Taming the C6100

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

markwo

New Member
Mar 29, 2013
9
0
0
Just looking through the fan mod and I am wondering how the Supermicro FAN-0074L4 will be a good alternative. More expensive than the Evercool but these are the fans that came with my CSE-743TQ-865B superquiet chassis. They are 80X38mm pwm 4 pin units although I believe they come in a hot plug frame that should be easy to remove.

FAN-0074L4
•Form Factor: Fan
•Dimensions: 38mm Length x 80mm Width x 80mm Height
•Rated current: 0.58 A
•Speed: 5,000rpm
•Airflow (CFM): 68.3
•Static Pressure: 0.53 in.H2O
•Noise: 45 dBA

Looking deeper, the following models all have the same ratings;
FAN-0084L4
FAN-0082L4
FAN-0074L4

The full Supermicro fan list is here for easy reference.

RB
Saw in the main C6100 thread that you've got some of these incoming. Please post your results once you've worked with them.

I just purchased a C6100 and I'm hoping to quiet it enough to keep by my desk.

Options so far look like the EC fans, the SM ones you listed, and/or modifying the PWM signal with a uC.

Also, any chance those SuperMicro fans are made by another supplier and have identifying markings on them? So that we could buy them without the unneeded hotswap shroud at a discount?

Thanks!
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
28
28
Singapore
Saw in the main C6100 thread that you've got some of these incoming. Please post your results once you've worked with them.

I just purchased a C6100 and I'm hoping to quiet it enough to keep by my desk.

Options so far look like the EC fans, the SM ones you listed, and/or modifying the PWM signal with a uC.

Also, any chance those SuperMicro fans are made by another supplier and have identifying markings on them? So that we could buy them without the unneeded hotswap shroud at a discount?

Thanks!
Just so happens I am working on this right now.

The fans are San Ace 80 (9G0812P1F03) 12V, 0.58A, EP: 101121P made by Sanyo Denki.

I have quick wired one fan up and it spins up when the server is turned on and is almost silent. I still have 3 more to do though.

The fan comes with a short cable as it is for hotswap but there is enough to play around with. The rubber isolators that fit in the top corners of the fan are fine with this fan but only one of the two top corners is open, the other corner is closed (i.e. a pipe from the hole at the front to the hole at the back. This meant I needed to Dremel the 'pipe' in order to putt the isolators tails through.

That is the only real downside I have seen so far.

I will report back when finished and it is up and running.

RB
 

markwo

New Member
Mar 29, 2013
9
0
0
Thanks RimBlock. I've spent some time reviewing the San Ace 80 line, trying to determine which 80x80x38mm model might be the best fit.

Sanyo Denki makes fans in what they call a "ribbed" and "ribless" design. This looks to address the issue with the corner holes.


from http://db.sanyodenki.co.jp/product_db_e/coolingfan/pdf/e_spec.pdf

For most of the San Ace 80 models, the fans are available in either housing, but the model you're working with, 9GV0812P1F03 is available only in the ribbed design. Since drilling the holes is a minor issue as you mentioned, I would probably rank this quality last in importance, but if all the other specifications are good then I imagine selecting ribless is the way to go.

EDIT Looks like I'm wrong - this model is available in ribless. Part number 9GV0812P1F031. It wasn't showing up with the others./EDIT

Ruling out non-PWM models, ribbed models that are also available in the ribless design, and models which move less air but are louder, we're left with 6 possible choices including the one you've chosen.

I'm curious to see how you fare with noise and temperatures, and then I'll have a better idea of whether to go with the model you've got or one of the other five. I'm mostly concerned with airflow and noise, but power specs are there too if someone's trying to reduce consumption. Of course, there are still a ton of other vendors to choose from, but I think that's too much data for me to process right now. :)

I've made a spreadsheet to compare the six models:



I'm not sure whether CFM or Static Pressure is more important (both in general, and in this application).

If anyone wants a copy of the spreadsheet, or spots any data entry errors, let me know.

Thanks for everyone's contributions to this thread so far!
 
Last edited:

markwo

New Member
Mar 29, 2013
9
0
0
Also, does anyone know what the two extra wires on the 6 pin Dell connector are for? I see they're connected, but from the photos it's not clear what happens to them in the harness.

Anyone have a part number or source for the 6 pin connector? I wouldn't mind leaving the stock fans in-tact in case I decide to revert to the stock configuration someday.
 

britinpdx

Active Member
Feb 8, 2013
367
184
43
Portland OR
Also, does anyone know what the two extra wires on the 6 pin Dell connector are for?
The 6 pin fan connector has 2 power (red), 2 ground (black), tach output (yellow) and PWM input (blue) signals. The 2 power and 2 ground wires are connected close to the fan and I believe they are from the redundant power supplies.
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
28
28
Singapore
The fans I am using have 2 open ribbed holes and two closed ribbed holes (as per the picture). They are on diagonal corners so top left and bottom right are the same (closed ribbed) etc.

The fans have been running all night and no amendment to the IPMI setup has been required. I have had no alarms. CPus are around 17deg C above ambient but the two running nodes are doing very little.

It may also be worth noting that the stock fans I took out only have one set of black and red wires indicating that they are only powered by one PSU. Both my units came with only a single PSU.

The C6100 is running significantly quieter than my HP ML110G7. It is barely noticeable. The heat it generates is another matter though :D.
 

legen

Active Member
Mar 6, 2013
213
39
28
Sweden
From where did you guys get the San Ace 80 fans? Frozencpu.com has the evercool fans but the san ace seems slightly better, however i cannot find a good retailer for them that also ships to europe.
 

markwo

New Member
Mar 29, 2013
9
0
0
The fans I am using have 2 open ribbed holes and two closed ribbed holes (as per the picture). They are on diagonal corners so top left and bottom right are the same (closed ribbed) etc.

The fans have been running all night and no amendment to the IPMI setup has been required. I have had no alarms. CPus are around 17deg C above ambient but the two running nodes are doing very little.

It may also be worth noting that the stock fans I took out only have one set of black and red wires indicating that they are only powered by one PSU. Both my units came with only a single PSU.

The C6100 is running significantly quieter than my HP ML110G7. It is barely noticeable. The heat it generates is another matter though :D.
They definitely sound quiet enough. Do you think they'll provide enough cooling, especially with 4 nodes on?

I think I'm down to the model you've got, and 9GV0812P1H031, which is louder but provides more airflow.

I've never heard a ML110G7, but I've got a Dell T110, which is Dell's equivalent model. If these fans could make a C6100 run more quietly than my T110 (but still safely), I will be ecstatic! :)
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
28
28
Singapore
They definitely sound quiet enough. Do you think they'll provide enough cooling, especially with 4 nodes on?

I think I'm down to the model you've got, and 9GV0812P1H031, which is louder but provides more airflow.

I've never heard a ML110G7, but I've got a Dell T110, which is Dell's equivalent model. If these fans could make a C6100 run more quietly than my T110 (but still safely), I will be ecstatic! :)
As mentioned, they run 17deg C over ambient which I would say is pretty good. The fans are running around 4,500rpm on the two nodes I have off and 5,400 rmp for the two servicing the two nodes I am using (1 & 2). Due to the ambient temp here being around 32 -33 deg c, the cabinet is reporting a temp of around 36deg C at the top (I have a thermal controller with led to the cabinet top fans). The fans are kicking a fair bit of hot air out of the rear of the chassis.

The actual temps reported by the nodes sensors are 20 Deg C off the IPMI threshhold but as mentioned, the nodes are not doing a lot.

The Hp ML110 is a bit noisy especially when you add a PCIe card. The fans kick in around 32 Deg C :).

I could hear the C6100 as soon as I opened my bedroom door upstairs (there are no other doors between the server and me but the server is by the front of the apartment and the bedroom is to the rear. Now I cannot really hear it at all and the HP Ml has taken over the crown of the noisy PC. The small computer area is notably warmer though so I now need to find a solution to that without installing aircon.

RB
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
28
28
Singapore
6 pin fan connectors :). Possibly others selling but these were the first I came across.

How about a 6 pin female to a 4 pin male adaptor with the wires inbetween connecting the the order of the connections between Dells implementation and the standard 4pin pwm setup.

May be a bit of a squeeze in the area the fan sockets are located so maybe they should be extended so they reach the area behind the drive bays.

Update: So my Gruber rails arrived yesterday and I was up until 1am racking the Infiniband switch and 2x C6100s. During the course of doing this, I powered off everything and got to hear the C6100 on its own. It has around the same nosie level as my HP ML110 G7 on low fan speed. You will hear it in the same room but it is livable IMO (i.e. you will be unlikely to be able to hear it through doors or walls). It is nowhere near as loud as it was with the original fans. There is also no need to amend the IPMI settings. I am still pretty happy with the result and would do it again.

RB
 
Last edited:

bdbarb

New Member
Apr 4, 2013
4
0
1
Has anyone tried modding two empty top trays with fans and extra drives? I'm getting mine in the mail today and went for the two trays with dual E5530 Xeon because they seem to be configured to use 6x3.5 drives together vs 4 trays configured for only 3 drives together, and having 16 cores together makes more sense for doing video editing. That leaves two empty trays open to mod away! I’m looking into used erector sets for fan/storage mounts, has anyone found a decent mounting solution similar to an erector kit that doesn’t cost antique collector prices or only has enough pieces to build a small helicopter?
 
Last edited:

Biren78

Active Member
Jan 16, 2013
550
94
28
Assuming fans replaced. Wonder if you could put a 2U fan in a diskless chassis with only 2 nodes? $125 for C6100, 4x cpu for $160, $180 RAM. $465 for two nodes and would be ez to make them quiet for under $550 total.