Technical Guide

● Storage type: NVME SSD consumes more power than SAS/SATA drives, and will pre-heat down-stream components (e.g.,
Processor, DIMM), and hence requires higher fan speeds and hence higher acoustical outputs.
● System thermal profile selection in BIOS or iDRAC GUI:
○ Default Thermal Profile, generally provides a lower air mover speed thus lower acoustical output than those of other
thermal profiles.
○ Maximum Performance (Performance Optimized) will result in higher acoustical output
○ Sound Cap, for products that support the feature, will limit the maximum acoustical output of the system by sacrificing
some processor performance.
● PCIe cards: When 25Gb NIC card or GPU card ≥ 75W is installed, the acoustical outputs will be higher in both idle and
operating conditions.
Methods to reduce acoustical output of the T550
Although the T550 is designed for use in data centers, some users may prefer to use it in a quieter setting. The following is a list
of means to do so.
NOTE: Usually, the idle air mover speed of the system cannot be lowered without changing the configuration of the
system, and in some cases, even a configuration change may not reduce idle air mover speeds.
● Reduce ambient temperature: Lowering the ambient temperature allows the system to cool components more efficiently
than at higher ambient temperatures.
● Set target in Third-party PCIe card options: Dell EMC provides airflow customization for third-party PCIe adapters that
are installed in PowerEdge platforms. If automatic cooling response is above desired levels (LFM) based on the card
specifications, a different LFM target can be set using PCIe Airflow Settings options in iDRAC UI.
● Replace third-party PCI cards with similar Dell supported temperature-controlled cards, if available. Dell EMC works diligently
with card vendors to validate and develop PCI cards to meet Dell EMC’s exacting standards for thermal performance.
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Power, thermal, and acoustics