Pros and cons of using a passive heatsink with Nehalem processors?

[rand777]

Are there any cons to using a passive heatsink like this one for a dual cpu LGA1366 workstation if not overclocking?

http://www.pcsforeveryone.com/.../Supermicro/SNK-P0038P

I like the idea of keeping things quiet. My setup so far includes:

supermicro SC743TQ-865B chassis
http://supermicro.com/products...4U/743/SC743TQ-865.cfm

supermicro X8DA3 motherboard
http://supermicro.com/products...ard/QPI/5500/X8DA3.cfm

2 x E5520 2.26GHz processors
6 x 2GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz
1 x Intel X-25M boot drive
2 x WD Caviar Black 1TB drives for data
1 x Sapphire Radeon HD 4870

Since I don't intend to OC, I'd be willing to trade degrees for decibels.

thanks!

 

[Andrew1990]

I would think you would need some good Air Flow in your case to run passive even with those big chunks of Aluminum.

 

[PCTC2]

Those are really meant for the 2U screamers with airflow channels for the heatsinks with 60 or 80mm fans on each end.

 

[rand777]

Originally posted by: PCTC2
Those are really meant for the 2U screamers with airflow channels for the heatsinks with 60 or 80mm fans on each end.

Thanks for the help. The chassis has an air shroud with two 80mm fans on one end, and the option to add two more on the other end (at the rear of the case). I'm hoping that by toning them down a bit via BIOS controls they won't scream at their default rate of 5000 RPMs.

Sounds like it would be quieter (no pun intended) to have fans directly on the heatsinks, which would presumably run at relatively lower RPMS, rather than use passively cooled heatsinks and have to add additional 80mm fans at the rear of the case?

 

[Rubycon]

That chassis is great but it's definitely anything BUT quiet! Those heatsinks will work very nice because the front to back airflow beneath the shroud is strong from the four hotswap fans. That case runs about 70dBA!

 

[rand777]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
I would think you would need some good Air Flow in your case to run passive even with those big chunks of Aluminum.

Thanks for the reply and help. The case seems to have good air flow but I'm thinking too that it might not be enough since this will be under my desk and not in air conditioned quarters. Also worried that using passively cooled heatsinks might require the 80mm fans in the case to sound like a bunch of angry hornets at high RPMs.

 

[rand777]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
That chassis is great but it's definitely anything BUT quiet! Those heatsinks will work very nice because the front to back airflow beneath the shroud is strong from the four hotswap fans. That case runs about 70dBA!

Hi Rubycon. It's good to hear from you again. I remember you mentioning before that this chassis was great but a bit of a screamer, but WOW, 70dBA! I'm going to need some seriously good noise cancellation headphones if it screams that loud. Do you think switching to using the SC743 Super Quiet chassis fans would help much? Supermicro bills this chassis as whisper quiet @ 28dBA when the SQ fans are used, but I've come across several testimonials now, including yours, that make it clear that this chassis is anything but quiet. Any suggestions on taming the noise this beast emanates?

 

[rand777]

Perhaps this one would be better?

Nexus LOW-7000. It's active, 120mm fan, and low profile:

http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-LOW...cm-high-CPU-Cooler.htm

 

[Rubycon]

You'd need to switch fans - the Nidec Betas are screamers and at reduced speed have an annoying growl. The case is a server case so noise is of secondary concern here. There are other fans that are indeed quieter just be sure to watch your temps with reduced airflow.

The fan in the Ablecom PSU is also going to be noticeable with a chassis fan change.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Nice Build

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
You'd need to switch fans - the Nidec Betas are screamers and at reduced speed have an annoying growl. .

you swap fans u lose the specifications tho.

The reason why there screamers is because they push a lot of air for its size.

 

[Lyuokdea]

I am currently thinking about a Xeon Nehalem system, and was planning to use the following case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811160009

Does anybody think this case will work with the Xeon Nehalem line? I'm a little bit worried about having all the correct holes to mount the heatsinks correctly.

The newegg reviews for the Supermicro case seem to say it is very quiet, so I'm not sure what i'm going with here. It sounds like you can use the motherboard to set the fans to run at quiet, but then the airflow might drastically suffer.

Can anybody give me some suggestions on this? It's the biggest hangup on building my system. I would rather use the 3rd party solutions because they're much cheaper (even though you have to buy fans for the chieftec case), but I want to make sure everything fits together right.

~Lyuokdea

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Rubycon
You'd need to switch fans - the Nidec Betas are screamers and at reduced speed have an annoying growl. .

you swap fans u lose the specifications tho.

The reason why there screamers is because they push a lot of air for its size.

Specification changes only in the upper ambient limit of operation. As an overclocker you know these chips have tremendous margins so it would be fine with substantially lower air flow. The biggest risk would be starving the drives of airflow. If using 15K drives this MUST be watched.

The case WILL work perfectly - they are designed to! They are also designed for UPTIME and reliability. This means the system is perfectly at home in a rack with many other servers humming along.

Super Micro boards have a fan setting - FULL ON, SERVER, and WORKSTATION. When starting they are ALWAYS running at full speed. SERVER setting reduces the speed SOME but it's still quite loud. WORKSTATION reduces it even more but it's still louder than your average desktop with a noticeable whine.

There are other server cases that are designed for socket 771 with standoffs that match the through board mounting of the Xeon perfectly. Not sure about 1366 compatibility as this is very new for SMP but it will be available shortly outside of the Super Micro solution which WILL work. (just noisy for a desktop!)

You can mount a rheobus in a 5.25" bay to control the fans but as I mentioned before the Nidec Beta's can still emit a growl/whine that bothers some if they are close to the chassis.

 

[rand777]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: Rubycon
You'd need to switch fans - the Nidec Betas are screamers and at reduced speed have an annoying growl. .

you swap fans u lose the specifications tho.

The reason why there screamers is because they push a lot of air for its size.

Specification changes only in the upper ambient limit of operation. As an overclocker you know these chips have tremendous margins so it would be fine with substantially lower air flow. The biggest risk would be starving the drives of airflow. If using 15K drives this MUST be watched.

The case WILL work perfectly - they are designed to! They are also designed for UPTIME and reliability. This means the system is perfectly at home in a rack with many other servers humming along.

Super Micro boards have a fan setting - FULL ON, SERVER, and WORKSTATION. When starting they are ALWAYS running at full speed. SERVER setting reduces the speed SOME but it's still quite loud. WORKSTATION reduces it even more but it's still louder than your average desktop with a noticeable whine.

There are other server cases that are designed for socket 771 with standoffs that match the through board mounting of the Xeon perfectly. Not sure about 1366 compatibility as this is very new for SMP but it will be available shortly outside of the Super Micro solution which WILL work. (just noisy for a desktop!)

You can mount a rheobus in a 5.25" bay to control the fans but as I mentioned before the Nidec Beta's can still emit a growl/whine that bothers some if they are close to the chassis.

Thanks for all of the detailed info about this chassis. I agree, it really is exceptionally well designed and constructed!

I spoke with a chassis engineer at supermicro today and he confirmed that I can remove the air shroud and use their actively cooled heatsinks instead, and that I can swap the four 5,000 RPM case fans with two of their "super quiet" ones. He said they've tested the chassis in this same configuration, which they sell as a "Super Quiet" configuration, and measured it at 28dBA! (I don't know under what environmental conditions the testing occurred, but if it's at all close to 28dBA I won't mind it sitting under my desk

My boot drive is an X-25M SSD so no additional noise from it. The only thing I haven't bought yet is the Radeon HD 4870 so I may try to find a quieter video card. Thanks also for the heads up about the PS fan!

The craftsmanship of the chassis really is first rate. I'm looking forward to getting it running later this week. I'll let you know how well it works out in case anyone else is curious.

 

[rand777]

Originally posted by: Lyuokdea
I am currently thinking about a Xeon Nehalem system, and was planning to use the following case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811160009

Does anybody think this case will work with the Xeon Nehalem line? I'm a little bit worried about having all the correct holes to mount the heatsinks correctly.

The newegg reviews for the Supermicro case seem to say it is very quiet, so I'm not sure what i'm going with here. It sounds like you can use the motherboard to set the fans to run at quiet, but then the airflow might drastically suffer.

Can anybody give me some suggestions on this? It's the biggest hangup on building my system. I would rather use the 3rd party solutions because they're much cheaper (even though you have to buy fans for the chieftec case), but I want to make sure everything fits together right.

~Lyuokdea

supermicro sells two versions of this particular case, both are on newegg. One has a suffix of "-SQ" for "super quiet". I initially bought the version without the SQ suffix because a reviewer on newegg mentioned he had built many servers with this chassis, and that the non-SQ version was actually quieter, but that doesn't seem to be the case! (no pun intended). If you see my post above, I am effectively turning my case into the SQ configuration since the fans are interchangeable, and the air shroud pops in and out easily. If you go with this chassis for a workstation build, I strongly recommend you get the SQ version.

supermicro confirmed that this case will work with their EATX Dual Nehalem motherboards and that all of the mounting holes will line up correctly. Some of the information on their web site was initially incorrect regarding the compatibility of this chassis with their new X8 motherboards, and they initially stated one would need to use the latest revision of the case, but they have since updated their web site.