G4 heat

[maelstromr]

I know the Dual processor computer make huge amounts of heat...does it make sense that I basically can't keep my G4 in my desk computer cabinet while it's closed? There's really not a lot of ventilation in the cabinet, so it makes sense to me, I just wanted to check and make sure with you gurus. Basically if the computer is running and not asleep with the cabinet closed the fan runs hard constantly and the box heats up like you wouldn't believe...I'm cosidering getting rid of my space heater.

 

[krimson]

A friend of mine has the same problem, his first solution was to remove the back of the cabinet.. lucky for him, it was just a piece of thin particle board. it worked, but he could hear the fans very clearly and was unacceptable for his recording area.

then he replaced the back panel with a shorter piece leaving 3.5" at the bottom. This leaves room for all the cables (the original has a 4" hole near the center of the panel) and a dryer exhaust hose that is taped to the PSU exhaust port and the heated air is routed out of the cabinet.

What he originally wanted was to cut a circular hole near the PSU exhaust and just route it out thru there, but he wanted the cabinet to look neat, without a jagged cut hole.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[3-22]

Yes, it makes perfect sense. Computers should never be placed inside of an enclosed cabinet. They need cool fresh air to pass into the box, and the hot air to pass out. Otherwise your system will not work, or you will significantly reduce it's life. If you want to keep them in an enclosed cabinet, you are going to have to add decent venting and probably an exhaust fan.

 

[ddtlm]

As long as the temperature in the cabinet doesn't get too far above room temp you'll be fine.

 

[MoparShaha]

Well, my dual G4 actually heats up my whole room if left on for long periods. Given that, I would not put it in an enclosed area. Give it plenty of ventalation.

 

[Counterfit]

Originally posted by krimson
but he wanted the cabinet to look neat, without a jagged cut hole.

A hole saw would take care of that nicely

 

[blue&whiteman]

a dab of silver based thermal paste always helps lower cpu temp 5-10c

put a rice grain sized drop on each cpu and you will see a difference for sure. I paid $5 for a tube thats good for about 10 uses. it simply makes a better connection between the heatsink and cpu. its also great to use for overclocking. used it on my original G3/350 zif to oc to 400 with no issues at all. now I run a G4 upgrade and even though its not overclocked I still use paste since the G4 runs hotter than the G3.

 

[DrBoar]

The best way to cool a the computer in a cabinet is to have some kind of "piping" that lead the air betwen the openings in the cabinets to the openings in the computer case. The idea is to get cold air into the computer and the hot air out of the computer out of the cabinet. If you do not lead the airflows from the vents in the cabinet to the inside of the computer a lot of the airflow will be simply churning around hot air inside the cabinet ( in and outside the computer) not a good idea.