Looking to build a QUIET rackmount workstation. Suggestions?

J

jmroberts70

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 15, 2002
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2,953
I've been very happy with my Dell Precision 690 for many years now but I think it's time for me to go back to building my own rigs from scratch. I want to go to an all-rackmount setup this time but my problem is that most rackmount systems aren't very concerned about noise. This machine will be sitting next to me on my desk and I'd like to be sure it will run very quietly (unlike my Precision now). So naturally I'm thinking that all my case fans should be 120mm but that's about it. Has anyone else here already pulled this off or has any case suggestions for me?

Thx in advance everyone!
 
I have a not terribly loud antec 4U steel case that Im quite certain could be much quieter if I wanted it to be - that might be the place to start looking. Anything under 2U will be virtually impossible to silence.
 
First thing is to replace any stock chassis fans with good quality fairly silent fans. I've done many 4u builds from scratch, the stock fans are usually crap. Although inconvenient I also like to go with either a flip up cover/filter or a similar bezel. Also, stay away from bundled power supplies, get something good, and quiet. I have yet to find a redundant psu that wasn't noisy.
 
Yeah, anything stock (fans, PSU) in a 4U chassis is generally not designed for quiet operation, even if the chassis comes with high quality stuff as seen at the higher price points.

Racks also tend to make vibration more of an issue as everything is tightly coupled. I would recommend mounting fans with neoprene/rubber grommets/washers/"screws", etc..
 
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