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Replacement G4 Tower Power Supply

A

aliasfox

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2004
160
78
Hi all,

I just came into posession of a Quicksilver 2002 which has become the fastest machine in my fleet. However, it is also the loudest machine by far, and I've spent some time looking at her insides to see what fans I can replace. I can replace the CPU and GPU fans relatively easily, and the case fan doesn't look like a problem either. That leaves the PSU with its 80 mm fan in the back. It looks like the PSU is sealed (somebody prove me wrong?), so I would have to get a new PSU to get a quieter fan.

I've been a fan of Silenx fans (case fan in my Cube and CPU fan in the Quicksilver), and they also make quiet power supplies - anybody know if one of theirs (I assume ATX) power supplies will be an exact plug-in match in the Quicksilver case?

Thanks to everyone who replies!
 
P

product26

Cancelled
May 30, 2005
777
9
aliasfox said:
Hi all,

I just came into posession of a Quicksilver 2002 which has become the fastest machine in my fleet. However, it is also the loudest machine by far, and I've spent some time looking at her insides to see what fans I can replace. I can replace the CPU and GPU fans relatively easily, and the case fan doesn't look like a problem either. That leaves the PSU with its 80 mm fan in the back. It looks like the PSU is sealed (somebody prove me wrong?), so I would have to get a new PSU to get a quieter fan.

I've been a fan of Silenx fans (case fan in my Cube and CPU fan in the Quicksilver), and they also make quiet power supplies - anybody know if one of theirs (I assume ATX) power supplies will be an exact plug-in match in the Quicksilver case?

Thanks to everyone who replies!
Click to expand...

I replaced the fan in my quicksilvers power supply. Easy to do, just don't touch anything inside it when you have it open.

I replaced every fan in my Quicksilver tower with SilenX Fans The quietest fans on the market (trust me, I also tried all the other brands.)
 
A

aliasfox

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2004
160
78
Don't touch anything inside... I'd be scared to open it if I don't have a diagram as to what I can touch (fan, screws, connectors) and what I can't (copper coils, etc).

Is the connector for the PSU fan a standard 3 pin connector, or is it one of those awful Apple 2-pin connectors that no fans ever use?

Silenx fans are awesome - 90% of the airflow with 50% (or less!) of the noise.

Of course, it may be ruined by the fan on my Radeon 9700 Pro... I'm considering getting a cooler for it, though that may still be louder than the Silenxes...
 
P

product26

Cancelled
May 30, 2005
777
9
aliasfox said:
Don't touch anything inside... I'd be scared to open it if I don't have a diagram as to what I can touch (fan, screws, connectors) and what I can't (copper coils, etc).

Is the connector for the PSU fan a standard 3 pin connector, or is it one of those awful Apple 2-pin connectors that no fans ever use?

Silenx fans are awesome - 90% of the airflow with 50% (or less!) of the noise.

Of course, it may be ruined by the fan on my Radeon 9700 Pro... I'm considering getting a cooler for it, though that may still be louder than the Silenxes...
Click to expand...

It is the 2 pin plug. But you can plug the 3 pin in to it, just plug in the correct 2 pins.

opening it up is simple. and the wire is easy to get to.

If you decide to attempt this, be sure to unplug your machine and hold down the power button/ push it a few times, this helps draw some of the power out of the PSU before you open it up.
 
A

aliasfox

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2004
160
78
Alright, so what I'm thinking of is:

- 60mm Silenx for the CPU
- 120mm Noctua for the exhaust fan
- 80mm Nexus for the PSU fan
- Zalman zf-900 for the Radeon 9700
- Rubber grommets on the hard drive and fan mounts
- clipping the finger guards on the PSU and the exhaust fan

Hopefully, this will keep my tower quiet and cool enough not to overheat. My biggest worry is that the Noctua exhaust fan won't be powerful enough - I'd go for the Silenx 120mm, but a lot of other forums have stated that Silenxes are overrated for airflow and underrated for noise.

If I get a temperature monitor, would putting it on the base of the CPU heatsink give me an accurate reading? Or do I need to remove the heatsink and place the diode directly on the die?
 
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