I know this CPU comes with a stock fan/heatsink. I'm wondering if I should plan on modifying it in any way? Comments on the Newegg website seem to be about 50/50 whether or not the stock cooling is adequate.

 

Complete design plan here- http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=32848.msg301711#msg301711

...IMHO the stock CPU fan is sufficient, even on low/mid-RPMs and it is not that noisy too.

In your 4U case, the other fans is what I would be concerned of, in terms of noise level 

 

...IMHO the stock CPU fan is sufficient, even on low/mid-RPMs and it is not that noisy too.

In your 4U case, the other fans is what I would be concerned of, in terms of noise level 

 

 

Thanks. This will be located in my home office so noise level isn't too critical. I'm hoping that the fans will be a little quieter than the 2 Drobos it will be replacing. My wife says I must be nearly deaf anyway, so I probably won't even hear it.

I have been a long time overclocker of my desktop machines (don't overclock unRAID), and have learned some pretty exotic cooling measures, include lapping, delidding, and pretty hefty heatsinks like the Noctua NH-D14. (I have never gone to the wet side, always fearing a flood and system catastrophe).

 

But even on my non-overclocked servers I always upgrade the heatsink. Intel gives just enough cooling, but using some Arctic Silver 5 and a modest aftermarket cooler can substantially reduce the CPU temps.

 

I like the lower end Zalmans in particular since they are very compact and stay out of your way nicely. I also like the way they look.

 

http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=468

 

I mentioned delidding. When you look at the top of the CPU with the printed writing on top, that is not really the CPU. That is the integrated heat sink (IHS). Under the IHS is the CPU itself. Used to be the CPU was soldered to the IHS for really super heat transferrance. But with the "i3/i5/i7s", Intel has gone away from the soldering and started using a paste, similar to what you may have used between your CPU package and the larger heatsink with a fan on top you typically use. And the paste they use is not even a good paste, and much much worse at transferring heat away from the CPU. This has made overclocking much more difficult, as the paste becomes the limiting factor. Unless ... you are willing to pop the top off your CPU, remove that paste, and either mount your external heat sink directly to the CPU die, or replace the paste with something better, replace the IHS, and mount the external heat sink on top as usual. I did the latter and dropped my temps under load by > 20C.

 

I am not recommending this delidding procedure to anyone, just explaining. If anyone is actually interested in following my foolhearty (but effective) method, realizing that screwing up means a dead CPU and no warranty, feel free to drop me a PM. Oh, and you need a "K" CPU which does not support vt-d.

I don't plan on over clocking this unraid and it looks like Zaiman doesn't offer any fans for the Xeon CPU's. Actually I've found a fair number of fans for the intel 1150 socket but none of them are for the Xeon 1230.

Stock fan is fine.  Probably your server is doing nothing 90% of the time anyway

A few years ago I always used 3rd party heatsinks -- primarily Zalmans.    But the Intel heatsinks have been just fine ever since Sandy Bridge, so I no longer switch them.    The stock units work well; maintain good temps; and are very quiet.

 

Just use the stock unit -- you'll be very satisfied with it.

 

Thanks for the replies. Your experiences are appreciated.

Thanks to the OP, i'll build next week my first Unraid ever and will use a Xeon E3 1240v3, so I guess i'm also good with the stock fan

 

 

Thanks to the OP, i'll build next week my first Unraid ever and will use a Xeon E3 1240v3, so I guess i'm also good with the stock fan

 

 

 

Would appreciate feedback if you run into problems. Looks like you'll be ahead of me. Maybe you could start a thread to share your design?

Thanks to the OP, i'll build next week my first Unraid ever and will use a Xeon E3 1240v3, so I guess i'm also good with the stock fan

 

Yes, you'll be fine.  Intel's latest heatsink/fan combos are not only improved over what they used to use;  but the newer generation of CPU's are far more power-efficient.  A 1240v3, for example, has a TDP of 80w ... compared to the 130w the high-end Xeons of just a few years ago would draw.    And power management in the CPU's is FAR better these days, so the average power level is MUCH lower than with the earlier generations.

 

Thanks to the OP, i'll build next week my first Unraid ever and will use a Xeon E3 1240v3, so I guess i'm also good with the stock fan

 

 

 

Would appreciate feedback if you run into problems. Looks like you'll be ahead of me. Maybe you could start a thread to share your design?

 

Yes, i'll do when i'll have all my stuff.

 

I just ordered 5 x 3TB WD Red and I already have 5 others   Will be a pretty awesome build !

Im running a E3-1230v2's with SuperMicro passive heatsinks (SNK-P0046P). Even with Plex encoding streams, I dont have any issues.

 

Sorry, I cannot speak to the OEM fan/heatsink. However, it should be just fine if my passive heatsinks work.

On our customer builds we do not replace the stock heatsink, mostly because they are good enough for the job they need to do (why add the cost of a heatsink that is not needed).  Especially in the norco rackmount cases where the stock fans are so loud that any noise from the CPU cooler fan is drown out.  We do replace all the internal fans of the norco cases with more quiet version and at the same time switch the fan wall out to 120mm fans.

Im running a E3-1230v2's with SuperMicro passive heatsinks (SNK-P0046P). Even with Plex encoding streams, I dont have any issues.

 

Sorry, I cannot speak to the OEM fan/heatsink. However, it should be just fine if my passive heatsinks work.

 

Thanks for this. At least now I have an alternative just in case heat is a problem. I don't really expect to need them now but it looks like the SNK-P0046A4 is compatible with this CPU/MoBo. Not sure I would have found it if you hadn't pointed me in the right direction.

On our customer builds we do not replace the stock heatsink, mostly because they are good enough for the job they need to do (why add the cost of a heatsink that is not needed).  Especially in the norco rackmount cases where the stock fans are so loud that any noise from the CPU cooler fan is drown out.  We do replace all the internal fans of the norco cases with more quiet version and at the same time switch the fan wall out to 120mm fans.

Care to recommend a quieter fan? I'll probably stick with the stock fans in the beginning since the cost of this build is getting a little high. But if the noise does get to be a problem I'm likely to modify it in a year or so. After my wife gets over the initial sticker shock.

On our customer builds we do not replace the stock heatsink, mostly because they are good enough for the job they need to do (why add the cost of a heatsink that is not needed).  Especially in the norco rackmount cases where the stock fans are so loud that any noise from the CPU cooler fan is drown out.  We do replace all the internal fans of the norco cases with more quiet version and at the same time switch the fan wall out to 120mm fans.

Care to recommend a quieter fan? I'll probably stick with the stock fans in the beginning since the cost of this build is getting a little high. But if the noise does get to be a problem I'm likely to modify it in a year or so. After my wife gets over the initial sticker shock.

 

How about one without a fan??  SuperMicro SNK-P0046P

Care to recommend a quieter fan? I'll probably stick with the stock fans in the beginning since the cost of this build is getting a little high. But if the noise does get to be a problem I'm likely to modify it in a year or so. After my wife gets over the initial sticker shock.

 

Sure can:

For 120mm fans we use the Nexus PWM Series D12SL-12PWM

For 80mm fan replacement we use Cooler Master Rifle Bearing 80mm Silent 

 

How about one without a fan??  SuperMicro SNK-P0046P

I don't really expect to need the heatsink or the fan. I was just glad to discover that there was a fan option if it is needed.

Sure can:

For 120mm fans we use the Nexus PWM Series D12SL-12PWM

For 80mm fan replacement we use Cooler Master Rifle Bearing 80mm Silent

Thanks