Help Silence SuperMicro Server Fan Array

[Churchill]

Just bought this hurricane server chassis:
SC826E16-R1200LPB | 2U | Chassis | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Motherboard:
Supermicro | Products | Motherboards | Xeon® Boards | X9DRi-F

First thing I did was buy SuperQuiet Power Supplies. No problem there as those are prevalent to find.

The other problem I have is the center fan array that is a PITA to find replacement info for:

Fan(s) FAN-0126L4 3 80x80x38 mm 7K RPM Chassis Middle Fan w/ Housing

What are solid, QUIET, replacement fans that I can pop in there and still get IPMI control over these fans so they don't sound like a jet engine going through a hurricane.

Difficulty: Plug n' Play, no rewiring/soldering, drop in replacements only

I searched through multiple threads and didn't see any solid replacement info, or I'm blind.

 

[i386]

Did you check if the fans are connected to the pwm fan header on the mainboard?
Some servers are shipped with the fans connected to the backplane (fans run at full speed)

I used this mod for my server: Supermicro 846 chassis noise level

 

[Churchill]

Did you swap out the fans for your mod? My fans are directly connected to the motherboard not the backplane. I set the fan settings to "OPTIMAL" which is supposed to reduce the noise and calm the fans down to 30% usage.

 

[i386]

Yes, I replaced the FAN-0126L4 (max 7k rpm) with FAN-0074L4 (max 5k rpm).

I set the fan settings to "OPTIMAL" which is supposed to reduce the noise and calm the fans down to 30% usage.

What rpms do you see in ipmi? Mine were at ~2500 rpm with the "optimal" setting.

 

[Churchill]

Yes, I replaced the FAN-0126L4 (max 7k rpm) with FAN-0074L4 (max 5k rpm).

What rpms do you see in ipmi? Mine were at ~2500 rpm with the "optimal" setting.

I just set the fans to Optimal, it was at standard and they were raging at 4500RPM.

 

[Churchill]

I just checked the fans again, still at 4500rpm with optimal.

 

[nkw]

The other problem I have is the center fan array that is a PITA to find replacement info for:

Fan(s) FAN-0126L4 3 80x80x38 mm 7K RPM Chassis Middle Fan w/ Housing

What are solid, QUIET, replacement fans that I can pop in there and still get IPMI control over these fans so they don't sound like a jet engine going through a hurricane.

You want this:

Supermicro MCP-320-82603-0N Accessories

 

[i386]

You want this:

Supermicro MCP-320-82603-0N Accessories

5x FAN-0139L4, 13k rpm. They will run at 4.500 rpm at otimal (30%)

 

[K D]

How quiet you can get depends on the components as well as the usage.

I have an X11 board running a Silver 4110 and no AICs with just 2 SSDS. Using a Dynatron active cooler with the fan replaced with a Noctua 60mm. Midwall fans also replaced with noctua reduce fans. Using a 501P PSU. Fan profile set to full. CPU idles at ~32c and goes to around ~55c when at full load. The system is whisper quiet. I initially ran this without the mid wall fans and the system was stable but went ahead and added the noctuas.

Also have an X10DRH-iT running in a similar setup.

 

[nkw]

5x FAN-0139L4, 13k rpm. They will run at 4.500 rpm at otimal (30%)

FWIW, I thought the same thing and then put two SC826s side by side -- one with the 3x80mm fans and one with the MCP-320-82603-0N. The five fan setup was (subjectively) much quieter. I didn't put a meter on it, but that might be a fun project for later today.

 

[Churchill]

What's the negative about running my own fans with 3 pin wires to the motherboard instead of using the Supermicro fans? Do I lose anything on the cooling side of things?

 

[Aestr]

You'll lose the tach reading with 3 pin. Any reason you can't get a 4 pin replacement? I'm running a couple of SC826 with the above mentioned FAN-0074L4. The servers are right beside a couch and don't get any complaints. Not silent, but not very loud. They also cool 8 3.5" drives, a v1 E5-2670 and 2 AICs without issues. The cheapest place I found them was on the Supermicro store for $21.75.

From my own experience I would caution against the 5 fan MCP-320-82603-0N fanwall linked above. One server came with those and and while not horrible they were nowhere near as quiet as the FAN-0074L4.

 

[Churchill]

I'm all for getting the FAN-0074 models. Sounds like they will take a bit of finagling to fit but they will work.

I didn't know if the Noctua's would be a better fit and quieter.

 

[Aestr]

Many Noctua's will be quieter. The real question is whether they will cool your server adequately. From my attempts they didn't keep my drives or AICs cool enough, but it really depends on what you're doing.

 

[Churchill]

I bought 3 fans from Supermicro:
Fan-0074l4

The only thing I'll need to mod is that lil fin ontop right? cut that off?

 

[Aestr]

I actually took mine out of the casing and popped them into the original ones. It just took a precision screwdriver to pop the clasp holding the plug and to remove the pins and then put them back in, but I think I've seen other just hack up the fin.

 

[Churchill]

Unequivocally these fans are mini hurricanes. I tested the decibels of the stock fans with the stock 1.2k psu and i'm at 82DB while replicating my storage array to this new system. The fans are at 5500RPM, CPU is at 100F and mainboard is around 120F.

Holy shit balls....

I can't wait for my SuperQuiet PSU's

 

[bitrot]

I actually got a few Fan-0074l4s as a replacement for the Nidec screamers (FAN-0126L4) that came with the 826 chassis at first, just to experience that while they did run at lower rpms (not that much lower when using PWM control btw.), the noise was actually more annoying. The Nidecs were actually ok, but not quiet, of course.

Could be my luck with a bad batch, but that made me replace them with Noctuas that still provide enough cooling for my 5400rpm WD Red drives in the front and the rest of the system (Silver 4114 with a Noctua modded Supermicro 2U cooler).

System is really quiet now (PWS-920P-SQ PSU) and isn't annoying in the slightest, running in a 22U rack in my study at home.

 

[Churchill]

I'm hoping the PSU's will quiet the tornados down enough so I won't have to go the route of replacing the fan wall with noctua's and the cpu HeathSink to a HSF combo.

 

[Churchill]

As an update to this thread I FINALLY started replacing the fans. The PSU's helped a ton and while replacing 1 fan it made a world of difference to the hurricanes. I'll be replacing the other 2 fan's with the 0074L4's and yes it takes some cutting and hacking of the case to get the things going.

 

[Churchill]

1.5YR update, the fans have made a world of difference. Picked up 3 more to mod another server case and going to make sure that one is silent as well.