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Convert Dual 1.8GHz G5 to water cooling?

WalnutSpice

WalnutSpice

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 21, 2015
456
92
Canton, Oh
I've been using my G5 as my main machine for a few months now. My main PC (An HP Pavilion 500-070) died, well the motherboard fried. I was planning on replacing the motherboard and using the G5 for a short in between time. But I got really used to the G5 and Mac OS X as a hole. I've used OS X somewhat in elementary and middle school, I also have a Macbook. So OS X wasn't brand new to me, but I never used it as a main OS. So, I figured instead of fixing the HP I'd like to just go and save a lot of money for a nice 2012 Mac Pro. I'd like to save at least $1,200. Being 17 years old, thats going to take some time. So I'll be using my PowerMac G5 for my main machine for possibly the next year and a half. Video editing, YouTube, Web browsing, spotify. Everything. So I'd like it to run as fast as possible. But speed isn't the only issue. The fans are very loud. Not even a small buzzing noise, I mean I feel like I'm sitting right behind a jet engine. So I'm wanting to go water cooling. I've never done this before. Obviously some case moding would be needed. But I'm wondering if anyone can give me some tips or tell me if it's even possible or the speed improvements would be worth it.

Current Specs
Dual 1.8GHz G5
1 TB WD Blue HDD
1GB RAM (Original Apple RAM)
64MB NVIDIA GeForce 5200
Mac OS X 10.5.8

Upgrades I plan on
-Same CPU- (I don't think upping it to a dual 2.0GHz will do much)
1TB WD Blue HDD + PNY 240GB SSD (Boot drive)
4GB RAM
Some sort of 256MB card, haven't decided yet
Dual Boot 10.5.8 and Ubuntu Mate

Would the spec upgrade alone be enough? Or would water cooling truly benefit this Mac?
Oh, I also plan on getting an Asus 27’ 1080p MX279H monitor but whatever card I choose should power it just fine.
 
Honestly, give your fans and air paths a good cleaning. A dual 1.8 doesn't need water cooling, and I'd hardly say that even the dual 2.0 I've used are very loud.

You may also need to run thermal calibration.

The Quads need to be water cooled, and it's a decent idea on the dual 2.5/dual 2.7. It's enough of a problem that it's not worth it unless you need it IMO.
 
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Some G5s have a bug in the thermal monitoring system which isn't fixed with any amount of thermal recalibration - it is worth a shot though. Don't be surprised if it shows one CPU is failing - that's one of the buggy reports.
If the fans are still blowing up a whirlwind, you can set the the CPUs to 'reduced' setting in the system preferences - that makes a huge difference on mine (there is a drop in performance but it's not drastic).

Regarding upgrades, unless you got them for free, by my estimate, the parts would cost more than getting an early intel machine or a Dual 2.3/2.5 G5?
 
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If you really want a liquid cooled G5, just get a Quad and be done with it. It will cost you less than retrofitting liquid cooling, and give you a huge boost in performance.

The LCS in the Quad is very reliable.
 
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bunnspecial said:
If you really want a liquid cooled G5, just get a Quad and be done with it. It will cost you less than retrofitting liquid cooling, and give you a huge boost in performance.

The LCS in the Quad is very reliable.
Click to expand...

Just found out that the Quad I recently acquired was as I assumed made in Cork right here in Ireland. But more interestingly, mine was manufactured so late! It's completion date is in late June 2006. That means it's one of the last Mac's EVER to be made in Ireland, before Tim Cook arranged for everything to be done at Foxconn. It also means it's the final revision, of the final PowerMac G5, of the final PPC Apple machines. It' literally the "latest" PPC I could have, and it was made in my home country. With this mind, I'm optimistic that the LCS will hold up for another good while. :)
 
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tevion5 said:
Just found out that the Quad I recently acquired was as I assumed made in Cork right here in Ireland. But more interestingly, mine was manufactured so late! It's completion date is in late June 2006. That means it's one of the last Mac's EVER to be made in Ireland, before Tim Cook arranged for everything to be done at Foxconn. It also means it's the final revision, of the final PowerMac G5, of the final PPC Apple machines. It' literally the "latest" PPC I could have, and it was made in my home country. With this mind, I'm optimistic that the LCS will hold up for another good while. :)
Click to expand...
That is fairly cool. Must check my iMac G5 see if it was built here in Cork.
 
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every mac I own/owned apart from the Laptops was made in Ireland... I think apple still made the cMP (at least the BTO ones) in cork until the nMP came out
 
LightBulbFun said:
every mac I own/owned apart from the Laptops was made in Ireland... I think apple still made the cMP (at least the BTO ones) in cork until the nMP came out
Click to expand...

I'll look at my cMP this evening and see.

I've been shopping for a British car(specifically an MGB), and A. Goldberg and I have been trading barbs about legendary(lack of) electrical reliability inherent in them. Perhaps that explains the MDD PSU problems :)

Of course, I guess Ireland ISN'T GB.

I seem to recall that the nMP is at least assembled in the US.
 
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Just want to point out when I say cMP is made in cork i mean cMPs sold in GB... I think in the US the cMP was made well in the US.
 
bunnspecial said:
I've been shopping for a British car(specifically an MGB), and A. Goldberg and I have been trading barbs about legendary(lack of) electrical reliability inherent in them. Perhaps that explains the MDD PSU problems :)
Click to expand...

British Leyland's lack of build quality in the 70s is legendary, as are the Lucas electrics in most of them. 60s MGBs weren't so bad, mid-late 70s weren't great. The US versions with jacked up ride height and the horrendous bumpers are an utter travesty.

Suffice to say the trade unions and industrial unrest of the 70s pretty much killed off the volume British car industry.

Of course, I guess Ireland is GB.
Click to expand...

Ooooooh. No No No No No. I'll stop now before dragging up hundred of years of history.

Mexico is part of the USA, right? ;)
 
MagicBoy said:
Ooooooh. No No No No No. I'll stop now before dragging up hundred of years of history.

Mexico is part of the USA, right? ;)
Click to expand...


Sorry, PLEASE, PLEASE forgive my mis-statement on that part. I actually edited the post intending to say that Ireland is NOT part of GB! Please, again, forgive me for this-I would want to start a political war, as I'm fully aware of the fact that Ireland is its own separate country.

As for MGs-I'm actually confining my search primarily to 1960s models(and early '60s ones at that) both for appearance and handling reasons. Ideally I'd like about a '63 or '64 with in BRG(what other color is appropriate?) with an electric overdrive transmission and of course the compulsory positive earth original wiring :) . From what I understand, most later improvements(I mean that in a true sense, not tongue in cheek) like the dual-cylinder power assist master cylinder are pretty much bolt-on for early cars so would hopefully improve the real-world driving.

Late production rubber-bumper US height MGs are completely off my radar!
 
bunnspecial said:
Honestly, give your fans and air paths a good cleaning. A dual 1.8 doesn't need water cooling, and I'd hardly say that even the dual 2.0 I've used are very loud.

You may also need to run thermal calibration.

The Quads need to be water cooled, and it's a decent idea on the dual 2.5/dual 2.7. It's enough of a problem that it's not worth it unless you need it IMO.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I will try the thermal calibration and clean the fans. Yesterday I attempted something that really shown me there was an issue. I took apart a laptop cooling pad and put the fan on the front of the G5 case blowing into it. And it worked, it really made my G5 run cooler. So that definitely told me something is up with the internal fans.
 
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bunnspecial said:
BTW, did I mention wire wheels? They're another compulsory feature for me.
Click to expand...

Fine on a chrome bumper car, the RO suits the very early 70s version better IMO.

See if you can track down a TV series from the UK called An MG is Born. Shown on Discovery over here about 10 years ago about a guy rebuilding an early 70s MGB. Makes a nice job of it too.

Sorry for the OT, mr OP. ;)
 
WalnutSpice said:
Yeah, I will try the thermal calibration and clean the fans. Yesterday I attempted something that really shown me there was an issue. I took apart a laptop cooling bad and put the fan on the front of the G5 case blowing into it. And it worked, it really made my G5 run cooler. So that definitely told me something is up with the internal fans.
Click to expand...

How are your temps?

BTW, just as a brief anecdote a while back I bought a GEForce 6800 Ultra for my single 1.8. This is one of the "ultimate" G5 graphics cards-it's just behind the X850 and X800 in performance. It's also(I think) the only double height AGP G5 card and is also long enough to engage the card support at the back of the case, so it truly is a beast of a card.

I tested the card, then pulled it and took it apart to repaste it as well clean the heatsink air paths. I cleaned everything thoroughly then put a fresh coat of AS5 on the GPU. I put the card back together and the reinstalled it.

I pretty much immediately knew something was wrong. Within a couple of minutes of starting up, the GPU would idle at a little over 100ºC. Pushing it any would quickly get it up to the 100-115ºC range. Recognizing a problem, the fans in the card cage would kick on full blast.

I started investigating, and found that I had forgotten to plug the cooling fan back in :rolleyes: . After reconnecting it, the card idles at a nice comfortable 50-60ºC, and might hit 80º under load.
 
bunnspecial said:
How are your temps?
Click to expand...

After doing some tests, they actual aren't that good or that different. But in real world performance, blasting that fan into the G5 does seem to make it a bit quicker in a few places.

Temps Idle, No extra fans: 120-130ºf avg.
Temps daily use, no extra fans: 130-140º avg.
-
Temps Idle, Extra fans: 100-120ºf avg. (Biggest difference was here)
Temps daily use, Extra fans: 120-140º avg.

Extra fans were a box fan set to 3 blowing into the side, and the second was
a USB laptop fan blowing into the front.

I noticed a very slight change in an iMovie 09 export time, a small improvement in 720p YouTube playback (Safari 5 + Flash 10) and the UI seemed to be a bit more smooth.
 
As I said before, going to reduced setting may help.
Just ran test on mine playing a 360P movie in VLC:

Reduced Setting
CPU A 130ºF : CPU B 135ºF
Highest Setting
CPU A 140ºF : CPU B 150ºF
 
tevion5 said:
But more interestingly, mine was manufactured so late! It's completion date is in late June 2006.
Click to expand...

My powerbook has a 2006 serial number, but not as late as june. That really sounds like one of the last ones!

OP, you could also set the performance to "automatic" so the idle temperatures should be low (and quiet) but you'll still have CPU available when you need it. I really liked this feature on PPC macs.
 
Dronecatcher said:
As I said before, going to reduced setting may help.
Just ran test on mine playing a 360P movie in VLC:

Reduced Setting
CPU A 130ºF : CPU B 135ºF
Highest Setting
CPU A 140ºF : CPU B 150ºF
Click to expand...
I totally forgot I had my set to Highest. I generally keep it set to reduced but a few days ago I set it to highest to see if I could get better YouTube performance and forgot to change it back. Set it back to reduced and have pretty similar temps as you.
 
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