![[Preview] EPYC Server Noctua Fan Conversion](https://img5.nokimo.com/storage/4/hl/vr/fb3178-019e8403-533a-79f1-bbed-d448eeecea49.jpg)
[Preview] EPYC Server Noctua Fan Conversion
Added 2024-09-27 01:47:42 +0000 UTCHello!
Yet again, this one took longer to get done than I expected. But I had another life thing happen in the background I had to scramble to attend to that took up more of my time. I think it accidentally made this video better though and might change how I handle projects like this in the future. I had 5 hours of footage I was going to edit down and I knew that would take too much time, so instead I just wrote a script and then picked only the highlights of the project to touch on. It still has all of the spirit of the original concept, but presented much better than it would have been else wise. I think any time it takes me multiple days to do a longer project like this on streams now I should approach it like this.
This is still a preview only because it's not quite done and after rendering some of the new visual effects I tried caused a few issues.
Anyway, this video is about the server I was sent in the last mail video. I wanted to try quieting it down (it is CRAZY loud) and was put in touch with Noctua and was able to get fans for the project directly from them. With that, I had to spend a lot of time planning and designing modifications to make it work. But I had a goal of not making it as janky as the last server and I'm very happy with the final results.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVM-4gdNyIg&feature=youtu.be
Comments
I just got my own first Epyc server this week. Still waiting on some more parts before I can run it. Its going to be running 3.5kW of GPUs. xD
Kadah
2024-09-29 02:04:32 +0000 UTCAs somebody that's worked in enterprise IT for over 20 years, the stock fan sound was quite low by 2U standards, its a bit whiny though. For comparison, one of my systems uses up to 200W per fan, it has 10 of these. Without the metal housing on the fan module, the have a thrust-to-weight ratio >1. I've been build machine learning systems lately. One of the GPU chassis I've been testing when the fans are at full speed could be heard 100ft away through multiple walls. U.2 bays supporting being in a SAS/SATA config is a normal thing. Some manufactures will have that being one of the main differences between models, with either more PCIe lanes dedicated to NVMe or to peripherals. Others will make that CTO or a field changeable option. On Epyc, each 4 lanes can either be PCIe for stuff like NVMe or 4 SATA (or some other things depending on the CPU port), its up to the mobo as to which is it. You have 2 more unused SATA on the already populated port.
Kadah
2024-09-29 01:53:48 +0000 UTCI replaced the fans in a 1U 10-gig switch to quiet them down, and I also ran into airflow issues with Noctua fans that there was no solving. The switch's software thermal management is very simplistic. It has 3 (non-configurable) temp thresholds: normal, 100% fan speed, and over-temperature shutdown. With Noctua fans at no load, it would hit 100% speed in 5 minutes and shutdown in under an hour. I ended up buying several different sets of fans to try and settled on a set from Delta that were about halfway between the stock fans and the Noctuas in terms of both noise and airflow that kept it below 100% speed at reasonable load on all but the hottest days, and never close to shutdown. That was quiet enough to about match my workstation (that I built in a rack-mount chassis), so I consider it a success.
Lily Finley
2024-09-27 02:44:50 +0000 UTC
