Silencing a quiet server

[David Latapie]

Good day to all of you,

This is my first post, but I have been reading SPCR for at least half a decade now.

My question: how to make my computer inaudible?

My configuration:

• Case: Antec P183
• PSU: Seasonic X 460
• GPU: Unknown by Everest, maybe on-board
• CPU: DualCore AMD Athlon II X2 240, 2816 MHz
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P (supposed to have extra copper for cooling)
• Storage: System SDD + Data HDD
• RAM: 8 Gb DDR3
• Climate: Oceanic, average year-round 13°C, exceptional peaks at 43°C

Context: 24/7 server (low payload, this is a student's server for learning system administration, but it will host several VMs) in a 9 square meters room. 10 cm from my chair, 40 cm from my bed. This is sadly not negociable. Quiet is not enough, I need it inaudible. I am planning to unplug the fans (I barely hear the HDD noise).

• How can check inner temperature periodically? Can it be done with a software-only solution or shall I invest in some hardware sensor?
• Could I receive mail or SMS alert when temperature is getting to high? How?
• I'm OK with deactivating as few fans a possible. I am OK with reducing voltage if told how to do it and if it doesn't impact (much) computer performance

I hope you have all the necessary information. Thank you for your help!

[alewinsky]

Hi

A bit hungover (so beware of spelling mistakes) But here we go.

I think you should just go for making the P183 as quiet as possible. I wouldn't go into active monitoring of the system. The P183 has great potential to be extremely quiet. Below you can see what I have done/plan to do with my P183 system to make it truly inaudible:

Case fans (4 x Antec TriCool running at 5v with middle setting)
Block top exhaust fan
Remove fan from power supply (I know yours is already fanless)
Large heatsink on cpu with very low RPM fan
Replace the case fans with Scythe Gentle Typhoon

We can start talking about the fans. If you are using the stock fans (Antec TriCool), then I would recommend lowering their voltage from the stock 12v to 5v. And then use the middle setting on the fan regulators. This will make them run at around 3,3v and spin with around 330 RPM. Now that is inaudible, and will still move some air, not much, but enough (at least in my case). They will also run at the lowest setting on 5v, but they can't startup by them self, so don't go lower than the middle setting on 5v.

Block off the top exhaust. Not really needed and I found it the source of most the noise I could hear. I'm currently running with the rear fan, and three fans in the front (one in the bottom chamber, one infront of the hdd mount in the top chamber and the last is in the 5,25" area held in place with double sided tape).

Another ting is the power supply. I have actually removed the fan from my power supply, and rely on the airflow from the bottom case fan to cool the power supply. I have removed most of the casing of the power supply to help aid the airflow around the power supply components. Some people will most likely say this is too risky (you loose warranty and it is hard to know if the cooling is adequate). I have done this with an Antec EarthWatts 430D, and been running with it about a year so far. No problems what so ever, and heat doesn't seem to buildup anywhere around the power supply.

I'm currently using an old Zalman cpu heatsink (CNPS9500 with fan removed). This will cool my i5-650 plenty, however I'm a bit worried about the VR's around the CPU area, they run a bit hot. So I have actually just ordered the Scythe Mugen 2. That will allow me to run a 120mm fan on the heatsink with very low RPM. The fan can be mounted quite low so the cooling of the motherboard components are kept in check (VR's++).

Now to go all overboard on the quest for no noise whatsoever you should probably replace all the case fans. I'm still running the stock fans in the config mentioned above, but I'm seriously thinking about replacing them with Scythe Gentle Typhoon (500RPM or 800RPM version). I have been reading quite a few reviews, and from my point of view they should perform excellent. They are very quiet, and supposed to be the ones with the lowest power consumption of the lot (just 0,16W for the 500RPM version).


Now that reply got to be a bit longer than intended, but you got me started Let me know what you think about the above suggestions

[kuzzia]

For complete inaudibility, you should go for as few fans as possible, i.e. one rear fan (and maybe fan for CPU-cooling). I don't think all the front fans as Latapie suggests are necessary, but this depends on the temperature of the HDs.

Of course, most CPU heatsinks are superior to a stock HS, so changing that will probably also improve the acoustics.

[alewinsky]

I don't think a single pull fan will give enough ventilation in the P183, especially when it is to run quiet.

First off the bottom chamber needs at least a little bit of airflow to cool the HDD's a bit and the power supply (running 4 hdd's in my bottom chamber).

And by using very silent fans it doesn't really matter if it is 1 or 3 fans. A push/pull configuration will work extremely well in the P183 top chamber. Gives very good exchange of air even with low CFM fans.

[David Latapie]

Thank you for these answers. I know nothing to voltage changing for fans. Could you point me to a tutorial (I am using Windows 7 and am planning to move to server 2008 R2)?

[frenchie]

A good fan can be inaudible yet provide plenty of cooling.
Start with a good CPU cooler and replace the fan with some recommended by SPCR (I like Nexus fans, but scythe GT are supposed to be good too).
I'd try one fan in the HD chamber and one fan in the back of the case. Slow down those fans to 5 V and you'll be all set. Just make sure the back of the case is pointing away from your bed.