80mm by 38mm PWM fans (Extremely Quiet/Silent?)

[TD_Trader]

I'm looking for some NEAR-SILENT drop-in replacement fans (same size/dimensions) for the Dell C6100 that I can wire up to the existing Dell connector (4-wire, 5-pin connector)

I've been combing through the forum pages, and doing various web searches, but still haven't been able to find a replacement for the four extremely loud Delta PFC0812DE (PWM) fans inside the Dell C6100 Server Chassis.

Has anyone found any fans that will cut down significantly on energy usage, as well as noise/sound? I'm looking for fans as near to silent as possible.

Here are the stats on the existing fans that I'm looking to replace:

PFC0812DE-SP04

Series: PFC
Rated Voltage: 12VDC
Size/Dimension: Square - 80mm L x 80mm H x 38mm W
Air Flow: 132.6CFM
Static Pressure: 2.030 in H20 (505.7 Pa)
Bearing Type: Ball
Fan Type: Tubeaxial
PWM Control; Speed Sensor (Tach)
Noise: 65 dB(A)
Power(watts): 33.0W
RPM: 9000RPM
Termination: 4 wire leads
Current Rating: 2.75A
Voltage Rating: 10.8 ~13.2VDC
Life Expectancy: 50000hrs @ 40° C

Delta Fan specs are here:
http://www.delta-americas.com/products/FanUploads/Specification/PFC0812DE-SP04.pdf

I'd love to find something that will do equal cooling, but hopefully use FAR less electricity/watts (cheaper on the energy bill) and also be NEAR-SILENT (as quiet as possible).

Does anyone know of anything out there? What is SuperMicro using on the newest 2013/2014 server cases? Has anyone found any 80mm x 38mm PWM near-silent fans that cut down on energy usage?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[TD_Trader]

I've found some NIDEC UltraFlow series fans here: 80 to 89mm| Nidec Corporation

The V80E-A7 [V80E12BUA7-0] seems to have similar maximum air flow (131 CFM), and similar maximum static pressure (540 Pa), but the noise/sound pressure is 64dB(A), which is fairly loud and nearly identical to the Delta PFC0812DE fan.

I've also skimmed through the list of available SuperMicro Fan part numbers (for 80mm x 80mm x 38mm fans). Most of the server fans seem fairly loud {at 61dB(A) to 73dB(A)}

Has anyone found anything quieter and/or more energy efficient?

 

[TD_Trader]

> What is SuperMicro using on the newest 2013/2014 server cases?


To answer my own question, it seems that SuperMicro's and Dell's latest C6220 Series servers have switched from four 80mm x 38mm fans to four hot-swappable 60mm x 38mm fans.

I also found some Evercool EC8038HH12BP fans (6500RPM) that are rated at 56.2dB(A), but they only seem to push 37.1CFM, which is a drastic reduction in air flow (in relation to the stock Delta PFC0812DE fans that come with the Dell C6100 server).

Since the CPU's do not have any active cooling fans on them, I'm be worried that there might not be enough air flow to passively cool the CPU's (at high loads) with two 37.1CFM fans. [There are currently four PWM fans, two fans per node]

The current fan setup, seems to have two 132.6CFM (80mm x 38mm) PWM fans [Delta PFC0812DE] that fluctuate between five PWM duty cycle speeds (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%).

Duty Cycle | Speed RPM | Current (A) Typ.
0% 0 0.02A
25% 2250 +/- 10% 0.08A
50% 4500 +/- 10% 0.50A
75% 6750 +/- 10% 1.15A
100% 9000 +/- 10% 2.75A

At full load, the fans spin up to 9000RPM, and the C6100 (with four Delta fans running at 9000RPM) gets fairly loud.

I've been considering the Evercool EC8038HH12BP fans (6500RPM) that are rated at 56.2dB(A), but they only seem to push 37.1CFM, and I'm looking for something closer to 100+ CFM.

Has anyone found any 80mm x 38mm PWM fans with similar max static pressure (540 Pa) and similar CFM's, but able to lower energy use and lower the noise/sound pressure to something around the 45-50dB(A) range?

The SuperMicro FAN-0074L4 and SuperMicro FAN-0082L4 and FAN-0084L4 is a 80mm x 80mm x 38mm PWM 5000RPM fan with 68.3CFM at 45.0 dB(A) (which is nearly twice the CFM as the 37.1CFM Evercool EC8038HH12BP fans (6500RPM) that are rated at 56.2dB(A)

 

[RimBlock]

Hi,

Piglovers thread here has all the info you are looking for.

I have posted info on the FAN-0074L4 including the actual Sanyo Denki fan used in this Supermicro part. Others have also found one or two other SanDenki fans that also fit the requirements pretty well.

I provide quite fan swapouts as an option to my customers buying the C6100 units from me but it takes a bit of work. My soldering has improved greatly . I have not found any other cost effective fans better than the ones in the FAN-0074L4 for the C6100 yet. Now if I could only find a supplier of the propriatory 5 / 6 pin socket Dell are using I would be laughing .

RB

 

[epimetheus]

I'd love to find something that will do equal cooling, but hopefully use FAR less electricity/watts (cheaper on the energy bill) and also be NEAR-SILENT (as quiet as possible).

Not possible. You can't have your cake and eat it too. There isn't any magical technology that increases cooling efficiency such that you can get equivalent cooling with less energy and noise. It's a trade-off, If you want less energy and noise, you will have to settle for less airflow.

 

[PigLover]

Not possible. You can't have your cake and eat it too. There isn't any magical technology that increases cooling efficiency such that you can get equivalent cooling with less energy and noise. It's a trade-off, If you want less energy and noise, you will have to settle for less airflow.

I'd add "if you want less energy and noise you either have to settle for less airflow or use more volume". Then you'd be correct. Larger fans (120mm, 180mm, bigger) or moving the air inside a larger volume can work too.

Of course that's being fairly pedantic since changing the physical characteristics of the C6100 isn't possible - but you can move more air at the same noise/power levels using larger/slower fans...

 

[TD_Trader]

Dell C6100 Fan Table Comparison

Thanks RimBlock/epimetheus/PigLover! I scoured the internet and did as much reading/searching as I possibly could. I did skim through the 16 page post that was started by PigLover (it was a LOT to read).

@RimBlock - Yes, a source for the 5-pin Dell fan connectors (and pins) would be extremely helpful. I found a very similar six-pin connector here. That is the best/closest that I could find, and for an adapter cable source, this was the best that I could find: Adapter cable here.

I also created a "Comparison Table" listing all of the 4-wire (PWM Control with Speed/Tach Sensor) that I could find that would fit in the C6100 (listing the Amps/RPM/CFM/Static Pressure and dBA for each fan model).

A complete list of 80mm x 80mm x 38mm fans (4-wire, PWM Control, with Speed Sensor/Tach) here.


Complete list of SuperMicro fans listed here.

This is the updated C6100 Fan Comparison Table/Sheet that I created:

 

[TD_Trader]

Maybe working on a FCB firmware update might be a better solution...

@epimetheus - I do agree. I was hoping that someone had found a fairly quiet/silent fan, that would have sufficient CFM/Static Pressure (with lower noise/dBA level), but after doing my own research, it does seem that I would need to choose between energy/cooling and noise.

The Sanyo Denki 9GA0812P1S61 (9GA0812P1S611 if you want the ribless) is fairly energy efficient (0.94A / 11.28W), it still pushes 91.8CFM and has a decent static pressure of 1.93 (480 Pa), but the noise level seems to be around 59dBA, which is still fairly loud (and isn't much quieter than the stock Delta C6100 fan, running at 75% speed instead of 100%).

After looking at everything that is out there, it seems like the best option might be to just leave the stock C6100 fans inside the server, and possibly look at some form of firmware/software solution, where I could possibly just run the fans at 50% (to just keep them quiet) and maybe max the fans out at 75% speed (for longer periods of time, instead of them revving up to 100%) to help quiet the servers down, or maybe just change the temperature thresholds for the various fan speeds (raise the temperature threshold for 75% RPM and 100% RPM).

I'd need to do more research on this, and figure out what IPMI software is available (IPMITools/IPMIUtil), and whether it would be possible to just run the fans at 50% (continuously) and then ramp up to 75% if it hits a particular temperature threshold, and then only go up to 100% if the sensor/temperatures hit an even higher temperature threshold. Or possibly look at a custom firmware update?

Has anyone looked into firmware/software solutions to quiet the C6100 down? With four nodes running (especially with 12 hard drives installed), it seems like the server would definitely NEED the high CFM (and high static pressure) that the Delta (PFC0812DE-SP04's) are pushing out.

After reading everything, and looking through all of the fans that I could possibly find, I believe I'm probably going to look towards some form of software/firmware solution to hopefully make the fans run at a slower speed, and hopefully be tolerable enough to have three C6100's (12 nodes) just beside my desk in my home office. ;-)

Either that, or maybe I just need to invest in some good ear protection.

I was hoping to order some new fans, and get the FAN MOD completed before I rack all my new equipment, but after reading everything and looking at the complete list of fan options, I decided that I might just stick with the stock C6100 Delta fans (or possibly go with a SuperMicro FAN-0137L4 fan to just cut down on some energy use, but those fans would still be fairly noisy at 60dBA). Another option that I was considering is the Sanyo Denki 9GA0812P1S61 (or 9GA0812P1S611 - ribless) which would cut my energy use down quite a bit (11.28W instead of 33W), but again the noise would still be around 59dBA.

After spending some time looking back at the Delta PFC0812DE-SP04's that are in the C6100, I'm beginning to wonder if it might not just make better sense to conserve energy by running the fans at 50% (6W) or 25% (0.96W) and maybe try to just change the temperature thresholds in the firmware so that the fans only ramp up to 100% (for a few seconds) just when temperatures hit critically high temperature levels.

I'd add "if you want less energy and noise you either have to settle for less airflow or use more volume". Then you'd be correct. Larger fans (120mm, 180mm, bigger) or moving the air inside a larger volume can work too.

Of course that's being fairly pedantic since changing the physical characteristics of the C6100 isn't possible - but you can move more air at the same noise/power levels using larger/slower fans...

Changing the physical characteristics of the C6100 isn't possible (I'm not going to cut up the case/enclosure). Limiting ourselves to 80mm fans (since it's only a 2U enclosure) seems to be a big limiting factor in using smaller/louder fans to push more air. The C6220's shifted towards four 60mm fans (hot swappable) so I'm curious as to how much louder the C6220's are over the C6100's.

I do agree if that it was a 4U or 6U case/enclosure, and we could use larger 120mm or 180mm fans that they could run slower (lower RPM), be far quieter, and push more air. Unfortunately in the 2U enclosure, those 80mm fans are fairly loud (59+dBA) when you're trying to get 100+ CFM (and a static pressure of 2.0+) the 80mm fans are gonna be fairly loud (at high speed).

I guess I'm just going to have to get used to the noise, or maybe a small 12U enclosed rack might quiet the C6100's down a little tiny bit (although it might add/cause additional heat build-up and cause the fans to run even louder/more?).

I'm going to experiment with a firmware/software solution next. I think I'm just going to leave the stock C6100/Delta fans in place for right now, and just experiment with maybe a software/firmware solution, and see what I can do to quiet these C6100's down a bit.

Thanks RimBlock/PigLover/epimetheus for your input/feedback, and also thanks for the nice long thread that was found here.

HONESTLY i'd like someone to mod the FCB bios (both PIC18 and PIC16) to allow custom fan curves to be programmed in, that would be the best

I might take the time to possibly look at figuring out a way to mod the FCB firmware, and hopefully figure out a way to program in some custom fan curves. It might take some extra time/research, but I think that is the direction that I'm probably going to head.

 

[PigLover]

My comment about changing the physicals was a bit tongue-in-cheek - the point being there are basically four variables to play with for fans - airflow, volume, noise and power. If you hold volume constant (size of the fan for size of the container you are moving air in) then increasing airflow (pressure or speed) will come with more noise. Separate from perfect optimization of vibration and turbulence there is just no getting around this. You wont find the 80mm fan with the airflow characteristics you want at 40dba or lower.

On the other ideas:

- I beat the IPMI control horse to death when trying to figure out how the "tame" the C6100. There are mechanisms in IPMI for fan speed control - but none of them work here. The main reason is that you have four separate BMCs, not one, and no single BMC can ever have all the sensor data needed to control the fans correctly. That's why Dell added a separate FCB card, which reports fan data to each BMC but, unfortunately, does not offer the BMCs any mechanism to assert control.

- I could not find source for the FCB firmware (though admittedly I didn't try all that hard). I'm sure it can be found. Could also probably be reverse engineered. I just didn't have the time nor inclination to try.

 

[engwah]

Hi , is there anyone change the CPU heatsink so low profile CPU heatsink + fan ? Was thinking about if each CPU equipped with fan then we can change the chasis fan to a lower performance fan

 

[spyrule]

Have any of you looked at something like this :
SILVERSTONE RL-FM81 Case Fan - Newegg.com

 

[spyrule]

or hell these: Enermax Magma Advance UCMAA8 80mm Case fan with 3 speed modes - Newegg.com
43.48CFM @ 25dBa, no listing on the head pressure, but for home use (and in my case, an always cool/cold basement) these should do I'd think.

I'd need to splice the connector to the Dell wire, but I'd figure it should work.

 

[spyrule]

Last Option, and these seem to be the best that I can find:
Evercool EC8038H12B

Model: EC8038H12B
Amps : 0.6
Watts : 7.2
RPM : 5000
CFM : 67.1
H2O/in : 0.56
dBa : 43.8

 

[HellDiverUK]

I have a few of the Noctua 80mm PWM jobs. They're essentially silent when running at low speed, but can still kick up a bit of dust when running full speed.

 

[spyrule]

Well from what i understand the 4 node version comes with the same 4 fans, and i have a 3node version. So reducing the flow from each fan isnt as critical. Plus i have some case mod ideas to reduce backflow and smoothen the air channel which should improve the effectiveness of lower flow fans.

 

[Dariusz]

Hi , is there anyone change the CPU heatsink so low profile CPU heatsink + fan ? Was thinking about if each CPU equipped with fan then we can change the chasis fan to a lower performance fan

Can any1 tell me what fans/radiators is he using there?