Super Silent Supermicro SuperServer E300 8D

In 2017 I wrote about my new My HomeLab purchase. If you want to take a look on my HomeLab details use link Supermicro SuperServer E300-8D. It costs me a lot because I upgraded it to maximum capacity in terms of RAM and I was very happy about it. I installed my whole VMware environment and I was kind of using it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t use it as much as I wanted. Under heavy load it was extremely loud. You cannot use it 24/7/365 at Home in normal environment.

• Stock Fan replacement on SYS-E300-8D
  • Temperature results
  • Conclusion
• Replacing Stock SYS-E300-8D Heatsink
  • Heatsink removal
  • Temperature Results
  • BIOS settings
  • Power Utilization Effectiveness BIOS settings

Finally, I started to read in the Internet on different forums that some folks successfully replaced the fans on other different Supermicro Motherboards marked as X10SDV-TP8F. Following that lead, I purchased three Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM (4 PIN) fans and I replaced the stock ones.

Stock Fan replacement on SYS-E300-8D

In first phase I tried to replace the fans and mount them using rubber Noctua mounter.

As you see on this photo they look very nice.

Mounted to the chassis they didn’t fit. I had to revert to screws.

Noctua use some kind of weird screws so bear in mind that you need some angle when using screwdriver.

Temperature results

Conclusion

Replacing stock fans really pays of! If you have X10SDV-TP8F based Supermicro server do it. It is totally worth it. Although you have to accept much higher temperatures.

Replacing Stock SYS-E300-8D Heatsink

I didn’t stop there and I wanted to try out if replacing stock heatsink will help lower down temperatures. I purchased SNK-C0057A4L without knowing if it fits 100% on my server. Although Paul Braren from TinkerTry tested many Supermicro servers, he didn’t test Supermicro E300-8D with active CPU cooler SNK-C0057A4L. Without much to loose (only return shipment to the store if it wouldn’t work :) ) I replaced stock CPU heatsink with new active CPU cooler.

Heatsink removal

I suggest to heat a CPU a bit to make it easier for you to remove old heatsink. You can do it with hairdresser or as I did. I started my HomeLab for a few minutes, quick shutdown and after removing screws I was able to remove it without issues.

In package there is as well backplate which was supposed to be installed on the motherboard. In my case I skipped it.

I cleaned up the processor and without any issues I installed new CPU cooler.

Temperature Results

As you see, processor temperature decreased significantly, especially under full load from 88° to 75°.

BIOS settings

Almost at the end of the test I forgot to check what kind of settings I configured in BIOS 🤦‍♂️. Generally speaking all test were conducted on Set Fan to Optimal Speed settings. I realized that if I change the BIOS fan setting to Set Fan to PUE2(Power Utilization Effectiveness) Speed.

Power Utilization Effectiveness BIOS settings

With that setting in BIOS configured I finally found the sweet spot between noise and decibel level. 44 dB is ideal for my living room and it generates less noise than my Ubiqiti switch.