
1,540
113
34
Germany
if you are using an active small fan size heatsink with your cpu, go passive 2U and use the 836 shroud to channel the air.
If he uses a passive heatsink the fans in the middle will spin at higher rpms -> more noise.
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
Thanks guys for the precious help. Really appreciated.

This 836 chassis didnt come with the shroud. It was sold like that. I'm curently using a quiet Xeon Noctua cooler with a 100mm fan. Since 2014, temps never got out of control, even in the summer.

I agree, the modules are probably from ca. 2008...

At the point where I am, I'd rather buy the right thing, and be done with it for another 10 years... With all the suggestions here, I'm tempted with a pair of 920P-SQ second hand from ebay.

What about reburbished VS pre-owned?

This is only a storage server, I'm not planning to install GPU's or anything more than a couple extra hard drives so no major increase of power draw.

The 920's are definitely overkill, but do you guys see any issues simply swapping the 801 modules for 920's and call it a day?

I take from the discussion that power distribution unit, chassis, mobo will all be compatible?
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,234
793
113
Denver, Colorado
The 920's are definitely overkill, but do you guys see any issues simply swapping the 801 modules for 920's and call it a day?

I take from the discussion that power distribution unit, chassis, mobo will all be compatible?
that is EXACTLY what I did with my compellent 030's aka SC-836A.

FWIW if you want a shroud and want to pay for shipping I'll send you one. I primarily use the SM 3U heatsinks (fans not installed) and rely on the fan wall to circulate air. Running E5-2680v4's on X10SRL-F's.
 

gseeley

New Member
Mar 3, 2018
16
10
3
56
I've had good luck with ATIC Computers for new/hard-to-find SM parts, or stuff that is over priced on eBay that you can get cheaper new (it pays to shop around). I have bought a lot of used SM gear as well, mostly from eBay. There are other Canadian e-tailors that sell SM as well, see Where to Buy | Supermicro
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
Just thought about doing a lil' follow up.

Replaced PSU for the CSE-512 chassis. Installed a PWS-203-1H. Much cooler and less noisy.

Replaced the PWS-801-1R modules by PWS-920P-SQ. Day and night. They are barely audible and much cooler. Should have done this back when I bought this chassis...
 

gb00s

Well-Known Member
Jul 25, 2018
1,175
586
113
Poland
I'm sleeping right to my 3x CSE835's in one rack. Please stop trying to modify the Supermicro fans. I was on the same path for months and not successful. I was experimenting with lots of fans, controllers, motherboards to turn down the rpm's, keep the noise down, keep the temps of the HDD's down, and even more important, keep the components (motherboard, PCIe cards, Ram, CPU's, etc) cool. If you stick with the original design of the Supermicro cases, you will just lose time, money, patience, and more important .... you will fail long-term.

If you do not start to get rid of the original fan wall, just don't think about trying to lowering the fan noise without running into other significant issues. Either you will get the noise down, but HDD temps will rise. With rising HDD temps, your temps of the air inside the case will rise disproportionately. So your Raid-card will heat up, your CPU will heat up. This is a circle you can't win without noise.

Solution:

Get rid of the original fan wall. Buy some sport-hard-foam from Amazon or eBay, get a cutter-knife, buy two Noctua 120mm (1700rpm) fans. Don't buy the Industrial-version. At least mine had a whining sound. If you have room temps like I have around 25%. put the Noctuas at 75%. Otherwise less. But the higher rpm the better it is, the cooler the HDD's run and the cooler the air blown by the fans. They are still silent. No worries. I'm currently designing a front before the cages to cool the HDDs there so the air is cooler coming in the case and rpms can be even lower. But, the most important thing is, getting the hot air in the case quicker out than it's coming in. For this, I use 2x 80mm and 1x 92mm high rpm Noctua or Arctic fans running 80-100%. Still, can barely hear them. If possible clean up your case. Stick cable on the case wall wherever you can. Any turbulence causes noise. If you want to go ridiculous, put noise dumping tape inside.

Yes, 920SQ PSU's are mandatory.

So your best friend to noise cancellation is your DIY hardware store right around the corner. Here some photos of one of my most heated-up cases. I can still nicely sleep right next to it (50cm away from my head).

CSE835_Foam_Top_1.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Fans_1.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Fans_2.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Tape_1.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Cable_Routing_1.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Cable_Routing_2.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Cable_Routing_3.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Top_2.jpg
CSE835_Foam_Fans_3.jpg
 
Last edited:

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
@gb00s : Real interesting! I'll look into that ! The PSU's are real quiet but I can still hear a faint high pitched whine which was there before so I assume its one of the fans in the fan wall ... These fans are around 14 years old so not surprising they would start to make some noise....
 

i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
4,220
1,540
113
34
Germany
Swap them for new ones and see if it improves the total noise.

@gb00s
do you monitor the fan sensors?
I found out last year that one of my servers has a damaged fan header because all the other fans suddenly started to run at 100%.
What happens if one of your fans fails? Asking becuase I don't think that the noctuas will be much louder at 100%...
 

gb00s

Well-Known Member
Jul 25, 2018
1,175
586
113
Poland
I'm monitoring temps and fans with Zabbix. I felt a significant noise diff starting around 80%. From ~80% to 100% you will hear the fans. Not much and still very comfortable. It's just me. Especially with the 120mm Industrials vs. the Redux 1700rpms. Or I just had 'bad' new Noctua Industrials. The static pressure figures for both are very similar. But the Redux ar about 60% of the price, if I remmeber right.
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
After investigating a bit more, I have discovered that the high pitched noise I was talking about in post 30 doesnt seem to come from a chassis fan, but from the chassis itself.

I opened up the top cover, tried to pinpoint which fan made that annoying noise, after I could not find which one was responsible, I made a funnel out of paper to try to "amplify" the noise, then slowly listened to the entire chassis. The noise is mostly perceptible in the empty space between the fan wall and CPU cooler.

When I press with my fingers on the fan wall bracket (the steel framing holding the 3 fans), it stops. Seems to be more of a high frequency vibration or interaction between the fans than a fan whine but who knows...

When the top cover is off, its barely audible, but when it is on, its acting like an amplifier (I guess) and its audible across the entire house....

Could be a fan making this noise, but when I tried pulling the middle fan (that's where the sound seemed to be the closest of) the other fans ramp-up at full speed drowning the annoying sound so impossible to tell if it helped.

I recorded the sound with the top cover ON (in a ZIP file so the forum lets me attach it). Its audible in the entire recording but especially around the 13 second mark onward....

Its going thru walls and doors. Its literally driving me insane. I need to shutdown the server every night otherwise try to sleep with this!

Has anyone experienced this before?
 

Attachments

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,234
793
113
Denver, Colorado
hmmm while dynamat (or the like) isn't cheap but wondering if a sheet might solve your problem and act as a shim between the chassis cover and the fan wall (to press down on it while closed) as well as act as a sound barrier.
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
I thought about putting something to press down on the wall, and tried putting some of those felt pads for furniture (to protect floors), and while I could not close the cover (the felt pads were too thick), I pressed on the cover to transfer some of the force onto the fan wall, and AFAIK the noise was still there...

Another thing I noticed, and will keep an "ear out" in the next few days, but the noise is mostly absent in the morning. Perhaps its thermal related? In the afternoon/evening, the room gets a bit warmer (24-26C) while its normally 21-22 in the morning... May not be related.

You do hear it in the recording? Just checking if I haven't lost my mind :eek::p
 

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
Okay this thread is gonna turn into an acoustic engineering thread... I sent the audio file in audacity under Linux, and plotted the freq distribution.

Please bear with me, I'm far from being an acoustics expert.

freq.png

The peak frequencies are:
91​
Hz​
238​
Hz​
432​
Hz​
592​
Hz​
755​
Hz​
962​
Hz​
1067​
Hz​
1150​
Hz​
1555​
Hz​
1779​
Hz​
2342​
Hz​
2464​
Hz​

Now I looked at the IPMI's fan speeds:

fans.png

FAN 1 = 375RPM = 6.25Hz ( I assume this fan is the noctua CPU cooler but I am not sure).
FAN 2 = 2325 RPM = 38.75Hz (I assume this is one of the fan wall fans)
FAN 3 = 2325 RPM = 38.75Hz (I assume this is one of the fan wall fans)
FAN A = 2325 RPM = 38.75Hz (I assume this is one of the fan wall fans)

(I am not sure why FAN 4 is empty, and why I am not seeing the exhaust fans.... There are 6 fans in this chassis, 3 in the wall, 2 exhaust and CPU).

I tried screwing around with the numbers, and looked if the frequencies could amplify each others. Not sure if this is possible..

F1 = 6.25Hz
F2 = 38.75Hz
F3 = F1 * F2 = 242Hz
F4 = F1^2 = 39Hz
F5 = F2^2 = 1502Hz

First thing you'll notice: F2 ~ F4 meaning F1 and F2 are multipliers (F2/F1 ~ F1) , but most importantly, F3 (242Hz) is awfully close to peak frequency of 238Hz.

Could this indicate some kind of acoustic interference of some sort?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Markess

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
@Markess Thanks for the reply!

I have ordered 2 spare fans for this chassis, will be delivered within the next month... Its coming from Europe so shipping is SLOW....

I believe the middle fan of the fan wall is the culprit but the only way to confirm will be to swap a new fan. I spoke to someone I know who worked in industrial acoustics, troubleshooting vibrations and other dynamic phenomena, and he confirmed the possibility of frequency interference and / or amplification. If multiple elements are vibrating at "rough" multiples of a common frequency this "alternatiing" noise can occur. COmmon apparently in bearings and other industrial equipment.

I'm reading more on the topic cause I find it interesting and refreshing from servers and home lab stuff. And yes, Audacity can do that frequency plot.

I'll post back when I swap some fans. For now, I'm a bit more worried about spare parts availability here up in Canada....
 
  • Like
Reactions: RedX1 and Markess

Fritz

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2015
3,371
1,375
113
69
I recently needed a "Rear Window" for an SC836. I found only a few places on the Internet that listed it and they were all around $200 and all were drop ship from the Mfg. I said WTH and contacted Supermicro direct. They sold it to me for $15 bucks and change plus shipping. Lesson learned, if it's chassis parts or other odd parts, go directly to the source.