Excess heat - replacing stock fans

[damian]

So my system is running a bit hot and I've been thinking about replacing the stock fans in my Lian-Li PC-Q25B, does anyone have any recommendations for a high flow/low dba fan? I'm looking to replace the 120mm top side and 140mm front fan.

Current temperatures for ada0 - ada5:

[pre]ada0: 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 115 102 000 Old_age Always - 37
ada1: 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 112 103 000 Old_age Always - 40
ada2: 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 109 102 000 Old_age Always - 43
ada3: 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 110 102 000 Old_age Always - 42
ada4: 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 110 103 000 Old_age Always - 42
ada5: 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 114 102 000 Old_age Always - 38[/pre]

 

[cyberjock]

I'm not finding a PC25B with Google. It instead offers me alternates that have more letters.

As for fans, your disks need to be in a location where a fan blows on the directly. Just filling the case with air isn't going to help significantly. Without more information on you case and where your disks are located its hard to help you. I had temperature problems myself and I wrote http://forums.freenas.org/threads/norco-rpc-4224-and-hard-drives-that-are-too-hot.13022/ which might be a good read for you.

 

[damian]

Sorry, typo, I mean PC-Q25B.

 

[cyberjock]

Ah. A friend has a case almost exactly like that.

You're probably going to be disappointed with your options. That fan blows air into the case and doesn't do such a good job of cooling the hard drives themselves. So you aren't likely to see much of an improvement in temperatures with a different fan. You are also limited to 120mm fans that will fit in that relatively narrow fan location, which pretty much excludes all high flow rate fans. The higher flow rate fans either make alot of noise from higher RPM, are too deep, or both.

You should probably look into getting a bigger case and one that has air that blows directly onto the drives without the mounting bracket in between.

Now you see why every time some talks about building a small server one or more of us jump in to tell them not to do it if they want to keep the hard drives cool. If you can't keep them cool the solution isn't elegant. Going small has tradeoffs and making a server that is nothing more than a hot-box isn't going to help anyone.

 

[damian]

I do understand what you mean, I wanted a small form factor box to stash away in my office, but it looks now like its just causing problems.. Only 1 PCIe, 16GB max, 6 onboard SATA, and now air flow issues.. Damn, I'm kinda strapped for cash right now to make the necessary upgrades.. At least the fan replacement is a rather inexpensive way to try to get the temps down 2-3 degrees. I'd be much happier with the drives running under 40.

 

[cyberjock]

I don't think you're going to get a 2-3C drop in temps with a different fan. The placement of the fan in relation to the mounting bracket and hard drives is far from optimal. Not sure what disks you have, but 7200RPM disks also need alot more cooling than the "green" drives.

The only fan that would provide any cooling benefit for your disks is probably the front fan. I thought it was 120mm, but looking closer its 140mm.

All I can say is "good luck" :(

 

[DrKK]

I'll tell you what. I've gone through about 30 fans in the past year for myself and others. If you're looking for a very, very good after market fan that moves a LOT of air, and makes almost no noise, and is not a $50 Noctua fan, then I have found nothing even REMOTELY as good as the "Cougar Vortex" fans. Part numbers CF-V12HP, CF-V12HPB, CF-V12HB, etc. Available on Newegg, or at Micro Center. I replaced the stock fans in my FreeNAS with these, and it doesn't even whisper, and it's like a hurricane of air.

 

[cyberjock]

Those are all 120mm fans. The case uses a 140mm front fan. So no dice on that one. I could be wrong, but if his case's fan is like my friend's case, 25mm is too deep.

 

[DrKK]

Those are all 120mm fans. The case uses a 140mm front fan. So no dice on that one. I could be wrong, but if his case's fan is like my friend's case, 25mm is too deep.

My bad.

Didn't read slowly enough, sorry CJ.

Good news though: Replace the "12" in most of those model numbers with a "14", and you have the 140mm parts. In fact, my box runs Cougar Vortex 140mm's.

Thanks for picking that up, CJ.

 

[cyberjock]

ah. Ok. My friend's case uses a very narrow fan. In fact, I couldn't find one that was "decent" and narrow enough to fit in his case. I want to say it was like 15mm or so. I just told him "if it fails.... good luck". LOL

 

[damian]

Not sure what disks you have, but 7200RPM disks also need alot more cooling than the "green" drives.

I'm running 6 2TB WD RE4's - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136579

Part numbers CF-V12HP, CF-V12HPB, CF-V12HB, etc. Available on Newegg, or at Micro Center. I replaced the stock fans in my FreeNAS with these, and it doesn't even whisper, and it's like a hurricane of air.

Awesome, I'll take a closer look at them after work today.