For months, I've been wanting to replace the noisy cooler in my server but there's always work and just plain laziness in the way. I've previously replaced two case fans with a pair of Noctua NF-P12's I bought at a bargain. Though, that took care of most of the vibration and case noise, still, the whine from the stock CPU cooler cuts through the silence. This is especially most pronounced when it's spinning at 6,000 RPM while the CPU is at full load.
Anyway, in one of our trip to the mall and while the wifey was busy window-shopping, on impulse, I bought a Noctua NH-U12P.
The Noctua NH-U12P SE2 package includes the following:
- The NH-U12P heatsink
- 2x NF-P12 premium fan
- Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptor (U.L.N.A.)
- Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
- NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound
- SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kits
So now, less talk, more pics:
The Noctua NH-U12P SE2 retail box.
This is the puny but noisy stock cooler that came with the AMD Athlon II X4 630.
Old cooler removed. Lots of dust and residue of the old thermal compound.
Cleaned up the CPU and installed the new SecuFirm2™ mounting brackets.
Put in a smidgen of NT-H1 thermal compound (not shown) and dropped in the NH-U12P heatsink
Installed one 120mm fan (Noctua NF-P12). I would've preferred a front-to-back airflow but unfortunately the mounting holes on the system board were not designed for such. Anyway, the PSU fan should be able to pull the hot air at the top of the heatsink equally well.
This shot shows the clearance between the cooler and where the side cover would be. Just millimeters to play around with.
A 2nd NF-P12 fan can optionally be installed on the cooler for push-pull airflow. But since I'm not overclocking or anything, a single fan on the cooler should suffice. I then used the spare NF-P12 to replace the stock case side fan.
Another feat of precision; The side fan missing the cooler fan by a hair.
The final touch. It's gotta have a go-fast badge, right?
So now, here are the not-so-scientific results. There are YouTube links below for the BEFORE and AFTER recording of the noise taken in close proximity of the server.
NOTE: The difference may or may not be that apparent in the video. In case you missed it, the BEFORE video would have a loud, high-frequency whine coming from the 4,000 to 6,000+ RPM stock AMD fan. Now with the new cooler and considering that the sever has five 120mm fans (PSU fan included) and seven HDDs spinning inside it, the server is still barely making any noise at all, as evident (hopefully) in the AFTER video.
BEFORE - Stock AMD CPU Cooler:
AFTER - Noctua NH-U12P Cooler