Help with fan control for X10SDV-8C-TLN4

[Chuck Remes]

I read this thread already: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/thermal-and-accoustical-design-validation.28364/

My motherboard manual shows FAN1 - FAN4. A note in the manual says (see attached screen shot too):

(X10SDV-8C-TLN4) (Dual cooling zone is only available on PCB 2.00 with FAN4 serving as the second zone's FANA under IPMI)

I'm a somewhat inexperienced HW guy (this was my first build) so I don't know how to interpret that note. Does my motherboard have dual zone cooling or not? It clearly has 4 fan plugs.

I have ordered 3 140mm Noctua NF-P14s 4-pin fans to replace the two 3-pin fans that came with my Fractal Design R5. I also ordered an Evercool 4-pin fan splitter. My intention is to put 1 fan at the upper rear of the case to act as an exhaust. The other 2 fans will be in the front drawing air in. This should give me positive pressure. The built-in CPU fan (currently on FAN2) will be moved to FAN1. The splitter will connect the other 3 fans to FAN4.

Lastly, I also intend to use the fan control script that's recommended here.

Am I doing it right? :)

 

[Spearfoot]

I read this thread already: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/thermal-and-accoustical-design-validation.28364/

My motherboard manual shows FAN1 - FAN4. A note in the manual says (see attached screen shot too):

I'm a somewhat inexperienced HW guy (this was my first build) so I don't know how to interpret that note. Does my motherboard have dual zone cooling or not? It clearly has 4 fan plugs.

Supermicro is a little opaque when it comes to fans. Usually (always?) FAN-1 is the CPU fan, with FAN-2...FAN-'n' in the same zone as the CPU. FAN-A, if present, is the fan for 'Auxillary' devices (e.g., add-on cards) and may or may not be in a separate zone. The motherboard BIOS usually provides for several fan modes which you can select, depending on your needs. For example, my X10SL7-F motherboard has 4 modes: Standard Speed, Full Speed, Optimal Speed, and HeavyIO Speed.

I take that quote to mean that only the later version 2.00 system boards have two zones, with FAN-4 serving as what's usually called FAN-A on Supermicro systems.

So you will have to examine your system board and determine what version it is to find out whether you have two zones.

I have ordered 3 140mm Noctua NF-P14s 4-pin fans to replace the two 3-pin fans that came with my Fractal Design R5. I also ordered an Evercool 4-pin fan splitter. My intention is to put 1 fan at the upper rear of the case to act as an exhaust. The other 2 fans will be in the front drawing air in. This should give me positive pressure. The built-in CPU fan (currently on FAN2) will be moved to FAN1. The splitter will connect the other 3 fans to FAN4.

Lastly, I also intend to use the fan control script that's recommended here.

Am I doing it right? :)

You are on the right track.

It's definitely good that you're moving the CPU fan to FAN-1, as that's the fan Supermicro will adjust to control CPU temperature. In fact, if you haven't already... do this right now!

I use a Fractal Define R4 very similar to your R5. If I remember correctly, I just use the case's 3-pin fan sockets to power the 2 front case fans. I didn't use a splitter. This means the system board can't control their speed. Not a problem for me because my system is out in the shop and I really don't care if it's a little loud, so I just run the fans full-speed all the time. With respect to splitters, be aware that the motherboard fan sockets can only deliver a certain amount of current; you don't want to overload them or you could make smoke, which is bad news for electronics.

This thread may be interesting to you; the IPMI tools are handy. I used them to modify the lower fan thresholds on one of my Supermicro systems, which had an annoying tendency to cycle endlessly from low- to high-speed every 7-10 seconds or so in certain fan modes:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...or-thresholds-with-ipmi-using-ipmiutil.23331/

Chances are that the factory-default Normal or Standard fan mode will serve your needs just fine.

Good luck!

 

[Chuck Remes]

Thank you for the reply.

How do I determine the system board version? In IPMI it doesn't show anything under "System" or "Hardware Information" that looks relevant. Under "FRU Reading" there is a board info category but only the Language and Board Manufacturer values are set. Everything else is null. A visual inspection of the board didn't turn up anything either but maybe I'm not looking in the right spot.

Regarding fan power, I believe the splitter I bought has a molex connector for the PSU, so it will handle the juice.

Right now I set IPMI to use the FULL SPEED fan mode. When the front door of my R5 is closed, the hard drives creep up into the low 40s during heavy IO. Leaving the door open gets it back down into mid 30s. While the server is sitting in a room where I don't care about noise so much, I really don't want the door hanging open if I can avoid it. I bought the 1500rpm Noctuas but if they don't do the trick then I might buy two of the 3000rpm Noctuas and move the slower ones to the top ventilation.

 

[Stux]

I think it's normally printed on the board.

FWIW, if it's in the manual, and the manual came with your board, then your board is probably 2.0. That note is there so people with 1.0 boards don't read the online manual and think they have 2.0.

Neat feature then adding dual zone. Never seen a supermicro board where the aux zone was fan 4.

If you use my fan script, https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/script-hybrid-cpu-hd-fan-zone-controller.46159/

You just need to change the 'FANA' setting to 'FAN4'