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#1 2005-05-10 8:14 pm
- Zaimejs
- Member
- From: Somewhere Out there.
- Registered: 2000-07-28
- Posts: 4992
Keeping my mac cool
I recently upgraded my G4 dual 867 to a G4 dual 1 Ghz. Before the upgrade, my macs temp was about 56 C. For a few weeks after the upgrade, it settled right at 57-57.5. But never more than that. Even after a hefty dose of UT 2004... it never got up to 58.
Now it seems to regularly be climbing to 58... and that's right when the fans kick in. They get really loud at 59, and I don't think the mac likes being over 60.
Is there any way I can keep it a bit cooler? It has been warm for the past few days. The computer is in the basement, and it never gets very hot down here, but I'm still worried about my mac's health.
I used arctic silver III when I put it all back together. Would I benefit much from a higher grade of that stuff? Would it be worth reapplying? Is there anything else? Better heatsinks? Carboard tubing? Ice cubes?
What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you laugh and then beat me to a pulp?
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#2 2005-05-10 8:28 pm
- brendave
- Rankin and Rockin like Roger
- From: Valparaiso, IN
- Registered: 2005-01-10
- Posts: 1422
Re: Keeping my mac cool
You could try this. Sorry, had to edit. This guy threw all his stuff into a fish tank filled with veg. oil and the fan circulates it.
Last edited by brendave (2005-05-10 8:30 pm)
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#3 2005-05-10 10:34 pm
- Weighted Memory
- Member
- From: Oswego, NY
- Registered: 2005-02-23
- Posts: 282
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Re: Keeping my mac cool
that oil computer is brilliant. 
Dual 2GHz G5 RevC, 1.5GB RAM, 23 inch Apple Cinema Display, Logitech z680 5.1 Surround, Logitech Click! wired optical mouse
eMac 800MHz G4, 256MB RAM
Go off to sleep in the sunshine, I don't want to see the day when it's dying...
Mac OS 10.4 puts the GRR in Tiger, baby, yea!
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#4 2005-05-10 11:46 pm
- Thunderstruck
- Goatee
- From: West Melbourne, Vic
- Registered: 2002-11-19
- Posts: 2662
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Re: Keeping my mac cool
fridge it.
iBook G4 | 12" | 40GB | 1.33GHz | 512MB | Combo | 10.4.3
iMac G4 | 15" | 40GB | 700MHz | 512MB | Combo | 10.4.2
Camino, official nightlies, G4 optimized nightlies & themes, CamiTools
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#5 2005-05-10 11:59 pm
- sosumi
- numbery
- Royal Wombat
- From: North Mexico
- Registered: 1999-02-21
- Posts: 17513
Re: Keeping my mac cool
That oil isn't a bad idea, except it would take a lot of work to make those components and cables usable again. Plus upgrades are a bitch.
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#7 2005-05-11 6:44 am
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Re: Keeping my mac cool
Dust accumulates. Try opening it up and blowing it out with compressed air.
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#8 2005-05-11 4:43 pm
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9142
Re: Keeping my mac cool
Yeah, try and just give it a good cleaning. Don't need to do anything extreme. Other things to think about are possibly adding another fan inside the case to help cool the CPU.
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#9 2005-05-11 4:53 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18092
Re: Keeping my mac cool
I agre with the dust statement. If it gets really bad, my Athlon's core temp will drop 5 degrees after a good cleaning.
You might just buy a monster copper heatsink and stick it on there, too.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#10 2005-05-12 8:37 am
- Zaimejs
- Member
- From: Somewhere Out there.
- Registered: 2000-07-28
- Posts: 4992
Re: Keeping my mac cool
I would love to put a different heat sink in. I've been looking at this giant mac heatsink... and I'm not impressed. It doesn't seem to be the most efficient design or metal.
I did reseat it with Arctic Silver V. This morning the temp was steady at 55... down from 58. So that's good.
I hope it stays that way.
I'm wondering how much the outside temperature affects the internal temp of my mac.
What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you laugh and then beat me to a pulp?
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#11 2005-05-12 12:11 pm
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9142
Re: Keeping my mac cool
Want even more cooling, mount a fan on that heatsink. Even if you already have a fan on there, you could get one that moves more air then place that on it instead.
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#12 2005-05-12 12:41 pm
- Zaimejs
- Member
- From: Somewhere Out there.
- Registered: 2000-07-28
- Posts: 4992
Re: Keeping my mac cool
I think the way the case closes... the heatsink bumps right into the fan in the case, and it blows right on the heatsink. I'm not sure how or where you'd go about putting another one in.
What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you laugh and then beat me to a pulp?
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#13 2005-05-12 4:44 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18092
Re: Keeping my mac cool
Zaimejs wrote:
I would love to put a different heat sink in. I've been looking at this giant mac heatsink... and I'm not impressed. It doesn't seem to be the most efficient design or metal.
I did reseat it with Arctic Silver V. This morning the temp was steady at 55... down from 58. So that's good.
I hope it stays that way.
I'm wondering how much the outside temperature affects the internal temp of my mac.
It affects it a lot - the temp of the CPU is always going to be X degrees hotter than whatever room temperature is, because no matter what the temperature of the air is when it's sucked into the machine, the CPU is going to bleed the same amount of thermal energy into it, to be absorbed. That why the fans spin faster, in order to provide more air for the same amount of thermal energy to be bled off into, lowering the value of X.
So, if it got hotter in the room, the CPU temp should have gone up.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#14 2005-05-12 7:17 pm
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9142
Re: Keeping my mac cool
Theres always ways to install another fan. Or what you could do is buy a better fan than the one you have. One which moves more CFM.
If you have an empty PCI slot you can always put in an exhaust fan cooler. They do move a bit of air. But if I was in your spot i'd be looking more into other places inside your case where you could creatively mount a fan. For example: I took a PCI exhaust fan and found a spot where I mounted it to blow air across my CPU in my Beige. That fan saved my CPUs from overheating and it also helped cool the board itself.
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#15 2005-05-12 7:34 pm
- Ra
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- From: US (way up North)
- Registered: 2003-10-05
- Posts: 1434
Re: Keeping my mac cool
brendave wrote:
You could try this. Sorry, had to edit. This guy threw all his stuff into a fish tank filled with veg. oil and the fan circulates it.
Hmmm. there is something funny here. The computer looks great immersed in oil, but keep in mind that oil conducts electricity.
How about cutting a hole on the refrigerator wall and partially sticking the Mac through the hole? I bet that will keep it cool 
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
- Albert Einstein
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#16 2005-05-12 7:39 pm
- brendave
- Rankin and Rockin like Roger
- From: Valparaiso, IN
- Registered: 2005-01-10
- Posts: 1422
Re: Keeping my mac cool
Ra wrote:
brendave wrote:
You could try this. Sorry, had to edit. This guy threw all his stuff into a fish tank filled with veg. oil and the fan circulates it.
Hmmm. there is something funny here. The computer looks great immersed in oil, but keep in mind that oil conducts electricity.
How about cutting a hole on the refrigerator wall and partially sticking the Mac through the hole? I bet that will keep it cool
Pure veg. oil doesn't conduct electricity. We use it in our motor housings for fountains/ aerators.
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#17 2005-05-13 2:28 pm
- Zaimejs
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- From: Somewhere Out there.
- Registered: 2000-07-28
- Posts: 4992
Re: Keeping my mac cool
That's the whole point of oil. It's not a conductor.
What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you laugh and then beat me to a pulp?
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