I am excited to let you know that the Noctua fans are now available on our store. Using Noctua fans can significantly reduce the noise level of your HL15.You can upgrade the unit with Noctua while purchasing a HL15 or you can purchase a Noctua fan kit to retrofit your HL15.
Are there any official instructions provided with the kit? If so, can they be posted here? What I am interested in is; the fan hub requires SATA power, is that correct? Where does that come from, unplugging one of the SATA/PATA connectors on the PSU?
This fan thing was one of the issues preventing me ordering a second unit, and I’d be interested to know how it is being installed in new builds with this option in regards to the custom PDU cables, etc.
@Vikram-45HomeLabs The checkout seems messed up on this. I just tried to checkout, and it kicked me back saying nothing was in my cart. So I tried again from my desktop and it again kicked me back to the payment page. However, then I got two order confirmation emails.
Are there any official instructions provided with the kit? If so, can they be posted here?
Yes, we have an official document, but unfortunately, I will not be able to post it here, as it is a large file. But I can send you an email with the file.
What I am interested in is; the fan hub requires SATA power, is that correct? Where does that come from, unplugging one of the SATA/PATA connectors on the PSU?
The fan hub can be power with 4-pin power input or SATA power input. We are using the 4-pin power input.
This fan thing was one of the issues preventing me ordering a second unit, and I’d be interested to know how it is being installed in new builds with this option in regards to the custom PDU cables, etc
The Noctua kit upgrade and new builds are being built the same currently, The guide we made will help you replace the existing fans in your unit and give you a clear understanding of the wiring.
Please feel free to send me an email at info@45homelab.com if you have any further questions and i will get back to you as soon as possible.
So I see this page have a graphic with this kit, and the data about CFM seems to conflict with the old Fan data posted here. The Noctura shouldn’t be higher CFM unless the old fans were swapped to something else since HL-15 release. The CFM on the Noctuas listed came out as 60cfm on the conversion, so did i math wrong? is the chart wrong? if the fan post listing for the stock fans wrong?
Are you comparing the fans in the quote you used? If so you are looking at two different Noctua fans. The fans in the image you posted are the NF-A12x25 PWM whereas the data from your quote from what I said is pulling data from the NF-F12 iPPC-2000 3-pin fans. SO the data data would be different because of the different fans.
All the data on my spreadsheet is still up-to-date even though this post is older. All the data on that spreadsheet is pulled directly from the Noctua spec pages. I have notes on it as well to make sure that the data I used in that spreadsheet is recorded with the assumption that no L.N.A. from Noctua is being used.
My final note is that without the direct source to that graph you shared I don’t know how they were testing that fan. The chart does not say what the testing environment was so this is pretty much comparing apples to oranges.
The issue is in your spread sheet the Noctuas in Vikrams’s link are 60CFM, but in vikrams link and the image i included, they are claiming to be higher CFM than the Cooler Guys ones our HL-15 came with. I think they have the CFM swapped in that review that is being shared.
My final note is that without the direct source to that graph you shared I don’t know how they were testing that fan.
the image source for the image i posted is the first post in this thread that Vikram posted. It doesnt appear to say “how” they tested, only that
One of the more technically exciting side effects of the Noctua upgrade is the improved airflow. Noctua and 45Drives measured 101.7 mÂł/h with the stock fans and 121.6 mÂł/h with the Noctua fans, close to a 20% increase.
Which to me is confusing since the fan part numbers are showing the CoolerGuys having more CFM than the Notcuas.
I do think the intent was the chart is based on a real-lab test at the specific RPMs and with the spacers in place as annotated in the footnotes, so the numbers on the chart won’t match exactly to any single fan’s ideal condition spec sheet. But still it’s hard to reconcile that chart with the respective fan specs.
@Vikram-45HomeLabs This is an appreciated offering, but if you need to provide cheap fans with the default build, why not use these CG PWM fans instead of their VDC fans?
Some people are putting the HL15 where they need the absolute quietest possible cooling, but others just would like basic PWM fans that are compatible with the X11SPH. They don’t have to be fancy, they just need to ramp up and down as needed and not run at max rpm 24x7.
Personally, I don’t have the X11SPH, but I do have a mobo that can drive the CG OEM fans with 3-pin VDC. All I needed to do to quiet my unit down acceptably was just plug the stock CG fans into my mobo that supports 3-pin fans. I didn’t need to swap CG for Noctua or Arctic or whatever. A lot of the issue isn’t the brand, it’s the 2-pin wiring of non-PWM fans that can’t be used with a PWM-only motherboard.
I pulled the trigger. I bought some fan speed reduction cables which are doing the trick but I woud rather have the certified (well cerified-ish) solution from 45Drives… It’s a pretty fair deal for the bundle and what’s another three hundo on ur $8-9k NAS?? LOL… Ill film the kit and install and post on my channel…
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, I have escalated this to our team and we will get back to everyone here as soon as we hear back from our team.
@makyz I will send you the installation guide to your email ASAP.
This is great news! Thanks for listening to community feedback, both about the fans and the PCI-E slot punch-outs.
I do have a question for you: if I select the Noctua fans when ordering a new HL15, does that come with the complete fan kit (6x fans, fan hub, fan controller, spacers) or is it just the fans themselves? I noticed the retrofit kit is a different price than the upgrade and just wanted to check if there was a difference between the selections or if you’re offering a discount for the new purchase vs retrofit kit.
Thank you for reaching out. I’m pleased to inform you that new HL15 purchases do indeed come with the complete fan kit when the Noctua fan upgrade is selected.
When a new HL15 is purchased, the Dynatron fans are included. When the kit is purchased as an upgrade, they are not. Hence the reason for the price difference.
I would love to let our community know that we have posted the Noctua Installation Guide on our website for everyone to download if needed.
I appreciate your feedback and I have submitted a request to our team to make a installation video, and I will get back to you as soon as I hear back from them.
