Mellanox Connectx-2 temperature (and alternatives?)

[anomaly]

My 2-port Mellanox ConnectX-2 NIC is running at a scary 72C. I have got a Norco 4u case with 6 Noctua 80mm fans. They are running at adaptive speeds. Nothing blowing air over the PCI cards, so that won't help.

I might build a bracket with magnets to hold some fans (maybe two 80mm) and one of those eBay PWM hubs to stick somewhere in the case (all fan ports in the case are taken atm).

Is this a normal operating temperature?
Are there other NICs that run cooler than this?

Otherwise I'm really considering doing 19g copper with Intel X540s and the Unifi managed switch that has 16 SFP+ ports (and then get copper transceivers for those, if supported).

 

[ttabbal]

They get warm, for sure. I screwed a 40mm fan to the one I have on my uncased desktop machine. Just ran the screws into the gap between the heatsink fins.

 

[i386]

Is this a normal operating temperature?

"It depends"
How did you get the 72°c? Did you used the mellanox tools?

If you have a chassis with 200+ lfm airflow you can use these nics with ambiert temperature up to 55°C.

 

[anomaly]

"It depends"
How did you get the 72°c? Did you used the mellanox tools?

If you have a chassis with 200+ lfm airflow you can use these nics with ambiert temperature up to 55°C.

Yes, I did, and also used a laser thermometer (calibrated, and it's pretty damn accurate on non reflective surfaces).

200 LFM is pretty high, I have 6 Noctua NF-R8 Redux at 1800 RPM, PWM controlled. I do think they can pull more than 200 LFM, at 53.3 CFM each. If I calculate the LFM for the case, then I have more than adequate cooling (200 LFM = 188 CFM roughly for 19x6 inches).

Are you sure that is correct? 72C can degrade electronic components relatively quickly, I realized it was making the i350 NIC next to it very very hot. Thankfully I put it far from my NVMe SSD, else it would take a good p*ss on that too (throttling).

 

[anomaly]

They get warm, for sure. I screwed a 40mm fan to the one I have on my uncased desktop machine. Just ran the screws into the gap between the heatsink fins.

I made some aluminum profiles for a magnetic adhesion bracket to hold some fans vertically, I think this will help. I will also remove the brackets for the cards and use my vertical drill to create a mesh of holes in them for ventilation. Why they don't make the brackets with ventilation holes from the factory is quite puzzling. Cutting costs I guess...

 

[i386]

Are you sure that is correct?

Yes
http://www.mellanox.com/related-docs/user_manuals/ConnectX 2_VPI_UserManual.pdf (VPI and EN cards use the same chip design)

 

[Jerry Renwick]

This equipment should not be operated in an area with an ambient temperature exceeding the maximum recommended: 55°C (131°F). To guarantee proper air flow, allow at least 8cm (3 inches) of clearance around the ventilation openings.