Cooling Xeon D-1718T (Ice Lake-D/SuperMicro X12 mini-ITX embedded)

[martinblank64]

Hi everybody! First time posting here.

For many years I was using an Intel Atom C2000 based motherboard (Supermicro mini ITX) that had 4+ 1G LAN ports as a home network appliance, firewall and some other services. Unfortunately it recently died.

I wanted something with more network speed and picked a Supermicro X12SDV-4C-SPT4F motherboard which is a lower power version of this:

https://www.servethehome.com/supermicro-x12sdv-10c-spt4f-review-intel-xeon-d-1749nt-motherboard/

It's got 4x LAN interfaces each capable of 10gbps or higher which really attracted me.

Unfortunately, as I've come to discover, CPU cooling is not good when deployed in a run of the mill non-server mini ITX case.
It seems that this board is designed for use in a 1U chassis with screaming loud front-to-back airflow fans to cool the CPU.


In my case, the CPU idles around 85C, even with Turbo mode disabled in the BIOS and also setting maximum power conservation mode in BIOS.

I am seeking help and knowledge from folks here if I've got any sort of heatsink/cooling options that won't require a rack mount chassis with screaming loud fans.

I found an article about a full size ATX board with what I believe is the same CPU socket:

https://www.servethehome.com/supermicro-x12sdv-4c-sp6f-review-25gbe-and-intel-xeon-d-1718t/

A comment there mentions that the Supermicro SNK-C0111AP4L cooler fit from a screw hole perspective but a dremel was needed to open up some clearance.
That cooler is for Intel Socket 604 so I wonder if any other Socket 604 coolers could work? It's old though and not easy to find info...


I am open to any suggestions - and not afraid to void warranties if needed. Thanks for reading and any help in advance.

 

[BlueFox]

You can look at heatsinks with adjustable mounts. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I know they're out there.

As for socket 604, I doubt that would work even if the mounting holes line up. The vertical height on socket 604 is considerably higher than what you'd find on the motherboard, so you'd have quite the gap.

 

[nthu9280]

I have a X10SDV-8C-TLN4, which is also optimized for 1U, in a SCE-721TQ chassis. The passive cooling was not enough. I just jury-rigged a 60mm fan, that came with a Dynatron 2U that I was not using, with twist ties to the heat sink. Not an optimal / elegant solution but keeps the temps reasonable around 50 degrees C.

I didn’t want to go through the hassle of removing and replacing with active HS.

 

[martinblank64]

Much appreciate the input, thank you!

The idea of an adjustable heatsink sounded promising. I spent a lot of time searching but sadly couldn't find anything.
Still poking around but if someone knows of one, please do share.

Now in the mean time after staring at my case internals a long time I noticed there's a spot where I could wedge an 80mm fan beneath the heatsink so the air flows sideways.

I've done this, and the system now runs IDLE at 66C. That's better than 85C but I wouldn't call it amazing. Very obnixiously the heatsink is sealed flat on the top surface, so top down airflow does nothing, and without some new heatsink, I'm quite limited to awkwardly trying to hit it sideways like this...

Photo attached of what this looks like for context.

 

[nexox]

I assume you don't have a 3D printer? That heatsink with the sealed top would work nicely with a printed duct. Otherwise, break out the cardboard and high temperature double sided tape.

 

[GeeK]

I'm sorry my question is off topic, but have you possibly measured IDLE power consumption? I'm interested in the same motherboard for my NAS, but I can't find the expected power consumption data anywhere.

 

[aosudh]

Make a 3d printing duct with otherside directly attached to the cooling fan, this helps redirect airflow and promote the cooling efficiency enormously

 

[etorix]

A comment there mentions that the Supermicro SNK-C0111AP4L cooler fit from a screw hole perspective but a dremel was needed to open up some clearance.
That cooler is for Intel Socket 604 so I wonder if any other Socket 604 coolers could work? It's old though and not easy to find info...

SNK-C0111AP4L uses the same backplate BKT-0135L as the heatsink on my X12SDV-4C-SP6F.
Accorting to Supermicro support, the SNK-C0111AP4L can be used as active heatsink on the X11SDV-8C-TLN2F. I guess this is the best bet for X12SDV boards as well. And then, we may replace the fan by a quieter model, since Xeon D-1700 is not as hot as D-2100.

 

[etorix]

SNK-C0111AP4L uses the same holes… but X12SDV -SP4F and -SPT6F have components very close to the CPU and the C0111 does not fit. Neither does any Socket 603/604 I could lay my hands on: All these coolers extend a few milimeters beyond the screws, and these X12SDV really need a cooler which stops exactly at the screws. Total bummer!
The -SPT8F boards (Xeon D-2700) appear to use the kind of open-top heatsink we want to slap a fan on (BTW, this heatsink extends slightly beyond the screws and looks a lot like the C0111). But, while the -SPT8F are more capable overall (D-2700: 4 RAM channels, more capacity; 32 PCIe 4.0 lanes), they are higher power than the -SP4F and expose less of the "lower" flexible I/O lanes (notably 6 SATA vs. 10), so they are rather less desirable as home appliances—in particular as NAS.

The Xeon D-1500 (X10SDV) and Atome C3000 (A2SDi) remain the best low power embedded boards for home NAS, and it's a pity. The X12SDV-4C-SP4F would be highly capable if it weren't for this stupid closed-top heatsink.

 

[FrankTL]

I'm sorry my question is off topic, but have you possibly measured IDLE power consumption? I'm interested in the same motherboard for my NAS, but I can't find the expected power consumption data anywhere.

I get around 50W idle in ESXi 8, and 15W before flipping the powerswitch (IPMI).

Others have posted figures around 38-42W, so maybe there's something to gain with higher C-states, cpu scheduling governor, ASPM, etc.

I'd suggest A2SDi-H-TF or another variant for use in a NAS; probably plenty powerful and much lower idle.

 

[aarontry]

I got two SS 5018D-FN8T and each with a D-1518 running proxmox. They were sitting at 55-58 C at idle(2-3% cpu load) with a passive heatsink and 2x40mm fans. I made a shroud and dedicated one fan to the heatsink and was able to lower the idle temp by 10 degrees. After adding an 80mm fan outside the two cases at the front directly blowing at the path of shroud, I am able to get a stable idle temp of 40C.

 

[wazoo42]

I have a number of X10, X11, and X12 boards (compute nodes in a small cluster) and initially had custom heatsinks with 3d printed fan shrouds. This worked well enough (mid 50s to 60 C under full load), but I figured it could be improved.

I then went the route of modifying off-the-shelf HSF units from Noctua. Mine are crammed mobos per 4U case, which meant the NH-L12s was a good option and took the temps down to 35 C or under when running at full load.

Looking at your pic, I am guessing the horizontal heatsinks wouldn't work, but the vertical ones probably would. To make this happen I had to design custom HSF brackets to adjust the hole spacing. If you are interested I am happy to share my design (which I had fabricated using Send Cut Sent).

 

[etorix]

If you are interested I am happy to share my design

Yes, please! Even tough that would involve finding an alternative suitable service for fabrication around here.

 

[wazoo42]

@etorix First things first, my sincerest apologies for being a damn, dirty liar. I thought I'd bought an X12 when they first came out but it turns out the last one I bought was another X11. That being said, it appears the hole spacing may be very similar per the below article as it mentions a hole spacing for the HSF of 69.2 mm x 40 mm and my drawing has a spacing of 69.2 mm.

One further note, I did have to elongate the holes in the HSF to get everything to line up and there may have been some other small tweaks which my brain cell has lost to the sands of time.

Upgrading the Supermicro X12SDV-4C-SP6F CPU cooler

Last year, I purchased a Supermicro X12SDV-4C-SP6F for a new NAS build. The motherboard has 10x SATA 3 ports, 2x M.2 interfaces, 2x 25G SFP ports, IPMI, and supports 256GB ECC DDR4 RAM, making it well suited to its use as a NAS.

www.pic.dev

Here is what my bracket looks like:


I think I have a bunch of these left over and if you send me a DM we can figure out a way to get you a few.

I also included the most recent DXF from OnShape.

 

[etorix]

That being said, it appears the hole spacing may be very similar per the below article as it mentions a hole spacing for the HSF of 69.2 mm x 40 mm and my drawing has a spacing of 69.2 mm.

The hole spacing is the same between X11SDV and X12SDV BUT the X12SDV heatsink stops right at the screws while the X11SDV heatsink extends a few milimeters beyond the screws. X12SDV boards have VRMs very close to the CPU socket and the X11SDV heatsink does not fit. (Without knocking off the VRMs that is…)

 

[wazoo42]

@etorix here is the summary post from the X10SDV and X11SDV cooling foray using these brackets which describes a lot of issues I ran into along the way and will be good for thinking through the X12SDV.

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/cooling-the-cpu-x11sdv-4c-tln2f.22285/page-5