Netgate 6100 temps

whoffmans

Hi,

My Netgate 6100 Max CPU temps are slowly increasing over time. In 3 months from around 40 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees celsius.
The utilization graphs (user util, system util, processes) do not show an increase, so there is no load increase that explains the temp rise.
Could be due to increase in ambient temp due to summer, but I doubt it.

Anyone else see this?
PS: I have my device standing upright on its side so that the heatsink is exposed to airflow.
Thanks,
Werner

mer

You say "exposed to airflow", but do you actually have airflow?
What happens if you put a small fan actually blowing air across/on it?

"upright on it's side" with the ethernet port facing up?
Looking at the manual for the 6100, there is a picture of it being wall mounted; that should be the preferred orientation.

I would try just a small fan blowing air across it. Sometimes you just need a little air movement for the heatsink to do it's job.

whoffmans

@mer
I meant self-induced natural airflow (convection) due to hot air rising and cooler air taking its place. Of course if I would add a fan that will improve the heat transfer and as a result the CPU temp will reduce. But my point was not that I think the temps are too high, but rather that I noticed that they have been increasing steadily over the past 3 months.

Upright on its side means that the ethernet ports are facing sideways. But more importantly, the heatsink is exposed. If I would mount it aganst the wall or place it flat on its feed, the heatsink is blocked and I noticed that that raisis the temperature.

Rgds,
Werner

mer

@whoffmans I don't have a 6100, but the ambient temp where yours is, has it gone up? I'm looking at the chart, looks roughly 5C more on 1 Aug than 3 May. I know here in US we've had our warm season with temps between 30C and 40C, so my office temp has gone up enough for me to turn on AC.

That's all part of why I asked about airflow; I'm assuming you're in Europe somewhere, it looks like it's been warmer than typical, so if your office has increased in ambient, then it is likely that your temp increase on the 6100 is a result of that.

It would be an interesting experiement if a small fan, not blowing directly on it, but rather near it to circulate the air would make a difference.

stephenw10

Mmm, temperature rises over that time span pretty much have to be ambient change. Unless it's dust buildup or something similar. Either way those values look well within the expected range.

Steve

serbus

Hello!

Not sure if the passive heat spreader design in the 6100 is similar to the one in the 3100, but you can check this out :

sg3100

My experience with the 3100's is that various orientation changes and fan additions wont change the reported temp significantly. On-die sensor?

John

rcoleman-netgate

@serbus said in Netgate 6100 temps:

Not sure if the passive heat spreader design in the 6100 is similar to the one in the 3100, but you can check this out :

Definitely not... the heat dispersion on the 6100 (and 4100) is the entire bottom of the system... the 2100/3100 have chunks of aluminum, but not nearly as substantial as the 4100 and 6100s.

saf2030

Okay, so I finally got my 6100 set up with all the VLANs and other configurations I want to do and have time for now. Very happy with the performance except the one issue was it was running a bit hot. In October, near Eugene, Oregon, it is not hot, and the downstairs stays relatively cool, but the Netgate was registering around 55C, which I did not care for as it needs to last. So, for the background, I had an extra NF-A Noctua fan lying around from a previous server build. I also have been using the very inexpensive Walmart 4-tier shelf for some time for the network gear rack, which from bottom to top, is UPS, cable modem, 8P switch, and 6100. So, I came up with a solution (not perfectly cut, don't have the best tools). I cut a hole in the top particle board shelf, mounted the fan with air blowing upward, and got a $7.00 110v to 12v power wall-wart on Amazon to power the fan. Added some feet from Wally world as well. I was surprised by how well this works, and it's very little fan noise, like very very quite, like the wife does not even notice it, and she hears everything. Went from a range of 53-55C down to a range of 26-28 C.

6100 Dashboard.png

keyser

@saf2030 Very nice setup. But notice that the temperature reported by the 6100 are the CPU core temperature.
50C is not only normal, but far from warning territory. It is in no way a problem for these CPU’s. They can handle 70C sustained without issue, and only thermal throttle themselves when they start hitting 90’ies.
Intel’s ARK specs for the processort says the MAX temperature at the integrated heatspreader is 83C - yours is far less than 50C if thats what your processor core temperature reports. (Likely your temp at the heatspreader are at 30 - 35C)

MarinSNB

@saf2030 What is the Netgate product that you have mounted on the wall?

rcoleman-netgate

@marinsnb It's not a Netgate product. It's a wireless AP from a 3rd party with one of the stickers that comes in the Netgate packaging placed on its logo.

MarinSNB

@rcoleman-netgate thanks for clarifying!

saf2030

@marinsnb Thanks all, and yes he is right its a sticker and I thought it would look cool that’s all...lol (It is a Netgear 802.11ax 6EAP and with the orientation the writing winds up upside down so keeping the sticker in place:)
I found another widget to use called Thermal Sensors so included it. So that is my $24 solution (FAN and power supply) and it works great, been running now for 24hours and still keeping temps low...

MarinSNB

@saf2030 looks cool indeed. I completely forgot that my 6100 came with few of those stickers.

Evilski

I've invested some money in https://allegro.pl/oferta/cooler-master-chlodzaca-notepal-cmc3-do-15-czarna-13685545513 - this device cooled my 6100 MAX from 55-56C to 36-37C.