SFP+ Dual NIC with 10G-BaseT and 5000Base-T support. Does it exist?

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TonyArrr

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Sep 22, 2021
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my main problem is that I need more fresh air into the case.
Just wondering, but if I take is an issue, could you add slots of the bottom edge of your acrylic? Maybe even a second piece of acrylic to act as a air guide to make sure the fresh air makes it down to the components and doesn't just get pulled along the acrylic and then back out?

Maybe even a larger but lower speed fan (say… 60mm?) over the lower left corner to push air in under the NIC to go across both the NIC and the SSD? If there is somewhere available to connect it, that is…
 

CIR-Engineering

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Jan 14, 2021
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Just wondering, but if I take is an issue, could you add slots of the bottom edge of your acrylic? Maybe even a second piece of acrylic to act as a air guide to make sure the fresh air makes it down to the components and doesn't just get pulled along the acrylic and then back out?

Maybe even a larger but lower speed fan (say… 60mm?) over the lower left corner to push air in under the NIC to go across both the NIC and the SSD? If there is somewhere available to connect it, that is…
It's fine the way it is, I just wish HP would fix the firmware. I have since switched to a Mellanox MCX312A-XCBT with one RJ45 SFP to the modem and one passive cable to the router. The total power consumption is lower, so the card naturally stays cooler. I have even been able to put the actual side panel back on the Thinclient. However, the NIC is still hotter than I would like. If the HP minimum fan speed option worked correctly, I could easily remedy this nuisance.
 
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TonyArrr

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Sep 22, 2021
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Well glad there’s been a sort-of improvement. Hopefully enough people will pester HP enough for them to fix it eventually
 

WANg

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Jun 10, 2018
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That's the dream ;)
Yeah, you would need to have the acrylic cover and the extra heat sink/external fan setup. The blower on the t740 mostly pull air onto and out the APU heat sink, and not that much flow onto the PCIe slot. If you look at what that PCIe slot is meant for (AMD E9173, like an overpriced RX540), there's a reason why the fan/heatink on that card is at the back near the rear exhaust louvers on the thin client. Messing with the thin client fan settings on the t740 can only get you so far, since the airflow is not where it needs to be. Most of the 10GbE cards you encounter will require more air flow, since it assumes its usage within a well ventilated server chassis.

If you want a dualport 10GbE card with SFP+ cages and will live in an unmodified t740, you'll need something that would tolerate natural convection/hampered airflow in the chassis, like a Solarflare SFN5122F (those are less than 5w but PCIe 2.0x8 based, which should be adequate). Recycle a heatsink/fan from a dead GPU (or make a shroud), or use a Peltier cooler...other than that? Nah, won't really work. Even an X520-DA2 can potentially cook off inside. I love my t740, but there are practical limits to its chassis.
 
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CIR-Engineering

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Jan 14, 2021
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Well everything was really working just fine, but I decided I still wanted more cooling. I don't like things running hot so this is what it came to. I soldered onto the 12 volt rail for the PCIe slot and it already had a 100 uf filter cap on it which should keep fan noise from getting back to the PCIe.

IMG_6359.jpg

IMG_6360.jpg

It's the Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM with the noise reduction adapter in place. It moves a lot of air for a 40mm fan. I tried a Sunon fan I had here first, but it was quite loud and did not move nearly as much air as this fan even with the Noctura having the silencer on.
 

PD_ZFS-User

Member
Jul 13, 2018
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Well everything was really working just fine, but I decided I still wanted more cooling. I don't like things running hot so this is what it came to. I soldered onto the 12 volt rail for the PCIe slot and it already had a 100 uf filter cap on it which should keep fan noise from getting back to the PCIe.

It's the Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM with the noise reduction adapter in place. It moves a lot of air for a 40mm fan. I tried a Sunon fan I had here first, but it was quite loud and did not move nearly as much air as this fan even with the Noctura having the silencer on.
CIR-Engineering,

Thanks for sharing your modification. I couldn't tell from the photos. Is the fan installed to push air into the t740 case or to extract air? Also, do you have a photo of the PCIe slot power wiring? Wondering what temp does your NIC run at now? Thanks in advance for any info you can share.

Cheers,
PD
 

CIR-Engineering

I am a functional adult?
Jan 14, 2021
85
30
18
48
Chicago USA
www.cir-engineering.com
CIR-Engineering,

Thanks for sharing your modification. I couldn't tell from the photos. Is the fan installed to push air into the t740 case or to extract air? Also, do you have a photo of the PCIe slot power wiring? Wondering what temp does your NIC run at now? Thanks in advance for any info you can share.

Cheers,
PD
I can get some more photos when I take the Thin Client out again.

The fan blows out. The way these are vented, all air is drawn from the bottom of the case and is blown out the top with the CPU cooling fan. Stock, that's the only fan in the case. I didn't want the 40mm fan to compete with, or crate closed loop air flow between it and the CPU fan. Blowing out, both fans are pulling air in from the bottom. All the air coming in goes directly over the NIC heat sink and SSD drive(s). It's really a brilliant layout. If I could have just sped up the CPU fan this would not have been necessary.

I tapped into the 12v rail at the primary filter cap. The filter cap is easy to get to if you remove the PCIe riser card which easily slides out toolless. Right in front of the PCIe slot on the motherboard (bottom right corner of the motherboard) you'll see a 16v100uf electrolytic surface mount capacitor. Just solder onto its leads and then glue down your wires so you don't accidentally rip them out.

When I ran this mod with the clear acrylic cover with a less powerful fan the NIC temp dropped I think it was 6-8 degrees Celsius. It's difficult to measure temp now because by the time I disassemble the case, the card will have cooled down. With the acrylic lid I had made, I could pop off the cover quickly and use my laser thermometer. That's not an option now. I expect the results of this mod are better than what I was getting before due to more airflow.
 
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PD_ZFS-User

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Jul 13, 2018
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I can get some more photos when I take the Thin Client out again.

The fan blows out. The way these are vented, all air is drawn from the bottom of the case and is blown out the top with the CPU cooling fan. Stock, that's the only fan in the case. I didn't want the 40mm fan to compete with, or crate closed loop air flow between it and the CPU fan. Blowing out, both fans are pulling air in from the bottom. All the air coming in goes directly over the NIC heat sink and SSD drive(s). It's really a brilliant layout. If I could have just sped up the CPU fan this would not have been necessary.

I tapped into the 12v rail at the primary filter cap. The filter cap is easy to get to if you remove the PCIe riser card which easily slides out toolless. Right in front of the PCIe slot on the motherboard (bottom right corner of the motherboard) you'll see a 16v100uf electrolytic surface mount capacitor. Just solder onto its leads and then glue down your wires so you don't accidentally rip them out.

When I ran this mod with the clear acrylic cover with a less powerful fan the NIC temp dropped I think it was 6-8 degrees Celsius. It's difficult to measure temp now because by the time I disassemble the case, the card will have cooled down. With the acrylic lid I had made, I could pop off the cover quickly and use my laser thermometer. That's not an option now. I expect the results of this mod are better than what I was getting before due to more airflow.
CIR-Engineering,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. It's good to know where you can find 12V if I need it in the future to cool a PCIe card.

PD