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4518
March 25th, 2018 12:00
Expected fan speeds for an idling PowerEdge R540?
I just got a new R540. It's nice, but the fans run at 35% (~8700 RPM) when the server is completely idle. This was the case before I installed an OS, and remains true even with various BIOS/thermal config permutations and various OS installs. The system is "light" as far as servers go, e.g., 1 HDD, 1 processor, 32 GB RAM, etc. It runs cooler and with less power than the R520 I've had for years, and that system's fans stay in the 5-10% range.
Just curious what others see. I'll have a chat with Dell techs during working hours later this week.
Edit: to clarify, this system is Dell pure. No third party anything. Literally fresh out the box.
DELL-Erman O
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2.9K Posts
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July 31st, 2024 08:48
Hi,
I want to share troubleshooting steps with you. First of all, make sure that there is no environmental effect where the server is located, such as dust ventilation, something like a physical block. Then make sure that the server, especially the iDRAC and BIOS, are up to date. These two firmwares can affect fan speeds. Static electricity can cause this, for this, you can turn off the server, disconnect it from the PSU and hold the power button for about 20 seconds to make a flea power drain. Apart from this, I am sharing with you some settings that can be made on the iDRAC and BIOS.
Default Thermal Profile Settings:
- Implies that the thermal algorithm uses the same system profile setting that is defined under
System BIOS SettingsSystem Profile Settings in the system BIOS menu.
- Selecting any other option (Maximum Performance or Minimum Power) overrides the thermal
settings that are associated with the system profile setting under System BIOS
SettingsSystem Profile Settings.
• Maximum Performance:
- Reduces probability of memory or CPU throttling
- Increases probability of turbo mode activation
- Generally, higher fan speeds at idle and stress loads
• Minimum Power:
- Optimized for lowest system power consumption based on optimum fan power state
- Generally, lower fan speeds at idle and stress loads
Selecting this option allows additional cooling of the server. A fan speed offset causes fan speeds to increase
by the offset percentage value over baseline fan speeds that the Thermal Control algorithm calculates.
Possible values are:
• Low Fan Speed (+25%)—Drives fan speeds to a moderate fan speed.
• Medium Fan Speed (+50%)—Drives fan speeds close to medium.
• High Fan Speed (+75%)—Drives fan speeds close to full speed.
• Max Fan Speed (+100%)—Drives fan speeds to full speed.
• Off—Fan speed is set to Off, the default value. When set to Off, the percentage does not display. The
default fan speed, according to internal thermal control algorithm, is applied with no additional offset.
A fan speed offset set to Off should not be construed as the fan is not running or that fan speeds
cannot change.
The fan speed offset option enables you to increase the system fan speed in four incremental steps. These
steps are equally divided between the typical baseline speed and the maximum speed of the server system
fans. Some hardware configurations result in higher baseline fan speeds, which then result in offsets other
than the maximum offset to achieve maximum speed.
Hope that helps!
markmcb
4 Posts
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March 25th, 2018 14:00
Asked on reddit and got one answer from a guy with a dual-processor R740 under a load that runs around 14%. That seems much more reasonable.
Fraz24
1 Message
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July 10th, 2018 04:00
Hello
I have the same problem with our R540 recently purchased from Dell also and no modifications - as is out of the box and the fans are crazy from power on even to idle.. so loud. What was your fix?
markmcb
4 Posts
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July 10th, 2018 18:00
Despite what the Dell reply says, they don't know either. I had an engineer go through every imaginable scenario and BIOS setting. Apparently even they don't know the logic that controls the fans so it was all guess work. After weeks of multi-hour phone calls I gave up and returned it. I built a same spec custom server and it's whisper quiet. Fans never ramp up. Clearly something weird in their logic. Maybe a firmware update will address it, but I'd guess this is as low as things come on their priority list.
Mujwahuzi
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July 31st, 2024 07:59
I have a dell server Poweredge R740 with fan noise.How can i fix this ?