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Frequently Asked Questions About Chassis and Heat-Related Issues for Intel® Server Boards and Intel® Server Systems

Content Type: Maintenance & Performance   |   Article ID: 000006819   |   Last Reviewed: 10/31/2017

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Compatibility

Do Intel® Server Boards work in other chassis?
We perform thermal testing in some non-Intel chassis, also called third party or reference chassis. See the product page for your board, under the Compatibility section.

Do non-Intel server boards work in Intel chassis?
We do not perform any tests in our chassis with non-Intel boards.

Background information

What is thermal testing?
We install server-related components, set the fans to run at 100% speed, and then run several tests that stress the processor and memory. These actions mimic the type of heat that would build up on normal usage. We monitor the internal temperature of the chassis, and the processors.

What is a constrained or an unconstrained thermal profile?
Constrained profiles share airflow. Consider additional heat issues when a chassis is designed to be in a rack with many other chassis. 1U chassis are considered a constrained thermal environment and have reduced cooling capacity. Pedestal chassis normally will not be sharing airflow, or be as densely packed together as rack servers, and can use the unconstrained thermal profile.

Manual configuration

What if I make my fans spin slower manually?
Making the fans spin slow will build up heat on the Intel® Server Board, and voids the Intel® Server Board and processor warranty. The Intel® Server Board may shut itself off unexpectedly. Data may become corrupted and components may become physical damaged. Always follow the posted thermal/mechanical design guides when testing a new chassis or fan setup.

For Intel® Server Boards with the Intel® S5520 Chipset

How do I update the field replaceable unit/sensor data record (FRUSDR) information?
Updating FRUSDR for optimum server performance on Intel® Server Boards and Intel® Server Systems guides you through the process.

Can I use the FAN PWM (pulse width modulation) offset feature under BIOS setup of Intel® Server Boards with the Intel® S5520 Chipset and Intel® Server Boards with the Intel® S5500 Chipset to customize third party or reference chassis fan speed?
In Intel® Server Boards with the Intel® S5520 Chipset and Intel® Server Boards with the Intel® S5500 Chipset, Intel added a method to customize fan speed for third party or reference chassis using the FRUSDR utility and BIOS configuration. This method provides the flexibility to meet your varying cooling requests. The 3rd party chassis vendor's responsibility is to validate the system against all of the fan profiles. The FRUSDR utility allows a user to select a fan profile depending on the server usage when selecting the Other chassis option when running the update. The following additional profiles are provided:

  • Maximum fan speed
  • Server (pedestal) profile
  • Data center (rack mount) profile
  • Workstation profile


After setting the fan profile during the FRUSDR update, it is recommended that the FAN PWM offset be configured under BIOS setup > Advanced > System Acoustics & Performance Configuration > Fan PWM Offset. The recommended values are between 0 to 100. This number is added to the calculated PWM value (not really a percentage of the actual fan speed).

If calculated value + offset is >100, then the value set will be 100 (It ignores calculations above 100).

Example 1 (you want a little faster fan speed control (FSC)): If System Fan Speed control calculates a PWM value of 25 (19h) and the Fan PWM Offset is set to 15 in the BIOS, firmware will program a PWM value 25 + 15 = 40 (28h).

Example 2 (you want a much faster FSC): If system FSC calculates a PWM value of 35 (23h) and the Fan PWM Offset is set to 75, and the resulting PWM value is 35 + 75 = 105, but the max PWM value is 100. So the PWM programmed is 100 (64h). Any value >100 will result in programming 100.

Related Products

This article applies to 132 products.
Intel® Server Board S2400LP Intel® Server Board S2400GP2IOC Intel® Server Board S2400SC2IOC4 Intel® Server Board S2400GP4IOC Intel® Server Board S1600JP2 Intel® Server Board S1600JP4 Intel® Server System P4304SC2SFEN Intel® Server System P4304SC2SHDR Intel® Server System P4308SC2MHGC Intel® Server Board S2400GP2 Intel® Server System H2216WPFJR Intel® Server Board S2400GP4 Intel® Server System H2216WPQJR Intel® Server Board S2400EP4IOC Intel® Server Board S2400SC2 Intel® Server Board S2400SC2IOC Intel® Server Board S2400LPF Intel® Server Board S2400LPQ Intel® Server System H2216JFQKR Intel® Server Board S2400EP2 Intel® Server Board S2600JF Intel® Server System H2216JFJR Intel® Server Board S2400EP2IOC Intel® Server Board S2400EP4 Intel® Server System H2216WPFKR Intel® Server System H2216WPJR Intel® Server System H2216WPKR Intel® Server System H2216WPQKR Intel® Server System H2312WPFJR Intel® Server System H2312WPFKR Intel® Server System H2312WPJR Intel® Server Board S2600WPF Intel® Server System H2312WPKR Intel® Server System H2312WPQJR Intel® Server System H2312WPQKR Intel® Server Board S2600WP Intel® Server Board S2600WPQ Intel® Server System P4304BTLSHCN9 Intel® Server Board S2600JFF Intel® Server Board S2600JFQ Intel® Server System H2216JFFJR Intel® Server System H2216JFFKR Intel® Server System H2216JFKR Intel® Server System H2216JFQJR Intel® Server System H2312JFFJR Intel® Server System H2312JFFKR Intel® Server System H2312JFJR Intel® Server System H2312JFKR Intel® Server System H2312JFQJR Intel® Server System H2312JFQKR Intel® Server System P4304BTLSFCN Intel® Server System P4304BTLSFCNR Intel® Server System P4304BTLSHCN Intel® Server System P4304BTLSHCN8 Intel® Server System P4304BTLSHCNR Intel® Server System P4304BTSSFCN Intel® Server System P4304BTSSFCNR Intel® Server System SC5650HCBRPR Intel® Server Board S5500WB12V

Discontinued Products

Intel® Workstation System SC5650SCWS Intel® Server System H2216LPQKR Intel® Server System SR1600URHSR Intel® Server System H2312LPJR Intel® Server System R1208EP4SHCN Intel® Server System H2312LPQJR Intel® Server System R1304EP2SFCN Intel® Server System R1208EP2SHCN Intel® Server System R1208EP2SHFN Intel® Server System R1208EP2SHOC Intel® Server System R1304EP2SHOC Intel® Server System R1208EP4SHOC Intel® Server System R1304EP2SFFN Intel® Server System R1304EP2SHCN Intel® Server System R1304EP2SHFN Intel® Server System H2216LPJR Intel® Server System R1304EP4SFCN Intel® Server System R1304EP4SHCN Intel® Server System R1304EP4SHOC Intel® Server System H2216LPFJR Intel® Server System H2216LPFKR Intel® Server System H2216LPKR Intel® Server System H2216LPQJR Intel® Server System H2312LPFJR Intel® Server System H2312LPKR Intel® Server System H2312LPFKR Intel® Server Board S1200BTL Intel® Server System H2312LPQKR Intel® Server System R1304BTLSHBNR Intel® Server System R1304BTLSHBN2 Intel® Server Board S1200KP Intel® Server Board S1200KPR Intel® Server Board S1200BTLR Intel® Server System R1304BTLSFAN Intel® Server System R1304BTLSFANR Intel® Server System R1304BTLSHBN Intel® Server System R1304BTLSHBN8 Intel® Workstation Board S5520SC Intel® Server Board S5520HC Intel® Server System R1304BTLSHBN9 Intel® Server System R1304BTSSFAN Intel® Server System R1304BTSSFANR Intel® Server Board S3420GPV Intel® Server Board S1200BTLRM Intel® Server Board S1200BTS Intel® Server Board S1200BTSR Intel® Server System SC5650HCBRP Intel® Server Board S3420GPLC Intel® Server Board S3420GPLX Intel® Server Board S3420GPLXSASM Intel® Server Board S3420GPRX Intel® Server Board S5500HV Intel® Server System SR2625URBRP Intel® Server System SR2625URBRPR Intel® Server System SR2625URLX Intel® Server System SR2625URLXR Intel® Server System SR2625URLXT Intel® Server System SR1520ML Intel® Server Board S5500WB Intel® Server Board S5500HCV Intel® Server System SR1625UR Intel® Server System SR1625URR Intel® Server System SR1625URSAS Intel® Server System SR1625URSASR Intel® Server System SR1625URTD Intel® Server System SR1600UR Intel® Server System SR1600URHS Intel® Server Board S5500BC Intel® Server System SR1600URR Intel® Server Board S5520UR Intel® Server Board S5520URT Intel® Server Board X38ML Intel® Server Board S3200SHV