Oct 12, preparing window.


Noctua NH-D14


Temp readings

Oct 12 recabling. Better, nicer, preparing for 20 HDD.

New power distribution panel for expansion cards and rear internal USB.


Bottom EX-H34B compartment modified and cabled up.


Rear Esata12V.


Internal USB connections.

A little trial fitting of a 20 HDD system with two SAS cards, now single card but planning on returning to dual cards.


Ready to rock.


Modifying the USB3.0 card with a big molex connector.


Auxiliary power, compatible with the Quadro 4000 heatsink.

November 2012. After ordering a spare Spitfire on sale, time to go downstairs with my multi-cutter...


All this to flush-mount a Slip Stream Slimline for Quadro 4000 cooling and get max clearance possible towards the panel.


Thermalright TY-140 fans in place with 4-way suspension system.

Fine. Now lemme do some IBT!


That's all for now.

Some minor variations for V2.5.
1) dual bridge boards for the slim-line BD-RW drives, better performance and compatibility. Externalizing the DVD-RAM writer (wanna maintain the onboard USB-A as internal emergency boot port).
2) recycling the old 8-port SAS controller to use it in an asymmetrical "SLI" configuration. Preparing case for 24 HDD capacity.

All prepared, ordered 4x WD1003FBYX RE4 and they arrived, but unfortunately one was DOA
Installed and configured the new 8x RAID6 volume, 6xWD10EADS and 2xWD10EACS all good old Greens from 2008 , capacity: 5540GB.
Small volume: RAID6 with 4xWD Scorpio Blue, 929GB.
A small problem that rises when using 20+ HDDs is: vibration. But I am taking care of that too, not to eliminate them but at least to reduce them, having now 12x5400 and 8x7200 drives (next: 14x5400 and 10x7200). Not much case-induced vibration, since the massive weight (around 50kgs) somewhat makes up for it, but the table-induced vibration, under control now with little foam pads on case-table contact zones.

System idle power: 280W Startup power: 500W. (no PM2 and/or staggered spinup)

Just curious... what do you use all that space for? I've got a 2tb HDD, and it just never seems to fill up!

Exhaust tubing.

Nibbled away the rear exhaust grille, swapped the TY-140 with a Noctua NF-P14-PWM and on the Quadro we have now a NF-F12-PWM, I bought it in 2010 but never used it since in DC tests it always produced an annoying whining noise, but now installed in the system and powered via mobo, it's silent.
Currently priming to stabilize internal temperature and check SAS batteries temps for safety. Noctuas NF-P12-PWM in the D14 heatsinks can't move much air compared to TY-140s but they're quieter. Now that the exhaust grille has been removed, I can use almost every fan for that purpose. The NF-P14-PWM (exclusive to the NH-D14-SE2011 version I bought) has a smoother air flow (air stream exiting the tubing system is more regular).
Now my beast could almost be renamed quiet...

How well does the Thermalright Spitfire work facing down?
What are your graphic card temps?
I have one and I want to munt it on my new graphic card, but I'm not sure if its a good idea to mount it facing down like you did.

Tried upright with no fan just exhaust rear: 50deg.
Now downright with fan: 54deg. But bear in mind that it's warmed by the two SAS cards processors which get quite hot.

what do you mean by adapted to xeon mount? The Noctua is designed for LGA2011, and your Xeon is LGA 2011, so there shouldn't be any need for any sort of adaptation?