Blue and White 400Mhz and some tweakin

[7on]

Is there any popular mods on replacing a 400Mhz RevB B&W's fans with quieter ones?

Also anyway to get on to 'deep sleep' in OSX?

Thanks.

[bousozoku]

In nearly 5 years of having mine, I've never seen any modifications for, or complaints about, the fans until now.

[jhu]

which fan?

[Redboy]

I'd be interested if anyone knows of something - I feel like mine is a bit loud.

[rhpenguin]

Ill let you know in a few weeks once i get mine.. im planning on building a big vent/vacform airbox in the back of my system so i can try and overclock the chip to a respectable frequency...

My mod isnt going to be quiet at all though. Im going for maximum performance! BTW 7on, could you snap some pics of the inside of your B&W for me so i can start designing my airbox/heatsink to go over the processor?

[7on]

Ill let you know in a few weeks once i get mine.. im planning on building a big vent/vacform airbox in the back of my system so i can try and overclock the chip to a respectable frequency...

My mod isnt going to be quiet at all though. Im going for maximum performance! BTW 7on, could you snap some pics of the inside of your B&W for me so i can start designing my airbox/heatsink to go over the processor?

Sure, it's the RevB though and I won't get around to it till after work today.

I's mainly the PSU fan, and it's only a big bother because my room is fairly small with the computer desk near my bed.

[Dreadnought]

Have seen some stufff about this at www.xlr8yourmac.com
If you want to mod, take a look there, they have everything!

[Spock]

Ill let you know in a few weeks once i get mine.. im planning on building a big vent/vacform airbox in the back of my system so i can try and overclock the chip to a respectable frequency...


Good luck overclocking I could not get mine to boot at 500Mhz so I would like to see if You could get it that high.
Also, is Yours a REV.A or B?? if it is REV.A ignore all the crap about not being able to add a second drive I am running two drives right now without a problem.

[7on]

I have no way to get the pics to ya, because your inBox is full and my web server isn't accepting my login at the moment.

[rhpenguin]

Mine will be a Rev.A but ive got an SATA controller for it so im gonna run two 250gb hdds. Now if only PayPal would hurry up and get my transaction completed so i can get my macine that wouold be wonderful!

But im going to do some hacking to the front of the case and remove the cd bays, move them further up and switch them over to a slim slot loading superdrive from the powerbook (hopefully) and make a new front bezel for the case with some vacform plastic.. Also after this the machine will be getting painted (Send me some sugestions as to what colours to paint! :D). Im thinking of painting it a Shelby blue and go for the iMac/iBook white and make it a really modern looking B&W, but I've also considered a Ferrarri theme for it... But sugestions would be a good thing :)

Future planned changes to this machine are a new logic board from a PowerMac G4 (hopefully a Quicksilver board) and a sonnet 1.4ghz upgrade processor and maybe a seccond small lcd screen built into the front bezel for me to put iTunes on and reduce clutter on the dock/main screen.


Oh and if anyone wants to trade a Zip drive + bezel for zip drive for a blank drive bay cover, let me know (really good chance to get a free zip drive!!) because mines gotta come out and i need to fill the hole its going to leave.

7on, you can post them on the gallery in my website (http://nicolab.zapto.org) in the screenshot section (im pretty sure its public posting access in there. if not i know the wallpaper section is.). BTW thanks for taking the time to take the pics :)

[7on]

http://69.193.177.111/gallery/Wallpapers

Should be there. Remember to close your B&W by lifting on the side release lever instead of just slamming it close :( Duno if I did it or if the seller did, but one of the hooks on mine broke off. Not too critical because there's like 6 or so of them.

[rhpenguin]

Thanks for the tip and the pics :)

Just looking at it and that stock cooling has got to go.. Im pretty confident that i can pull off the design im looking for, but ill have to sit down with some modeling clay and try it.. Also what im going to do is fab a copper heatsink and use the original clip from the stock heatsink. Also does the processor in this machine have a heat spreader on it or does the heatsink sit right on the core? If theres no heat spreader, ill have to make a shim too..

Once i get my airbox done and if it works well, ill make a guide. Hopefully ill have the machine this week and will be able to start working on it! Ill keep everyone posted on here, or you can just look at my website and there will be a lot of pics posted on there that will show my progress..

[rhpenguin]

Just got looking at those pics you sent me (which i have moved to their own section http://69.193.177.111/gallery/applhrdware ) and it got me thinking a little bit. The shot of the heatsink and the ruler that measured 2 inches seemed about the same size as a socket 7 or a socket 370 processors.

So i pulled out my trusty testing machine wihch is an AMD K6-2+ 550 (moble socket 7 processor) on an ASUS P5A and measured the HSF and the processor and guess what.... 2 inches across (http://69.193.177.111/gallery/album01/) (the processor was anyway, the socket was a bit bigger..). So guess what that means.. All those nice cpu coolers for the K6-2/3 and the Pentium III wil no doubt work using the clip off the stock heatsink to make it fit properly.

Just thought i would share.

btw 7on, how tall is the heatsink? Because it looks like a Thermaltake Volcano 7+ (http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/volcano/rs/a1254.htm) would totaly fit on there. Also, im gonna mod up one of my old PC power supplies and show you a few tricks you can do to it to make it flow better so you can put slower fans in it and quiet it overall :)

[Mord]

socket A heatsinks fit just reshape the clip as the clip will stick out the sides just bend it to fit, it's a little tricky but it's possible, if your going to get a pc heatsink make sure you put a fan on it as heatsinks as they are not ment to be used passively as the fins are too close and are only effective with a fan, you can get slim 10-15mm fans so they fit.

[rhpenguin]

Does anyone know if the power supply in the b&w is special other than its connecter? Like i know in the Quicksilver G4's they use a slow trickle powersupply and only that one works..

Because ive got an awesome idea for building cold air ducts in using the powere supply hole if i can get a smaller PSU (1u rackmount) to sit above the cdrom which i would cool with a heatpipe that leads out into the cold air duct. Ill draw up a sketch later and scan it so it makes more sense.

damn i cant wait till i actually get my PM... lol

[7on]

Height is really tricky, as may or may not close if the HeatSink is too big.

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ should have some mod ideas for ya.

Also the B&W has only 2 fans. A case fan and a PSU fan. I dunno how the PSU fan can be replaced, as I've never taken the PSU apart.

Oh yeah, if you're gonna paint it I've heard a lot of people who mod their game consoles recommend Krylon spray paint.

[MacNeXT]

Does anyone know if the power supply in the b&w is special other than its connecter? Like i know in the Quicksilver G4's they use a slow trickle powersupply and only that one works..


Afaik, even the connector is the same on the B&W. The only thing you need to do to make a regular ATX power supply work in a B&W is to remove or connect to earth the -5 v wire. I could be wrong about the details, check www.xlr8yourmac.com, it's there! Good luck.

[rhpenguin]

Im going to go with a high gloss automotive paint. Ive got a friend that is a DuPont dealer and can get everything for me at cost and i can even use their spray booth so ive got that covered.

Also ive read that there isnt a whole lot of space for a heatsink in there, but thats where my bandsaw comes in. I can basically make it whatever size it needs to be.. Im for sure going with a copper based heatsink and i dont even know if im going to put a fan on the heatsink but im thinking of relocating the powersupply over the optical drive and running an 80mm heatpipe (i have a friend that makes custom exhausts for cars) up to where the current exhaust for the power supply is. As for exhaust fan in the case, im pretty sure im going to have to cut a hole in the top or find a way for the current case fan to take care of that for me...

Currently im basically gonna take my dremel and gut the inside of the case and get rid of all of Apple's cooling and design my own so i can get the most out of the system. And as for xlr8yourmac.com, its a great website.. But no one has really taken that extra step and really cut up their Mac the way im invisioning it. Also ive started to make a little tutorial about modding power supplies, but seem to be out of grinding wheels for my dremel at the moment, so when i can pick up more ill post the tutorial on my website.

[Mord]

you can just get a quiet psu or take the fan out of the current psu check the manufacturers site for cfm figures and get a 60mm fan that pushes the same amount of air and is quieter (below 20db is good), the main source of noise in a g3 is that quantum fireball HD, to prove it pull the power out of the HD and boot up, see how quiet it is, your best of dumping the Hd and putting a nice quiet 7200 rpm Hd

[7on]

yeah, I'm not running the original hdd, some I had in an old PC (which was pretty quiet). Is there a measure on how much air the PSU fan pushes?

[Mord]

yeah, I'm not running the original hdd, some I had in an old PC (which was pretty quiet). Is there a measure on how much air the PSU fan pushes?

yank the fan out and type the code thats on it into google.

[Spock]

You guys have way to much time on your hands. For all the money You are going to drop on a $200 computer You could get a sonnet upgrade. And if it makes to much noise at night SHUT IT OFF!!

[rhpenguin]

I am planning on buying a sonnet upgrade.. Read a few posts up :P

I just figure ive got the stock hardware there and ive got a few other things i need to buy first. These items include; SATA RAID Adapter, 4x 250GB Maxtor 7200rpm HDDs, Quicksilver logic board (maybe... I just want a board with an AGP slot but cant turn down the B&W based on price alone), 1GB of ram, a high end ATi video card and then the 1.4GHz Sonnet upgrade..) So its going to be a little expensive and im not going to be able to aford it all at once, which is why im gonna just tweek what i have for the time being and maybe get a little more performance from it...

And my mods arent going to cost me more than $50 and i would rather do this to a $200 computer than a $2500 computer (because the $2500 pc oviously doesnt need the help.. lol).

[7on]

What is I need to download something overnight? or do something else that requires overnight assistance? I will have a roommate too so I'm not the only one who has to hear it.

[Mord]

fans are cheap so this is worth while. remember the stand of mounts for the g3 dont match up with a quicksilver so you would have to do do some drilling and diy. and remember you would need annother power supply as a quicksilver requires 28v which the b&w power supply dose not supply (it needs the 28v weather you use adc or not.

[rhpenguin]

Yep Im fully aware i need to do some drilling.. I can get the little posts and tap the holes myself with a tap and die set. Also im fully aware of the issues with the powersupply know that i need a new one. And im not going to be using ADC because im going for the retail version of the ATi Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition (which has VGA and DVI).

Overall it should be a pretty simple mod.

[Mord]

if your going to do all that moding you may as well flash a 9800 it would be allot cheaper

(get parts from america and have them shiped over there a allot cheaper but remember to add duty which is about the same as vat 17.5%

[rhpenguin]

Do you have any guides for flashing the 9800? Ive heard it done but have not found any reliable info on how to do it?

And i would rather get my parts in Canada vs. getting them from the USA just so i dont have to pay duty and shipping fees :)

[7on]

The G3 B&W has no AGP port, only PCIs.

[Mord]

the guy is going to pop a quicksilver mobo in there.

as for 9800 flashing go over to www.cubeowner.com in the faq under graphics cards ect there are some roms one of them is a 9800 rom that has been reduced so you dont need to change the eeprom as shown in this guide http://mapage.noos.fr/campahunta/radeon9800/pc_9800_conversion.html.

you dont evenhave to move the resistors if you use the reduced rom just flash it on and tape the connectors to go into agp 2x/4x mode

[rhpenguin]

mmmmmmm goodness.. thanks for the info Hector.

I cant wait till i get my frankenMac complete. It ships out tomorow and i hope to have all my mods done by the end of October (depending on available funds and ease of obtaining parts).

[Mord]

where did you buy it from? i got mine from owc and i'm letting it go soon to trade for a cube plus £200, realized that i wont use the pci slots and i'd much rather have fun upgrading a cube, more of a challenge than adding a zif some more ram and a couple of 7200rpm HD's.

now i have to save up for a dual 1.4GHz giga designs upgrade, a zalman passive watercooling set, one sapphire radeon 9800 pro to flash, 1GB of ram (cube comes with 512MB) two danger den gpu waterblock peltier units and one thermaltake low profile gpu waterblock for the 9800, one fanless 480w power supply, one tube of arctic silver epoxy one tube of regular arctic silver and two sets of copper ramsinks for the l3 cache the 9800 and the vrm board.

10 points to the person that understands half of that, hehehehe