PROMISE Pegasus R4 "Tuning" (noise reduction)

[StrychnineUK]

Hi cfs.matt! Thanks a mil for both the pics and the detailed explanation ... I'm right about to take the leap and was wondering whether you may have found a fan that would not trigger the ugly error message by any chance ... I must say I love the noctuas for their efficiency and low noise level but I wouldn't like the R2 to whine about my future mod either ... I suspect such modding also voids the warranty which is why I'd like to her things right on the first go (bear in mind my poor soldering skills! ) ... Thanks again.

Cheers,


StrychnineUK.

 

[cfs.matt]

Hi cfs.matt! Thanks a mil for both the pics and the detailed explanation ... I'm right about to take the leap and was wondering whether you may have found a fan that would not trigger the ugly error message by any chance ... I must say I love the noctuas for their efficiency and low noise level but I wouldn't like the R2 to whine about my future mod either ... I suspect such modding also voids the warranty which is why I'd like to her things right on the first go (bear in mind my poor soldering skills! ) ... Thanks again.

Cheers,


StrychnineUK.

Sorry for the delay, it took longer than expected for the Scythe fan to arrive. Anyway here are the results of all my fans on the latest version of the PromiseUtil software for Mac (3.18.0000.36):

Scythe Kaze Jyu Slim 100MM
- $9.99 CAD
- 600RPM (PromiseUtil reports fan as OK / Green > 500RPM)
- Very quiet, but does not move a lot of air, probably around what the Nocuta was moving
- Build quality of the fan was very good

EVERCOOL FAN-EC9225M12CA 92MM
- $5.49 CAD
- Would not spin up, voltage being supplied was too low by the enclosure.

GELID Solutions FN-FW09-20-B 92MM
- $16.99 CAD
- 900RPM (PromiseUtil reports fan as OK / Green > 500RPM)
- Pretty quiet (almost as quiet as the Scythe Kaze Jyu and Noctua)
- Build quality felt a little cheap compared to the rest due the gloss plastic used
- Temps: Controller / Backplane: 37C / 33C

XIGMATEK XSF-F9251 92MM
- $12.99 CAD
- 800RPM (PromiseUtil reports fan as OK / Green > 500PRM)
- Quieter than stock fan, but slightly louder than the rest of the fans I tried,
- Build quality of the fan was good.


Noctua NF-B9-1600 92MM
- $16.99 CAD
- N/A RPM (PromiseUtil reports fan as malfunctioning / Red < 500PRM)
- Very quiet, moves some air, probably around what the Scythem Kaze Jyu is moving.
- Build quality of the fan was excellent
- Temps: Controller / Backplane: 44C / 38C

Stock Fan:
- 1000RPM
- Very loud
- Temps: Controller / Backplane: 36C / 32C


Final Thoughts:

I ended up going with the GELID fan and for a few reasons:

- It felt like it moved almost as much air as the stock fan and was pretty similar in RPM

- Enclosure temps are more in line with what the stock fan provides

- Significantly quieter. I can hear a bit of a noise difference vs the Noctua, but it’s running a lot better temps. It’s still as quiet as the nMP, so I think I’m happy with this guy for now.

If you need any other info, please let me know good luck!


** I only included temps for the fans that I ran for at least a day, so that's why some are missing.

 

[StrychnineUK]

Hey cfs.Matt. Thank you so much of your thorough review of the various fans. Based on you recommendations I have managed to get my hands on a GELID 9mm and a Noctua 4mm. I'm pretty close from going in for the big thrill but I was wondering something at the very last minute.

Since I'm not keen on damaging the stock fan, I though maybe there would be another fan I could order with the same connector that I could happily cripple without remorse.I've tried my best to find out more information on this one but haven't managed to get anywhere so far. Would you happen to have any insight on this by any chance? ...

Cheers!

 

[cfs.matt]

Hey cfs.Matt. Thank you so much of your thorough review of the various fans. Based on you recommendations I have managed to get my hands on a GELID 9mm and a Noctua 4mm. I'm pretty close from going in for the big thrill but I was wondering something at the very last minute.

Since I'm not keen on damaging the stock fan, I though maybe there would be another fan I could order with the same connector that I could happily cripple without remorse.I've tried my best to find out more information on this one but haven't managed to get anywhere so far. Would you happen to have any insight on this by any chance? ...

Cheers!

No problem at all. I don't think there is any way to go about doing it without damaging the stock fan. It looks like a proprietary connection they are using that I've never seen before. I've never seen any aftermarket fans with that type of connector in all my years...

Your best bet IMO is to build an adapter from the stock fan connector and then put a regular 3 pin on the stock fan so you can swap it back in if needed.

This is what I ended up doing with mine for testing.

You can sacrifice an old fan you have laying around or pickup 3 pin fan tail.

 

[vidjah]

Hi all,
Does anyone can please confirm if I am right about connector colors as shown on the attached image ? I'm not sure, and before doing a mistake I prefer to ask
That will be very very helpful !
Thanks

 

[bobdob]

I know this is a super old thread, but I am hoping somebody can see and respond. I have a pegasus2 R4 and the main fan noise is not the problem. It is the small fan in the PSU that I want to replace. Is this an easy thing to do and will I be getting warnings on the utility software if I do this?

 

[cfs.matt]

I know this is a super old thread, but I am hoping somebody can see and respond. I have a pegasus2 R4 and the main fan noise is not the problem. It is the small fan in the PSU that I want to replace. Is this an easy thing to do and will I be getting warnings on the utility software if I do this?

Hey bodob, sorry this is so late and may not be of help any more....but I did replace the power supply fan in my Pegasus2 R4 with this fan:

Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm

You can find more details on post #22 of this thread with a few pictures.

If you need any more info, please let me know.

----------

Also if anybody reads this and still cares. I am now running 1x 1 TB SSD Evo and 3x 3TB Seagate HDD in the Pegasus with the modded fan and power supply for the last 6 or so months without any issues at all.

 

[cinema5D]

Thanks everyone for this much needed thread. I also just replaced the fans in my Pegasus R4 (Version 1). I always thought the noise level is incredibly high. And now that I switched to a new Mac Pro which is almost silent the Pegasus had to be tuned.

I used the Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm for the power supply and the GELID Solutions FN-FW09-20-B 92MM for the case, just as cfs.matt suggested. Thanks a lot for that extensive testing!!!

Opening the case and closing again took about 5 minutes each way. I just removed all the screws from the power supply, soldered in the new fan and covered with shrink rubber. The larger fan was a bit more difficult as I cut the wires without checking the correct positions.
Also I used those rubber "screws" that came with the fans. I had to cut off some of the rubber after pulling it through on the power supply and I made holes into the aluminium backplane to accommodate the rubber sticking out on the case fan.

Now the Pegasus is virtually silent. Really I had to double check if the fans are actually running after turning it on. The noise difference is about 3% of what I heard before. Didn't expect that.

In the Promise utility everything is green. Backpane FanSpeed shows as 900rpm and temperature after 30 minutes with 4 (green) harddisks is 45 and 35 °C.

Cheers!

Attached are some pictures

 

[cfs.matt]

Your mod looks great cinema5D! Glad it worked out for you. It's a shame these units come so loud to begin with. I'm surprised more people aren't complaining.

Enjoy the peace and quiet

 

[bugsyraz]

Thanks for this thread, guys! I've just ordered the Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm and the GELID Solutions FN-FW09-20-B 92MM. I've also switched to the new mac pro and the Pegasus is mad loud!

 

[bugsyraz]

Guys, I have just installed the new fans and the NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm is not spinning by itself. I have to either move it with my hand or blow on it several times before it starts spinning.

I have closed the enclosure and when I turned it on, of course, I had to help the PSU fan start spinning, it was really noisy. It was probably spinning at full speed.

Then I took it apart again, checked everything, connected it again, bla bla bla, turned it on. Now it's silent but still doesn't start by itself.

Any ideas?

My temps now : Controller 52C ; Backplane 47C

 

[Themaler]

Fans don't spin

I bought the Pegasus R4 (original version) and it is too loud to allow creative work when it is running. I tried using both the Geild Wing 9 and Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX that were suggested here and was not able to get either to spin. When I supplied the fans 12 V power from another source they spin so I do not think it is the fans or my wiring (less certain about the wiring). After this failure, I am back to the original fans which means the Pegasus is shut off and not in use because of the noise. It seems like the fans are not provided 12V from the PSU or the motherboard because my VOM shows 3-5 V across the fan power terminals. Does anyone have any suggestions? I promised my Spouse a quiet storage option. So far, am not delivering on my promise with the Promise but would like to.

 

[Osamede]

Must tip my hat to the contributors - impressive!

 

[cfs.matt]

I bought the Pegasus R4 (original version) and it is too loud to allow creative work when it is running. I tried using both the Geild Wing 9 and Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX that were suggested here and was not able to get either to spin. When I supplied the fans 12 V power from another source they spin so I do not think it is the fans or my wiring (less certain about the wiring). After this failure, I am back to the original fans which means the Pegasus is shut off and not in use because of the noise. It seems like the fans are not provided 12V from the PSU or the motherboard because my VOM shows 3-5 V across the fan power terminals. Does anyone have any suggestions? I promised my Spouse a quiet storage option. So far, am not delivering on my promise with the Promise but would like to.

Any luck with this? I've only performed the mod on the Pegasus2, but seems like other posters have had success modding the original version.

----------

Guys, I have just installed the new fans and the NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm is not spinning by itself. I have to either move it with my hand or blow on it several times before it starts spinning.

I have closed the enclosure and when I turned it on, of course, I had to help the PSU fan start spinning, it was really noisy. It was probably spinning at full speed.

Then I took it apart again, checked everything, connected it again, bla bla bla, turned it on. Now it's silent but still doesn't start by itself.

Any ideas?

My temps now : Controller 52C ; Backplane 47C

Did you ever figure this out?

 

[shizzlemanizzle]

Hi at all. Thank you for the great postings to get this raid quiet. I currently owned a Pegasus R6 (silver) and i wanted it to expand the space on my mac mini which is my eyeTV, plex server, media station etc. So in the fact, that the raid is in my living room where I like to watch movies without having annoying fan noise in the background I decided to replace the fans too. I like the postings of cfs.matt and cinema5D but does anyone know if the Pegasus R6 has the same Fans as like the the R4?

@cinema5D you wrote:

I used the Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm for the power supply and the GELID Solutions FN-FW09-20-B 92MM for the case, just as cfs.matt suggested. Thanks a lot for that extensive testing!!!

is there only one fan in the PSU? I'm asking because on your pictures I saw one inside the case but the holes are outside the case.

after you wrote that, bugsyraz and Themaler posted that their fans have problems to spin? Did you guys have solved this issue?

When I do this project I'll come back with pictures and my experiences

PS: apologises for my school english, I'm from germany. I hope it is understandable

 

[cfs.matt]

Hi at all. Thank you for the great postings to get this raid quiet. I currently owned a Pegasus R6 (silver) and i wanted it to expand the space on my mac mini which is my eyeTV, plex server, media station etc. So in the fact, that the raid is in my living room where I like to watch movies without having annoying fan noise in the background I decided to replace the fans too. I like the postings of cfs.matt and cinema5D but does anyone know if the Pegasus R6 has the same Fans as like the the R4?

@cinema5D you wrote:


is there only one fan in the PSU? I'm asking because on your pictures I saw one inside the case but the holes are outside the case.

after you wrote that, bugsyraz and Themaler posted that their fans have problems to spin? Did you guys have solved this issue?

When I do this project I'll come back with pictures and my experiences

PS: apologises for my school english, I'm from germany. I hope it is understandable

There are 2 fans in the enclosure.

1 exhaust fan on the back and 1 fan in the power supply unit itself.

I swapped both out and have been running fine for a little over a year now!

 

[shizzlemanizzle]

hey cfs.matt thank you for your quick reply. I've ordered two different Fan Models now in 92mm and the Noctua for the PSU. They are on the way and will arrive today.

they have 4 pins but adapters cames with from 4pin to 3pin, hope it works.

first one is this guy http://www.bequiet.com/de/casefans/262
and the second model i will try is this one http://www.xilence.de/en/products/fans/fans/2-component-fan.html

 

[cfs.matt]

How did the mod go? I know some people hare reported not being able to get the case fan to spin up.

hey cfs.matt thank you for your quick reply. I've ordered two different Fan Models now in 92mm and the Noctua for the PSU. They are on the way and will arrive today.

they have 4 pins but adapters cames with from 4pin to 3pin, hope it works.

first one is this guy http://www.bequiet.com/de/casefans/262
and the second model i will try is this one http://www.xilence.de/en/products/fans/fans/2-component-fan.html

 

[shizzlemanizzle]

hi cfs.matt,

thank you for asking. It was not possible for me to get the fans working. I had problems to fit the adapters to the logic board and wouldn't like to solder something without testing, because I can send it back within 14 days without give a reason. That is a customer protecting claim in Germany when you buy something online. Also I figured out that promise uses fans without onboard PVM and now I've ordered a Noctua with fix 1800 speed. I had the same problem with the PSU Fan that is not start to spin without giving it a manual starting help

I am very frustrated about promise, which uses their own custom Fan ports. In my synology NAS it was a 5 min job to change the fans and it is now so damn quiet. I let it run all the day. Before the new fans I only powered it on, when needed. I can not understand why expensive machines like promise or synology uses noisy fans in so good products, when there are fans on market like noctua. I would love to spend the extra money they have in production to get a quiet machine. LaCie (Fashion Drives) are using Noctua fans for so long. Very frustrating.

Whatever, I think the 40mm I bought does not work in the PSU of Promise because of PVM. First I bought this one "NF-A4x10 FLX" but I think the model "NF-A4x10 5V" must work. What do you think?
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=99&lng=en&set=1

And I want to try out this one for the 92mm http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=104&lng=en&set=1

But I won't give up and come back, when I'm finished with that little noise monster

 

[ohsoweird]

Hi all,

I am in a very similar situation as you guys. I have a T1 r6 Silver model and I am getting a bit fed up with the noise levels. Especially as it constantly shifts in speed and pretty much sounds like when you change gears in a car. 1) One fan speed 2) At shift it accelerates 3) Falls down slightly to lower speed (but higher than at 1.). Another note is that the external casing seem to give off some vibration that adds additional sound. I have already applied those "felt" feet that you can buy at IKEA to dampen any direct contact with hard surfaces. It seems to have helped a little bit in terms of enclosure-caused noise.

As for the fan sizes, would you reckon these are the same in the r4 and r6?
I will most likely open this one up to check anyway but just though I would throw the question out here first.

 

[ohsoweird]

Looks very similar to the other models.

[doublepost=1455106840][/doublepost]And the closest info I could find at Protech was a newer model of their fan, perhaps provides some insight into some aspects of the fan, but as this is not the same model as the one bult-in (potentially custom made or adjusted for Promise)?

 

[lietsche]

To add up to this nice knowledge base (thanks to all the contributors!!!)

I changed the stock PSU Fan today on a Pegasus 2 R4 to a Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm.

The Pegasus 2 R4 is a bit more than three years old and I was about to sell it because I could not stand the noise of the PSU Fan anymore. I barely used it lately because of that.
Then I stumbled on this thread (again) and decided to give it a last shot.
Changing the PSU Fan went without complications and the noise levels are drastically improved. I am on the latest Firmware 5.04 and all indicators are green. The Noctua Fan is working flawlessly so far, no problem spinning up or whatsoever.
Thanks again. I am considering now to change the big fan as well even though it is not as bothering as the PSU fan. I will see.

 

[ohsoweird]

Did you have to rewire anything?
After my posts i replaced both the main fan as well as the psu fan with noctua ones - making it practically silent and a fantastic case. I have had some issues though with the main fan not cooling enough on hotter days reaching warning temperature by 1 degree Celsius. So i might have another go at this one. The PSU has worked flawlessly though which was the main culpeit for noise in the past.

To add up to this nice knowledge base (thanks to all the contributors!!!)

I changed the stock PSU Fan today on a Pegasus 2 R4 to a Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm.

The Pegasus 2 R4 is a bit more than three years old and I was about to sell it because I could not stand the noise of the PSU Fan anymore. I barely used it lately because of that.
Then I stumbled on this thread (again) and decided to give it a last shot.
Changing the PSU Fan went without complications and the noise levels are drastically improved. I am on the latest Firmware 5.04 and all indicators are green. The Noctua Fan is working flawlessly so far, no problem spinning up or whatsoever.
Thanks again. I am considering now to change the big fan as well even though it is not as bothering as the PSU fan. I will see.

 

[lietsche]

Did you have to rewire anything?

Well, I cut the wires of the stock fan and connected them with the supplied Noctua Skotchlok connectors (supplied User manual). Then some arranging of the cables in the PSU unit in order to be able to close it, but that was it.
Pretty straightforward

 

[ohsoweird]

Did you experience any gap between the side of the PSU where the fan sits (with the new Noctua) - and if so, what did you do?

Well, I cut the wires of the stock fan and connected them with the supplied Noctua Skotchlok connectors (supplied User manual). Then some arranging of the cables in the PSU unit in order to be able to close it, but that was it.
Pretty straightforward