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Here you have the working link:
Thanks @JoRo . There seems to be a max length and the linked exceeded it by two characters. Anyway, updated now.
I ended up switching the fan of the PSU to a Noctua A4-10
No particular issue, it fits well and I didn’t have to butcher the PSU enclosure, there’s just a longer cable.
However I don’t really know if this is working, so I probably wouldn’t recommend doing this unless you know exactly what you are doing. I can’t hear the PSU fan anymore but I don’t really have a way to monitor how much the fan is spinning (if it is spinning at all) or if the PSU is overheating. It doesn’t seem worse than before when I touch it and the computer is working fine even under load. If I have some time I’ll try removing the PSU air duct to see if I can watch the fan spinning or something.
Again, I did this because I thought it’d be a fun solution and I’m fine with replacing my PSU if I ended up breaking it, I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone.
I followed this guide: https://youtu.be/YhFbd5NMGz4
Nice job ! ![]()
Was just thinking of doing something similar.
I notice on your picture there seems to be a little free space (depth) just behind your fan = do you think a thicker fan like the NF-A4x20 could fit ?
Also, I haven’t tried yet, but if you need a replacement PSU for the Framework Desktop case and need something a little more powerful, with a lot more power headers (eg. PCIe power connector), the FSP FlexGURU Pro 500W/650W (https://www.fsplifestyle.com/en/product/FLEXGURUPRO650W.html) should do the trick.
It’s pretty much the PSU on which the factory one based off, so the air duct, mount bracket, should fit perfectly on it.
For the fan, a post above did mention the A4x20 but said it didn’t fit well, which is why I picked the thinner A4x10
I should add that since my post I’ve tested that the fan does spin when connected to a 5V power source so I didn’t f up my wiring with the Scotchlok connectors. I’ve removed the air duct to be able to actually watch the fan and see if it spin or not and I have yet to see it spinning. So yeah. Either I somehow broke the fan connector of the PSU - but I assume I’d have way more PSU overheating issues under load than what I see right now, or it spins silently when I don’t see it. Or the front fan that I have added at the same time provides more airflow and cools down the case interior enough. I don’t know. At this point I don’t think I’ll tinker more with this PSU, either Framework comes up with a better PSU or I’ll end up replacing it completely by something like the FSP you mentioned at some point. Thanks for the tip!
UPDATE: after a bunch of stress tests and looking closely with the air duct off, the PSU fan does spin! it’s just completely silent. So yay! I didn’t break my PSU. Maybe I’ll put the air duct back at some point (I’m kind of dreading the idea of tearing apart this computer a FOURTH TIME for this but I guess I’ve had it coming)
Great job on confirming!
Is the fan PWM? I’m not familiar with how the connections work, but can you redirect the RPM sense line to one of the internal fan headers so you can monitor the fan speed while still allowing the PSU to control the speed directly?
I was actually taking the computer apart to make a hole for the Oculink cable, so I decided to snap a photo. If anyone wants to know what an NF-A4x20 looks like when it doesn’t fit — but how quiet it is instead.
I think PaulM did it better.
Well, I’ve finally gotten my new Framework Desktop setup and… this is by far the most annoying fan sound I’ve ever encountered. I figured it’d be a mild “whoosh” once in a while but it’s a full on bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
@PaulM & @JavaDev_Piotr_Sachar thank you so much for sharing your mods.
Do I understand correctly that the NF-A4x10 fits perfectly as a drop-in replacement (plus the 3-pin to 2-pin cable adaptation from the video)?
One additional question though. I could find three different versions of the FN-A4x10:
Is it correct that it’s the 5V (3-pin) version and not the PWM (4-pin) versions? 90+% sure it is, but just to make sure I order the right one and don’t destroy anything.
That definitely sounds doable and is a great fix! At least until we hear anything from FW and hopefully a completely revamped PSU.
Edit: Not sure if I’ll really take the plunge. Framework website says the PSU has a Delta AFB0412SHBYQB fan. Could only find the Delta AFB0412SHB which is 12V. Does this mean the PSU supports 5-12V for the fan? @PaulM you did use the original PSU socket as power source, correct? Or did you get 5V from somewhere else?
Also a bit hesitant because the deep dive blog post from FW states that the Noctua fans did not provide enough air pressure in their tests. But I so want to believe in this solution. The constant noise is unbearable.
I just replaced mine with an NF-A4x10 FLX like @PaulM did (following the video he posted).
@PaulM your fan is backwards, from what I can tell. It should be an intake, exhausting air out the back of the PSU.
@wolfie you want the NF-A4x10 FLX. It’s 12V, 3 pins, and comes with a kit to splice it into any 2-pin connector. My existing fan was an AFB0412SHB, per your findings.
Disclaimer: don’t do this mod unless you’re comfortable losing everything, including your house. I only did it because the sound set my teeth on edge.
I used the 12V PWM variant. No idea if it’s the best, @Stebalien used the FLX one and he seemed to do a better job overall than me. I think both the FLX and PWM variants are 12V and as far as I can tell they both come with the same adapter for 2 pins connectors.
@Stebalien I absolutely did put it backwards because I’m not very good at thinking it seems.
I had my doubts about it but couldn’t remember how the stock fan was oriented and ended up putting my fan in the same orientation as the dude in the video we both used. Except that in the video he puts the fan on the back of the PSU for exhaust, whereas on the Framework it’s on the front where intakes makes more sense.
My plan is to tear down the PC for the hundredth time to put the PSU air duct back, so I’ll probably switch the fan orientation then and maybe 3D print a small cover for the gap between the fan and the PSU cover (or use tape as well)
I used the 12V PWM variant. No idea if it’s the best, @Stebalien used the FLX one and he seemed to do a better job overall than me. I think both the FLX and PWM variants are 12V and as far as I can tell they both come with the same adapter for 2 pins connectors.
Looking on Amazon, there’s a 5V NF-A4x10 PWM as well. So be careful not to use that one.
I chose the FLX one because that’s what they used in your video (IIRC) and I don’t actually have any idea what I’m doing here… A quick search indicates that a PWM fan will work just fine, it’ll just always run at max speed.
Got it ![]()
Just ordered mine. I’ll be extra careful and make sure to not touch any dangerous part inside the PSU as well. Have a lot of respect for those capacitors. Will wear rubber gloves when opening up the PSU.
Can’t stand the noise of the device. I have to do something. Hope there was more info from Framework already or an actual solution provided by them.
I experienced the same issue with the APU fan - even when in idle, the APU fan kicks in every three minutes and stays on for a minute and a half. It started kicking in after about one hour of being silent (while the PC is idling or mostly idling). I reported the problem to the Framework Support. After back and forth, ten emails and two months passed (I provided temperatures and problem description, then I was asked to upgrade the BIOS, then to send a video of the noisy fan, then to do the BIOS reset), I was finally granted a replacement. The new fan just arrived, I spent an hour replacing it.
I started my measurements - on one hour uptime, the new APU fan started kicking in. Not as terribly loud coil whine as before, but it’s still there. No silent operation as advertised ![]()
I just did the Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX (12V) mod
My machine has now 3 Noctua fans:
Bios:
After half an hour use it seems the Wifi module (~49°C when enabled) and one of the two NVMEs (~42 - 45°C) get the hottest. Not sure if Wifi Temperatur drops if I disable Wifi and Bluetooth, since I normally just use Eth1 and no Wifi/Bluetooth.
One other light “mod”: my machine is on a tiny wooden frame “pedestal” (1cm x 2cm wood conneced to a frame). This is to have some distance between my wooden table surface and the PC. Without it the PSU seemed to get hotter more quickly in the past. Just touched the underside of the PC and it is much cooler than it was previously after 1 hour of use. I think the fan works nicely and the pedestal can’t hurt either.
Most nerve-wrecking moment of the install was the PSU mod itself since the inside of the stock PSU looks differently than the video that was shared. The ifixit guide for the PSU swap is great and easy to follow. Main difficulty is to unplug the CPU power cable with fat fingers.
The PSU fan cable is not routed through the PSU but connected in proximity from where the fan itself is. Unscrewing the PSU fan and softly janking the blue/red cable pair was different to the video, but worked without a problem. I had to cut the cable and use parts of the included cable kit + the Noctua screws which are a bit girthier. I also used electrical tape to close the gaps since the fan is a bit thinner than the stock fan. Otherwise it fits nicely. I taped the excess cable(s) on top of the PSU chassis which does not interfere with any other components.
I now too have the problem that I have no idea if the PSU fan even runs ![]()
Would not recommend the mod to everybody. If you don’t mind the PSU fan don’t bother. I only did it because the PSU noise was driving me crazy. I would have much preferred an official Framework fix.
Quite confident there will be one available with time. Still hope that they’ll just redesign the PSU professionally and that it’s available hopefully soon. Will definitely swap mine back out once an official fix is available.
Edit:
Switched to 20% min CPU fan and 10% min chassis fan with mainboard memory @ 55°C as temperature indicator. Temperature seems to creep up much slower with higher min fan speed - while still being barely audible to my ears at those settings. Decided to switch to mainboard memory as indicator as it was consistently the highest temperature of all three yesterday. Never kicked in as I never reached the previous 60°C. Might hit the threshold during the day though.
Currently an external 5TB Western Digital HDD for my monthly 2nd storage device backup is louder than my PC.
Edit2:
Published a summary on my website and will keep track of further changes there: https://wolfgang.lol/framework/framework-desktop-mods/
My understanding is the 12V fans have higher starting voltage that FlexATX PSUs won’t be able to drive. Because of this, people usually replace it with 5V Noctua fans. So the 12V one worked?
I went with this recommendation:
The original Delta AFB0412SHB that’s in the PSU is also 12V
Update, with my kids at school and silent background at home. The APU noise is almost as terrible as it was before ![]()
You really talking about the 120mm main fan for the CPU/APU or the tiny 40mm fan of the power supply?
That’s so interesting - I think you are the first in this thread (if I did not miss anybody). Everyone else has this issue with the PSU.
What temperatures are you reading internally? After 3 hours of use today (mostly light browsing & watching videos) the WIFI module is the hottest (+55°C), everything else well below 50°C. Even without my mods I don’t think I had any temperature read more than 60°C when not under very high load.
Would be interesting if your CPU gets hot to cause the main fan spinning up? Have you tried keeping it at a min speed of 20 or 30% in the bios? That might help or at least increase the interval and reduce spin-up time (that helps me with the PSU fan too).