I had a quick look around at overclockers (UK) for some quieter fans to replace those on my Xserve's PSU. There is one fan at each end of it. I haven't measured them yet but they look like 40mm fans. They are however, double the depth of a standard 40mm GPU fan, though there is only one blade. The other 'half' has moulded blades which do not move.

These things are seriously noisy. Anyone who has ever heard a G4 Xserve running close up will know the noise I mean and these two little fans are almost entirely responsible for it. I want some quieter ones.

I only found one 400mm fan on overclockers:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_YS_Tech_60.html
(top one).

This is only single depth, is this likely to make much difference do we think?

The label on the stock fans reads as follows:

Sunon
Magnetic Levitation System
GM1204PQB1-8A
DC12V 2.6W

Not that it tells us much.

Does the above YS Tech fan look like a good replacement? Anyone know another?

You need to remember that the fans are noisey because they are small and have to cool a powerful power supply. Be very careful about changing fans. If you can cool it another way, go for it, but make sure if you do replace the fans that they more the same amount of air at the same rate.
-maestro

How can I find out how mcuh air these ones are moving? Doesn't seem to be marked anywhere.....

Take them out and find what brand they are. Go to the brands site and check it out.
-maestro

don't xserve owners get special tech support? Call up those guys and ask them

I built this one from an Apple spare parts kit I got on eBay. Doubt they'd help......

Post edited by: Waragainstsleep, at: 2005/12/23 11:23

I doubt they would help, lol. It is probably a Delta. Thats what they have used the past several years. Can you believe they have used Panaflos! Those are my favorite, the best. Try Sunon for replacements, they are very good and have many sizes.
-maestro

Try some lube on the fans frist. Try gun oil, I used gun oil a few times in the past and it seems to work on fans.

I think the reason they are so noisey is that they turn very fast are could be a more efficient design. Are you putting it in an xserve case? If not, change the cooling solution.

-maestro

The major question is what voltage are they using. Most fans use 5volts and not really loud but with 12volts they spin like the dickens and can be very loud and sound like a wind tunnel.

These are 12V Sunon fans. And yes, they sound very much like a wind tunnel.
It will be going in a 1U case, but looks like I'll have to build one since Apple's price is ludicrous.

Ah, those are great fans. Hmmm, try and find any hi end brand of that size and check the specs. You may have to deal with the loudness, it is a server after all.
-maestro

OK, so these fans are are 40x40x28mm and run at 9200rpm. That strikes me as pretty fast, so I guess these are going to be tough to replace...?

Then again maybe not. I need the dB rating for these Sunons....

http://www.computergate.com/products/item.cfm?prodcd=BCFD448B

OMG! 9200 rpms, no wonder its so loud. Try going with some around 4000 and put two at each
end of the power supply. My guess, is at that speed, you wont find quieter ones.

-maestro

That had occurred to me. You reckon two running 4000 would be up to the job? I'm guessing these were used for a reason.

Isn't a Xserver a rack server?

Yes, its a 1U rack server. My guess is the fans are so fast to get enough air in that small space. Remember too that servers do serious heavy lifting. What do you plan to do with yours? By the way, xserves are far quieter than their pc counter parts.

-maestro

No matter what type of rack server it is they are loud when you have a SCSI chain and sevral running at once. I wouldn't change out the fans. Just live with the fan that's in it. Give it a while and you'll learn to zone out the fan's roar. Or you can go spend another 2 grand and get the a A/C cooler for it.

I intend to use it primarily as a media server. When its done, it will be able to stream my video collection over my home network, and hopefully over the net when needed. It will also provide numerous other services: VPN, maybe a website at some point, ftp, I'm sure there are others that will come in handy in time.

I'd also like to hook it up to an EyeTV box. (Here's an aside question: Can you hook up two EyeTVs to one Mac? Should run OK on a dual proc in theory...?)

An idea which has very recently occurred to is to build my Xserve case bigger than the standard, (still only 1U high), paint it white, hang it on a wall and hook up a projector using the case as a screen.. I would definitely need to quieten the Xserve in order to do this though.

Good use for such a server. I doubt you will ever get it quiet enough to use it as a screen, but that is cool.
Not sure on the eyetv setup, email them, they can be very helpful. If it was my server, it would go in my
basement in the store room with my switch, modem and router. Out of the way, but easily accessable.
-maestro

If I don't use it as a screen, I may eventually transplant it to my shed. The shed will need some waterproofing measures first though.....