Quietest Rackmount Server - Non-Atom

[Peter_U]

Hi,

First post here. Great site. I need a server that will be put in some type of lackmount environment in my apartment. I know rackmount servers are generally very loud and meant for datacenters. I also know there are some quiet Atom based servers out there, but I need more power than that and room for at least E-ATX motherboards.

I am open to anything 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U, 5U, 6U but 7U will make it so I cannot have a switch also. Are there any prebuilt rackmount cases that are quiet? Also, does anyone have recommendations for processor coolers in the server chassis? I know that 4U cases do not fit big air coolers that are quiet.

TIA for any advice.

 

[cactus]

I would say with 4U+ you can get most cases to be quiet. I have a Norco RPC-470 with only the front 120s populated, i7-930 and a Supermicro 4U cooler. I also had my i7-2600k in a Rosewill RSV-L4000(I would not recommend this case, drive trays are horrible) using a H50. Both are quiet-ish, no louder than the Antec 300 my 2600K is in now.

3U and under cases are mostly limited to 80mm fans(3U maybe you could find one with 92mm) and most of the smaller PSUs make a lot of noise.

 

[Peter_U]

TY cactus. Do all RPC-470s have mounts for 120s? I thought they have 80mm which are louder.

Is there anything bigger than the 4U cooler that works? Is the airflow from that cooler the correct direction in the Norco?

Anyone have other thoughts?

TY again cactus

 

[matt_garman]

Are you going to have a bunch of spinning hard drives in your server? If so, that will make it really hard to keep things sufficiently cool and quiet.

However, if you have a reasonable number of drives, and you use a new Sandy Bridge CPU, you shouldn't have too much trouble. I don't know offhand what the 4U height limit is, but I did at one time have a system in a 4U chassis that used a Scythe Ninja CPU cooler (that's the now fairly old, original Ninja).

The SNB CPUs run cool enough that you really don't even need a bunch of 120mm fans. For example, my workstation has an i5-2500k (not overclocked) with a Xigmatek "Dark Knight" CPU cooler. I use the CPU's integrated graphics (i.e. no separate discrete GPU) and have only an SSD. Besides the 120mm fan on the CPU, the only other fans are the PSU and a 92mm case fan. This is the quietest system I've ever built. It literally sits on my desk, right next to my monitor, and is generally, completely silent. When all four cores are running at 100% load, there is the faintest gentle "wooshing" of the PSU fan. CPU temps never go above 50 degrees C, even fully loaded (meaning my heatsink is overkill, and I could have gotten by with something smaller).

In other words, if you built a server with similar specs to my workstation, you could have a completely silent system, easily in a 4U chassis, and probably without too much effort in a 3U chassis. There are very high-performing low-profile CPU coolers available now (e.g. Thermalright AXP-140 will probably fit in a 3U chassis, but don't hold me to that! ). You'll probably be stuck with 80mm fans, but just choose them judiciously, e.g. the Scythe S-FDB fans and run them at 1000 RPM or less to be "quiet", maybe 800rpm or so to be silent.

 

[cactus]

This is a list of coolers and what they will fit in. I think the list is outdated but at least you can get an idea of the height you can get away with.

 

[Ingvarhost]

I use Supermicro 743TQ-865B-SQ home. He is quiet and very high quality made. To install the server into the rack you need rails CSE-PT26L-B. Also recommend adding 2 fans FAN-0104L4. In this case, you can use any CPU tower passive cooler.

 

[RimBlock]

I have a Norco 4020 and have modified the fan wall to take 120mm fans (you can get a 120mm fan wall but not where I am located). I then put quiet 120mm fans in and quiet 80mm fans for the rear.

For heatsinks, I have just had a play with the Noctua NH-L12P which uses two fans with the top one being removable for smaller cases. It is 93mm with both fans and 66mm with only one fan fitted. It would seem well suited to what you require. Check the width does not interfere with any other board components though. A client wanted this for their ASRock Z77E-ITX board and it blocked one ram slot with the heat pipes and the PCIe slot. It should be fairly ok for a larger than mITX motherboard though.

RB

 

[NME]

@RimBlock: Did you try the latest bios for S1200BTL? Quote from the changelog of the latest bios: "Support Platforms and Dependency
; This update package is for Intel(R) Server Board S1200BTL ;
Intel(R) Server Platform S1200BT family Processors supported:
Intel(R) Xeon processor E3-1200 series
Intel(R) Xeon processor E3-1200V2 series
Intel(R) Core(TM) Processor i3-2100 series "
Bios Release R0035.

 

[RimBlock]

Sorry, missed your reply.

No I haven't as I do not have an E3 v2 to test with although I have just got a contract which includes an E3 v2 and S1200BTL so I will test. Failing it working I will take the hit and get a S1200BTLR for the client. Distributor not too happy with the 3 S1200BTL boards I left them with so verification will help them as well.

RB