Another "how to a make supermicro setup quiet" thread

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NotAServerGuy

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Jun 16, 2019
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For years I had been kicking around the idea of getting a big-boy setup and I recently bit the bullet. I am a software developer and not a server guy - I did a lot of research but I apparently neglected the possibility that the new rig would be that loud.

I've googled this quite a bit and came across people with similar builds that said they swapped out power supplies and/or fans and had some success. My fear is that I might order something and it wouldn't work with this setup. From what I've read this particular board can't have the fans controlled via the bios. It doesn't need to be whisper-quiet - the unit is in a closet in my basement. The problem is that it is so loud that I can hear it through walls and the ceiling. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Here is what I bought:

  • Supermicro CSE-825 Chassis
    - 2U chassis supports for maximum motherboard sizes - 13.68" x 13", E-ATX 12" x 13", ATX 12" x 10" motherboards
    - Supermicro SC825S2 Dual Channel U320 SCSI Backplane 8 x 3.5" Ports
    - 8-port 2U TQ (W/ AMI 9072) backplane, support up to 8x 3.5" SCA Ultra320/160 Hot-swap Drives
    - 1U Redundant Power Supply
    - 7 low-profile expansion slot(s)
    - 3 x 8cm (7000 RPM) hot-swap PWM cooling fan(s)
  • Supermicro X7DB8+ Server Motherboard
    - Quad & Dual Core Intel® 64-bit Xeon® Support, 667 / 1066 / 1333MHz FSB
    - Intel® 5000P (Blackford) Chipset
  • 2x Intel® Xeon® Processor L5420 (Upgrade Options Avaiable)
    - 12M Cache, 2.50 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB
  • 64GB Memory
    - 16x 4GB 2Rx4 PC2-5300F Modules
Auction Includes:

  • Supermicro SAS825TQ Chassis
  • Supermicro X7DB8+ Server Motherboard with Dual Intel Xeon L5420 Processors
  • 64GB Server Memory
  • 1x Slim DVD Drive
  • 2x Redundant Power Supply
  • 8x Supermicro 3.5" Hot-swap SCA HD Tray
 

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
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San Antonio, TX
Not sure what your use case and budget is.

It's a nice chassis but the Board, CPU and RAM are eWaste. I don't think You can even give it away for free. Not familiar with the backplane, but if it's SCSI, that's useless too. Hope you didn't make the same mistakes that I did with ebay auctions/purchases initially.

You may be better off getting a X9SR(*) or X9DR(*) board compatible with the chassis. E5-2650 V2 CPUs are really reasonable and so is the DDR3 ECC ram.
 

NotAServerGuy

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Jun 16, 2019
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Not sure what your use case and budget is.

It's a nice chassis but the Board, CPU and RAM are eWaste. I don't think You can even give it away for free. Not familiar with the backplane, but if it's SCSI, that's useless too. Hope you didn't make the same mistakes that I did with ebay auctions/purchases initially.

You may be better off getting a X9SR(*) or X9DR(*) board compatible with the chassis. E5-2650 V2 CPUs are really reasonable and so is the DDR3 ECC ram.
Thank you for the response. I think you misunderstood the post - I already have this unit and I am happy with it with the exception of the noise. That's what I am trying to do here - make it quieter.
 

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
1,628
498
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San Antonio, TX
If you are happy with it, that is all it matters. I noticed you had already purchased before my initial response. What I was trying to say the unit is not worth much in the US (~$150 shipped) and hope you didn't get suckered into paying much more than it's worth.

Your backplane:
- 8-port 2U TQ (W/ AMI 9072) backplane, support up to 8x 3.5" SCA Ultra320/160 Hot-swap Drives.
Does not support SATA or SAS drives. I've only seen SCA drives upto 146GB.

Coming back to the issue at hand - If the fans are 4 pin PWM, and motherboard has IPMI, you can manually control the speeds. If not, You can get a PWM fan controller and set the speed to around 2500 RPM and monitor the thermals. I'd think that is the least expensive option.

Search the forums & guides sections here for Supermicro FAN threads. The hotswap fan housings can accept 80 x 38, 80 x 32 and 80 x 25 fans.
You can look at something like the below. You may need to swap the fan into your housing in some cases but that is fairly simple to do.

https://store.supermicro.com/server-accessories/fans/80mm-fan/80mm-fan-0125l4.html
 

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
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Northern California
It looks like you've got two 1U PSUs in there? I'd think a lot of the noise is coming from them.

Since the 80mm case/system fans are hot swap, you may want to try pulling them (for a short time) and see if the system seems any quieter. If not, then its either the heatsink fans (doubtful since those "L" series Xeons don't generate a lot of heat) or the 40mm fans in those 1U PSUs.

Unlike the 80mm fans, its a lot harder to quiet down a PSU fan. But first, it would be good to isolate which fans are making the most noise.
 

maze

Active Member
Apr 27, 2013
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Find the exact PSU model number and get the SQ verison if one such exist. Should help some.
 
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NotAServerGuy

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Jun 16, 2019
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It looks like you've got two 1U PSUs in there? I'd think a lot of the noise is coming from them.

Since the 80mm case/system fans are hot swap, you may want to try pulling them (for a short time) and see if the system seems any quieter. If not, then its either the heatsink fans (doubtful since those "L" series Xeons don't generate a lot of heat) or the 40mm fans in those 1U PSUs.

Unlike the 80mm fans, its a lot harder to quiet down a PSU fan. But first, it would be good to isolate which fans are making the most noise.
Thanks so much - I completely forgot that these are hot swap. Sure enough, that's the problem - these San Ace 80 are screaming. Is it just a matter of buying another 80x25mm fan and dropping it into the fan holder that this unit uses?
 

Markess

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May 19, 2018
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Northern California
Thanks so much - I completely forgot that these are hot swap. Sure enough, that's the problem - these San Ace 80 are screaming. Is it just a matter of buying another 80x25mm fan and dropping it into the fan holder that this unit uses?
My advice on this may only be worth what you're paying for it, but simply dropping in a quieter fan doesn't always work. Depending on the component layout, it may be "tight" in there, and the fan's need a lot of static pressure to push the air through the components (like heatsinks) instead of just going around them. or stalling.

Its a good idea to look up the exact model fan(s) in your unit to figure out both the throughput (usually CFM or m3/h), as well as static pressure (usually inches or mm of H20).

Depending on your components and how well they're currently cooled, you may be able to put in a less capable (and therefore quieter) fan. For example, your Xeon L5420s at 50 watts TDP, generate a lot less heat than the non "L" model Xeons of the same generation. If your chassis was designed for/rated to work with much higher powered Xeons, like the 120 or even 150 watt ones, then you may have some headroom.
 

NotAServerGuy

New Member
Jun 16, 2019
12
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My advice on this may only be worth what you're paying for it, but simply dropping in a quieter fan doesn't always work. Depending on the component layout, it may be "tight" in there, and the fan's need a lot of static pressure to push the air through the components (like heatsinks) instead of just going around them. or stalling.

Its a good idea to look up the exact model fan(s) in your unit to figure out both the throughput (usually CFM or m3/h), as well as static pressure (usually inches or mm of H20).

Depending on your components and how well they're currently cooled, you may be able to put in a less capable (and therefore quieter) fan. For example, your Xeon L5420s at 50 watts TDP, generate a lot less heat than the non "L" model Xeons of the same generation. If your chassis was designed for/rated to work with much higher powered Xeons, like the 120 or even 150 watt ones, then you may have some headroom.
The fan is the San Ace 80 that I mentioned in my previous post. There are three of them in a row at the front of the chassis. I did a little experimenting - I removed one of the fans and the temperature of the drives has only been a degree or two warmer over that time (28 -30C for all drives). The funny thing is a then dropped down to one drive for 30 minutes and the temps were about the same. I know that this is nowhere near enough of a sample size and I am not contemplating going down to 1 fan. The noise is noticeably less with 2 fans running - if the heat does not go up I might just focus on soundproofing that area of the rack a little bit better. My setup really isn't doing much - I've got 6 drives that are not raided and not generally doing a whole lot. I've got a few utility dockers and not much more than that.
 

funkywizard

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Jan 15, 2017
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You can run the fans at minimim speed.

Run "ipmitool sensor" to see the fan RPMs.

Then try each of these until you get the lowest fan speed. Some won't be valid on all systems.

ipmitool raw 0x30 0x45 1 0
ipmitool raw 0x30 0x45 1 1
ipmitool raw 0x30 0x45 1 2
ipmitool raw 0x30 0x45 1 3
ipmitool raw 0x30 0x45 1 4
 
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