Netgate 8200 - Thermals
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Just received my new 8200 Max this weekend. And while it's really a very nice piece of kit (kudo's Netgate team), I already felt the need to make some upgrades. ;-)
This is clearly not in a production commercial environment, rather sitting in a rack in the corner of my office connected to 2 Juniper EX3300's and my GPON WAN. But I like things q.u.i.e.t. and perhaps a little overcooled (much like my gaming machines!).
Pretty sure 98% of you are rolling your eyes at this one, but (and sorry Netgate team), I cannot deal with the fan on this device. Even at moderate load, mine wobbles and had an annoying modulating frequency that I can't cope with. Again, MAJORITY of users will not care about the fan so long as it works as designed, and I may also just have a bad fan. But I needed to do this regardless...
CPU temps are steady at 25 deg C under load. Perfecto! Fan is completely inaudible standing next to the router and will mount it to the bottom plastic base blowing cool air up and over the heatsink base. Good thing there's nothing below this guy in the rack! LOL.
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Thank you! I’m heading to my fan bin now.
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No prob! Just remember, I'm confident that us manipulating their active cooling device (and disassembling the case) constitutes a voided warranty. So make these changes at your own risk. ;-)
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@brachy33 We don't even recommend users open these models...
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Understood. FWIW, I think the Netgate team has put together a fantastic router/firewall with some serious horsepower built in and flexibility. Truly a game-changer device for its intended use purpose.
I would just prefer that my unit is a little less noisy and perhaps operates at lower temps. Again, not trying to offend the teams that worked hard on this device (re: their baby).
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I just received mine. It sounds like a vacuum cleaner in my office even at idle, I'm already contemplating returning it. I have an AMD Epyc 3251 supermicro box running pfsense at a different location that runs far cooler and less noisy than this and is close to the same footprint albeit a little taller.
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What's the ambient temperature there? What load is it under?
I can barely hear the one I have next to me here unless I'm testing it at full load.
Steve
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@stephenw10 ambient temps are around 68-70 F (20-21C), even when feeling the metal portion/heatsink its lukewarm to cool, dashboard shows temps at 40-41. I even tried setting power savings to maximum, temps dropped to 39C. I really wish there was a way to control the fan/tame it; seems to be running at max speed. Lastly this is under idle conditions, with CPU usage around 1-4% in dashboard and no extra packages aside from default are running.
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Hmm, it should not run at max speed. Not even close in those conditions.
One thing to check is what happens if you shut it down. In standby the fan will continue to run but at it's minimum speed which I had to visually check because I could not hear it at all.
If yours continues to run at the same speed then it is not ramping down with system temp as expected.Steve
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@stephenw10 thanks for your prompt replies appreciate it. Yeah I even sent a video from my phone to support and it sounds worse in person. They seem to think it’s normal. However going by what you said and the Lawrence Systems YouTube review (influenced my decision to buy) of the SG8200 it should not be very audible unless heavily loaded. I put large spacers under it after my last message and temps dropped to 37-38C, but the fan is still pretty noisy, though not at max now. Mine was noisy from the moment it was turned on. Any ideas on altering the fan curve via command line? Don’t want to stick a Noctua NF-A12 under it like the guy above lol.
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Are folks seeing high temps on the latest generation of devices (big heat sink on the bottom) running them in a horizontal position? Basically flat on your desk, heat sink on the bottom? If so, have you tried flipping it upside down so the metal plate is facing up?
My reason for asking: Heat rises. So having the plate on the bottom, even if it's doing the right thing pulling heat away also means the heat it's trying to dissipate get conducted to the flat surface the unit is sitting on, raising the ambient temperature of the area under the unit. Makes it harder to transfer heat because you want a differential. You need to "move the heat away".
Try putting the unit upside down or better yet, vertically with the ports up. My setup I mount them vertically, there is about 1cm between the plate and the vertical surface which makes a chimney effect.
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@mer the thing is it’s not even very hot, the metal part is slightly warm at best, I did try setting it vertically but the situation is about the same as now with 2in spacers in the horizontal position. I’d have no problem if it were noisy under moderate to heavy load or I was in a very hot room but, this is idle conditions at relatively normal room temps. I will try restarting again after getting home like Stephen suggested.
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@aivxtla Ahh so the 8200 actually has a fan inside? I was not sure if folks were goofing or not. I've just been using the passively cooled devices for my home stuff.
So if it has a fan inside, is the fan pulling or pushing air relative to the inside of the unit? Looking at the pictures, the fan is on the bottom, I'm assuming it's pushing air out. If it is, see what happens if you flip it upside down, heat sink on top.Horizontal, heat sink on the bottom, fan pushing out, may still create a bubble around the unit, with very little differential so everything gets to a "nominal" temp.
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Mmm, without any reference sound to compare it with it's hard to say from that video quite how loud it is. I can say it sounds about the same as the one I have, the fan/bearing doesn't sound like it's misaligned etc.
What microcontroller code version is it running? Check the suffix shown in System > Netgate Firmware Upgrade.
It is a rackmount device though, it was never intended to be silent.Steve
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@stephenw10 said in Netgate 8200 - Thermals:
It is a rackmount device though, it was never intended to be silent.
That is actually an important point. For most people "rackmount" is off in another room, another building, with closed door and standalone power and cooling.
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Yup, but I would say for most it would also be fine as a desktop style appliance. It's quieter than my workstation. But that can be very subjective.
Steve
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Run's around 30c, 100% silent, zero warranty. (the 4 bolts are temporary legs)
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@tsmialek Bigger fan, pulling air out of the unit, bigger standoffs?
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@tsmialek is that a Noctua NFA12x15 seems thinner than the x25.
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I have it blowing in on the heat sink.
