Silent Home Server Build Guide

Want to talk about one of the articles in SPCR? Here's the forum for you.
MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by MikeC » Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:13 am

photonblaster wrote:Great series of articles, so much work and so much info. Tough to do everything everyone would like.

Anyway, the HTPC assembly has ~8degC lower HDD temps with the front door open. Interesting, but certainly not asthetical pleasing.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Testing_t ... ome_Server

Any chance of telling us what noise increase would be if the front fans RPMs were raised enough to give similar temp drop? Maybe this noise delta would be less than the 2dBA penalty of opening the door.
Not now; that system was disassembled just around xmas.

I am glad someone appreciates just how much work our silent build guides are! 8) A far cry from the usual shopping list that other sites call build guides, eh? :roll:

Getting back to your question... if you used smoother, quieter fans than the old 80mm Panaflos (which is definitely possible these days, tho 80mm fans are much harder to find than before), you could probably get some kind of reasonable balance between better HDD cooling and minimal noise increase.

There are also more serious mods you could to to improve airflow for the HDDs. The most ovbious is to open up the bottom of the HDD cage and case floor -- create a bottom vent underneath the HDDs, perhaps a a wide rectangular hole. Then the back mounted fans would tend to draw air in from those holes, and in the process, cool down the drives. It does not take much airflow to cool a HDD -- the WDs barely pull 5W each in typical use.

I first used this idea in the Antec P180. Back when the case was first designed, there were no 120mm fan PSUs, they all used 80mm straight through. By putting the HDDs in front of the PSU in a tunnel with vent in front, the PSU fan drew the outside air past the drives, which were deliberately spaced with enough room in between them. In my original testing, HDD temps dropped >10C in the tunnel w/ a Seasonic Silencer 400W PSU -- compared to the HDDs in free air.

Similar design in the Fusion and Fusion max -- there is no fan near the HDDs in the front, but the HDD area is vented below. The back exhaust fans pull the air in from the vents below the HDDs, and a "wall" or baffle that extends up from the bottom to about 75% the case height forces the air to flow across the drives, cooling them very well in the process.

See the SPCR reviews of the above case for full details. (PS -- the reason those cases were not used in the home server build guides is that they cannot hold more than a handful of HDDs.)

photonblaster
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 9:26 am
Location: North America

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by photonblaster » Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:41 am

Which Slip Stream Slim fan is it used as a GPU HS cooler? It probably was not this one! :)

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1028-page5.html

Available versions are listed here: (800-2000 rpm)

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/0 ... etail.html

Which one was used?
I seached for half an hour...did not find any testing of any fan or component that uses this fan at SPCR. Anyone have a link they can give me quick?

I am very interested in the slim version since it may help me reduce the size of my custome case design I am working on.

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by MikeC » Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:18 pm

photonblaster wrote:Which Slip Stream Slim fan is it used as a GPU HS cooler? It probably was not this one! :)

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1028-page5.html

Available versions are listed here: (800-2000 rpm)

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/0 ... etail.html

Which one was used?
I seached for half an hour...did not find any testing of any fan or component that uses this fan at SPCR. Anyone have a link they can give me quick?

I am very interested in the slim version since it may help me reduce the size of my custome case design I am working on.
The discontinued Setugen used a 0.35A version... different from any on the page you linked. Note that it was rated for 2000rpm max, so the closes equivalent is the 2,000rpm SY1212SL12H.

photonblaster
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 9:26 am
Location: North America

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by photonblaster » Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:22 pm

MikeC wrote:The discontinued Setugen used a 0.35A version... different from any on the page you linked. Note that it was rated for 2000rpm max, so the closes equivalent is the 2,000rpm SY1212SL12H.
Thanks for the reply Mike, but I may have been too cryptic in my post. The SFF Gamer/ Server used a Slip Stream Slim, similar in looks to the one used on the Setugen but clearly not that one. The SPCR testing of that Slim suggested it was fairly loud at 5 V (15dBA) The one used in this system "really is inaudible at this low speed" ie at 5V.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silent_Ho ... F_Gamer_V2

So which one was used in the SFF Gamer/Server build and is their a link to any SPCR testing of it? (testing in fan reviews or imbeded in a HS review).

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by MikeC » Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:44 pm

photonblaster wrote:http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silent_Ho ... F_Gamer_V2

So which one was used in the SFF Gamer/Server build and is their a link to any SPCR testing of it? (testing in fan reviews or imbeded in a HS review).
Ah... I have to admit, I don't recall which exact fan it was... but I can tell you any of those think 120mm scythe fans at say 800rpm or less is just about inaudible. Maybe 11-12 dBA at 1m. It could well have been a 2000rpm model -- at 5V, it might run at 800rpm.

damiandt
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:18 pm

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by damiandt » Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:54 am

Question...

With the availability of new Fusion boards, would you have better motherboard suggestions for the SFF?

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by MikeC » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:43 am

damiandt wrote:Question...

With the availability of new Fusion boards, would you have better motherboard suggestions for the SFF?
It really depends what you want to use the machine for.

The most compelling reason we chose the Zotac H55-ITX-C-E board is its 6 SATA ports, which gave us up to 12TB storage at the time (now 18TB w/ 3TB HDDs). The ability to fit a reasonable range of aftermarket CPU coolers was also a benefit.

A Fusion board should lower overall power consumption a bit at the cost of some CPU processing power, but I doubt there are any that provide 6 SATA ports. A quick search shows an Asus and a Jetway with 5 SATA ports, which is close and probably plenty for most people, considering 3TB drives. Many of them (including the Jetway) appear to require a small fan, though, not promising for low noise. With the integrated CPU, prices are 20~40% higher than a Zotac H55-ITX-C-E w/o CPU, though once you add the $100 min for an 1156 processor and perhaps $20-25 for a suitable heatsink/fan, the Fusion choice is up to $100 cheaper.

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by HFat » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:16 pm

There are cheaper 1156 CPUs now, making it a better choice if you don't want ECC support and can't use a PCI(e) SATA controller on top of an Atom board. If you're running Windows, the Z68 chipset also has a unique advantage which might be interesting for some users: SSD caching.
You can't get 1156 as cheap as Fusion however and there are Fusion boards which are easy to cool with the stock heatsink.

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by HFat » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:25 am

I seem to have confused 1155 and 1156 in the post above (why did they release the one with the higher number first?).
There are even cheaper 1155 CPUs but the Pentium-branded 1156 are also cheaper than 100$. Wikipedia has lists of CPUs.

nutball
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1304
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2003 7:16 am
Location: en.gb.uk

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by nutball » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:58 am

HFat wrote:I seem to have confused 1155 and 1156 in the post above (why did they release the one with the higher number first?).
God knows. Same reason they're releasing LGA2011 in 2012 I suppose.

It's the only thing that keeps us on our toes since AMD decided to wander off into the distance to look at the pretty flowers and butterflies, or whatever else it was they've been doing recently since they decided to stop making CPUs worth buying.

Nicias
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:14 am

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by Nicias » Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:39 am

The recent intel sockets are name after the number of pins they have. LGA 1155 has 1155 pins, LGA1156 has 1156 pins, etc.

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:09 pm

HFat wrote:There are even cheaper 1155 CPUs but the Pentium-branded 1156 are also cheaper than 100$. Wikipedia has lists of CPUs.

I think it mostly depends of location (EU, USA, et c.): here in Italy the Core i3 540 (cheapest 1156, 3.06GHz, Pentium 6950 are oddly a bit higher and more rare) is currently from 75 euros, Celeron G530 (cheapest 1155, 2,4GHz) is around 45 euros (1155 Pentium G620 are around 60 euros, 1155 Core i3 2100 is just under 100 euros).
mITX mobo starts from just under 80 euros (ECS, ASRock and the like) for both 1155 and 1156.

So a combo here starts from 150 euros (1156), or 120 euros (1155), idling from just under 40 (1155) to just over 40 (1156) (data estimated by previous SPCR findings): a basic Fusion boards starts from just over 80 euros, idling at just under 20W.

Summarizing, about +50% cost, +100% idle power consumption for the 1155 over the Fusion (even worse for the older 1156): does it worth? You have the answer (few hints: 6 SATA, standard - quieter - heatsink).

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by HFat » Tue Oct 18, 2011 12:33 pm

The 1156 Pentium is 61 euros here. The G530 is 37 euros shipped but that's no the cheapest 1155 CPU: 31 euros for the single-core Celeron.

Not sure what you mean about the heatsinks since there are fanless Fusion boards.

You grossly overestimate the idle power consumption of the 1155 and 1156 platforms by the way. Fusion's advantage is marginal.

nasfan
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:49 pm

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by nasfan » Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:14 pm

Hi,

Thanks for the excellent article. I intend to build a similar system but the components in the article are a bit old nowadays. If you were to build a similar system today, what would you upgrade/change?

Also, the Lion case looks very expensive to me. Any cheaper alternative with similar requirements in terms of silence and number of bays for the harddrives?

Thanks for helping.

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by MikeC » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:19 am

nasfan wrote:Hi,

Thanks for the excellent article. I intend to build a similar system but the components in the article are a bit old nowadays. If you were to build a similar system today, what would you upgrade/change?

Also, the Lion case looks very expensive to me. Any cheaper alternative with similar requirements in terms of silence and number of bays for the harddrives?

Thanks for helping.
Think in terms of fundamental approaches and there's nothing old about the articles. Components are always swappable, even when we wrote the articles, we never intended them to tell you exactly what to use, as everyone has their own individual needs/wants. Also, there are many systems detailed in this series of guides -- which system do you refer to?

As for the LianLi, I am not aware of any other case on the market right now with its combination of size, shape, and drive bays... but new gear shows up all the time, so do your due diligence, search around and tell us what you find, especially if it's a worthwhile alternative.

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by HFat » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:35 am

You can hardly go wrong with the next generation of the same item.
For instance, replace the Clarkdale with a dual-core Sandy Bridge like the G530. The board would also need updating to fit the newer CPU obviously.

nasfan
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:49 pm

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by nasfan » Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:45 am

MikeC wrote:
nasfan wrote:Hi,

Thanks for the excellent article. I intend to build a similar system but the components in the article are a bit old nowadays. If you were to build a similar system today, what would you upgrade/change?

Also, the Lion case looks very expensive to me. Any cheaper alternative with similar requirements in terms of silence and number of bays for the harddrives?

Thanks for helping.
Think in terms of fundamental approaches and there's nothing old about the articles. Components are always swappable, even when we wrote the articles, we never intended them to tell you exactly what to use, as everyone has their own individual needs/wants. Also, there are many systems detailed in this series of guides -- which system do you refer to?

As for the LianLi, I am not aware of any other case on the market right now with its combination of size, shape, and drive bays... but new gear shows up all the time, so do your due diligence, search around and tell us what you find, especially if it's a worthwhile alternative.
Thank you. I was referring to the NAS system using the case Lian Li PC-Q08. I think I will upgrade some components to the latest version, for example I could use the motherboard Zotac H67-ITX-C-E, but I was wondering if I could save some money on the case and the power supply as they are a significant part of the total cost. I did not find a cheaper alternative to the Lian Li PC-Q08, with similar number of bays and similar size. I will keep looking.

breathless
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:34 pm

Re: Silent Home Server Build Guide

Post by breathless » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:36 pm

Nobody ever ended up mentioning if the Noctua cooler fit inside the Lian Li PC-Q08.... Does it fit?

Post Reply