Thank you for uploading this! I did the same mod on my HP Procurve switch, and I am getting ready to retire it and get this bad boy; and do the same mod again!
Oh and thanks for the vid. I work in IT so I know how loud severs and switches are, but was surprised when it cam today and I fired it up. Wasn't expecting a $500 switch to sound like my Cisco's at work lol
This is great! I was curious how big of a difference it would be. However, the only reason to do this is if it will be a bench/desk switch. Sitting on a rack in a network closet or enclosed in an enclosed rack would make it pointless. Thanks for the review!
I did the same exact fan swap to this very same model with the 4-pin PWM noctua fans (the same than in the video). I have not tested with load, with without load the fans always stay off with SwOS at the temperature does not go over 43 ºC. With RouterOS the fans stay off until temperature reaches 60 ºC then fans kick in and are BARELY audible (you have to stick your ear next to them, RPM
Thanks for this video!! It's really easy to replace the fans on the CRS312 and the noise level is really acceptable. Btw. did the same on the CRS310-8G+2S+. Same fan. Same result. An acceptable humming instead of an jet engine just before take off.
Dude, I did the same mod myself. The switch never gets above 60c and is totally silent. Even if you boot to SWoS the thing is silent. Shame that the fans are not the same size as the supplied ones and if things get hot in the summer I will jury-rig an air duct to force the air over the rear heat sink. Overall mate it works and is so simple.
@@SummerSausage1 no issues at all. I noticed it running a little louder on hot days so I added a duct with cardboard and a little tape so the fans cant draw air in from the sides and have to pull it from over the heat sink. Temps dropped by 8 degrees and again the switch is totally silent. Its worth noting though that the switch is audible if you run SWOS as this runs the fans at 100% and is not adjustable. Overall this is a great mod, its just a shame that Noctua fans are so expensive.
Hey @J.UNCAGED, thanks so much for sharing. Got switch delivered today and directly swapped out fans for 4x Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 4-pin. Just wondering if your noise tests were done using RouterOS or SwOS? Fan RPM drops to 0 with RouterOS, so nice and quiet, however with SwOS the fans were pinned at 4000rpm so very noticeable.
Thanks! Doing the same now. Somebody with a cnc mill could design a better heat sink, I’m sure. But this will work; let it run a bit hotter. I’m sure they’ll release an ARM version soon that will run at 30° lol
One of the stock fans were bad. There was a bad bearing noise you can also hear on a car with a bad tensioner or alternator pulley, and I experienced this with a Cisco 9200 too. We have a few dozens of them, neither made that noise (they’re not quiet though) but one. That’s definitely not normal. Now, of course even with that aside, the stock fans are noisy. Final result is perfect at least, a shame it voids the warranty.
Thank you for posting this video. I'm about to purchase the CRS312-4C+8XG-RM - now that you have had it for awhile what are your thoughts? Are you still happy with it?
Everything related to the CRS312 is still good, no issues to report. In fact, I'm kicking myself for having purchased a bunch of Netgear equipment previous to this purchase. I would have just bought more of these.
@@j.uncaged9189 After finding that thing i am about to myself :) Also because about 6 weeks ago those had a 399 sale ... Well. 500 is still a good price so whatever. Thanks for trying ith the fans what i was about to do before me :D
@@j.uncaged9189 I was about to purchase a mix of Netgear & Buffalo products to replace a dead Trendnet switch and add 10gig speed to my home office network. One MikroTik switch will do everything I need& want at a cheaper price point.
Thank you for the great video. Which fan of the below will be the best? 1. Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 4-pin 2. Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 5V 4-pin 3. Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX 3-pin
Hi! #1 or #3. I used #1 in my video. Regarding #1, the PWM controller on the switch seems to have some issues, which may cause the Fault light to illuminate when it stops the fan. When the temperature increases, it will re-start the fan and the Fault light will go off. Other than the light coming on, there hasn't been any other issues here. Lowest risk is probably #3, as the existing fans are 3 pin, but I can't speak to the thermals and noise with the 3 pin as I didn't test those.
@@j.uncaged9189 Do you know if the switch actually uses PWM to control the fans? The default Fans seem to have some wort of control, so that must be implemented via voltage. I think its a bit weird they put 4-Pin headers in there but not 4-Pin fans.
@@slaterth2038 Hi! I assumed they were, based on the 4 pin connectors, and the ST 8S003F3 near the fans. I decided to measure. 3VDC on Pin 4, no PWM... Voltage is increasing at pin 2 with fan RPM, which I verified was real vs what the WebUI is reporting on my scope at pin 3. Will probably need to go back and edit my recommended fan use to 3 pin, unless they have the capability to implement PWM (where does pin 4 go?)
@@j.uncaged9189 Thank your for the very detailed answer. I guess they implemented it this way so they can use PWM and non-PWM fans without any code changes for the fan controller. Do you still remember the lowest voltage on PIN2? I think the noctuas stop if they get less than 5V.
@@j.uncaged9189 Thank you for the feedback, I found that most Mikrotik users are installing NF-A4x20 PWM and most of them didn't report any issues, I think I'm going to order them, Thanks again !!
Thank you for the video, seems to be a good hack. I didn't get why the fans were dropping? Are the pins on the board PWM? If silent anyway at full speed, can the 3 pin Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX be used? I'm contemplating this switch to use as a switch only as I have a router but I'm concerned about the noise.
newer firmware 6.48.* will set 'temperature' threshold to 60 degree, but 'cpu-temperature' threshold is set at 55 degrees and will trigger the "fault" red led (until fans start at 60 degrees)
I tried this with 2 PWM and 2 DC fans all Noctua 40mm on a Netgear router and it didn't work. They swapped the pins on the 3 pin header as well as put they right next to each other so 4 pin connectors don't fit. Long story short didn't do it in the end...maybe some day.
Hey there! In case you still read the comments... What's the reason you mounted the fans as an exhaust? Cause original fans were mounted the same way? Or maybe have you tried mounting them as intake?
I'm sorry, I can't say. I don't know what fans are in it, how many, if it has a PWM controller. You can open it up, figure out what size the fans are. See if they are plugged in to a similar connector. If there are 4 pins, with the fans still connected, look for the pulses on the PWM pin if you have a scope. If you don't have a scope and you measure 5V on the pin with a DMM, a PWM fan will still work , it will/may just run full speed. Good luck!
@@j.uncaged9189 According to this review www.servethehome.com/mikrotik-crs354-48g-4s-2q-rm-review/ there are 3 pin stock fans. But switch has 4-pin headers. Does that mean it will support PWM Noctua Fan? What did you do in your video to correct the fault shown at 7min07? Not clear for me, my english is the problem :D
@@Billybreakfast If they have 3 pin stock fans, you're best off using the non-PWM fans from Noctua. There's no benefit to using the PWM fans. There are some other comments/dialog here, and the video needs a follow-up based on those.
These fans are indeed quieter, but do 2000 rpm less than the original fans. This is not recommended for use in heavily loaded devices. Take this into account.
I'd be more concerned that switch originally comes with DC fans and appropriate control. Only certain PWM fans will explicitly enable themselves, the rest are up to random chance.
4 pin are the same as a 3 pin but with the 4th pin for pwm. I have version 2 of this switch, and I'm not sure if that plays into this at all, but on my switch the 40x20mm PWM noctua fans are working well and report their speed. I was concerned and almost ordered the FLX 3 pin fans, because everything I read in forum posts seemed to indicate that PWM would cause a fault, but that's not the case with my CRS312. YMMV
@@igrik1986 It’s under “RouterBOARD” in winbox or webfig. I think it probably *would* report a speed, but it may depend on which rev you have. I can only speculate because I don’t have all the facts/info. YMMV and all that. :)
Thank you for uploading this! I did the same mod on my HP Procurve switch, and I am getting ready to retire it and get this bad boy; and do the same mod again!
Oh and thanks for the vid. I work in IT so I know how loud severs and switches are, but was surprised when it cam today and I fired it up. Wasn't expecting a $500 switch to sound like my Cisco's at work lol
This is great! I was curious how big of a difference it would be. However, the only reason to do this is if it will be a bench/desk switch. Sitting on a rack in a network closet or enclosed in an enclosed rack would make it pointless. Thanks for the review!
I did the same exact fan swap to this very same model with the 4-pin PWM noctua fans (the same than in the video). I have not tested with load, with without load the fans always stay off with SwOS at the temperature does not go over 43 ºC. With RouterOS the fans stay off until temperature reaches 60 ºC then fans kick in and are BARELY audible (you have to stick your ear next to them, RPM
Thanks for this video!! It's really easy to replace the fans on the CRS312 and the noise level is really acceptable. Btw. did the same on the CRS310-8G+2S+. Same fan. Same result. An acceptable humming instead of an jet engine just before take off.
Dude, I did the same mod myself. The switch never gets above 60c and is totally silent. Even if you boot to SWoS the thing is silent. Shame that the fans are not the same size as the supplied ones and if things get hot in the summer I will jury-rig an air duct to force the air over the rear heat sink. Overall mate it works and is so simple.
How was it in the summer? Any issues under load?
@@SummerSausage1 no issues at all. I noticed it running a little louder on hot days so I added a duct with cardboard and a little tape so the fans cant draw air in from the sides and have to pull it from over the heat sink. Temps dropped by 8 degrees and again the switch is totally silent. Its worth noting though that the switch is audible if you run SWOS as this runs the fans at 100% and is not adjustable. Overall this is a great mod, its just a shame that Noctua fans are so expensive.
Hey @J.UNCAGED, thanks so much for sharing. Got switch delivered today and directly swapped out fans for 4x Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 4-pin. Just wondering if your noise tests were done using RouterOS or SwOS? Fan RPM drops to 0 with RouterOS, so nice and quiet, however with SwOS the fans were pinned at 4000rpm so very noticeable.
This switch doesnt have PWM control. It's basically driving the fans with variable DC, thats why it doesnt do low RPM.
Thanks! Doing the same now. Somebody with a cnc mill could design a better heat sink, I’m sure. But this will work; let it run a bit hotter. I’m sure they’ll release an ARM version soon that will run at 30° lol
Have you tried to turn the fans as intakes? blowing air into a heatsink will cool better than having a small fan try to extract hot air
One of the stock fans were bad. There was a bad bearing noise you can also hear on a car with a bad tensioner or alternator pulley, and I experienced this with a Cisco 9200 too. We have a few dozens of them, neither made that noise (they’re not quiet though) but one. That’s definitely not normal. Now, of course even with that aside, the stock fans are noisy. Final result is perfect at least, a shame it voids the warranty.
A year later how would you say this has been? Any issues under load?
I'm tempted to do this on my crs326-24s+2Q+RM, but I'm concerned the loud fans are in there for a reason, and it will run too hot...
Thank you for posting this video. I'm about to purchase the CRS312-4C+8XG-RM - now that you have had it for awhile what are your thoughts? Are you still happy with it?
Everything related to the CRS312 is still good, no issues to report. In fact, I'm kicking myself for having purchased a bunch of Netgear equipment previous to this purchase. I would have just bought more of these.
@@j.uncaged9189 After finding that thing i am about to myself :) Also because about 6 weeks ago those had a 399 sale ... Well. 500 is still a good price so whatever. Thanks for trying ith the fans what i was about to do before me :D
@@j.uncaged9189 I was about to purchase a mix of Netgear & Buffalo products to replace a dead Trendnet switch and add 10gig speed to my home office network. One MikroTik switch will do everything I need& want at a cheaper price point.
Great video, thanks for sharing
Thank you for the great video.
Which fan of the below will be the best?
1. Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 4-pin
2. Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM 5V 4-pin
3. Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX 3-pin
Hi! #1 or #3. I used #1 in my video. Regarding #1, the PWM controller on the switch seems to have some issues, which may cause the Fault light to illuminate when it stops the fan. When the temperature increases, it will re-start the fan and the Fault light will go off. Other than the light coming on, there hasn't been any other issues here. Lowest risk is probably #3, as the existing fans are 3 pin, but I can't speak to the thermals and noise with the 3 pin as I didn't test those.
@@j.uncaged9189 Do you know if the switch actually uses PWM to control the fans? The default Fans seem to have some wort of control, so that must be implemented via voltage. I think its a bit weird they put 4-Pin headers in there but not 4-Pin fans.
@@slaterth2038 Hi! I assumed they were, based on the 4 pin connectors, and the ST 8S003F3 near the fans. I decided to measure. 3VDC on Pin 4, no PWM... Voltage is increasing at pin 2 with fan RPM, which I verified was real vs what the WebUI is reporting on my scope at pin 3. Will probably need to go back and edit my recommended fan use to 3 pin, unless they have the capability to implement PWM (where does pin 4 go?)
@@j.uncaged9189 Thank your for the very detailed answer. I guess they implemented it this way so they can use PWM and non-PWM fans without any code changes for the fan controller. Do you still remember the lowest voltage on PIN2? I think the noctuas stop if they get less than 5V.
@@j.uncaged9189 Thank you for the feedback, I found that most Mikrotik users are installing NF-A4x20 PWM and most of them didn't report any issues, I think I'm going to order them, Thanks again !!
Thank you for the video, seems to be a good hack.
I didn't get why the fans were dropping? Are the pins on the board PWM? If silent anyway at full speed, can the 3 pin Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX be used?
I'm contemplating this switch to use as a switch only as I have a router but I'm concerned about the noise.
Have you tried switching out the thermal pads or paste too? I bet using something better will result in lower temps as well
I've added an thick thermal pad on top of the heatsink and the temperature dropped from 50 to 45ºc fans from 6500 to 4000 rpm, now it is almost silent
newer firmware 6.48.* will set 'temperature' threshold to 60 degree, but 'cpu-temperature' threshold is set at 55 degrees and will trigger the "fault" red led (until fans start at 60 degrees)
Very interested in doing this mod, are you saying that this firmware will render the switch useless?
the fans you purchased, were they 5V or 12V
at 4:56 you can see the label, it's 12V
ua-cam.com/video/5Bz0F6WTZ7I/v-deo.html
I tried this with 2 PWM and 2 DC fans all Noctua 40mm on a Netgear router and it didn't work. They swapped the pins on the 3 pin header as well as put they right next to each other so 4 pin connectors don't fit. Long story short didn't do it in the end...maybe some day.
Hey there! In case you still read the comments... What's the reason you mounted the fans as an exhaust? Cause original fans were mounted the same way? Or maybe have you tried mounting them as intake?
just watched this vid and i had the same question. But the originals are in exhaust. i would make them intake and vent on the sides
Will this work for CRS354-48G-4S+2Q+RM ? Same problem here. Fan noise is unbearable.
I'm sorry, I can't say. I don't know what fans are in it, how many, if it has a PWM controller. You can open it up, figure out what size the fans are. See if they are plugged in to a similar connector. If there are 4 pins, with the fans still connected, look for the pulses on the PWM pin if you have a scope. If you don't have a scope and you measure 5V on the pin with a DMM, a PWM fan will still work , it will/may just run full speed. Good luck!
@@j.uncaged9189 According to this review www.servethehome.com/mikrotik-crs354-48g-4s-2q-rm-review/ there are 3 pin stock fans. But switch has 4-pin headers. Does that mean it will support PWM Noctua Fan? What did you do in your video to correct the fault shown at 7min07? Not clear for me, my english is the problem :D
@@Billybreakfast If they have 3 pin stock fans, you're best off using the non-PWM fans from Noctua. There's no benefit to using the PWM fans. There are some other comments/dialog here, and the video needs a follow-up based on those.
@@j.uncaged9189 Thanks a lot for your help
These fans are indeed quieter, but do 2000 rpm less than the original fans. This is not recommended for use in heavily loaded devices. Take this into account.
I'd be more concerned that switch originally comes with DC fans and appropriate control. Only certain PWM fans will explicitly enable themselves, the rest are up to random chance.
Why did you buy the 4pin?
4 pin are the same as a 3 pin but with the 4th pin for pwm. I have version 2 of this switch, and I'm not sure if that plays into this at all, but on my switch the 40x20mm PWM noctua fans are working well and report their speed. I was concerned and almost ordered the FLX 3 pin fans, because everything I read in forum posts seemed to indicate that PWM would cause a fault, but that's not the case with my CRS312. YMMV
@@tixetsal How do you identify which version of switch do you have? And do you think 3 pin FAN would not report a speed in winbox?
@@igrik1986 It’s under “RouterBOARD” in winbox or webfig. I think it probably *would* report a speed, but it may depend on which rev you have. I can only speculate because I don’t have all the facts/info. YMMV and all that. :)