So I got a DP832 and was irritated at the fan noise
. Woo, joined the club.
I tried to replace the fan with a Noctua NF-A8, which is nice and quiet, but I'm not sure it really can move enough air.
Stock
ME80251V1-000U-A99
3200RPM
33.0 dBA
69m^3/hr
44.8 Pa
Replacement Attempt
Noctua NF-A8
2200 RPM
17.7dBA
23.24 Pa
55.5m^3/hr
The stock fan will keep the DP832 @ ~70degC with all outputs shorted at 3A, which is what I figured was the worst condition heat production wise (silver lining, it looks like they actually specified a correct fan for the thermal load! yay!). It also took a long time to climb from 65-70. The Noctua fan very quickly (maybe 10 min) jumped to 70degC and didn't look like it was really slowing down. I'd like to match the original thermal specs / not need to derate my usage of the power supply, but also really don't want to program with the thing next to me with the stock fan. The NF-A8 is "fine" at common usage of 5V 100mA, but I'm going to forget and try to use it to find resistance of some contacts (ie, high current into a short) or something one of these days. I'd rather it stay cooler.
So I'm a bit worried that the NF-A8 isn't really enough, and I'll kill the DP832 early from heat. I'm wondering if it is a back pressure issue, and I need a higher static pressure fan to suck air from the sides.
I've also thought about getting 3 NF-A8s, and using two as inlet fans. Probably need to seal/duct them for it to do much, and given their lack of static pressure I'm not sure how well it would work.
So different idea, use a giant high static pressure fan on the outside, with a duct, and run it slower than normal speed and hope it is quieter for a given air flow.
OD1232-24HB 120mm fan
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/OD1232-24HB/1053-1138-ND/2621043104.6Pa
201.6m^3/hr
120mm - 80mm fan duct adapter, mounted on the outside of the case
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C7IQ1O/I should probably do some hand calcs for the nozzle area / back pressure / flow rate to get an idea of what I need. I don't really want this to turn into a software or hw project, but could consider putting some temperature sensors on the main internal heatsinks and doing a little fan controller.
Just not sure if a large/high pressure fan will be quiet when run slower than nominal. That OD1232 fan is like 50dB at full speed, but i might be happy at 1/3 capacity, and if noise is also 1/3 it might be quieter than the stock sunon fan for the same flow rate.
How crazy does this sound?