Taming a 1U server

[Bicster]

I recently purchased a Tyan GS12 1U rackmount server after reading a review that claimed that with the "smart fan" option enabled it was no louder than an ordinary PC. My eye!

The chassis is optimized for decent airflow. The front of the case has two 40x28mm fans ducted into a copper HSF, with plenty of venting in the rear of the case. Below the single PCI slot is a very small, low-speed blower which is completely inaudible below the roar of the 40x28mm fans. The 300W PSU (with PFC) has another 40mm fan in the back of the case. I installed two Samsung 80 GB SATA drives.

All three fans are controlled by the "smart fan" in the BIOS. Unfortunately, there are no thresholds that can be adjusted. If any of the sensors is >60C, all 3 fans spin at over 13,000 RPM! I am not joking when I say that it is somewhere between a vacuum cleaner and a hair dryer in terms of noise. Even though the CPU stays around 40C, with the lid on the case, I cannot keep the fans at the "low" speed -- which would be tolerable with the doors closed in my home equipment closet.

The "slow" speed is still an alarming 9,000 RPM.

I have attempted to remedy the situation in software. Speedfan was no help. This is my only Windows machine, and I know very little about Windows as I spend 99% of my time in Linux. (I am running Server 2003.) As mentioned before, the CPU temp is not the issue. I have a Celeron D 335. I tried throttling the CPU down to 500 MHz, but after I put the lid on the case, it's back to 13,000 RPM.

I am at the point now where all I can think to do is replace the fans. The case is so packed that I can't fit any fan-mates in there.

Any suggestions before I resort to this and void the warranty on my PSU? Are there tools that I can use to modify the options available in the BIOS? Any other Windows programs for playing with the fan PWM?

Thanks!

[kesv]

I recently purchased a Tyan GS12 1U rackmount server after reading a review that claimed that with the "smart fan" option enabled it was no louder than an ordinary PC. My eye!

You should try to remember that an 'ordinary pc' means totally different things to different people.

Anyway, the 1U form factor is very problematic from a quietness perspective. Those 40mm fans only move some 10cfm of air at 9000rpms and 32.5dB (Delta specs). It's abysmal when you consider that even the low speed Nexus 80mm fan manages 20cfm.

Add to that the fact that a 1U case has trouble with airflow as is and in a server, any software fan-control in the bios has been built to be conservative, because stability is more important than noise. I'm not sure if it will be possible to override the software control of the bios with anything, because the bios has been programmed to intervene any time it feels it's getting too hot.

You say that you can't fit fanmates, but maybe you could install voltage dropping cables ? A cable only feeding the fan 9V should help. Then there is the possibility of swapping the fans. Those 13000rpms is typical overkill used in servers to ensure stability. The only problem here could be finding low speed 40mm fans that still move enough air. And it's possible that the bios will throw a fit over that too, since the rpm of the fan is not what it expects anymore.

[Bicster]

Thanks for pointing out that the BIOS might gripe about low RPM's. I will try using the fan-mates with the cover off and see what happens. Unfortunately I have to remove the HSF to access the fan headers.

I just ordered an 8500 BTU air conditioner for my equipment closet. Combined with low speed fans it should be able to keep the 1U machine quite happy. I'd love to figure out where the sensor is that's reporting 60C; everything I touch on the motherboard is stone cold. The northbridge, VRM, processor, RAM ...

My next 1U box will probably be a passively cooled EPIA.

I have a 2U box with a P4 1.8 GHz Northwood with a single papst low-speed 8cm fan. The processor is "passively" cooled with a massive alpha pin-fin heatsink (the exhaust fan is right next to the CPU). That setup has worked for years without any noise or trouble. I realize a 1U box is a much tougher challenge, but in my equipment closet, it's "silent" if I can't hear anything when I'm outside the closet and the door is closed

[Bicster]

I got SpeedFan working on the Tyan Transport GS12. With the fans at ~ 4000 rpm and the lid re-installed, it keeps cool just fine. My urge to kill is gone!