Editing Noise (section)

== Fans ==
Fans are the primary source of noise, and as with so many things in life, bigger is generally better! The smaller the fan, the faster it needs to spin to keep up the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubic_foot CFM], i.e. push more cool air across the hot components. It is recommended that you start by avoiding any kit which has 40mm / 60mm fans wherever possible and start with a minimum of 80mm or bigger.

Beyond that you can reduce noise significantly by buying high quality, low friction (i.e. low noise) fans for cooling your case and your CPUs. Some well known and long standing quiet fan vendors include [http://www.zalman.com Zalman], [http://www.thermalright.com Thermalright], [http://www.scythe-eu.com Scythe], and one well known vendor who stocks many of these components either for purchase or ideas, is [https://www.quietpc.com Quietpc.com].

It is definitely worthwhile if you are building a [[whitebox]] server, to also invest in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus gold or platinum certified PSU], which means it will be ultra efficient, therefore producing less heat, requiring less cooling, and ultimately producing less noise!

If you are buying a small form factor pre-built machine (such as the [[Intel NUC]]), these systems are often designed for office and home environments, and as such are ultra-quiet by default. The only exception there being when you push significant CPU workloads on them, and their fans need to spin up to keep things cool. In this scenario they can be louder than a large case [[whitebox]] solution, so make sure you know whether you are planning to run your CPUs hot all of the time, or only occasionally before you decide which [[Homelab Categories|homelab category] to go with!

The loudest possible solution is typically a rack mount server! In this case you are best to stick to a case which will support the largest fans, so ideally 2U or above. The lower the chassis, the smaller the fan diameter, and the louder the fans. Again it is possible to change out the fans doing a modding project, such as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVc1YgyMkK8 this one detailed on youtube for a DL360], but YMMV and you do this at your own risk! A noisy lab is better than fried components! Far easier is to simply locate your [[rack]] somewhere which the noise becomes a non-issue, such as a garage or shed.

Also ensure you are running the latest firmware and drivers for your physical hardware. In many cases, servers will spin their fans at maximum speed until the firmware monitors temperatures and spins the fans down to a more reasonable rate (and noise level!).