G4 quicksilver fan-position.

[NickFalk]

Hi there a few months back I upgraded my G4 733Mhz Quicksilver with a dual 1,6 Ghz card from Powerlogix. I initialy experienced some problems with the computer turning off on it's own accord after an hour or so of use. After changing the settings in the energy-panel to highest performance this seemed to stop.

Anyway I recently had the brilliant idea (not) of replacing the fan above my harddisk in the vain hope to reduce some noise (which has been the only negative side to my experience with this computer). Everything seemed to work fine initially but suddenly the machine once again started to switch off on it's own account.

I therefore put the original fan back, but the machine still switches off when I push it just a little bit too hard. Nothing fancy really, just a few apps open and running MAME. According to Powerlogix CPU Director was running just south of 109 F when the machine swithched off.

This of course makes me worry more than just a little bit.

My only*real hope is that I have maybe inserted the original fan backwards? Could someone just please tell me whether the sticker on the fan should point outwards into the computer or if it should be pointing away, into the "wall" not being visible.

Thanking you all in advance for your kind help!

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Original Quicksilver had a very poor cooling solution with not much in the way of airflow. The original fan blew out if not mistaken. But that makes little sense in my view. I would have that fan sucking cool air from outside and blowing it across that sink into the system. Even open up a few of those holes on the back with a drill if you must its what i did. The big fan above the hard disc moves air to the outside of the unit. Also i dont know how you feel about this but i have notice manufactors are sloppy and stingy when applying the silicone compound between the cpu & sink. Make sure that CPU is coated 100% before mounting the heat sink. Also Quicksilver came with 2 fan guards on the power supply. One on the unit and one on the case. Remove one of these guards for even better flow of air. For example i had a 1.4 Merc extreme that would run all day at 1.47 after i made these cooling mods. quicksilver for the most part baths the componets in other componets heat and then sends that air across the sink out the system. Reverse that for better cooling. good luck.

 

[NickFalk]

Thanks I did actually fit the fan in the wrong direction.
Anyway it seems my problems go deeper as the log give me this message: "PMU FORCED SHUTDOWN, CAUSE = -122". I've been Googling and it seems it may be caused by a combination of pushing the power-supply too hard while having an uneven supply of power from the mains.

I'll try to get a cheap PMU as I've found suggestions this might help stuff. At the momen I've just disconected as many USB-perhipals as possible and this seems to have improved my up-times so far...

 

[doucy2]

Original Quicksilver had a very poor cooling solution with not much in the way of airflow. The original fan blew out if not mistaken. But that makes little sense in my view. I would have that fan sucking cool air from outside and blowing it across that sink into the system. Even open up a few of those holes on the back with a drill if you must its what i did. The big fan above the hard disc moves air to the outside of the unit. Also i dont know how you feel about this but i have notice manufactors are sloppy and stingy when applying the silicone compound between the cpu & sink. Make sure that CPU is coated 100% before mounting the heat sink. Also Quicksilver came with 2 fan guards on the power supply. One on the unit and one on the case. Remove one of these guards for even better flow of air. For example i had a 1.4 Merc extreme that would run all day at 1.47 after i made these cooling mods. quicksilver for the most part baths the componets in other componets heat and then sends that air across the sink out the system. Reverse that for better cooling. good luck.

he is right i now own this beast if machine and i have it running at 1.47ghz
it run quite cool, considering. Drilling the holes in the back will bring down its resale value, but if you plan to keep it it is a good option.
If you are not using and dont plan to use your pci slots i sugest, putting an out fan down there for just a little more additional cooling.

 

[NickFalk]

Thanks for all your suggestions.
I definitely wouldn't mind better cooling, and also believe getting rid of some of those holes might actually make it a lot less noisy.

Reselling isn't really a concern as I plan to keep it at least until I can afford a Intel-based Powermac. That's why I just upgraded the processors and why I have also ordered a new graphic-card. The PCI-slots will be used though, one already is for a 1394b controller-card.

I've cut the outer finger-guard for the Powersupply as well as the internal one for the large HD-fan. As of writing the machine runs at 82 F (28C) in a fairly cold room. Not doing much, just surfing and keeping a tab on the temperature...