SC836 duct dimensions

[J--]

Hi there,

Anyone have a SC836? Can you measure the depth of the duct for me?

I'm looking at cooler options, and I'm currently entertaining the idea of active cooling in addition to the passive cooling the duct would provide. Noctua sells a 65mm active solution in the NH-L12, with height on par w/ the 2U passive cooler than Supermicro sells.

Not knowing what the duct situation is though, it'd be hard to tell what fits. Let me know if you can take any quick measurements. Thanks.

 

[T_Minus]

Even if it fits it's a bad idea to introduce different airflow direction within one.

 

[Aestr]

Agreed with @T_Minus. If you're installing an active cooler why do you feel you need the duct?

 

[J--]

Both valid points.

I guess I wanted a little more cooling performance than what the passive coolers were providing in some tests, which leaves a 120W TDP CPU around 50C at idle and 90C at load, iirc. I also had concerns about some other components, like the VRMs that don't look as heatsinked as some other models I've seen, and the memory, which hits around 62C on open air. I guess those temperature figures are "within spec", but I was hoping to have a little more headroom in the thermal envelope.

Supermicro does sell an active 2U cooler with proper direction of airflow, but with a 60mm fan @ 8400 rpm, I don't see any chance it will be quiet, and I don't know if the duct would support that either. The thermal performance of that cooler doesn't seem that great either, a reviewer on Newegg stated 50C idle on a Haswell 105W TDP processor).

Perhaps I'm spoiled by the Noctua 4U-sized cooling tower that I last tested, which was at 32C idle and 52C under full load.

 

[T_Minus]

@J-- there are other threads here with detail on quiet 2U active heatsink fan combo. The SuperMicro unit does work, but has a whine to it I prefer the other 'copper' heatsink from Dynatron. If it's out of chassis at idle it's silent, the 2U chassis (and probably the 3u) you're goign to hear hte mid-plane fans over the heatsink fan. This is with E5-2670 CPU too, so not a L model. I've done it in numerous motherboards.

Note, that sometimes updating BIOS will change the fan idles and thresholds so it may get louder on update.

Also, be sure to set the fan profile in IPMI it makes a huge difference. SuperMicro will tell you that if you're using a lot of CPU and want to be 'safer' then run it 100% all the time, at-least that's what I've been told before.

 

[J--]

Tom's Hardware seems to indicate there's no 50% fan speed mode on these Dynatrons, did you find that to be the case? In theory, the claim doesn't make sense, since the PWM is controlled at the motherboard, not at the fan. The fan is "dumb", the logic should be in the motherboard. Have you experienced this, @T_Minus ?


Dynatron R27 And R24 Versus Noctua NH-U9DX i4

Any attempt to balance cooling to noise via fan speed modulation failed, as the cooler ignored the PWM signal and went full force any time the CPU got warm.

 

[T_Minus]

That's incorrect model.

You want the Dynatron R14.

It most def. goes well under 50%

 

[J--]

The R24 looks like it's just an updated version of the R14. The fan is identical, the 24 has more cooling surface it seems, and is rated to 165W TDP instead of 150W. I will give it a try and report back, thanks for leading me onto the Dynatrons.

 

[Kybber]

I don't have a duct in my SC836, and opted for the Noctua NH-D9DX i4 to cool two E5-2670 on an Intel S2600CP. The units should arrive tomorrow so I can finish building.

 

[J--]

@Kybber Cool, mine should be built by the end of the week, we can compare notes on idle vs load temps.

Are you running the case open though? The NH-U9DX i4 is 4U height. I'm actually using that cooler on my test bench now, and it holds around 51-52C at load on a 120W TDP v3.

 

[PigLover]

The air shroud in an SC836 (or SC826/SC846/etc) exists for the sole purpose of driving air from the mid-plane fans across the passive HSF that are usually installed in these chassis. Since you are proposing using active cooling you should just remove the shroud if it blocks the cooler.

 

[Kybber]

Are you running the case open though? The NH-U9DX i4 is 4U height. I'm actually using that cooler on my test bench now, and it holds around 51-52C at load on a 120W TDP v3.

Sorry, I meant the NH-D9DX, which is 3U. Edited my post above.

 

[J--]

Just an update, these Dynatron fans are garbage. I purchased two and they both vibrate excessively. You can feel the vibration through the entire motherboard. Last thing I need is broken solder joints that due to excessive vibration. It's also impossible to attach to the motherboard once you snap the fan on, because the fan (and the heatsink) interferes with the screw heads.

Would not recommend.

Ordered the Supermicros, hopefully they'll arrive before this weekend.

 

[T_Minus]

@J-- Something is seriously wrong or you got some bad fans then, the fans are not garbage especially not the copper one I suggested. I have over a dozen of them in use, and I know other members purchased them on my suggestion and are using them and loving them too. E5-2670 literally silent outside of chassis surprisingly using the 2U fans.

The R24 is NOT the R14 I suggested either, so if you got the R24 I have no clue what that item is but I know it's NOT a R14, and that's what I suggest.

The SuperMicro fan is great, it just has a whine that the R14 do not and I wouldn't want to sit in a room with one that's for sure... r14 on other hand no big deal.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

The air shroud in an SC836 (or SC826/SC846/etc) exists for the sole purpose of driving air from the mid-plane fans across the passive HSF that are usually installed in these chassis. Since you are proposing using active cooling you should just remove the shroud if it blocks the cooler.

It also helps cool the memory DIMMs. Here's a picture of one of my systems and the corresponding temperature / fan speed readings:

Unfortunately, the CPU temperature is not monitorable by IPMI on this board. The CPU fans and 2 of the drive bay fans provide a useful backup for each other in case one fails. The only issue is that this leaves a single drive bay fan for cooling the rest of the motherboard and the expansion cards.

 

[J--]

@J-- Something is seriously wrong or you got some bad fans then, the fans are not garbage especially not the copper one I suggested. I have over a dozen of them in use, and I know other members purchased them on my suggestion and are using them and loving them too. E5-2670 literally silent outside of chassis surprisingly using the 2U fans.

The R24 is NOT the R14 I suggested either, so if you got the R24 I have no clue what that item is but I know it's NOT a R14, and that's what I suggest.

The SuperMicro fan is great, it just has a whine that the R14 do not and I wouldn't want to sit in a room with one that's for sure... r14 on other hand no big deal.

The specs would suggest the fans are 100% identical. The R14 looks like they didn't push to fit as much in the Narrow ILM space, so you can actually assemble it, the R24 sacrificed assemble-ability for an extra 15W of TDP handling.

R14 specs: Dynatron | R14
R24 specs: Dynatron | R24



Since you can't feel vibrations across the internet, I used a used yogurt cup as a resonator. You'll notice the Noctuas don't emit any additional noise with a resonator attached, because they are factory balanced.

VID_20160907_203623.mp4

 

[T_Minus]

The specs would suggest the fans are 100% identical. The R14 looks like they didn't push to fit as much in the Narrow ILM space, so you can actually assemble it, the R24 sacrificed assemble-ability for an extra 15W of TDP handling.

R14 specs: Dynatron | R14
R24 specs: Dynatron | R24



Since you can't feel vibrations across the internet, I used a used yogurt cup as a resonator. You'll notice the Noctuas don't emit any additional noise with a resonator attached, because they are factory balanced.

VID_20160907_203623.mp4

No, they are not 100% identical as you can see if you read the links you provided.

R14 = "Copper Heatsink with Stacked Fins" R24 is not copper.

The R14 weighs 660G vs 400G of the R24.

I'm not doubting you have vibrations I'm stating that it must be a bad setup or bad fan you received or was damaged in shipping kind of thing... not disagreeing with you on yours being bad.

The fans I suggested are anything but bad, crap, low-end... and they are not "old" R24 either, they are R14, and they are great

 

[J--]

You must have misread. I said the fans were identical, not the entire units. Every line item for fan specifications, from the speed, to the flow, noise, level, pressure, at each specific duty cycle, reads 100% exactly the same.

The heatsink units are not the same, as I have already noted.


Regardless, these are begin returned. I have my fingers crossed that I will get the Supermicros before the weekend so I can continue on my build.

 

[T_Minus]

I didn't, I was under the impression the term 'fans' was being used to describe the entire unit or "HSF".