HP ML350P Gen8 Fan replacement

[Jonas W.]

Hi Everybody

I have a HP ML350P Gen8 Server and I want to remove the 4 fans I have connected at the moment.

Then I am going to remove the 2 heatsinks placed on both the CPU´s and replace them with 2 Noctua u12DX i4... How ever the fans that are currently mounted are using PCI-e Connectors / 6 pin and the Noctua fans are just using a regular 4 pin fan plug.

Does anyone of you have an idea of how I can get around this problem?

Also is it possible to get the server to boot with "just" 2 fans connected? My parents are complaining about the noise since the server is placed at their home.

Thank you in advance

- Jonas W

 

[luckylinux]

Hi,

I'm currently in the same situation. Did you figure something out?

I doubt it's a PCIe connector (the PCIe power connector is much thicker). I found many posts in the internet talking about grounding two pins together (rotation detect and ground I think) which seems to make believe the server that everything is OK.

Some links I found:
- Although for G6 I guess most of it can be useful Quiet ML350 G6 – It is possible
- Solved: Replacing z820 rear case fans with regular 4-pin pwm fans - HP Support Forum - 6409554

As for me I bought some sets of crimps housings. For the fan I bought the Noctua NA SEC1 which I plan to cut on one side and there I'll make the custom 6 pin connector.

I wanted to ask you about the Noctua U12DX i4: does it fit (in terms of height) ? Does it cover some RAM slots? And most importantly is the socket on the motherboard a standard Narrow ILM or is it some custom socket ?

Thank you

 

[Jonas W.]

Hello!

Yes I figured something out eventually I solved the problem. All though it isn't fully recommendable, it works.

I bought 2 Noctua U12DX I4 - And just to be clear.. these DO NOT fit. the "cooling block" it self hits the motherboard metal "tray" that you use to keep the CPU's pushed into the socket. if you know what I mean? - See attached picture. But other than that... It fits perfectly. It doesn't hit any of my RAM and is also not to high.

I got around this problem by actually removing the metal tray that keeps the CPU in place... So now all that is keeping it in place is the CPU cooler.. Not a recommended way I guess... but it works absolutely fine.

Next problem is that the screws that came with the Noctua coolers did not match the ones on the MB. So I had to re-use the screws from the original mounted HP radiators and then ditch the small spring that was used... But after all this it all works great! I am getting a maximum of 40 degrees under full load and about 25 degrees when idle.

if you have any questions, feel free to email me on junk@wilner.dk and I will get back to you. Also if you want pictures of how everything is setup I can help with that.

Cheers!

 

[narapon]

How did you remove the retention bracket on the CPU socket? Some pictures would be great

 

[Jonas W.]

With the right "tools" and patience... it was not easy to get it out ;-O I'll make sure that I take some pictures later today.

 

[narapon]

With the right "tools" and patience... it was not easy to get it out ;-O I'll make sure that I take some pictures later today.

looking forward to it

I've got mine sitting at the bottom of the rack turned off because of the noise. I do have the original heatsinks though.... maybe swapping out the 4 fans would not push enough air for proper cooling using them

 

[Jonas W.]

Alright! So I finally have the time to post all the pictures of my little "operation".

My dilemma here was that I had 4 original HP fans connected to the server and these made a heck of a lot noise which I just could not live with. So I made up my mind and started to figure out how to remove these 4 and add 2 Noctua CPU coolers that could do the job.

I ended up getting 2 Noctua U12DX I4 for a good price.

First.. To trick the server into thinking it has a fan connected you have to cut the cable from the fan so you are left with 5-7cm of cable and the connector.

Next you have to connect the YELLOW cable and the BLACK cable together. I connected them in a small cable joint. The red and blue cable you can simply leave without touching them. Simply just connect the cable to your MB and the server now think it has a fan connected that runs full speed all the time.

Picture 1 and 2 show exactly how I managed to achieve that.

Now what I had to figure it is what cable goes where... Starting from the cable I cut off from the original HP fan and then connecting it to the Noctua fan. This took me a while to figure out but eventually I got it to work so that the Noctua fan runs at full speed all the time.

Again I start off with a cable looking like picture 1. Next up I take the Noctua fan and cut the cable connector from the fan. See Picture 9.
Now connect the red cable from the yellow cable from the Noctua fan to the red cable on the connector that goes to your MB. Last up connect the black cable coming from the Noctua fan to the black AND yellow cable connector going to your MB.

The blue cable you still don't use. And the green + blue cable from the Noctua fan you can either leave... or join them in a small cable joint like I did.

The above will make the Noctua fan run at full speed. Picture 1, 3, 4 and 5 will show what I explained.

Now that we have all that figured out, next step is to install the CPU cooler onto the CPU. This is where it gets tricky...

Because! The cooling block itself (Picture 15, don't mind the plastic that is on) is too big to actually be installed due to the retention bracket being too "big". So therefor I had to remove the retention bracket completely in order for it to work. See picture 3, 4 and 5. Now that I got the 2 retention brackets out of the way the next problem is that the screws that came with the Noctua fans does not fit the screw the MB has. So I had to remove the small springs (Picture 13) and also use the screws that my original HP radiator used.

Then it all worked without any hazzle!

See pictures 10,11,12 and 14 too see the 2 CPU coolers + fans mounted and fully working in my HP ML350p Gen8.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask


Pictures:

IMG 1452 - 1
IMG 1453 - 2
IMG 1454 - 3
IMG 1455 - 4
IMG 1456 - 5
IMG 1457 - 6
IMG 1458 - 7
IMG 1459 - 8
IMG 1460 - 9
IMG 1461 - 10
IMG 1462 - 11
IMG 1463 - 12
IMG 1464 - 13
IMG 1465 - 14
image - 15
s l300 - 16

 

[narapon]

pictures 10,11,12 and 14 seem to show a different HP server, not a HP ML350p Gen8 which looks like this:

the heatsink issue is the same though and if i wanna mount noctuas i'll have to remove the retention brackets too

i like the fan mod, idea though, not sure how im going to do that here

 

[Jonas W.]

You are right! Thats because mine is a ML350E and not a ML350P, my bad

If you want any assistance or more detailed help with the fan mod (Cutting cables etc) Feel free to send me an email on junk@wilner.dk and ill get back to you asap. After all... the part that took me several hours was to figure out which cables go where... So now that I know that! It all shouldn't take you more than about 1,5 hours max.

Kind regards

 

[narapon]

i was thinking of a DIY adapter approach to be less destructive with the FAN cables.

also, those stock fans eat quite the bit of power, pretty sure you can lower the power consumption from replacing the 4 fans alone

 

[Jonas W.]

I think you are right about the power consumption!

You can always just get another cable, then cut that into pieces so you don't have to ruin the Cable that is attached to the Noctua fan.

Let me know if you need any assistance.

 

[ilo67]

Any youtube video for this tutorial? if none, could you make one, especially how to remove the cpu retention please....

 

[bfvogel]

I just finished a similar mod on mt ML350P Gen8 and documented it for anyone interested.

HPE ML30P Gen8 Quiet Fan Modification – NoBrandSan – Admin / Engineer / Interested

 

[bfvogel]

So the power supply fan can be replace with:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071W93333/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



The pin out is as followed



PSU > FAN

Black > Black

Red > Yellow

White > Green

Blue > Blue

HPE ML30P Gen8 Quiet Fan Modification – NoBrandSan – Admin / Engineer / Interested

 

[luckylinux]

I have an update from my side as well. I didn't get an email notification from all your replies. Sorry to be late to the party.

For the stock plate blocking the cooler I experienced the same issue with some noctua cpu cooler. I was hitting 90°C and thus shutting down. Then I did something I never did before. Instead of a very fine layer of thermal paste I put about 4 times as much. Still less than stock supermicro cooler though . It worked! I didn't have to remove the socket ate as I was scared that the pins would be damaged with uneven mounting pressure etc.

For the fan check bypass I found on the Internet the following solution which worked: connect the two blacks (pin 2 and 4) together and the yellow too (last pin, closest to the motherboard). Well it works. Boot uneventful. Kernel stress test compilation using gcc j80 hits 55°C max. I'd rather put a bit too much thermal paste than modify the socket. Especially with these temperatures for a e5 2670 v2 dual socket...

Previously I faked the pwm signal with an Arduino mega (yellow pin) but it only booted 50% of the time. I guess I just keep the Arduino as fan controller if I don't want to leave them at full speed all the time and monitor them.

I would have to do some sma pvb design for that though...

Hope it helps

Edit: cooler is Noctua NH-D9DX i4, although usually the mounting hardware is the same for all noctua coolers (ateast for a given socket).

 

[andrr567]

hi all,
just an update for next ones on this route.. It looks like Noctua keeps updating their models or maybe in EU the models are slightly different. Anyway, I've got a nice surprise. The model "Noctua NH-D9DX i4 3U" ( NH-D9DX i4 3U ) exactly matched the CPU bracket of my ML350p G8. The contact plate isn't square, and I could fit it only in the vertical direction (90 degrees rotation to the Jonas' pictures). It wasn't my plan to put it like that, but I think it also should work with maybe some additional fan to circulate the air. Another benefit is that the memory is also ventilated.

Another good thing was that screws also fitted the MB! So, only cabling is needed.

good luck with your upgrades!

 

[XeonUnicorn]

Water-cooled 350P

Psoted using same username Page 2,3:

HP Proliant ML350p G8 Watercooling!