PowerEdge 2650 - Fans are REALLY loud

Hi,

The PowerEdge 2650 fans are loud, very loud.

Engineering is aware of the issue. On other systems such as the PowerEdge 500, there has been an upgrade to the System BIOS to allow the temperature sensors to control the speed of the fans. I expect there may be a similar upgrade on the PowerEdge 2650.

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Mark,

Is there any possibility of the same thing becoming available for the PowerEdge 1400's? I have two PE1400's SVCTAG's CXZY701 and G9BB901 that always sound like min jet engines. Running different tests I discovered it's the fan in the front of the units, that cools the PCI slots that makes the majority of the noise. I always figured it just came with the territory so to speak, running servers versus standard PC's. However, this past Friday I received two PE1400SC's SVCTAG's 7LP1G11 and 8LP1G11 to setup for a friend. These systems are significantly quieter. That made me wonder if they were using a different fan and if I could upgrade/replace mine with these.

Thanks!

--Bill


DELL-Mark A wrote:
- Hi,
-
- The PowerEdge 2650 fans are loud, very loud.
-
- Engineering is aware of the issue. On other systems
- such as the PowerEdge 500, there has been an upgrade
- to the System BIOS to allow the temperature sensors
- to control the speed of the fans. I expect there may
- be a similar upgrade on the PowerEdge 2650.
-
- Thanks for using the Dell | Talk Forums
-
- Hours 01:00 PM until 11:00 PM CST, Monday-Thursday
- Dell PowerEdge Server E-support and Services
- ____Please include a Service Tag Number in _____
- ____all posts for the most accurate response.____



Bill

We just received 3 new 2650s, and had a chance to power one of them up yesterday. When I first powered up the 2650, I actually flinched because of the loud fan noise. I have been working with Dell servers for over 6 years now, and have never heard any others that were so loud. When we had all 3 powered up in our server room yesterday, we couldn't use the phone due to all of the noise. We have 12 other servers in that room, and their combined noise doesn't even add up to the noise produces by one of the 2650s.

Needless to say, I am rather dissappointed. I hope that engineering comes up with a fix VERY soon, or I might go deaf!

NACE-Jason wrote:
- We just recieve a few PowerEdge 2650 systems.
-
- Upon powering them up we immediately noticed that
- the fans are extremely loud and we immediately
- thought there was something wrong, so we powered
- down the system.
-
- After inspecting the system to make sure we hadn't
- forgotten to remove something that would cause the
- fans to run this loudly, we powered the system back
- up.
-
- Is this level of noise to be expected?
-
- I can hear these fans over the noise of our A/C
- unit, and all the other servers, in another room
- down the hall from our server room (about 20 feet
- away).
-
- Any info would be appreciated
-
-

Good morning Mark! Thanks for the information on the parts. This is GREAT news. I'll get to work on pricing and make plans to order the replacements. Gee, I wonder what life will be like not having to wear earplugs in my study :-)

--Bill


Bill

Hi Bill,

These are the parts required to lower the noise level on a PowerEdge 1400:

Note: In order to make the fan more quiet it was necessary make it slower. Since the processor fan is now operating at a slower RPM, it was necessary to re-design the processor heatsink and heatsink clip to provide for greater heat dissipation.
In case of dual processor systems, replace the heatsink and heatsink clip for both processors.

· Rear Chassis Processor Fan P/N: 7C219 (This fan mounts to the read of the chassis and has finger guards)
· Front Chassis Fan P/N: 8C152 (This fan mounts to the front of the chassis in a fan housing and has no finger guards)
· Processor Heatsink P/N: 2C970
· Heatsink Clip P/N: 4C788


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I myself have a PowerEdge 6100 in my bedroom with 6 9 gig baracuda drives in it. Loud doesn't even come close to explaining it.

Well..I apologize for this comment but..

They are servers. Dell does a great job on their servers.

As you can see here:



There is a lot of horsepower in a relatively small space. 5 10,000 or 15,000 rpm drives which in themselves are very loud. Plus the tight spacing of the drives causes a lot of heat. That requires a lot of air to keep it cool.
Plus the tight packing of the system does not do much to keep noise down. There simply isn't enough room to dampen the sound.

ebogard wrote:
- We just received 3 new 2650s, and had a chance to
- power one of them up yesterday. When I first
- powered up the 2650, I actually flinched because of
- the loud fan noise. I have been working with Dell
- servers for over 6 years now, and have never heard
- any others that were so loud. When we had all 3
- powered up in our server room yesterday, we couldn't
- use the phone due to all of the noise. We have 12
- other servers in that room, and their combined noise
- doesn't even add up to the noise produces by one of
- the 2650s.

Hi,

This is hard to believe if you have not heard a PowerEdge 2650, but it is at as loud as a PowerEdge 6100, probably louder.

I know our engineers are "hearing" your complaints, and I hope they will find a way to lower the noise level.

Thanks for your help on the forums, it is greatly appreciated!!

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Any news on when the updated bios may be available, I'm 20ft from the server and NOT happy.

Steve
My 2650 Tag number 608SF0J

I too am interested to know an ETA for this. If it will be weeks or months I think Dell should send new, quiter fans to its current 2650 owners!

This one server is so loud it drowns out the sound of 8 other non-Dell servers, 3 Dell OptiPlex PCs, an Air Conditioning Unit and a 2 cabinet PBX in the room with it. The room it's in is behind a steel insulated door and you can still hear the high-pitch whine of the 2650 a good 30 feet or more down the hall.

I guess if I really wanted to tone down the noise level. I could convert the PPros to active cooling and disable the top fan. But it looks cool under my desk.

I just realized...I've got more servers than PCs....

My 6100, an old P100 HP Netserver, my router/mail/dns/squid/file/print server (packard bell p-120 overclocked to 133!), my web server and several Suns.

I need to get a a rack!

I second the motion.

I recently purchased a PowerEdge 2650, my first Dell server, and was flat shocked at how loud the fans are. Like the previous post, it is louder by itself than 4 other servers, a stack of network switches, my AS/400 and Lucent Definity PBX combined. It has literately made talking in the room useless, on the phone or otherwise. Users in neighboring rooms complain of the new noise, tho through walls and windows it is barely noticable, it is still annoying, like the constant hum of a bad light bulb about to go bad.

I think Dell should send new, quiter fans to 2650 owners.

Hi All,

I have heard a rumor there will be an ESM firmware release next week which addresses the niose problem. I will post the details as soon as I have the filename. .

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Are the fans in the 2650 able to be controlled by the bios? I mean can the bios tell them to slow down or speed up?