Hi,

I purchased a Dell Poweredge T100 as my new home server. I thought that it would perform the same as a Dell Dimension E510 that I once got. The E510 is for me silent. Therefore, I thought the T100 would be as well. Seems like the same general construction. There is only one fan in the case: a 120 fan close to the front.
Don't get me wrong, the T100 is not extremely noisy - just not silent.
My other PC's are all custom made by me that are silent as well.

I used the SpeedFan SW to check the CPU and HD temp. Both are in essence the room temp. So, it looks like Dell is colling on the safe side.

So, here is my question: what could I do to reduce noise? Getting an other 120 fan? Is there a way to slow it down slightly while not disturbing the feedback to the BIOS? Or should I look noise absorbing material?

You could give the "Zalman Fan Mate 2" a try, it allows you to adjust the fan speed manually. But then the motherboard won't be able to control it if the heat increases.

How does this controller work?

Will it output a fixed voltage or a relative one (to the output of the motherboard). Therefore, can it cut x% rather than the fixed rotation?

I'm not sure about my motherboard. When the Dell is booting up it blows at full speed (really loud) and then settles.
What I found out as well is that when I open the cover when running the fan goes to full speed. When I close the cover it stays at full speed until I reboot. So, I don't know if there is an other sensor than "case opened".

The zalman fanmate basically has a variable resistor to adjust the voltage, so it would not be wise to use it in conjunction with the motherboard using variable voltages to control it.

It may be wiser to replace the fan with one whose maximum RPM is lower, i.e. a 1200 rpm 12cm fan.

What is the maximum RPM of the fan? Is it quite high? It may be that the fan's lowest speed could be as high as some of the quiet fans maximum RPM!

Yes, the fan seems to be more a high RPM model. When it starts up it is very loud. It might be that they use a higher RPM for servers to stay on the safe side.
I can have a look and see if there is an easy way to see what fans I have. Both in the T100 and the 510.
Unless somebody here know what Dell is suing.

Here is what I found in the T100:

NMB-MAT
Y4574
Model 4715KL-04W-B56
12V 1.3A
Minebea-Matsushita

I couldn't see all info on the fan in in the E510. From the numbers I saw I believe it is the same fan!
-> actually this would confirm it:
http://www.hardtofindusa.com/productcar ... roduct=311

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a program that can read Dell motherboard fan RPM to comapre noise level - RPM.

I found some tech specs:
http://www.techexcess.net/dell-fan-asse ... 100mk.aspx

If so this is a high performance fan. But then again why can I hear it in one PC and not the other. The cases are almost identical.

Actually, I'm using a zalman fanmate on my PC right now to reduce overall fan noise as the minimum speed my motherboard supplies is not very low. By adjusting the fanmate, I can reduce the minimum speed yet it will still speed up if needed. Although not nearly as much as it would without the fanmate. So far, no problems.

I"m probably going that route.

Some remaining questions:
Is there a utility that shows RPM on Dell motherboards? I would love to compare between the two PC's.

WOuld it make sense to add an filter in the front of the case? What products shoudl I look at?

The only difference between the two PC cases is that the E510 has a recessed opening in the front. The T100 has just a fron with holes.

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/

This program works to control fans but only gives you settings for high/lo/off. Their should be settings within the motherboard for setting acoustic profiles (i think). The only problem i've had with the program is that the BIOS sometimes overrides the fan speed you set within the program

Thanks! It works.

However, it looks like that the fan speed is in both machines around 820 RPM.
Here is what I know:
- same fan type
- same RPM
- similar case
- the T100 makes more noise

Could it be that they changed the fan design - I guess not likely.
The other option is that this case produces more noise.

Are you sure that the source of the noise is the fan? The fanmate is a good solution if it is, but the noise may be coming from the hard drive. My experience with Dell has shown that they often use noisy hard drives.

I'm postive it is the fan.

Is there a chance that I find a quieter replacement fan?

The original:
NMB-MAT Y4574
Model 4715KL-04W-B56
12V 1.3A
Minebea-Matsushita
3600RMP 130CFM
50dB Ball Bearings with Thermoplastic Frame and Impeller