How to make Supermicro server running TrueNAS quieter?

[mhweb]

I have a Supermicro 2U 12 Bay LFF Server X9DRi-F 2x Xeon E5-2650 16 Core running TrueNAS, but the server only has 3 fans and they are loud. This is a server where the heatsink does not have any fans.
Does anyone know a suitable quieter fan replacement that I can use?
Would it be better to change the heatsink for another one with a fan? Can you recommend any?

PS: I'm asking because I have spent a lot of hours researching and I couldn't find anything worth doing, so I was wondering if any had to deal with something similar.

 

[Constantin]

Be careful what you wish for.

Those servers have loud fans because SM shoehorned 12 drives into a 2U front plane. That leaves little room around each drive, resulting in a large static pressure drop. Further downstream from the main fans, the passive heat sinks were designed to be adequate even if one of the onboard fans fails. Those of us who want to go Noctua or whatever quickly discover that cooling performance may suffer significantly when quieter but also less powerful fans are substituted.

FWIW, I went with a Lian Li A76 case, which is pretty tall but which also has enough room between drives to allow them OK cooling with 3 Noctua 120mm PWM industrial fans that keep them at 32 *C or below. If if the drive cage holder design was better, they'd likely even be cooler.