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Topic: BFL ASIC Firmware & Hardware, Understanding & Optimization (Read 15647 times)

full member
Activity: 125
Merit: 100
Ended up replacing my fans with:
VORTEX CF-V12S
70 CFM and 17.7 dB each.

Removed the side panels because they block the airflow like hell, whoever designed them should be fired.

Temps is now 68-70C and sound is manageable. Can sit on skype and play computer games in the same room without anyone complaining.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1012
Beyond Imagination
Replaced with GT 1850 on both end, much lower noise, temp down to 58c. But the mod that remove the 92MM fan and add a forced airflow channel does not work for me, temp went over 70c in a couple of minutes. Changing the 92MM fan to face downwards also does not work, that reduced the overall airflow speed through the box, thus raise the temp eventually, seems the pull configuration is there to improve the overall airflow
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
Getting new fans for the Single tomorrow. But, what cfm value should I atleast have on my new fans?

Anyone know what cfm the original fans have? (cfm = airflow).
And also, do I need to have PWM fans?

I am running the 60GH/s devices naked, with 92mm Noctua NF-B9 fans.
I have Honywell HY900E fans blowing the heat away on fan level 1
The acoustics are 42db for 3 miners  Smiley
My temperatures are between 65 and 77

I have a feeling that the Noctua's I have have have a lower airflow than the BFL fans. I cannot measure this, and the BFL fans have no markings on it.

Good luck
full member
Activity: 125
Merit: 100
Getting new fans for the Single tomorrow. But, what cfm value should I atleast have on my new fans?

Anyone know what cfm the original fans have? (cfm = airflow).
And also, do I need to have PWM fans?
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
Nice to see a thread about the Bitforce SC Noise

Once the 4 Bitforce SC 60 GH/s devices were set up I was in shock, I was expecting something just a bit quiter considering the original spec of one fan.
Most people bought these to run at home, not in a data center where they belong.

When I searched no water cooling solution.. aagh!
Running out of time before my second order shipped, I converted my second delivery slot because the insane noise 4 these devices make, I could not risk doubling the noise in my middle flat fearing the noise violation police running 4 more miners.
I now am on the waiting list for a year hosting of 500GH/s, hope I get ROI.

Now to solutions.
I read a post here to reduce the loud acoustic level, what do you guys think?
I am thinking that they offer a quieter SC than the modified end panels.
http://www.ewal.net/2013/08/15/bitcoin-mining-update-butterfly-labs-sc-singles/

I have also seen prototypes of the Waterblock, and modified end panels which offer 10db noise reduction which could help a lot.

Z80
full member
Activity: 280
Merit: 136
@BTC-engineer:

Quote
I will look for acceptable, fan replacements which are not so noisy in the next days and will let you know.

Have you found a acceptable fan-replacement?

(oder hab ich das hier irgendwie überlesen... mein englisch ist nicht so lecker..) :-)

Gruss Z80

hero member
Activity: 651
Merit: 500
Other than the plates, did anyone made any other mods that significantly reduced  the noise? What would be the quitest fans out there and is it even worth replacing them?
I would expect to at least half the DB, otherwise i'll just need to find a storage room to place it.

This thing is impossible to be kept in a room where people try to do something, it's like a jet fighter Smiley

I did here: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bfl-single-air-flow-286326
full member
Activity: 141
Merit: 100
Pick a Noctua fan, which is claimed to last about 160,000 hours (who knows, maybe it's handy to have a working, second-hand fan at hand in 2029 ;-), it hardly makes any sound and you can mod your miner to stand in a vertical position (putting the fan horizontal) for even more efficient cooling.

And oh, btw, they're ugly pinkish with brownisch details. Imho still better than any led decorated fan...
full member
Activity: 136
Merit: 100
Other than the plates, did anyone made any other mods that significantly reduced  the noise? What would be the quitest fans out there and is it even worth replacing them?
I would expect to at least half the DB, otherwise i'll just need to find a storage room to place it.

This thing is impossible to be kept in a room where people try to do something, it's like a jet fighter Smiley
newbie
Activity: 2
Merit: 0
I just wanted to comment on the fan plate set that I received from Germany yesterday.  First of all, I was pleasantly surprised to receive it in only 12 days considering it was shipped from Germany to Canada.  It was super-easy to install onto my Little Single -- only had about 5-10 minutes of downtime to remove the old fan plates and install the new ones.

I wanted some quantitative measurements of the impact the plates had, so I made some before and after measurements.  Sound level was recorded using a Radio Shack 33-2050 sound level meter (analog), set to "A" weight and slow response, facing the intake of the LS and spaced 20cm away from the unit.  The ambient room temperature is 21.4C.

Before:
  Sound Level: 74dB
  Temperature: 68C

After:
  Sound Level: 67dB
  Temperature: 61C

Not bad for such a simple modification!  I wasn't expecting a miracle - I mean, these units are LOUD and there's no getting around it.  Now it's slightly less loud (but still loud).  That's mainly why I keep it down in the nice cool basement - so nobody can hear it.  I'm guessing that replacing the fans with quieter models would help, too - but the more I mod this thing, the less ROI there will be to be had (and having only received it on Sept. 2, it's days are already numbered).

Anyways, just wanted to thank you for making these plates available and even if it's not making my hashrate go higher, at least it's running the unit at a cooler temperature which should help its longevity (or perhaps give more headroom for overclocking, if it ever becomes possible for lay-people).
hero member
Activity: 563
Merit: 500

@BFL-engineer:  any progress on finding replacement fans that run quieter without compromising the airflow?


I think you mean @BTC-Engineer, but yes, I was just about to ask this same question Smiley 

I do indeed.  Now fixed in the original post.
newbie
Activity: 40
Merit: 0

@BFL-engineer:  any progress on finding replacement fans that run quieter without compromising the airflow?


I think you mean @BTC-Engineer, but yes, I was just about to ask this same question Smiley 
hero member
Activity: 563
Merit: 500
I'm happy to announce that my friend is producing  this improved FAN PLATES and he is selling them on www.bitmit.net.
 
His account name is wowo and I can confirm that wowe is the official manufacture of my fan plate design.
Look on bitmit for 'FAN PLATE SET for BFL SINGLE'S'. I'm sure you will find it there.

Just to say I bought a set of the fan plates on bitmit and am pleased with them.  Apart from looking better, they do reduce the noise from the airflow.

But don't expect too much of an overall noise reduction from this mod alone.  At least on my unit, the fan motor/bearing noise is significantly louder than the airflow noise - and of course the improved fan plates won't do anything about that.

@BTC-engineer:  any progress on finding replacement fans that run quieter without compromising the airflow?

roy
hero member
Activity: 651
Merit: 500
...
It'd be nice to have a video that actually shows how much this improves the noise level and temp.
Just taking the whole cover off on my 2 reduced the temp by 5C each
It initially dropped 7C on one but levelled out at 5C for both.


temp dropped at the place where this sensor is, but what is the temp near the chip where big fan sucks air out? what is the temp underside of pcb ?
newbie
Activity: 31
Merit: 0
watching
legendary
Activity: 4592
Merit: 1851
Linux since 1997 RedHat 4
...
It'd be nice to have a video that actually shows how much this improves the noise level and temp.
Just taking the whole cover off on my 2 reduced the temp by 5C each
It initially dropped 7C on one but levelled out at 5C for both.
full member
Activity: 227
Merit: 100
Please note that the two reported temperatures from the single-sc are not everything. This values are coming from two sensors, which are somewhere between a 8-ASIC cluster and the +1V regulation for this cluster. They are not in the ASICs or inside the 8-ASIC cluster circuit nor inside the +1V regulation circuit.

Even if you may see only a small temperature increase by changing the fans or even see a decrease by changing the whole setup by e.g. opening the box or something like this, it doesn't mean that the ASIC's or any other important parts are not getting much more hot than they should. Also watch the hardware error rate carefully!

Soon I'm ready to report my results from looking for fan alternatives....
In effect, what you are saying is...the chips are actually hotter than reported. Correct?

Is that a good thing?
Not necessarily. The DC/DC supply generates a significant amount of heat as well, and doesn't have the benefit of the nice heatpiped cooler attached to it. It's possible that the temperature reported from the sensors close to the output inductor could be higher than the die temperature.
Is the next generation (Monarch) going to have a true (die level) temp sensor?
The current BFL chip has an on die temperature sensor, they just aren't using it. If I had to guess it's a cost issue; it's cheaper to toss a couple 20 cent temperature sensors on the board that it is to properly mux and read 16 temperature diodes.

It turned out that the MOSFET zone usually gets to be the hottest region on the PCB. As a result we use our temperature sensors on board for sensing temperature, otherwise the on-die temperature diode
is fairly easy to read (Just check the voltage drop across the diode and you have the temperature).


Regards,
Nasser
hero member
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
Yesterday I've received the improved version of my single fan plates from production.


Here are some pictures of my singles with the new plates. Air is now flowing much easier.







It's easy to see the difference, when you directly compare it with the standard version.


A friend of mine has made them on his professional CNC-machine based on my design.
I've ask him if he would produce and ship them in very low volume too. And he agreed.

He would even produce them for order volume ONE.
He is thinking about a kit including:
2 x Improved fan plates
2 x fan grills
8 x screws

The plate is made fully compatible to the existing one (same backside profile).

Update: He is selling the sets now on www.bitmit.net
His account name is wowo and I can confirm that he is the official manufacture of my fan plate design.
Look on bitmit for 'FAN PLATE Set for BFL SINGLE'S'. I'm sure you will find it there.


It'd be nice to have a video that actually shows how much this improves the noise level and temp.

Need an air filter... that is going suck in the dust for sure.  https://www.bitcoinstore.com/accessories/air-filters.html
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1012
Beyond Imagination
Gentle typhoon 1850 rpm 120mm fan should be able to reduce the noise dramatically while keep almost the same static pressure and air flow
member
Activity: 102
Merit: 10
Yesterday I've received the improved version of my single fan plates from production.


Here are some pictures of my singles with the new plates. Air is now flowing much easier.







It's easy to see the difference, when you directly compare it with the standard version.


A friend of mine has made them on his professional CNC-machine based on my design.
I've ask him if he would produce and ship them in very low volume too. And he agreed.

He would even produce them for order volume ONE.
He is thinking about a kit including:
2 x Improved fan plates
2 x fan grills
8 x screws

The plate is made fully compatible to the existing one (same backside profile).

Update: He is selling the sets now on www.bitmit.net
His account name is wowo and I can confirm that he is the official manufacture of my fan plate design.
Look on bitmit for 'FAN PLATE Set for BFL SINGLE'S'. I'm sure you will find it there.


It'd be nice to have a video that actually shows how much this improves the noise level and temp.
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