# HL15 -- Cant Decide **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** chassis, help-and-suggestions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2025, 2:53am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091 "2025-03-01T02:53:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/iownyrface/32/1906_2.png) [@iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/iownyrface)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 2:53am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/1 "2025-03-01T02:53:55Z")
I cant decide on a color - Foolish I know but weighing both options Torn Between - Black with Blank Face or White with Black Face or maybe White Standard? Anyone have any builds in the cases with the blank faces for Inspiration maybe even LED fans? The Build that would be going in will be the following Epyc 7302p with SM H12 - Noctua Cooler 256GB Ram 4xU.2 on Riser Card 5x 20TB EXOS Nvidia A4000 850Watt Corsair 1x 2TB NVME 2x10GB Nics Bonded Finally want to step it up from Rosewill cable disaster currently using a LSI 9207 as I dont have a tone of drives but thinking a 9400-16i be a better way forward Unraid user but converting array to ZFS So if anyone has any opinions on what color they chose and why and photos of there build help a lad make a choice Cheers from Nova Scotia ---
**Author:** ![DigitalGarden](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/digitalgarden/32/1785_2.png) [@DigitalGarden](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/DigitalGarden)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 5:42am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/2 "2025-03-01T05:42:25Z")
@technotim has some RGB in his 45Drives unit: > **[I Put RGB Fans in My Server and I am NOT Apologizing](https://technotim.live/posts/rgb-storinator/)** > > My Storinator server from 45Drives is great, except for 1 thing.It’s a little loud for my home.It would be fine if it were in a data center or a real network closet, however this is in my basement.I decided to swap out all the fans to make it... These ones have some RGB: > [@HL15 Small Business (And Gaming PC) In a Box](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-small-business-and-gaming-pc-in-a-box/1120): > > Here is the current state of my HL15 build that I’m using to run my small engineering firm, gaming PC and hobby projects. Hardware Specs Xeon Gold 6142 16 core 32 thread 3.6GHz 112 GB 2133 DDR4 ECC RAM AMD 6650 XT GPU Passthrough to gaming VM that replaced gaming PC nVidia GT 1030 GPU Passthrough to engineering/work VM for video output and running GIS acceleration replacing workstation 5x 8TB HDDs in RaidZ1 for simulations, documents, media 5x 2TB SSDs in RaidZ1 for VM… > [@StarfleetHQ 2.0 - Phase 1 of my HL15 build](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/starfleethq-2-0-phase-1-of-my-hl15-build/1006): > > So I received my HL15 just before Christmas and spend some of my holiday break and moved my Unraid system (StarfleetHQ…all my servers are named after ST space stations) over to the HL15 chassis. I did install some Be Quiet Light Wings high speed fans in the front and plain high speed in the back. Phase 2 will involve migrating from Unraid to either Truenas or Debian/Fedora + Cockpit or HoustonUI. I am also printing the SSD holders. This build really leaves me wanting to add a second HL15 to t… I don’t have RGB, but if I did I’d try to replicate the old IBM tape drive or fire effects: [![](https://forum.45homelab.com/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7f647935e7992e25f64a4a8e35cb0d6500360e75.jpeg "RGB PC Fan Tribute to IBM 729 Vacuum Column Tape Drives") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ARMPxb4vdE) [![](https://forum.45homelab.com/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f059df7fd90e4d9f816a77b8d9f9e676089425f5.jpeg "12-Fan Effects for PC RGB Fans - Arduino, ESP32 and FastLED") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs5oyYVYv6c) I like the original white case, but it depends on your decor. The blank faceplates seem too bland to me. Do you have any Ubiquiti equipment? The Ubiquiti folks are very insistent that everything match their silver finish, it’s kinda funny: > [@HL15 - Faceplate options](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-faceplate-options/2989): > > Hey Homelabers! We’ve been working on two new faceplates for our systems—one in stainless steel and another in aluminum—and we’d love to get your thoughts! What inspired this? We received several requests for faceplates that match Network switches, so this is a concept we created based on that feedback. We’re still prototyping, and more designs are in the works! We’d love to hear from you: Which material do you prefer—stainless steel or aluminum? We’ll be sharing more prototype… You’d also want to consider fan color if you don’t go RGB. For example the Noctua upgrade provided by 45HL (brown blades) vs black (Chromax or the basic Coolerguys fans), for example. For some, black fans in a white case triggers OCD issues. Since mine is in a closet, though, the prettiest one is the cheapest. ---
**Author:** ![iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/iownyrface/32/1906_2.png) [@iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/iownyrface)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/3 "2025-03-01T16:21:40Z")
My server lives in a Closet I have a couple fiber lines through ceiling which makes it work But would like the HL15 to be more visible as it’s nice looking ---
**Author:** ![ZarZ](https://forum.45homelab.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/8c91f0/32.png) [@ZarZ](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/ZarZ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 3:50am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/4 "2025-03-03T03:50:02Z")
Welcome to the Forums. Fancy seeing you here ---
**Author:** ![iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/iownyrface/32/1906_2.png) [@iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/iownyrface)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 4:18am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/5 "2025-03-03T04:18:00Z")
Yeah man Just can’t decide what color I want lol Or if I want to go noctua or RGB something ![1000000335](https://forum.45homelab.com/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3f305fa042f3a4dcf278cbc460e1eea8ec7b8ac2.jpeg) Likely gonna go in my media rack so White Makes the most sense I think ![1000000333](https://forum.45homelab.com/uploads/default/original/2X/1/139728d30b45c810b512bf6a05bb030eb4010226.jpeg) Ovetall media room ---
**Author:** ![DigitalGarden](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/digitalgarden/32/1785_2.png) [@DigitalGarden](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/DigitalGarden)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 5:01am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/6 "2025-03-03T05:01:47Z")
> [@iownyrface](#): > > Epyc 7302p > My server lives in a Closet. > But would like the HL15 to be more visible as it’s nice looking. > Likely gonna go in my media rack. If you are an audiophile, I doubt you want the HL15 in a media room. Even with the Noctua fans, fans and disks produce noise and vibration, especially if you are running a 16 core 155W TDP CPU. I guess your build is being transferred from the server in the closet? So I suppose you would know better then me the noise it produces, but for a media room I’d use either a mini pc connected back to a large server in the closet, or a water cooled build in a case that was designed to sound dampen the HDD noise. ---
**Author:** ![iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/iownyrface/32/1906_2.png) [@iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/iownyrface)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 11:41am UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/7 "2025-03-03T11:41:40Z")
I just wanted to make the expensive case a show piece Everything is always being considered My gaming PC and woood stove with blower are on the other side of the room Epycs actually decently cool when not being hammered that said if someone had 15 drives maybe not It’s 60db with stock and 50 with noctua ? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalGarden](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/digitalgarden/32/1785_2.png) [@DigitalGarden](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/DigitalGarden)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/8 "2025-03-03T13:18:39Z")
> [@iownyrface](#): > > It’s 60db with stock and 50 with noctua ? I don’t much trust dB measurements as there aren’t rigorous standards for measurement distance and other test conditions. 45HL tried to justify the Noctua upgrade: > **[The HL15 Homelab Server Goes Shhhhh with New Noctua Kit](https://www.storagereview.com/review/the-hl15-homelab-server-goes-shhhhh-with-new-noctua-kit)** > > 45Drives listened to the feedback regarding the excessive noise from the fans in the… But there are some questions about the test results that never got answered, particularly around CFM: > [@Exciting Update - Noctua Fan Kit Available for Purchase!](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/exciting-update-noctua-fan-kit-available-for-purchase/1478): > > Hey Everyone, 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](https://store.45homelab.com/configure/hl15) or you can purchase a [Noctua fan kit](https://store.45homelab.com/products/138) to retrofit your HL15. Here is a YouTube video explaining some of the details of our Noctua partnership - [https://youtu.be/u18ZOGh6DD4](https://youtu.be/u18ZOGh6DD4) You can also check out this article from Storage Review about the new fan upgrades - [The HL15 Ho…](https://www.storagereview.com/review/the-hl15-homelab-server-goes-shhhhh-with-new-noctua-kit) The real thing one needs to know isn’t dB/RPM, it is dB/CFM. How much noise is generated in order to move a certain amount of hot air out of the case. I don’t question the Noctua upgrade for the full build; that needs to be done because of the stupid 2-pin wiring setup. I’m less convinced for custom builds with motherboards that will take DC fans. Although, PWM fans probably give you finer control over the fan curve than DC fans. If your noise floor is already high I guess it’s not an issue. I thought from the LPs and turntable you might be more sensitive to these acoustics. ---
**Author:** ![iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/iownyrface/32/1906_2.png) [@iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/iownyrface)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/9 "2025-03-03T14:40:41Z")
Your not wrong, more noise is not fun Board can defiantly run PWN Fans just didn’t really want the wires it’s a shame the barebones doesn’t come with a Fan Contoll instead of just on Current rosewill isn’t terrible with the noctuas in it but I will need to do some digging ---
**Author:** ![ZarZ](https://forum.45homelab.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/z/8c91f0/32.png) [@ZarZ](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/ZarZ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/10 "2025-03-03T19:50:10Z")
Like i was saying in discord, if you wire your fans to PWM, you can probably get them to run quieter than just Noctua swapping. Get some splitters for the fan headers, your new fans, then run it all to the board. Make sure you do the SM IPMI adjustments for the slow noctua fans so no warnings. Then make sure the old fan headers are taped up or something to prevent them shorting out on something in the case. ---
**Author:** ![Hutch-45Drives](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/hutch-45drives/32/64_2.png) [@Hutch-45Drives](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/Hutch-45Drives)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/11 "2025-03-04T12:47:55Z")
Unfortunately we do not have any Red chassis in stock or left over from the limited run of that edition,Wee are planning for another limited edition run of the HL:15 coming up very soon, though so keep your eye on the posts we are making to our socials ---
**Author:** ![iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/user_avatar/forum.45homelab.com/iownyrface/32/1906_2.png) [@iownyrface](https://forum.45homelab.com/u/iownyrface)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://forum.45homelab.com/t/hl15-cant-decide/3091/12 "2025-03-04T14:22:50Z")
Ok doesn’t really matter at the moment now