More on CPU specs of the ReadyNAS Pro

grimloch wrote:
Has that Q6700 melted your NAS yet? Wondering if it's safe to put one in my Pro.. Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

I've managed to get the CPU temperature at a more stable 40s:

Transcoding two movies 1080p to two devices (ipad & ps3) and copying 20GB (approx) data to NAS.

After 6 hours:

Fan SYS 1985 RPM OK
Fan CPU 2163 RPM OK
Temp SYS 59 C / 138 F [Normal 0-65 C / 32-149 F] OK
Temp CPU 42 C / 107 F [Normal 0-85 C / 32-185 F] OK


Replaced the stock heatsink with ( some modifications -replaced push pins with 4 screws) :
http://hipergroup.com/products.php?lv=3 ... =13&pid=38

Although the CPU is a lot cooler with the allcopper heatsink (by the way its almost twice the weight of the stock heatsink!) the SYS temp is still high.

Now looking for a better Fan but I doubt there is much out there (reading from the previous threads ...!)
I have tried two different fans but both not good (very low RPM or too loud!) The stock Fan is still by far the best with high RPM .

I'm starting to question the need for the additional power! The E6700 did the job (can transcode two 1080p movies at the same time to two different devices). Why are we all obsessed with more power? I think I have reached the limits with the Q6700 in this NAS ultra. I could attempt liquid cooling but whats the point!

The Q6700 works fine with some modifications but is it worth the extra effort? :twisted:

Korky,

I have been running a dual core E6700 for more than a year on my pro pioneer. I have the same SYS temp as you do. I have tried several different fans and have been unable to lower it. My theory is that it is hotter because of the higher FSB speed of the E6700 processors vs. the stock E2160

So, I doubt you could go any lower than what you already got there.

However, I'm thrilled that someone has gotten the q6700 working on the Pro. Good job!

ddoming73 wrote:

Korky, I have been running a dual core E6700 for more than a year on my pro pioneer. I have the same SYS temp as you do. I have tried several different fans and have been unable to lower it. My theory is that it is hotter because of the higher FSB speed of the E6700 processors vs. the stock E2160 So, I doubt you could go any lower than what you already got there. However, I'm thrilled that someone has gotten the q6700 working on the Pro. Good job!

ddoming73
Does your CPU or SYS fans ever stop running when in idle or sleep mode?

Im sure when I had the stock CPU in the NAS the fans would power down when in sleep mode or when the disks were spin down mode but now both fans are always on, even when the disks have spanned down

Hi Korky,

They would if I let them. :-)

My SYS fan never turns off.

The CPU fan I have has a higher turn-on voltage than the stock fan that came with my unit, so when idle the fan would indeed turn off. That made me nervous because the readynas would not really try to turn the fan back on until the CPU temp was at 45º or more. I preferred the additional fan noise to having the CPU at unnecessary high temps.

Therefore I added this script to keep the fan running even at idle ( I think it is at runlevel 2, don't have the info at hand):

#! /bin/sh
#
# Calibrate W83627ehf driver for controlling Silverstone FM83 fan
# on PWM2
#

# Start Voltage - 6V according to FM83 datasheet. Around 1500 RPM
# We try a higher value to ensure the fan starts reliably
echo 140 > /sys/devices/platform/w83627ehf.2576/pwm2_start_output

# Stop Voltage - empirically shown to be around 5.5V,
# lower than this and the fan may not stay on reliably
echo 122 > /sys/devices/platform/w83627ehf.2576/pwm2_stop_output

# Set PWM2 to Manual Mode so we can edit the current output value
echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/w83627ehf.2576/pwm2_enable

# Set output to start value
echo 140 > /sys/devices/platform/w83627ehf.2576/pwm2

usleep 100000

# Restore Auto Mode
echo 2 > /sys/devices/platform/w83627ehf.2576/pwm2_enable

exit 0

Hi everybody,

I couldn't resist and went and bought the Q6700 for my readynas Pro Pioneer. However, installing it wasn't as straightforward as I thought. Once installed, the system started sending out scary alarms like:

DDB18 power is out of normal range [expected: 1.80 current: -0.00].
AVCC power is out of normal range [expected: 3.30 current: -0.00].
VCC3 power is out of normal range [expected: 3.30 current: -0.00].
VCC1_25 power is out of normal range [expected: 1.25 current: -0.00].
VCC1_5 power is out of normal range [expected: 1.50 current: -0.00].
VCC1_05 power is out of normal range [expected: 1.04 current: -0.00].
3VDUAL power is out of normal range [expected: 3.30 current: -0.00].
VBAT power is out of normal range [expected: 3.30 current: -0.00].

However, the CPU seemed to be running fine. After some research I traced the cause to the /frontview/conf/enclosure.db file. Fortunately this file is a sqlite DB, which I could modify. To make a long story short, you have to change the paths where the system looks for voltage and temp data from /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon2 (which assumes a dual core CPU) to /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon4 (which assumes a quad core CPU).

I wonder if the people that tried quad core CPUs before ran into this too? Maybe this format was introduced recently? I'm running Radiator 4.2.21

I know it's too much to ask but maybe netgear can make this conf more CPU independent in later releases?

I didnt get this issue on the ultra 6 plus. I started on Radiator 4.2.20 and now I'm on 4.2.21 as yourself with the quad q6700 no errors reported. Also, once you have it setup how do the temps look with the q6700?

Hi Korky,

Apparently the configuration of the enclosure program is different for each NAS product, each of them has a dedicated line in the enclosure.db database. So it is perfectly possible for an Ultra 6 to work fine, while a Pro Pioneer does not.

Regarding temps, I have not been able to find a heatsink like the one you used, it is apparently no longer in production and there is none for sale in e-bay. So I have had to use the stock heatsink and try with different fans.

I have tried an FN83 and an FM83 fan, both from silverstone. These fans have the advantage of being larger than your usual 80mm fan, so they move more air.

To make the story short, the FN83, which has a peak RPM of around 1700, is not enough to cool the Q6700. Once you load more than two cores to 100%, the temperature starts going out of control.

The FM83 barely manages to keep temperatures in check (50-55 degress Celcius) with all four cores maxed out. But for that it has to run at a screaming 3500 RPM. The noise is unbelievable.

My idle temps are 40-42 C for the CPU and 57-59 C for SYS. CPU is 10 C higher than my E6700. SYS temp is the same.

I use md5sum /dev/urandom to create CPU load.

My conclusion: Until I find some much improved cooling setup, I'm going back to the E6700. The increase in noise to keep this CPU cool is not worth it for me.

Regarding SYS temp, I was able to confirm that it goes down up to 5 degrees C when the CPU fan is running at high RPM, and creating more airflow on the motherboard. So I think that in order to significantly lower SYS temps you will have to add a small fan on the chipset heatsink.

Thanks ddoming73,

That's the same conclusion i have came to - like you have gone back to the E6700.

Instead of the improved cooling setup (very unlikely i think because of the limitation of the NAS) might be worth looking in a different direction....

what about a different quad processor with lower TDP that will work with the NAS?

I don't think there is one out there right now but things might change. If i find anything I will post back

Hi Korky,

I have managed to procure an HFC-10828-C2 heatsink. Can you tell me what did you do to adapt it to the Readynas?

Did you simply remove the screws from the stock heatsink and put them in the new one, or did you have to purchase specific screws?

Hi,

I'm not sure if anybody else is interested, but I'm having a new left-side panel made for my Pro6. The new panel will add 20mm to the depth of the panel. The point of this is to allow room to fit a replacement heat sink other than the HFC-10828-C2. Unlike ddoming73, I haven't been able to locate any online so far.

The new depth inside the box should be >73mm.

I'll post pictures when I receive the new panel.


If it works out, is anyone else interested in one?