Need better Cooling

[fonzie]

So I've been having a problem cooling my hard drives for a while now.  So much so that I skip out on parity checks because of how hot the drives get when they're all spinning together for a long time (parity can get up to 46 degrees Celsius.  I'm tired of this and I'm in the market for an awesome bad ass fan.

 

My Current Rig:

 

Motherboard: ASUS M4A785-M

 

CPU: AMD Sempron 2.8GHz

 

RAM: 2GB Corsair XMS 675MHz (2x1GB sticks)

 

Hard Drives

parity Hitachi_HDS72202

disk1 ST2000DL003-9VT1

disk2 ST32000542AS_

disk3 WDC_WD20EARS-00M

disk4 Hitachi_HDS5C302

disk5 Hitachi_HDS5C302

disk6 WDC_WD20EARS-00M

disk7 ST2000DL003-9VT1

cache WDC_WD5000AACS-61M6B2

 

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

 

Case: NZXT WHISPER WHI - 001BK

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146051

 

 

The fan I'm looking to get is the: 1ST PC CORP. PFB1212UHE

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835706015&name=Case-Fans

 

probably paired off with this controller:

http://www.amazon.com/Lamptron-50W-Aluminum-Throttle-Controller/dp/B005IVZ36M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350607718&sr=8-1&keywords=lamptron+fc9

 

 

The fan would go on the bottom front of the case to cool the 9 drives in that section.

 

My question is:

 

-is my power supply robust enough to support that fan running at full speed once I have installed all 16 hard drives (the max that my motherboard supports)?

 

-will that fan fit in the bottom front of my NZXT case?

 

-are there any other fan controllers that you would recommend?  they'd have to be 50watt per channel because this fan uses up a lot of juice.

 

*and yes I know the fan is crazy loud, but it doesn't matter because I will have it in the garage.

 

 

[batt01]

I looked up the specs on you case. Its said it comes with a 120mm front an rear fan.  If that slot is empty, it should fit. My 3TB Green parity get up to 41c during parity syncs. Your parity drive  Hitachi_HDS72202

Is 7200 rpm and will tend to run warm under heavy load. I looks like all your drives are greens except for two. Some more air flow would be nice. A regular fan or two should do the trick. Or a couple of 5 in 3 racks.

 

I only have three in a Norco SS 500. I replaced the noisy 80mm Coolink fan as suggested in thid forum. It sounded like a small hair dryer. Now I can barely hear it. Its in a guest room, that is used fairly often.

 

  One of the selling points of your case, is that it quiet. I will be quiet no more with that noisy (albeit, bad ass fan). Rated at 66dba my Coolink is 18dba.  If you and tolerate a leaf blower running 24/7, it may be the perfect fan for you.

 

I dont have that much experience with  unraid, so I can say if that temp during parity checks is scary or not. I just wanted to comment on your fan selection.

 

If you get this fan, let us know how you like it.

 

Read these review excerpts form Newegg Reviews:

 

Pros: Very Powerfull airflow.

Great Fan for deaf people.

 

Cons: This thing is SO loud that it should actually come with a warning label letting the buyer know how load it is. It is a joke.

I usually do not care about having a loud PC , but No exagerating here,

This thing is louder than Most vacuum cleaners.

Words can not explain how LOUD this thing is, You would just have to make the huge mistake of buying one to hear it.

--------------------------------

Cons: 81 Decibels NOT 66! at first I thought it's not that loud until I had my decibel tester find it was much louder.

---------------------------------

Cons: LOUD, Yes I already knew it would be but trust me, if your thinking I don't care about loud I just want the lowest temps on earth! mwhauahaha! You will regret this purchase

[fonzie]

My case has sound absorbing foam so that coupled with a good fan controller should lower the noise a bit.  Additionally, it is in the garage so noise is not a deal breaker.  My main priority is cooling.  I don't want to worry about drives overheating.  So I'll pose the questions again for a little more insight and possible suggestions.

 

-is my power supply robust enough to support that fan running at full speed once I have installed all 16 hard drives (the max that my motherboard supports)?

 

-will that fan fit in the bottom front of my NZXT case? (I know there is a slot here for a fan in my case which is currently housing a low powered 120mm fan)  My concern is more the thickness of the fan.  Or do all case fans have a standard thickness?  Meaning if a fan slot is designed for 120mm, then any 120mm fan will fit.

 

-are there any other fan controllers that you would recommend?  they'd have to be 50watt per channel because this fan uses up a lot of juice.

 

[sgibbers17]

What is the average temp in your garage in the summer?  I had that case awsome case by the way and did not have any cooling issues with all 9 drive bays used.  I sawped it out for a smaller case to fit in my desk.

[fonzie]

Not sure of the average temperature of the garage in the summer.  but my parity drive runs pretty hot (its not a green drive) and that in turn seems to make the other drives next to it hotter as well.

[PeterB]

I know that not everyone agrees with me, but the problem with most cases is that they have too many holes.  I see that your case includes one inlet fan and three exhaust fan - this rings alarm bells for me.

 

Good cooling is achieved by design, not simply by blowing air in and sucking it out.  I have three fans exhausting from my case, and all holes blocked except those that allow the incoming air to flow past the disk drives.  My unRAID server is running 24/7 in an ambient temperature which is in excess of 30C most days.  My drive temperatures rarely go more than 10C over ambient, even during parity checks.