Supermicro noise levels

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Stanza

Active Member
Jan 11, 2014
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Sorry for reviving this relatively old thread, but I'm in somewhat of the same dilemma myself.

I'm curious, jcl333 what did you end up with?

I'm currently planning on building a SM storage server myself, and am trying to ascertain if I will be able to get noise down to an acceptable level, since this server will be located in an office at home. I am not aiming for silent or quiet, I am absolutely aware that this thing will not be that, but I'm hoping it can get to a level where it is tolerable.

This would be a SM 847 chassis (36-bay) with a SM Xeon E5v3 mainboard and 1280W SQ PSUs. The PSUs are insanely overpowered for my needs but that's what comes with the chassis/solution, also I believe that the combination of them being SQ supplies and typical load being well below 50 % should make the PSUs quite okay, noise-wise?

The chassis has 7x FAN-0126L4 standard, which are 7K RPM 53.5 dB monsters. As far as I can understand, using the "optimal" setting in the BIOS/IPMI should make the fans run about half-speed, which should help. I'd also imagine that I could remove several of these fans if necessary, since I will only be running a single E5v3 with a 85W TDP and no expansion cards, while the chassis has been thermally designed to support a DP setup with TDPs of up to 2x 135-145W I believe. There are several posts in this thread about swapping fans for less noisy versions. The 0126L4's are 80x80x38 and unfortunately the "quietest" alternatives at that size are 45 dB. Is anyone aware of quiet fans available in this size? (the ones I've been able to find are 25-30 mm deep).

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions?
Shouldn't matter how DEEP the fans are, they just mount by normal fan screws anyways, I swapped my SC933 chassis 4 x 92mm fans with noctua ones.... And also the rear ones with generic fans and the beast is damn near silent now. Noisy fan is now the psu 40mm one.... But that's not an obtrusive noise. It has a triple psu, but I only insert one psu fully.... Other two are just to block the holes... It runs fine and cool with 7200rpm drives

You can also use the noctua fan adapters too quieten it further if you liked ( blue and black) which drop the voltage down and as such the speed of the fans down.

.
 

TubaMT

Member
Jul 26, 2014
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I actually got a SC836 as well and was wondering what other noise tweaks could be done to make it quieter.

I was even thinking of modding the case cover to make it more like a 4U case instead of a 3U case in order to add bigger fans, but don't know where to go for that. Would I go to a machine shop and have them mold me a sheet of metal?

I was thinking something like this: _/--|
if that diagram makes any sense.
 

Kenneth

New Member
Oct 1, 2014
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So it seems as though it should be possible to replace the 80 mm case fans with some quieter ones if necessary (edit: this is a SC847E1C 36-bay chassis I'm looking at). Maybe even modify the case to use fewer but larger 120 mm fans (I'm not sure if this is possible as I haven't seen the chassis up close). Now I'm more concerned about the CPU heatsink/fan. The motherboard I'm looking at (X10SRH-CLN4F) has a narrow ILM, and Supermicro recommends the SNK-P0048AP4. This active heatsink comes with a screamer of a 60 mm fan (PWM-controlled up to 8200 RPM, 52 dBa). I'll be putting a 2620v3 (85W TDP) in, so TDP wise it's not going to be strained, but I still fear the noise from this fan will be more than my sanity can handle.

The heatsink/fan solution must be 2U compatible AND narrow ILM which severely limits my options with regards to a replacement HSF. I should note that the motherboard has onboard SAS3 and I will not be using any expansion cards.

I am considering a few options:
- Use a passive heatsink such as the SNK-P0048PS along with the air shroud. Supermicro support only recommends passive heatsinks and air shrouds for DP setups, because for UP setups the air will mostly pass around the heatsink and not cool it sufficiently. I'm thinking it should be possible to modify/extend the air shroud somehow to alleviate this issue?
- Replace the 60 mm fan on the SNK-P0048AP4. However, quiet 60 mm fans with adequate static pressure and airflow are not easy to find (or even possible).
- Use a water cooling solution (tricky because of the limited space in the SC847).

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
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Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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@Kenneth I just got the 847A (no expander).

It does seem like a fairly solid chassis overall. I did not realize each of the CPU fans were doubled-up to give redundant airflow.

I think the watercooling setup is out of the question unless you get extremely creative.

Maybe we should start an 847 thread? I will likely do the build this weekend but I also plan on swapping some of the SFF-8087 cables for SFF-8643 to SFF-8087.
 

Kenneth

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Oct 1, 2014
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Maybe we should start an 847 thread? I will likely do the build this weekend but I also plan on swapping some of the SFF-8087 cables for SFF-8643 to SFF-8087.
I'll be very interested to hear about your experiences with this chassis. Are you doing UP/DP? Active/passive CPU cooling?
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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I'll be very interested to hear about your experiences with this chassis. Are you doing UP/DP? Active/passive CPU cooling?
I probably build these things differently than many folks. It is more of a function regarding what is available at the time to use, then figuring out what I have planned for the components available, then simply putting stuff together.

The bigger question is whether this turns into the storage benchmarking chassis.
 

BlueLineSwinger

Active Member
Mar 11, 2013
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My experience on the subject, FWIW:

I recently picked up a Supermicro 836TQ-R800B. Unfortunately, it's way too loud for in-home use (IMHO). The PSU fan by itself isn't too horrible, in that I can't really hear it through the walls and door (the network/server stuff has its own room). However, once you start adding in the case fans the noise becomes unbearable. It can easily be heard clear across the house. Even running only a single fan (not viable for production) the sound went right through the walls. The sound made by the drives themselves isn't even a factor yet.

Also, the fans aren't PWM and can't be speed-controlled via my chosen mainboard (X10SL7). I experimented with some resistor-based limiters to knock the speed to ~50%. Even then, it was still possible to hear the unit in the next room with two of the forward fans going. Another issue with this is that it didn't really feel like adequate air was being pulled through the front. So that path is not a viable one.

I'm considering the idea of replacing the fans with like-sized, slower units, but that may prove a bit costly and still doesn't solve the non-PWM issue. I'm also thinking about hacking up the forward fan mount to support a couple 120mm fans. However, my concern with that is that in order to pull enough air through the front the fans would have to spin at least as fast (only two 120mm fans can fit where the original 3 80x38mm units were) and would therefore be just as loud. And good, fast 120mm fans also aren't going to be cheap.

So, unfortunately, it looks as though this case is a non-starter for me. I'm instead looking use to a regular desktop case. Probably the Fractal Arc Midi. I'll have to forego some flexibility and future expansion options by going this route, but I won't have server fans keeping me up at night.
 

Kenneth

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Oct 1, 2014
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I recently picked up a Supermicro 836TQ-R800B. Unfortunately, it's way too loud for in-home use (IMHO). The PSU fan by itself isn't too horrible, in that I can't really hear it through the walls and door (the network/server stuff has its own room). However, once you start adding in the case fans the noise becomes unbearable. It can easily be heard clear across the house. Even running only a single fan (not viable for production) the sound went right through the walls. The sound made by the drives themselves isn't even a factor yet.

Also, the fans aren't PWM and can't be speed-controlled via my chosen mainboard (X10SL7). I experimented with some resistor-based limiters to knock the speed to ~50%. Even then, it was still possible to hear the unit in the next room with two of the forward fans going. Another issue with this is that it didn't really feel like adequate air was being pulled through the front. So that path is not a viable one.

I'm considering the idea of replacing the fans with like-sized, slower units, but that may prove a bit costly and still doesn't solve the non-PWM issue. I'm also thinking about hacking up the forward fan mount to support a couple 120mm fans. However, my concern with that is that in order to pull enough air through the front the fans would have to spin at least as fast (only two 120mm fans can fit where the original 3 80x38mm units were) and would therefore be just as loud. And good, fast 120mm fans also aren't going to be cheap.

So, unfortunately, it looks as though this case is a non-starter for me. I'm instead looking use to a regular desktop case. Probably the Fractal Arc Midi. I'll have to forego some flexibility and future expansion options by going this route, but I won't have server fans keeping me up at night.
I'm sorry to hear that, were you able to return it?

Supermicro do have SQ power supplies that I've heard are pretty good (not a lot of noise and very high efficiency), but it doesn't sound as if that would help you much.

I'm a bit surprised that the fans are still that prominent going at 50 %. The static pressure of quiet fans such as Noctuas is going to be significantly lower than that of the stock fans, which won't help with the inadequate amount of air being pulled through.
 

BlueLineSwinger

Active Member
Mar 11, 2013
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I'm sorry to hear that, were you able to return it?

Supermicro do have SQ power supplies that I've heard are pretty good (not a lot of noise and very high efficiency), but it doesn't sound as if that would help you much.

I'm a bit surprised that the fans are still that prominent going at 50 %. The static pressure of quiet fans such as Noctuas is going to be significantly lower than that of the stock fans, which won't help with the inadequate amount of air being pulled through.
I should be able to return it. I'll probably have to eat a restocking fee, though. At least I got it locally so I won't incur shipping costs. Buying and trying out this case was a gamble I accepted, and it may be one that doesn't work out.

The noise from the fans probably wouldn't be such an issue if I were able to stash the unit away in a basement or garage. But, as it happens, the only suitable place is in the unused bedroom that happens to be adjacent to the others. Couple that with your basic, non-insulated frame and drywall walls and a case intended for datacenters becomes harder to wrangle. Reading around I thought I'd would be able to make it workable by playing with fan speeds and such, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I've thought about replacing the PSU. One other option that came to me is to ditch the entire stock PSU assembly and replace it with a single Seasonic 2u unit. This would have a larger (and presumably quieter) fan and 80+ efficiency.

As for case fans, I don't think there's a good answer. Regardless of fan size used, I believe the only way to get adequate airflow past the drives and over the mainboard is to use units that will be intolerable in my environment.
 

Kenneth

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Oct 1, 2014
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Do you think the airflow with quiet fans (for example 7x Noctuas or similar) would be adequate if it only had to cool the drives and not motherboard, CPU, etc.?

I'm thinking about going for a 4U JBOD chassis (44-45 bays) and putting the server itself in a seperate chassis. In the JBOD chassis I'm hoping quiet fans will be adequate considering they only need to cool the drives (some WD Reds, mostly HGST Deskstar NAS). I'll be running SnapRAID or FlexRAID so all drives will not be spinning at the same time except when syncing the array. The server itself I'd put in a 4U chassis by itself meaning there would be far less obstructions for fans to pull air into the server, and I would also have the option of using 4U HSFs for the CPU. Ignoring the 4U extra space needed (not an issue), this option would obviously be a bit more expensive but if that's what it takes to enable a quiet solution then I'm okay with that. Any thoughts?
 

Patrick

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Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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What chassis are you thinking? That is a lot of drives. If you are not thinking 6TB drives already, that would help you a lot. Less moving parts, fewer controllers, potentially a smaller chassis, lower power consumption and fewer drives to cool.

If you are already on all 6TB drives, then I cannot wait to see the quiet 1/4 PB build!
 

Kenneth

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Oct 1, 2014
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If I go with a JBOD chassis then likely 847E1C-R1K28JBOD or 847E16-R1K28JBOD.

I've considered a 846 24-bay build but decided that 24 bays is not going to be enough. That's why a 847 36-bay build would hit the sweet spot capacity wise, if it wasn't for the noise concerns. Following that, if I go JBOD in a 4U chassis, brings me up to 44-45 bays. I'd say that's quite future proof for me, I don't expect to go beyond 36 drives for a long time. It's more a case of trying to optimize cooling / reducing noise that brings a "bonus" of an additional number of bays. I am considering 6 TB drives but I'm still waiting for them to drop in price.

Haha, that would be awesome :)
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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I am a fan of using fewer physical drives if possible for bulk storage. The expander chassis does lower the cost of adding drives significantly though.
 

Kenneth

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Oct 1, 2014
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It does, but I do see your point about less moving parts, lower power consumption and less heat to dissipate.
 

TubaMT

Member
Jul 26, 2014
112
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My experience on the subject, FWIW:

I recently picked up a Supermicro 836TQ-R800B. Unfortunately, it's way too loud for in-home use (IMHO). The PSU fan by itself isn't too horrible, in that I can't really hear it through the walls and door (the network/server stuff has its own room). However, once you start adding in the case fans the noise becomes unbearable. It can easily be heard clear across the house. Even running only a single fan (not viable for production) the sound went right through the walls. The sound made by the drives themselves isn't even a factor yet.

Also, the fans aren't PWM and can't be speed-controlled via my chosen mainboard (X10SL7). I experimented with some resistor-based limiters to knock the speed to ~50%. Even then, it was still possible to hear the unit in the next room with two of the forward fans going. Another issue with this is that it didn't really feel like adequate air was being pulled through the front. So that path is not a viable one.

I'm considering the idea of replacing the fans with like-sized, slower units, but that may prove a bit costly and still doesn't solve the non-PWM issue. I'm also thinking about hacking up the forward fan mount to support a couple 120mm fans. However, my concern with that is that in order to pull enough air through the front the fans would have to spin at least as fast (only two 120mm fans can fit where the original 3 80x38mm units were) and would therefore be just as loud. And good, fast 120mm fans also aren't going to be cheap.

So, unfortunately, it looks as though this case is a non-starter for me. I'm instead looking use to a regular desktop case. Probably the Fractal Arc Midi. I'll have to forego some flexibility and future expansion options by going this route, but I won't have server fans keeping me up at night.
That's a big bummer :'( Unfortunately mine is a little loud as well, but somewhat tolerable as it can be controlled by my mobo. Have you tried to just take off the side panel and put 120mm fans in there so it is not restricted to 3U space? Or worse case scenario, unplug the fans and point a desk fan or two at the case.
 

BlueLineSwinger

Active Member
Mar 11, 2013
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That's a big bummer :'( Unfortunately mine is a little loud as well, but somewhat tolerable as it can be controlled by my mobo. Have you tried to just take off the side panel and put 120mm fans in there so it is not restricted to 3U space? Or worse case scenario, unplug the fans and point a desk fan or two at the case.
Not sure what taking off the side panels would accomplish, were it even possible. Doing so would bypass the drive assembly, so the drives wouldn't get any cooling at all. Same with using external fans. Also, actually putting the thing into a rack would no longer be feasible.