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Terrible fan noise (Poweredge T110)
My new T110 server arrived last week, everything is good except the fan noise which is unacceptable.
Other than this T110, I had a T100 model which is working quietly for years.
I don't know why Dell can't make it the same on T110.
Is there anybody having solutions on this issue?
eponym
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February 21st, 2011 01:00
Sorry to hear you have a noisy T110. I recently bought a Poweredge T110 server. To me, it is a bit loud for desktop use, but would be unnoticeable in a server room. I do not have a T100 to compare, but according to Dell’s website, the T110 should be louder than a T100.
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/pedge/topics/en/config_calculator?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz
The stated noise figures T100, T110, and others for comparison:
T100: 167W, 4.1 bels
T110: 126W, 5.4 bels
T310: 110W, 5.3 bels
R610: 263W, 6.1 bels
(and from http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/environ/comply/insp_dt_580.pdf, the consumer Inspiron 580 is 3.6 bels).
As measured by Dell, the T110 is significantly louder than the T100, at 54dB versus 41dB. I guess this only confirms your findings. At the risk of stating the obvious, there may be other reasons your T110 is louder than the T100:
(1) Is the fan noise high pitched or “white” noise? If it is high pitched, you may have a bad bearing in your fan. A seized fan will not cool and in fact may draw significant power as well (it is the back emf that reduces the power draw).
(2) Is it the power supply fan or the case fan? There may be a bios patch for high speed case fan that you could check with Dell.
(3) Are you using a high-powered graphics card? Some peripheral card fans can be loud too.
(4) How much power is your T110 drawing (Kill-a-watt meter)? In many cases, fan noise is proportional to power draw and CPU use.
(5) Random mechanicals: Loose case, dust in the fan/cage, unsecured cables, etc.
If you’d like to modify your T110 to reduce noise, I posted on another thread about my experiences changing power supply and fan on the T110 (search for it if you are interested). Best of luck with the T110.