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So wait, the new Nehalem Mac Pros have fans inside the heatsinks?

J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
So basically the new Nehalem Mac Pros have fans inside the heatsinks (2 big blocks next to the RAM slots?).

Also does the Nehalem Mac Pros have a fan inside the main heatsink where the CPU is located? I heard somewhere that there were.

Man I hate fans. To me feels like the architecture of the Mac Pro has downgraded from the last gen.

More fan= more noises & too many little parts to worry about breaking down.
 
sidewinder

sidewinder

macrumors 68020
Dec 10, 2008
2,425
130
Northern California
jjahshik32,

Yes, the CPU heat sinks have fans. Unless you do liquid cooling, there is not way to get away from fans. At least Apple is using really quite fans and speeds that keep the noise level low.

Get used to fans....

S-
 
A

Abidubi

macrumors 6502
Feb 13, 2009
329
0
Montreal
jjahshik32 said:
Just took a look at the pictures, not as bad as I'd imagined BUT looks like more places to build up dust.
Click to expand...

Have you seen a mac pro or powermac before? Since 2003 they have been filled with fans. The early powermacs G5s had 9 fans.

The new mac pros have 6 or 7 if I'm not mistaken (including the ones in the heatsinks).
 
Tesselator

Tesselator

macrumors 601
Jan 9, 2008
4,601
6
Japan
jjahshik32 said:
Just took a look at the pictures, not as bad as I'd imagined BUT looks like more places to build up dust.
Click to expand...

I think it's better than the old system. The ones in all of the previous Mac Pros do indeed build up dust:

Dust_Bunnies_01.jpg
.
Dust_Bunnies_02.jpg


but are additionally very difficult to gain access to. Well, difficult compared to the cool tray design in the 2009 Mac Pro models! :) The above photos were taken after about 8 months of running 24/7. My house is made of Mud with tatami (rice matt) floors though so that generates a little more dust than the usual home. I dunno how much more. :p




I think the 2009 systems are a good design! Maybe not as good as having the fans external like DELL Precision Workstations:

Dell_Guts_001_2003-08-13_18-34-54.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_002_2003-08-13_18-37-37.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_003_2003-08-13_18-38-32.jpg


Dell_Guts_004_2003-08-13_18-39-00.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_005_2003-08-13_19-30-05.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_006_2003-08-13_19-16-06.jpg


which are also perfectly silent, fantastically cool (low temp), and more easily cleaned - not having fan-blades and housing to clean from inside the syncs. Or do the Mac Pro syncs come apart so we can gain access to the fan surfaces?


EDIT:
Just thinking out loud, I bet the Mac Pro syncs fit OVER the fans so that when the syncs are removed the fan is left and exposed???
.
 
M

Macpropro80

macrumors 6502
Jan 31, 2009
408
0
Tesselator said:
I think it's better than the old system. The ones in all of the previous Mac Pros do indeed build up dust:

Dust_Bunnies_01.jpg
.
Dust_Bunnies_02.jpg


but are additionally very difficult to gain access to. Well, difficult compared to the cool tray design in the 2009 Mac Pro models! :) The above photos were taken after about 8 months of running 24/7. My house is made of Mud though so that generates a little more dust than the usual home. I dunno how much more. :p




I think the 2009 systems are a good design! Maybe not as good as having the fans external like DELL Precision Workstations:

Dell_Guts_001_2003-08-13_18-34-54.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_002_2003-08-13_18-37-37.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_003_2003-08-13_18-38-32.jpg


Dell_Guts_004_2003-08-13_18-39-00.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_005_2003-08-13_19-30-05.jpg
.
Dell_Guts_006_2003-08-13_19-16-06.jpg


which are also perfectly silent, fantastically cool (low temp), and more easily cleaned - not having fan-blades and housing to clean from inside the syncs. Or do the Mac Pro syncs come apart so we can gain access to the fan surfaces?

.
Click to expand...

OMG as soon as I get home Im opening my pro and cleaning it! Thats disgusting! Are your sure there isnt a cat living in ur mac pro?
 
rockinrocker

rockinrocker

macrumors 65816
Aug 21, 2006
1,322
0
Holy cow, that's a lot of dirt. At first glance I thought, "Why's that guy got doodoo in his Mac?"

My '08 has a little build up, but nothing like that. I don't think it's really a problem or anything....
 
Tesselator

Tesselator

macrumors 601
Jan 9, 2008
4,601
6
Japan
It is. I've seen pictures of other MP systems after about a year. Mine are nothing special. If you have your mac on the floor it gets like that. Especially if it's not a linoleum or hardwood floor. Rugs, tatami, etc. are notorious for throwing a bunch of dust and lint up all the time. :p The climate also matters though. If you live in a dryer climate it won't be nearly as bad.

.
 
S

striatedglutes

macrumors 6502
Feb 22, 2009
419
1
USA
Those pictures are disgusting, and I wouldn't imagine that kind of buildup would be possible unless the user chain smoked next to the machine.
 
A

Abidubi

macrumors 6502
Feb 13, 2009
329
0
Montreal
I'll keep putting my Powermac/Macpro ON my desk thank you very much, despite the fact that a couple people here think it belongs on the floor.
 
S

ScottishCaptain

macrumors 6502a
Oct 4, 2008
871
474
> So basically the new Nehalem Mac Pros have fans inside the heatsinks (2 big blocks next to the RAM slots?).

Yes. The "blocks" are simply shrouds. As I've stated in another forum, each "block" contains a fan, a heatpipe/heatsink assembly, and a thermal sensor. The thermal sensor and fan attach to a ZIF-like connector that matches up to a connector on the processor/RAM board.

The "blocks" are installed and removed as a single unit.

> Man I hate fans. To me feels like the architecture of the Mac Pro has downgraded from the last gen.

Eh, perhaps.

Apple basically had two choices with the new removable card design.

1) Put fans on each processor heatsink (which is what they did)
2) Include a gigantic plastic shroud/duct that covers the entire CPU/RAM assembly, and ducts air to each CPU accordingly.

Maybe they dropped the ball, maybe not. It probably wouldn't have been hard at all to include a removable shroud, and deal away with the heatsink fans alltogether (those two 120MM's on either end are more then enough).

> More fan= more noises.

All fans inside the Mac Pro are connected to one of two SMC controllers embedded in the machine. These controllers also receive data about the thermal operation of the machine, and throttle the fans accordingly.

There are no fans in the Mac Pro that run at 100%, all the time. Everything is thermally controlled. That being said, Apple can "balance" the machine's noise output with the desired temperature of the internal components. More then likely, they've set things up so the new Mac Pro is quieter or as loud as the previous generation, which was pretty damned quiet.

> & too many little parts to worry about breaking down

Eh... If you clean out your Mac Pro on a regular basis- and the new Nehalem's look pretty easy to clean, there's nothing to worry about.

I clean my machines out /monthly/. Never had a fan fail on me.

-SC
 
J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
That seems like the heatsink/fans for the ram I'm talking about the main heat sinks for the CPU.
 
J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
Wait, the removable slot where the ram lay, and those two huge aluminum shroud has the CPU inside?!?

If so wow I didn't know the CPU was removable and if it is, I think the design is pretty awesome.
 
rockinrocker

rockinrocker

macrumors 65816
Aug 21, 2006
1,322
0
jjahshik32 said:
Wait, the removable slot where the ram lay, and those two huge aluminum shroud has the CPU inside?!?

If so wow I didn't know the CPU was removable and if it is, I think the design is pretty awesome.
Click to expand...

Yes the processors are in there.

I guess in theory it must be pretty easy to upgrade the CPU's, right? It's not like they'd be soldered to the board (like a certain companies laptops).

We haven't seen anybody actually do it yet though, have we?

Plus, I'd like to see a photo of what's under that shroud. Haven't been able to find one in any of the streams that have been posted.
 
J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
That is an awesome design actually now that I fully understand what it looks like and MUCH easier to clean.

I wonder if later people who send in a 2.66ghz nehalem in for repairs will accidentally get a 2.93ghz board slid in, LOL. Talk abo major pay day!
 
M

Mad Mac

macrumors regular
May 15, 2008
190
0
So what happens when a fan breaks down? Do you have to remove the heatsink, any thermal paste, etc. to get to the fan to replace it? If so, that would suck.
 
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