As a new user I’m not allowed to post again in the Noisy PSU fan thread nor edit my post so I guess I’ll make a new thread.
I received the Noctua NF-A6x15 5V PWM 60 mm USB-fan and Noctua NA-FC1 PWM fan controller. I placed the fan precariously by the PSU exhaust spinning at a low constant barely audible RPM. Just before doing this the PSU fan was kicking in every 6-7 minutes for about 2 minutes at a time, but with the exterior fan in place it’s been silence for 40 minutes straight so far.
It might not be a good choice of fan though because it can’t sit flush against the case or the blades hit the PSU screws when it gets too close, but it proves that a slow constant stream of air through the PSU can solve the noise problem.
@FW4TeePee Sure, here are two pictures. It’s not pretty for sure! The fan is also too close to the case which introduces a slight whining noise by the fan because the fan is bigger than the exhaust, but at least it’s a lot quieter than the PSU fan and is constant, not coming and going every couple of minutes. If this is going to be my permanent solution I need to move the fan slightly further out and add shroud somehow as an air tunnel, that could solve the whining noise as well.
If that works, it is a great DIY solution. With a black Noctua fan, a small adapte piece to avoid turbulances and using one of the additional fan headers on the mainboard for control, this could be solution that doesn’t even stick out much.
@Jiral I agree. I’d say it works, I have been sitting next to the desktop for a couple of hours today and haven’t heard the PSU fan once since I installed my exterior fan. It’s just not very aesthetically pleasing. looks pretty janky. I’m sure it’s possible to do a better job than I did though.
If it works it works
But one could certainly do it without any cables outside. It might require some hole drilling and maybe a little bit of cutting of the backside of the case to create mounting points and a through hole for the fan cable. The cables are a lot thinner and more flexible if you remove the sleeve as well.
Sure, it would be aesthetically most pleasing if one created an add-on plate over the hole height where to integrate the fan but that point we are entering feature creep territory.
You probably don’t want any recommendations from me, with my custom passive case built around the Mainboard.
p.s. As long as you’ve demonstrated a willingness to go all out , and if there is a way to get a USB 2.0 9-pin connection internally < give up one of the external front USB connections? >, I’d suggest picking this up [ CORSAIR iCUE COMMANDER CORE XT Smart RGB Lighting and Fan Speed Controller ] so that You can electronically control it from their software or Fan Control or other similar, and the wiring outside is minimal. I ran out of fan headers on my server Mobo and am using this for three more fans I needed.
I’m sorry to report that as I’ve been using my Framework this evening and put some load on it for an hour or so the PSU fan started making noise again. It seems I have only managed to buy me some silence during idle / low load.
That’s what I would expect TBH. Under higher loads I would expect the PSU to naturally get hot and the PSU fan to kick in. My only expectation is that while idling or loads like browsing & watching videos the desktop should be absolutely silent.
But yeah - there is a big gap between idling and max load. Would be interesting what loads they tested with to still be confident enough to market the machine as “silent”.
It would be crazy if hey experienced the same issues we’re seeing now and still chose to market the machine as “noiseless”. But at the same time, it’s just as hard to imagine that they didn’t encounter these problems before starting mass production."
Of course I have zero insight into what happened, but it seems to me that they were focused on a really high tech and challenging project built around an exceptional chip, and made sure it was rock solid.
And then they missed a problem with a routine component that could have been made by a dozen companies. I’ve done a similar thing with software projects when I was a junior or even mid level developer, but we’re not wrong to expect a company like Framework to not do that. The fact that they advertised the quietness as a selling point on an expensive product (and even explicitly defined the PSU as quiet, and also advertised an RPM ramp up that seems to not be happening) is a real miss, and I really hope they make good on it.
I bought a FW 16 a few months ago, and I’ve been very happy with it. I tend to be monogamous wrt computer suppliers, and I considered myself having found a new company to be loyal to. But I have to admit my confidence has been shaken with the Desktop rollout, between the PSU issue and other quality issues reported. And it doesn’t help that their order fulfillment process is inconsistent and opaque, and that they’ve partnered with a delivery service that seems to have a black hole in the middle of it.
I canceled my Batch 13 128GB full system order, and I’m just going to wait and see what happens before I decide whether to order one after the pre-order phase or not.
Worth revisitng the schematic@sun posted regarding the curves that should be a feature of the APW9010 fan control unit. The descriptions provided by folks in these threads does not fit the schematic, but the description Frameworks provided in the Deep Dive does fit the schematic
Impossible to say for sure but, I suspect the Deep Dive was speaking to the actual design; a much more tangible thing than intentions. In other words, I suspect the production outcomes do not comply with the design. Again, tho, impossible from my ‘cheap seat’ to confirm
I still consider silence during idle a big win, after all I only heard the fan during a limited window yesterday. Still, it would be nice if we didn’t have to resort to these kinds of things on such an expensive product.
Good to hear that it really holds up at least in idle.
My impression is, that if you really want to get what Framework promissed, get the Motherboard alone, buy one of those compact SFF cases that fit an SFF ATX PSU and buy an overspecced semi-passive SFF ATX PSU (650W or 850W). If you stay below 30% of the rated power, efficiency might suffer a bit but the fan won’t even kick in at all and even if it does, a good silent SFF ATX fan is bearly audible.
You miss out on the Framework case design and the system might be maybe 7.5 instead of 4.5L but the great thing is that it would be doable at the same price point as the complete system.
That is my recommendation for anyone not having payed for the system. If you have it already, well, you might still consider doing it, if the noise is bothering you. Maybe you can sell the case with original PSU on the second hand market.
I share the noise concerns as I suppose most of us do. It would be great to have a side-by-side comparison of all desktop offerings using Strix Halo, with noise level measurements in different modes (idle, max load).
My feeling is that FD is the quietest of them (at least when idling, and averaging over a 10-minute window), but I haven’t seen any tests go into this deeply for any competing product. Also, if in 5 minutes 4 minutes is complete silence but 1 minute is filled with high-pitched noise, it might be better to have a constant low noise instead…
Unless the water cooled system from Thermaltake materialises ever, the Famework Desktop Mainboard is the only Strix Halo system on the market with a Desktop style heat sink with an axial fan. That should make it very much the most silent one of them all and the reviews I have seen confirm that. If you are looking for data, have a look at Notebookcheck.com they have tested the Framework Desktop and some competitors.
The PSU is a real pity and design flaw from the noise perspective but it is one that can be easily avoided by just buying the Mainboard. The thing is, that Flex ATX PSU just aren’t a good choice for silent operations in general, let alone one with poor idle efficiency.
I’m sure it’s possible to do a better job than I did though.
, and if there is a way to get a USB 2.0 9-pin connection internally < give up one of the external front USB connections? >, I’d suggest picking this up [