[mythtv-users] Questions about new hardware purchase

[Jonathan Rogers]

On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 2:08 PM, Billy Macdonald
<billymacdonald at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 10:14 AM, Fred Firestine <ffluvssg1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>  > Hi everyone,
>  >
>  >  I am purchasing a replacement for my frontend/backend system. I would
>  >  appreciate if you could take a quick read and see if there are any
>  >  potential problems (and/or workarounds you can offer).
>  >
>  >  It is a Dell PowerEdge SC440 server:
>  >
>  >  http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/pedge_sc440?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
>  >
>  >  Fred
>
>  I see a bunch of others already warned you of the downfalls, and
>  therefore you've canceled your order.  One more thing I wanted to
>  point out for anyone else that may be interested.  Anything sold as a
>  "server" is likely going to be LOUD.  Fans roaring and making a ton of
>  noise.  That's been the case on every server I've seen.  Loud fans
>  aren't ideal for the MythTV croud.  Just a thought.

I've found that fan size is the one of the biggest factors in overall
system noisiness. That's very noticeable in PSUs and CPU coolers
especially. I used to use the cheapest PSUs I could find, which
typically have about 80mm fans running at a constant speed. However,
now I use several better quality ones with 120mm fans the speed of
which is adjusted automatically to maintain a maximum temperature.
I've never heard one of those fans, since they never need to turn very
fast.

The same principle applies to CPU coolers and case fans: get the
biggest fans you can and spin them as slowly as possible to maintain
the desired maximum temperature. My Athlon64 CPUs seem to generate
heat mostly as a function of clock speed, so I always use the ondemand
CPU frequency scaler and I never hear their fans when the CPU isn't
loaded. OTOH, I have a Via C3 CPU which probably uses much less power
than the Athlon64s, but it's extremely noisy because it came with a
tiny heat sink and tiny fan that needs to spin fast to maintain
temperature.
-- 
Jonathan Rogers