825TQ Chassis with H8DCL-iF problem with fan speed/mode

[lpallard]

(From this thread)

Hello again!

I got a 825TQ-R720LPB chassis and transplanted my old proxmox system into it. However, I'm facing an issue with fan speed. Basically they're running at around 3400 RPM but are constantly revving up & down. AFAIK, it seems to be matching CPU load (which would make sense, run fans at lower speed to save energy when CPU load is low, and PWM according to the CPU load)... However, this is rather annoying and extremely loud. The fan mode is set to "Energy Saving/ES" in the BIOS. I tried with Balanced, the fans were running at 4600RPM. Very loud.

IPMIView says the fan mode is "Standard" but again, it shows more fan modes available than I have in the BIOS so perhaps its not so reliable after all.... Moreover, the choices are all grayed out. Web IPMI doesnt show any Fan Mode options.

System temp is 24C and CPU temp are reported LOW. Room temp is around 25C as I have AC. CPU cooling is PASSIVE (2U chassis) with plastic shroud.

Question 1: As I am sleeping a room next to the one where this server is, I NEED these fans to run at no more than 3500 rpm... I read a lot about ipmitool, but the more I read the more I'm confused and most (if not all) examples are for Intel motherboards. I have a H8DCL-iF with Opteron CPUs...

Question 2: Why am I not seeing any Fan options in the IPMI? Latest IPMI (3.16) and BIOS are installed.

Grateful if anybody can help me with this annoying fan issue. Until this is working better, I need to shutdown the server each night because I cant sleep with this....

Happy to provide all info needed!
Thanks!

 

[i386]

CPU cooling is PASSIVE (2U chassis)

why...
an active heatsink on the cpu would help to run the other (midwall) fans at lower rpms.

no active heat sink on the cpu -> midwall fans have to push more air to cool the cpu -> higher rpms and more noise

then randomly ramp up to full speed (or anything in between) then back down to 3400 RPM

did you check the cpu usage in that time?
another cause could be a fan not being properly connected and causing a "failed fan" alarm which causes all the other fans to run at 100%, check the ipmi logs for errors & failures to rule this out

 

[lpallard]

why...
an active heatsink on the cpu would help to run the other (midwall) fans at lower rpms.

Will check for active heatsink but it wont be Supermicro. I could reinstall the old Noctua active coolers but the passive cooling shouldnt be an issue in a month or so when I move house and put these in a closet.

I confirm the fan speed MATCHES the CPU load. I tested with stress-ng and its a 1:1 relationship. So the ramping up & down make sense. Its actually PWM at work.

There are NO errors in IPMI or BIOS or anywhere else. I visually confirm all 3 mid-wall fans are running perfectly.

But in the end, why am I having such little control over the fans? I feel something is wrong with the fans that are supposedly capable of differnet modes, speeds, with ipmitool, etc.....

Isn't there a way to get them to run at a set speed? Its not like the CPU temps are in any way High.... IMO between 2000 & 3000 RPM should be sufficient. Actually, why are the fans controlled by CPU load rather than by temperature??? That would make a LOT more sense....

EDIT: Fans are connected to FAN1-2-3 on motherboard. (if that matters). Also I just checked, good luck finding a 2U cooler for that Socket C32....

 

[i386]

If your boards has ipmi than the fans are controlled by the bmc (part of ipmi). The bmc can read the cpu temps and sets the fans speed accordingly to the profile you set in ipmi.

The numbered fans on supermicro mainbaords are controller by cpu temperature, the alphabetical fans are controlled by system temperature (not sure if the system sensor is in the "front" or near the pcie slots).

 

[i386]

Also I just checked, good luck finding a 2U cooler for that Socket C32

This platform is 4 generations old did you think about upgrading to something newer?
Alone for pcie 3.0 (if not pcie 4.0 or 5.0) and 6GBit/s it would be worth it imo.

 

[lpallard]

@i386 this motherboard is not like the Xeon based motherboards, AFAIK it doesnt have zones but only 6 fan headers

FAN1
FAN2
FAN3
FAN4
FAN5 / CPU FAN1
FAN6 / CPU FAN2

The midwall fans are connected to headers FAN1 - FAN2 - FAN3. I can try to connect one of them to FAN5/CPU1 but the other wont reach the back of the motherboard where the FAN6/CPU2 header is lcoated. I dont think its gonna make a difference.

I think this is just the way this system is meant to run.... Short of replacing the heatsinks do you have experience with ipmitool ?

 

[lpallard]

This platform is 4 generations old did you think about upgrading to something newer?
Alone for pcie 3.0 (if not pcie 4.0 or 5.0) and 6GBit/s it would be worth it imo.

Yes, but I am a bit short on money right now.... I just need to make this rig as quiet as possible for one month then this issue will no longer be an issue. I contacted Supermicro in parallel to this thread to see what they will say. I was somehow under the impression that this system was not old enough not to be capable of customizing the fan speeds a bit....

 

[Fritz]

Make sure don't have any open HD slots. Where you don't have a HD you should have a dummy insert. Having open HD slots will drastically decrease the cooling efficiency.