Axe fx 3 - is the fan necessary?

R

Rune Rasmussen

New Member
I am using the axe fx3 in my home studio only, and weekends only.
Is the fan really necessary for 'light use' only? Or will I ( not can I ) damage the unit?

I understand that the warranty becomes void etc...

Regards

Rune
 
if you unplug the fan it's no longer working as designed - i'd consider that a damaged state, and asking for more damage
 
I'm guessing if it were unnecessary it would have been eliminated from the onset. Fractal could have saved a ton of money over time.
 
I don't know what you would consider light use; My fan comes on fairly regularly, only using it at home, but it's also very quiet. I certainly wouldn't disable it, but I believe there are quieter aftermarket ones available. Do a search here.
 
That is tantamount to asking:
"If I remove the airbags from my vehicle, will I (not can I) sustain an injury in a wreck? I know it voids the warranty..."

You can safely assume that removing cooling from any computer system will cause thermal stress, premature degradation of components, and eventual thermal failure over time.

Remove it and you roll the dice. Far too many potential variables to even speculate what the odds are.
 
It needs the fan. The CPU in the FX3 runs hot, and the system will shut down unexpectedly if the chips overheat.
"The DSP won't get damaged if it overheats, it will just stop working. I've yet to see a unit overheat. Our products are overdesigned." [38]
Click to expand...

The FM models use passive cooling with fan backup, so they’re quieter, but even they kick in if the internal temperature rises.
 
Relaxing Duck Dynasty GIF by DefyTV
 
It's designed (or should be) to be used safely and dependably in the "hottest spots on Earth," so to speak. Therefore it's fair to wonder if a (very) noisy fan is really needed at normal room temperature (say max. 22C or 72F).

I've seen the question often and it seemed often (unofficially) claimed it is quite ok to have some silent cooling for it in these lower temps.

If I was gonna keep my II, it's what I would do at some point, as even the silent fan version is kinda loud (yet the process to install a larger one is not that attractive).

Of course, FAS is not gonna recommend this, but if you're prepared to honestly take the blame and buy a whole new motherboard if it fails, I'd go ahead and install a variable speed fan or something.

There's of course also CPU differences. Clearly, some of these hardly need a fan at all, and will only have it spin up when needed.

In Europe, at least for the II, it seems G66 is allowed to replace fans with a "silent" version if the user so prefers (which often still is not nearly silent, esp. the smaller ones). As these usually have less CFM, it indicates it is ok to a point.
 
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Cliff on the II ...

"The stock fan is probably faster than need be but I designed the unit to withstand extremely high ambient temperatures as reliability is paramount."

Cliff on the Standard/Ultra ... [AFAIK]

"The fan cools the DSP. Under most ambient conditions it's probably not required. However, in a cramped rack above a hot power amp on a hot day the DSP could possibly exceed recommended temperatures so it's a safety precaution." [IIRC, he later firmly and understandably retracted the "not required" statement]

On the III I have no archived similar statements at the moment, besides that models after 2019 also vary their fan speed depending on temps.
If these are fairly low speed in room temp, I would imagine there is some included safety margin, but I would not kill them entirely. I suspect a silent solution would do fine though. If it truly has overheating protection, even better.

I of course don't recommend any of this either, but I understand the need, and the user has to understand the risk that is hopefully smaller than we tend to think. If it does hurt the CPU in the long run, it's not fair to sell it on at the going prices, IMO... — yet, how to know?

I guess the biggest problem with allowing this is people messing up at some point, yet still claiming the unit was stock and demanding free service...
 
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I must be missing something, I’ve never heard the fan on AF3 mkii in my control room. The ultra I had, well that was a different story.
 
FPFL said:
Question - is the Ultra Chip running hotter and needing more fan?
Click to expand...
I assume you mean the Axe III Turbo. Yes, it runs the DSP at a 25% faster clock speed, so it will most likely run a little bit hotter than the non-Turbo version.
 
mr_fender said:
I assume you mean the Axe III Turbo. Yes, it runs the DSP at a 25% faster clock speed, so it will most likely run a little bit hotter than the non-Turbo version.
Click to expand...
I think he might be referring to Axe Fx Ultra.

Also, the Turbo is running a faster CPU, not running the CPU faster (it's a different CPU)... Maybe that's what you were saying but wanted to clarify. It's not overclocked.
 
The aftermarket fans are very quiet.

That said, I do not know of one user of any version of any model who has reported issues with over heating and thermal damage.
 
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