Hi Guys,
For my VMware home lab, I am building a 3U server using the iStar D Storm D-300 3U Rackmount Server Chassis D-300. I am looking for a quiet CPU cooler for an AMD EPYC 7401P that I can use with my Asrock Rack Server Motherboard EPYCD8-2T.
Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with a cooler? Extra points go to someone that suggests a quiet 2U option. 
What sort of quiet do you need? Bedroom/office quiet? Or “there’s not a jet engine in the garage” quiet?
What’s your maximum clearance for the 3U case?
I am assuming 48dBa at full tilt is too much?
Up to 280w heat dissipation
Air Flow
At Duty Cycle 20%: 8.85 CFM
At Duty Cycle 50%: 21.88 CFM
At Duty Cycle 100%: 43.75 CFM
Noise Level
At Duty Cycle 20%: 18 dBA
At Duty Cycle 50%: 37.9 dBA
At Duty Cycle 100%: 53 dBA
… not noctua quiet, but noctua’s smaller SP3 cooler is 125mm …
Hi Gents,
My apologies for not responding earlier. I didn’t receive email notifications that there had been replies (something I need to do on my side, I’m sure).
I think I am going to purchase the A26 Dynatron and the NH-U9 TR4-SP3. I really wanted a go with a 3U chassis but decided to repurpose a 4U I have here in the office. If the Dynatron ends up being quite enough, I will purchase the 3U chassis at a later date.
So that you understand the reasoning, I am planning on building a 3-node home lab VMware cluster. Instead of buying everything now and risking getting everything either “completely right” or “completely wrong”, I figured I would start with a single server and if I’m happy with the build, replicate it two more times. So, if the Dynatron is quite enough, I will purchase 3x iStar D Storm D-300 3U all at the same time.
If I’m not happy with the Dynatron, I will just use the Noctua and go all 4U.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I’m happy to hear criticism of any of the decisions I’ve made. The way I see it, you’re all probably more knowledgable so I’m always happy to have feedback.
Water cooling is an option too. I am building a 3U with a 360mm x 120mm x 60mm rad because there are really not enough good low profile options for AM4.
Have you looked at Noctuas sTR4/SP3 3U Heatsink? [Dual fan - 6Pipe HS]
… It’ll look something, like this, when installed
Note Noctua’s standard TR4 options are all rotated 90° to typical EPYC board airflow, especially in rack chassis — they tend to fit Threadripper boards or certain tower configurations better. (I have seen one report of a person managing to get the correct orientation out of a Noctua option though.)
Arctic has a SP3 cooler with correct orientation, but it does require 152mm clearance, which not all 4U chassis have. There’s a thread here about that.
For 3U, Dynatron also has the A35 with an 80mm fan (instead of 60mm on the A26), but again you’ll have to verify 110mm clearance with the specific chassis choice.
Do you already have the 3U server chassis, or are you still in the planning stage?
Have not purchase the chassis yet. No.
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