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Fractal Design cases

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pocock:

I ran ipmitool and I didn't see any fan speed from the built-in fan hub of the Fractal case.

I decided to try replacing one of the default 3-pin case fans with a 4-pin PWM Noctua fan

If the fan is at the rear of the case, the 30cm cable from Noctua doesn't quite reach the fan connectors on the front of the motherboard.

The fan hub has some 4-pin connectors and 3-pin connectors.  It appears that it takes the speed sensor from the first 4-pin connector and passes that back to the motherboard.  Connecting the fan to the first 4-pin connector, I was able to see the speed with ipmitool.  I tried moving it to each of the 4-pin connectors and they all report 0, it only reports the speed if it is on the first connector.

Using the fan hub in this way also solves the 30cm problem because the fan hub is at the back of the case too.

At idle, I don't believe the system is significantly quieter using the Noctua fan.  ipmitool reports that the fan is running at its slowest speed, 300 RPM.  I suspect that any noise I can hear is coming from other parts of the system and not the Noctua fan.

Overall, it is convenient being able to see the fan speed like this but maybe I could see the fan speed by using a more advanced fan hub that can monitor the 3-pin case fans.

pocock:

As discussed elsewhere, the PWM fan described here is now running at 1800 RPM.  The system is actually idle so this feels a bit odd.

It was 300 RPM when the system booted and it increased gradually over time.

From the perspective of the Fractal case, the default Fractal fans are rated for 1000 RPM.  Given a PWM fan, the system seems to prefer a lot more than 1000 RPM and that implies the default Fractal fans are not sufficient for a multi-CPU build like this.  They may still be suitable for somebody with single CPU, e.g. Talos II Lite with 4 or 8 core.

vikings.thum:
After building a number of system with Fractal Design cases I've monitored a decline in build quality, esp. in the Define 7 XL:
Some of the stand-off holes are not drilled correctly and either can't be used at all or have to be re-drilled with a screw tap.
Some of the motherboard stand-offs break off when you try screwing them in because of weak material (sometimes requires a thin drill for removal). Do not use Fractal Design stand-offs.

Side-note for assemblers who are shipping these cases: Fractal design uses cheap packaging, it's not suitable to ship workstations builds. They use hard styro which often already breaks with just the case inside, shipping with broken styro not recommended at all. Customized corrugated board with engineered foam enclosures (foam bags) are more effective and reinforce the rigidity of the outer box. Alternatively I can recommend double-boxing with the original box inside.

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