More powerful 120mm fans in Norco 4224?


DoeBoye

Recommended Posts

I've noticed over the last few months my drive temps slowly creep up as I add more drives to my system. I replaced the fan wall with the 120mm fan wall when I first purchased it, and am using some near-silent Noctua fans. When there was 10 drives in the system, my temps were pretty good, but now that I am up to 15 drives, my temps during parity checks/pre-clearing are breaking 40 on several drives.

 

As much as I have loved Noctua fans for years, I think perhaps they are not up to the task of keeping this many drives cool. As sound level is not nearly as important as it was, because the server no longer lives beside my desk, I thought more powerful fans (and louder) might do the trick.

 

Anyone have an opinion on these Ultra Kaze fans?

 

Currently I am putting a 20 inch box fan in front of my Norco, whenever I pre-clear or parity check, which is a bit of a pain in the butt... :)

 

Also, a bit of a face-palm moment :-[, but I just learned about the "air slides" in the Norco trays! I don't know how I missed the various threads on these guys!! It would certainly explain why a few random drives consistently get warmer then others... I can't wait to get home to check and see if this is causing air-flow issues as well. Closing empty bays might also help a bit...

 

Has anyone 'documented' temp change from opening previously closed Norco air slides?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment

I am running 2 4224's with noctua's and 1 stock fans.  They each have from 16-20 drives. The noctua's are much cooler then the stock. I am averaging 36c during parity with them. Not to mention silent.

 

Which model fans are you running?

 

Make sure all empty drives are closed off. Also, seal up any holes in the fanwall and drivebay area.

Take a look at my build for my fan specs and fanwall sealing ideas

 

 

Link to comment

i had the same problem.

 

I tried to save a few bucks the first build. I said thats crazy, $75-$100 for fans

 

I ended up getting the noctau's in the end ... worth every penny it turned out.

 

side note.

I will admit, the nexus fans are nice, I have a set in my nexus tower. but i cant see them pushing a norco.

 

Take a look at my build photos.

Stuffing some foam, old sock or even taping up the fanwall holes made a 5-6 deg differance. it got rid of the whirlwind effect where the fans are actually pulling air in from the motherboard area back unto the fan chamber..

 

also tape over the screwholes in the sidewall and bottom

Link to comment

I will admit, the nexus fans are nice, I have a set in my nexus tower. but i cant see them pushing a norco.

Yeah. They are dead silent, but were re-purposed from another build that wasn't putting out nearly as much heat.

 

I just ordered 3 new fans to replace them. I got some Mid-speed PWM-controlled Scythe SlipStreams, in the hope I can get that PWM script I've seen floating around the forum to work :). The specs show the new fans push double the air at full speed, so hopefully it will be enough to cool these toasty drives down!

 

Take a look at my build photos.

Stuffing some foam, old sock or even taping up the fanwall holes made a 5-6 deg differance. it got rid of the whirlwind effect where the fans are actually pulling air in from the motherboard area back unto the fan chamber..

 

also tape over the screwholes in the sidewall and bottom

 

Thanks for the tip :). I'll give this a whirl! I actually just came across some old packing foam this morning as I was rooting around for some tax stuff. Seems like the Fates want me to try it out!  ;D

 

 

Link to comment

If you are looking for a serious 120mm fan I'd suggest you take a look at a Delta PWM fan.  I have one in my server and just let me say that it can move a HUGE amount of air at full speed. The biggest reason I got the fan is because I can command the fan to zero speed with my fan speed script and it will actually stop turning.  This seems funny but not all PWM fans will stop when commanded to zero speed. So since my server is in the basement the fan is off most of the time and only kicks in when my one of my drives temp rises above 33C.

Link to comment

The Scythes are already en route!

 

Though that Delta has some big numbers (113 CFM). I'm pretty confident the 3 Scythes, though not as powerful as the Delta, will be good enough. Until recently, the Nexus fans worked well. These new fans have twice the CFMs, so should bring temps back down... Worst case scenario, I'll replace them with something stronger...

 

Thanks for the recommendation though. Something to fall back on if these don't work out!

 

:)

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

So just an update for anyone considering the PWM route. I ended up going with the big brother of the fan from my previous post, the  Scythe Slip Stream 120mm PWM High RPM CaseFan.

 

Variable speed from 500 to 1900 RPM.

Maximum airflow of 110CFM.

 

This is one sweet fan. Coming from my virtually silent Nexus fans took some adjusting, but the cooling difference is night and day (I couldn't imagine having anything spinning faster then these guys though. The noise would be deafening!! :)).

 

I implemented PWM using the fan_speed.sh script that is floating around the forums (Thanks Aiden, xamindar, Starcat et all!), and it works perfectly! These fans are virtually silent now, unless temps start rising (i.e. parity check etc).

 

I did have to tweak the script a tiny bit to add control for a second header because I didn't feel comfortable putting all three fans on the same header (Each fan pulls .5amps). The Interwebs claims that Gigabyte boards support up to 3 amps on one header (unverified forum post from somewhere), but I figure 1 amp a header might be a bit safer...

 

[EDIT for Stats]

  • Case: Norco 4224
  • Drives: 15 drives total (13 green, 2 7200rpm)
  • Average drive temp: Between 28 and 31 Celcius, except cache drive, which hangs around 33-34 (Ambient temp is around 22-24 Celcius)
  • Average fan speed when not parity checking: Ranges between 1000 and 1200RPMs

 

I could lower the speeds further by adjusting the script (at the expense of temps), but I find that speed is the best compromise between cooling and noise level :).

 

 

 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.