acoustic server noise

Re server noise.

I recently purchased a PowerEdge 1600SC (single Xeon) and it's the loudest computer/server I've ever had.... I've been used to "silent" computers the last couple of years.

As a first, emergency step I replaced the rear fan with a "noiseless" Papst 120mm fan and disconnected the front fan until I can get the right size replacement. The latter connects to the PSU, so I need a voltage regulator that will send a tacho signal to the mainboard. The present front fan passes on a lot of vibration noise, so the replacement will also have to be "decoupled" somehow.

I've ordered some "magic fleece" matting to cut some more noise and will probably replace the CPU fan if need be.

At least I can now work nights without being driven crazy by the din from the server!

Hello

can you update us on the noise after fan replacements?

I've PE 1600SC, and it's the noisiest computere I ever seen. I've no idea what to do with it. Maybe replace power supply

Hi argyn,

4 sources of noise, but in fact the biggest HASSLE is the cheapo non-standard (non-Molex) mainboard connectors.

Rear fan: no problem - stuck in a 120mm (25mm thick) Papst fan, chopping of the Molex connector & connecting the wires to the chopped off Dell connector.

Front fan (source of the worst noise and vibration): couldn't find a 120mm fan with the same depth (32mm ?) that also provides a tacho signal, so just jammed in a wee 80mm Papst fan, connecting it the same way and using rubber strips to decouple it. Temperatures are OK without it, tho', so it's usually disconnected (means pressing F1 during bootup, coz missing fan gets noticed .....).

Both as good as noiseless, greatly reducing the general stress, but the server is still relatively noisy in my book. I can live with it, while I figure whether to dump it, rebuild the whole thing in a new silent case (that will take a double Xeon board), or proceed as follows:

1) replace CPU heatsink and fan with Verax P17 CuX
2) replace PSU with a modified Enermax/Papst combo, but suspect new problems with dimensions and connectors.... One possibility would be to get a qualified electrician to replace the fans in the PSU.

There are plenty of vendors out there to help you get a "silent PC". But like I said, the biggest hassle is the mainboard connectors!

In the last analysis, looks like Dell is cheap because they use cheap Chinese components. For 50€ more they could make the server much quieter....

My own fault! Should've just built a Pentium IV machine and have done with it.
Have built a quiet, powerful (and energy-saving!) workstation since buying the Dell:
Antec Sonata box, Papst fans, different heatsink/fan, fan controls on front, noise absorption mats inside, Gigabyte 8KNXP board, Radeon 9600XT Ultimate noiseless graphics card, 2x sATA drives on Raid 0 - cost less than the Dell and packs a much bigger punch. Will probably rehouse it in an Antec P160 soon.  MBM5 is used to monitor fans, temps and voltages.

Good luck!

 

Thanks, that was a lot of info for me :)

I think that I'm going to see what happens with front and rear fans off. If the noise level is acceptable, then I'll go ahead with fans you suggested.

I don't know what makes so much noise. Maybe my hard drives too, they are 2 cheetahs 73 GB.

I bought this box so cheap that it doesn't make any sense to upgrade or replace the server for a while.

Argyn

Hi again,

The front fan was the worst culprit on mine - noisy, but also with vibration noise. Try disconnecting it !

tbs57

Sure, I'll look at the front fan first. I saw gel-like fan mounts, maybe I've to try something like this.

I'm not trying to make PE silent, just want it not THAT LOUD :) U know what I mean.

Ok, I did a little experiment. Here's what I found:

1. the most noisiest components are two case fans. I think that the rare fan is the noisiest.

2. Fans are identical, Menebea NMB 120mm, height is about 38mm

3. I think that the rare fan is the noisiest when inside the case. The problem is it's plastic enclosure which fastens onto the case. I think that noise level would be lower if it's fixed using screws to the case with rubber decoupling.

4. front fan's locked to the case tightly. I think that if I buy other brand, then it might not fit the rails.

5. I think that the next noisiest component is two Cheatah 73GB hard drives.

6. I think I should try to replace the rare fan with proper decoupling, then disconnect the front fan.

We've just bought a couple of 1750s too. I've powered one up and I can't believe how such a small server can make so much noise!!! Having used Sun Netra t1s (which are 1U, twin disk too) for a number of years they seem almost silent in comparison.

We have a couple of old PowerApp web 100s which are pretty noisy too, but nothing like as noisy as the 1750. We've got a small air-conditioned server room and the 1750 is the only server I can distinctly hear through the walls... and I've not even started the second one yet!

I'm a bit reluctant to start swapping/chopping out fans since I don't want to invalidate the warranty or make the servers unreliable.

Come on Dell, put a bit of engineering effort into making your servers quieter!

There are actually lots of postings on this on the Dell forums (try searching for "1750 noise"). E.g. http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pes_other&message.id=9418 . I'd found this thread when Googling and hadn't searched Dell (sorry).

In our case, the extreme noise was because I'd only plugged in one of the two power supplies whilst setting up the server - this makes it run the fans at full speed (10k RPM) since it thinks there's a fault. With the second power supply plugged in the server is considerably quieter... it's still probably the noisiest server we have, but at least it's not, as someone else remarked, like (the sadly departed) Concorde taking off!