I want to ask for the community's help regarding upgrade of a 120mm case fan for a Razer Core X EGPU. There is a standard 3-pin fan connector on the Thunderbolt 3 controller within the case. I have tried connected an EK Vardar 4-pin PWM fan as well as a NOCTUA NF-F12 PP2000 (3-pin configuration). What happens is the new fan will not consistently start up. Sometimes the fan will spin, other times, the fan will just be stalled and have small jerky movements. After 3-4 power cycles or PC reboots, the replacement fan could start spinning. As soon as I replace the Razer case fan, the OEM 3-pin fan will start up every time consistently.
The Razer OEM fan is unmarked so there is not voltage or amperage ratings. Given the behavior with the replacement fans, has anyone else had a similar experience and if so, how did you resolve it? I realize the upgraded eGPU fan may not result in better temperatures, but I am just curious now. I have contacted Razer but their official line is "We don't give out technical specifications of our products (referencing fans and 3-pin connector power ratings).
If nothing else, this experience should help the community with others who may want to upgrade. Thanks for any insights or links that may shed light on this issue.
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Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Has anyone been able to remove the front black cover in the metal cover shroud of the razer core x ? note it is shown here that it is removable and I have seen it being held in place by a few torx screws.
Has anyone tried to see if you can mount fans in those screw holes (mounting fans instead of the cover plate pic. bottom left ) let me know if it aligns with fan mounts and if mounting a 240mm rad is possible.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
I'm also interested in this.
If anyone has a plausible idea as to which fan might work, I'm willing to order a few and try them out.
Mac mini - Razer Core X with corsair AX760 PSU
If you want to install another fan to the front of Core X, you should measure the length of GPU to make sure you have enough room for another fan.
I do see front cover has screws from inside.
Razer Core X with Gigabyte Windforce 2080Ti
Blade 15 1070 Max-Q
Blade Stealth 8th Gen.
I tested two fans, there's some good news. be quiet! silent wings 3 (1450RPM) is working fine with my core x. Another fan, NB-Blacksilentfan (1000RPM) doesn't spin.
I hope this helps someone.
Mac mini - Razer Core X with corsair AX760 PSU
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For non-blower style GPUs, consider reversing the orientation of the included 120mm cooling fan. I noticed that rather than expelling hot air from my Dual-Fan GPU, it was taking air from the outside into the case. This means there is cold air coming in from both the left and right side leading to air stagnating inside the Core X's case and warmer temperatures. I reversed the orientation of the Razer fan to expel hot air outside the enclosure.
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The 120mm Case Fan is likely a Sunon EEC0251B3-0000-A9. The "Sunon" brand is written on the fan body. It is a 120 x 120 x 25mm fan with a 3-pin connector. The specifications for max-rated are: 0.161 amps, 12V, 1.9 watts. It is rated at 75 CFM, 2200rpm, 34dBA, and 0.16 in of H2O.
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According to the data sheet of the fan i'm successfully using, its Voltage range DC (V) is 5-13.2, Input power (W) is 1.44, Input current (A) is 0.12.
I'm not sure what all this means but i thought i'd let you know.
Mac mini - Razer Core X with corsair AX760 PSU
@spicybitterness, thank you for taking the time to share your information on the Be Quiet fan. I will follow suit and add some information as well. The co-worker to whom I sold my eGPU enclosure was able to get his Noctua 120mm, 3 pin fan to start without issue. I asked for his specs and the exact model is the NF-A12x25 FLX model. He did not use any of the LN or ULN adapters. The power ratings for this fan are (listed as maximums):
12V, 1.68watts, and 0.14 amps.
The key take-away here is that based on spicybitterness and my colleague's experience, it seems that in order to get a replacement fan to spin every time, it has to have a low starting voltage. I noticed that the Be Quiet website advertised the Silent Wings 3 as having a low starting voltage due to its six coils. The NF-A12x25 also has 6 coils in its motor. Perhaps what was causing the other fans I tested before to error out and start inconsistently was the incompatible starting voltages.
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@ishikawa_goemon thanks! i was actually trying to read about fan orientation in the razer core x, will switch for my non blower style gpu, do you have proven results?
UPDATE: It actually kept my eGPU cooler, like probably 6-7 C less, also it looks like i have become king of 8K in superposition lol: https://benchmark.unigine.com/leaderboards/superposition/1.0/8k-optimized/single-gpu/page-1
(Search for AMD only lol)
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
Hello there,
did someone try to use the Core X without the 120mm fan at all? I have a non-blower RX580 GPU and the GPU fans should be enoguh? What do you think?
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@elluko what kinda of gpu you have? I don't really recommend it. For example I have the new Radeon Vii (it comes with a non blower style cooler) and the stock configuration of the fan pulling air inside the card was pretty bad, so i switched it to exhaust the hot air and it improved things a lot. Non reference coolers leave the heat inside the case so you have to take it out or it will become toasty.
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
Well, I just removed the 120mm fan of my RX580 Razer Core X for a week. Until now, everything works fine! Max temp of the card, even during long and heavy Final Cut Pro X sessions ist 65 degree. And with a new Corsair SF600 Platinium the system is 100% silent. I don't game, so I won't need my card to work under heavy loads for a long time.
I am very happy with that setup right now.
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@elluko Was the installation of Corsair SF600 easy? I'm looking for silent solution too. Razer Core X default PSU is loud as a vacuum cleaner. RX 580 is much more silent even under heavy load.
Update: Installation of Corsair SF600 was relatively easy. I also disconnected stock Razer fan which results completely silent operation under light to moderate loads. During multi-hour gaming sessions it hasn't yet shown any instability in the setup. Sapphire RX 580 seems to have decent cooling as I can sense clear air in-take from lefthand side and exhaust from the righthand side (Razer branded) – stock fan orientation seems to conflict this airflow.
2012 15" Macbook Pro Retina (GT 650M disabled) + RX 580 @ 10Gbps-TB1>TB3 (Razer Core X) + macOS 10.14.5
I replaced the stock fan with Noctua NF-S12A FLX. It works perfectly and noise levels are nearly inaudible already with 1200 RPM setting (fan could go lower). Combined with replaced PSU (Corsair SF600 Platinum) and Sapphire RX 580 whole setup stays very silent up to moderate performance tasks.
2012 15" Macbook Pro Retina (GT 650M disabled) + RX 580 @ 10Gbps-TB1>TB3 (Razer Core X) + macOS 10.14.5
Thanks for this advice I replaced my fan with the Noctua NF-S12A FLX - so much quieter, and an easy thing to do, its v sad Razer are not trying harder on the noise reduction, my PC with CPU was quieter than the core x chroma box.
Even with the Noctua the PSU still made fan noise in a quiet room (though you don't hear it with sound playing) - so I replaced it with this high efficiency SXL (small form factor) 450W fanless PSU: SilverStone SST-NJ450-SXL it is now completely silent.
This was trickier and required some careful unmounting and remounting its a slightly different shape and the cabling is harder to route. But with a little effort and a collection of different small screwdrivers it fits in the case and it works.
Important: calculating maximum power draw:
NVIDA cards (almost) all work under 250W (AMD/ATI specs differ), mine is << 250W
USC-C max 100W
USB 3 (3.1 allows up to 100W for SSD and charging but in practice interface devices are <5W) = max 4*5 = 20W
So my total maximum power draw is 370W - leaving lots of headroom even in the very worst case.
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i just installed a Noctua NF-A12x25-FLX, it's a winner...
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
I bought a Noctua NF-A12x25A ULN thinking that it would be slightly quieter than the other Noctua NF-A12x25-FLX.
To avoid others making the same mistake it doesn't work so I'm returning it and probably getting the FLX version everyone else is using.
2019 Razer Blade Stealth (16gb, replacement 1tb NVme, MX150)
Razer Core X Chroma (replacement SF750 PSU, Noctua NF-S12A FLX Fan)
EVGA 1080 to be replaced by Gigabyte 2080 TI Windforce OC once it arrives
I tested two fans, there's some good news. be quiet! silent wings 3 (1450RPM) is working fine with my core x. Another fan, NB-Blacksilentfan (1000RPM) doesn't spin.
I hope this helps someone.
Did replacing 120mm fan only (Exc. PSU fan) make the core x noticeably quieter? thanks
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So a few things here (Hi, new here)...
I am using the Core X Chroma with the Sapphire Nitro+ RX5700 xt card - I am using power pass through as well and a USB mic connected - nothing else.
As stock, as mentioned above, too noisy. Replaced the PSU with the recommended SF600 Plat plus. Dead silent unless I'm gaming for hours - and still very very quiet compared to stock.
I replaced the case fan with the recommended Noctua one above - way quieter - and I have not used the low-noise or ultra-low cables, though I may. I need to get another extended session under the belt here to see temps.
The other piece is with the card I have, I kept the case fan as an intake. I did try exhaust just for the heck of it.. didn't work well.
I am considering adding the front fan at ultra-low and moving the case fan to ultra low - both as intakes... gpu card has the exhaust.
2019 MacBook Pro 15" i9, 32gb, 2tb, Vega 20 + Razer Core X Chroma w/ Sapphire Nitro+ RX5700 xt