SC846: Norco wall with Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-3000 PWM
- Thread starter trumee
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I have not, but I have the wall and 3x NF-F12 PWM on order to go in it. They have slightly less CFM but almost the same static pressure as the original ones for 22dba. The iPPC-3000 is higher but closer to 30dba (so almost twice as loud.) I figure that the chassis was designed for 10/15k SAS drives running full-bore so for my usage the lesser CFM (but similar static pressures) should be okay.
-mox
-mox
@trumee
May I ask what other components you are using? Cpu(s) + heatsink, active or passive cooled heatsink, nics or other add in cards, air shroud?
Aksing because I have a lian li case and three of the 140mm noctuas in the front. With the optimum settings in bios (sm x10sra mainboard) the fans run @ ~900rpm and provide barely enough static pressure to cool an iodrive2 (75-90°C).
May I ask what other components you are using? Cpu(s) + heatsink, active or passive cooled heatsink, nics or other add in cards, air shroud?
Aksing because I have a lian li case and three of the 140mm noctuas in the front. With the optimum settings in bios (sm x10sra mainboard) the fans run @ ~900rpm and provide barely enough static pressure to cool an iodrive2 (75-90°C).
Unless you replace the power supply, you cannot install the noctua fan wall. Just zip tie the 3 fans together and set it in place with zipties/velcro. It fits perfectly. I think @Rand__ posted a pic sometime back in the forum.
You can use active cooling and replace the rear fans with quiet fans. It is easy to cool the mobo/cpu with minimal noise. The hdds are a different story altogether.
The noctua F8s do not have enough static pressure to sufficiently cool the drives. Nor do the iPPC 2000s. You need the iPPC 3000.
I have 12 drives installed and unless they are idle I need to run the fans at atleast 70% to keep them below 35 degrees.
Also the airflow pattern is different in the different backplanes. I've seen that the expander backplane runs hotter than the rest.
I have been experimenting with 12 7200rpm uktrastars as a test bed trying to achieve a quiet 846. I'll try to post pics of my chassis this weekend.
You can use active cooling and replace the rear fans with quiet fans. It is easy to cool the mobo/cpu with minimal noise. The hdds are a different story altogether.
The noctua F8s do not have enough static pressure to sufficiently cool the drives. Nor do the iPPC 2000s. You need the iPPC 3000.
I have 12 drives installed and unless they are idle I need to run the fans at atleast 70% to keep them below 35 degrees.
Also the airflow pattern is different in the different backplanes. I've seen that the expander backplane runs hotter than the rest.
I have been experimenting with 12 7200rpm uktrastars as a test bed trying to achieve a quiet 846. I'll try to post pics of my chassis this weekend.
Grain of salt disclaimer: Numbers here are for reference, ye makes yer choices and ye picks yer poisons...
Selecting one of the newer 846+24 SAS 846s (rev k) off the Supermicro website (since they've got more cooling than prior versions) and the cross-referencing the fans show the following stock fan stats ...
Chassis: SC846XE2C-R1K23B | 4U | Chassis | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.
846, 24 SAS + SAS3 backplane, dual 1400 Titanium PWS.
Midplane: FAN-0115L4
92x92x38, 7500 RPM, 155.0 CFM, 1.31 inH2O, 60 dBA
Rear: FAN-0125L4
80x80x32, 6700 RPM, 59.6 CFM, 0.68 inH2O, 47 dBA
So replacing the rear fans with the iPPC 3000 (43,5 dbA) doesn't buy you any sound help except maybe that it's PWM.
The NF-F12 midplane fans are..
120x120x25, 1500 RPM, 93.3 m^3/h (54.97 CFM), 2.61 inH2O, 22.4 dBA ... 1/3 the CFM (per fan) but double the pressure, which helps suck air around/past/through the drive bays and restrictive backplane.
If you're hammering your drives and need the raw CFM, yeah, it's not going to be quiet. Remember, though, that the above are based on hot SAS drives running hard in a production environment and generating 24 bays worth of heat for hours on end.
Using the older 846 "24 SATA chassis" as a reference the midplane fans are ...
Midplane: FAN-0127L4
80x80x32, 7000 RPM, 72.5 CFM, 1.09 inH2O, 53.5 dBA.
In that situation the NF-F12 is 2/3 the CFM and more than double the pressure, but 22 dBA vs 53.d dbA is a huge difference. Again, note that those stock fans are built for running hard and hot in a production environment (probabaly with 7200 RPM drives) which may or may not be the same in a situation where you're trying to make things quiet (eg, home or small office.)
As I'm running 5400 RPM drives on a home-schedule, losing 1/3 CFM but gaining pressure and noise reduction, for me, is a big win. It may be that the pressure is overkill (since pressure ratings kind of "cap out") and I'll need more CFM later, but for $75 in fans I'm willing to explore. =)
TQs will likely run cooler (SOTP, no numbers) because they're dumb with fewer electronic components than a SAS expander.
-mox
Selecting one of the newer 846+24 SAS 846s (rev k) off the Supermicro website (since they've got more cooling than prior versions) and the cross-referencing the fans show the following stock fan stats ...
Chassis: SC846XE2C-R1K23B | 4U | Chassis | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.
846, 24 SAS + SAS3 backplane, dual 1400 Titanium PWS.
Midplane: FAN-0115L4
92x92x38, 7500 RPM, 155.0 CFM, 1.31 inH2O, 60 dBA
Rear: FAN-0125L4
80x80x32, 6700 RPM, 59.6 CFM, 0.68 inH2O, 47 dBA
So replacing the rear fans with the iPPC 3000 (43,5 dbA) doesn't buy you any sound help except maybe that it's PWM.
The NF-F12 midplane fans are..
120x120x25, 1500 RPM, 93.3 m^3/h (54.97 CFM), 2.61 inH2O, 22.4 dBA ... 1/3 the CFM (per fan) but double the pressure, which helps suck air around/past/through the drive bays and restrictive backplane.
If you're hammering your drives and need the raw CFM, yeah, it's not going to be quiet. Remember, though, that the above are based on hot SAS drives running hard in a production environment and generating 24 bays worth of heat for hours on end.
Using the older 846 "24 SATA chassis" as a reference the midplane fans are ...
Midplane: FAN-0127L4
80x80x32, 7000 RPM, 72.5 CFM, 1.09 inH2O, 53.5 dBA.
In that situation the NF-F12 is 2/3 the CFM and more than double the pressure, but 22 dBA vs 53.d dbA is a huge difference. Again, note that those stock fans are built for running hard and hot in a production environment (probabaly with 7200 RPM drives) which may or may not be the same in a situation where you're trying to make things quiet (eg, home or small office.)
As I'm running 5400 RPM drives on a home-schedule, losing 1/3 CFM but gaining pressure and noise reduction, for me, is a big win. It may be that the pressure is overkill (since pressure ratings kind of "cap out") and I'll need more CFM later, but for $75 in fans I'm willing to explore. =)
TQs will likely run cooler (SOTP, no numbers) because they're dumb with fewer electronic components than a SAS expander.
-mox
I tried the NF-F12 and that did give a quiet system and drive temperatures were around 35degrees but during scrubs or when doing bulk copies it spiked up to above 45 degrees average.
I run the iPPC3000 at 35% duty cycle where it is quieter than a NF-F12 and run it at higher speeds when needed. with the iPPCs being just $5 more than the F12s, having the extra head room was worth it for me. My server is in a location where ambient temps in the summer can go up to 77degrees.
7200 RPM vs 5400 RM drives definitely makes a difference. But I have noticed that the 8TB reds run almost hotter than my 6TB reds. The current server runs 7200RPM HGSTs. I plan to setup a new server this weekend with 5400RPM reds. I'll use the NF-F12s in it and run a comparison.
The air vent patterns in the TQ and A backplanes are also different. Bigger holes than the expander backplanes. So that also helps.
I run the iPPC3000 at 35% duty cycle where it is quieter than a NF-F12 and run it at higher speeds when needed. with the iPPCs being just $5 more than the F12s, having the extra head room was worth it for me. My server is in a location where ambient temps in the summer can go up to 77degrees.
7200 RPM vs 5400 RM drives definitely makes a difference. But I have noticed that the 8TB reds run almost hotter than my 6TB reds. The current server runs 7200RPM HGSTs. I plan to setup a new server this weekend with 5400RPM reds. I'll use the NF-F12s in it and run a comparison.
The air vent patterns in the TQ and A backplanes are also different. Bigger holes than the expander backplanes. So that also helps.
Older measurements (2012) with small Reds show that those were 10 C lower than 7200 RPM of the day.
Power Consumption And Temperature - Western Digital Red: NAS-Specific SATA 6Gb/s Drives, Reviewed
Read/Write power consumption of 8TB Red is 200% of the 2TB version while idle, about 150% while active. ( https://www.wdc.com/content/dam/wdc/website/downloadable_assets/eng/spec_data_sheet/2879-800002.pdf )
Maybe assuming linear power/heat you'll be cooler than 7200 HGST but warmer than smaller Reds ...
How that translates to actual heat I have no idea. =P
Let us know what you find!
-mox
Power Consumption And Temperature - Western Digital Red: NAS-Specific SATA 6Gb/s Drives, Reviewed
Read/Write power consumption of 8TB Red is 200% of the 2TB version while idle, about 150% while active. ( https://www.wdc.com/content/dam/wdc/website/downloadable_assets/eng/spec_data_sheet/2879-800002.pdf )
Maybe assuming linear power/heat you'll be cooler than 7200 HGST but warmer than smaller Reds ...
How that translates to actual heat I have no idea. =P
Let us know what you find!
-mox
Did not get the motherboard I had planned for the build in time. Since I needed to bring up a storage array urgently, I went ahead and set it up as a JBOD with a CSE-JBOD3 unit. Did not change the default fans (FAN-0127L4) Used ipmitool to set the default fan speed to 220o RPM. Subjectively It's quiet enough that I can barely hear it over the sound from my other servers and switch. Drive temps stay at around 30 degrees idle. I think once I add a motherboard I'll check out the temps with the same setup and If I'm able to maintain the same temps I'll stick to it. If I have to increase the fan speeds, I'll try the noctuas.
Yes.
I've bought pretty much every fan in Noctua's lineup and, when available in the appropriate size, will never purchase anything but the industrial line again. They are relatively quiet and, when compared to the non industrial lines, move exponentially more air. I absolutely love them.
One thing to take into consideration is the acoustic frequency range the in which the fans operate. Given a similar fluid throughput, the larger fans tend to operate in a frequency range I find to be much less bothersome relative to the smaller higher rpm fans.
On PWM, my 3K IPC 120mm fans are almost completely inaudible from a few feet away when throttled down... If temp becomes an issue, they seem to address it rather quickly. Even at 3k RPM I find them to be far preferable to the standard SM Nidecs.
I haven't taken the time to look into the claim and/or benefits, but the IPPC fans supposedly include a three-phase motor design as well.
EDIT- In response to post above, three of the 120MM IPPC fans on PWM combined with two NG-U9DXi4's was keeping my Intel 750 AIC, 2.5" FF Intel 750 drives, and P3700 in the low 20C to low 30C range. This was running a Titan X (P), 2x 2696V4's, and a Chelsio T580
I've bought pretty much every fan in Noctua's lineup and, when available in the appropriate size, will never purchase anything but the industrial line again. They are relatively quiet and, when compared to the non industrial lines, move exponentially more air. I absolutely love them.
One thing to take into consideration is the acoustic frequency range the in which the fans operate. Given a similar fluid throughput, the larger fans tend to operate in a frequency range I find to be much less bothersome relative to the smaller higher rpm fans.
On PWM, my 3K IPC 120mm fans are almost completely inaudible from a few feet away when throttled down... If temp becomes an issue, they seem to address it rather quickly. Even at 3k RPM I find them to be far preferable to the standard SM Nidecs.
I haven't taken the time to look into the claim and/or benefits, but the IPPC fans supposedly include a three-phase motor design as well.
EDIT- In response to post above, three of the 120MM IPPC fans on PWM combined with two NG-U9DXi4's was keeping my Intel 750 AIC, 2.5" FF Intel 750 drives, and P3700 in the low 20C to low 30C range. This was running a Titan X (P), 2x 2696V4's, and a Chelsio T580
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You can use ipmitool raw commands for this. Picked it up from @PigLover s guide.
- SET HDD Fan Speed to 25% (fan a/fan b)
ipmitool -H bstor -U ADMIN -PADMIN raw 0x30 0x70 0x66 0x01 0x01 0x16
- SET CPU Fan Speed to 25% (fan1 to fan 4)
ipmitool -H bstor -U ADMIN -PADMIN raw 0x30 0x70 0x66 0x01 0x00 0x16
For the last command 64=100%. Set the value accordingly.
If you are running ipmitool bare metal then you don't need the host,user and password parameters.
This works with X10 and X11 boards.
Well... I literally have boxes of SM fans that are taking up space and destined for the trash can... I found the standard Noctuas to be inadequate, but the IPPC line to be A++.
I'm going the other direction: over the next few months I'm going to replace my lian lis + noctuas with supermicro 745b + supermicro fans.
Would any of the Noctuas your replacing happen to be IPPC? If so and you're looking for 80mm leer jet fans, I could make you one hell of a deal swap-wise.