Keeping the MP cool over the summer

[rockinrocker]

I thought that was just with the G5?

yeah, i've seen the assertion that it's worse for air flow to have the side of the case off before too, and have wondered if there's any actual evidence to back this up, or if it's just pure conjecture?
i mean, how could having way more space for air to flow in and out actually hurt circulation?

 

[smogsy]

when the case is closed it great a regular flow out the back but

if you open the case up u create a vacum like effect taking out the cooled air coming from the front and some hot air from the back in effect your taking the cooled air away from the system. and with no cooled air being blown into the case pc gets hotter (so they say)

i haven't noticed a difference when i took mine off maybe 5c max.

 

[fluidedge]

i'd have thought it was easier just to ramp up the fans by 400rpm considering all the extra dust/crap that might get into the box with the side off.

 

[cal6n]

Just buy it an ice cream now and again. If it doesn't want it, you can always eat it yourself.

 

[Lone Deranger]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Macs designed to regulate their own temperatures?
I don't see the need to chase after this with monitoring and fancontroller software when the system is designed and outfitted to take perfectly good care of that on it's own.
I can hear my Mac Pro's fans spinning faster when the temperature inside the room get's hotter to keep itself cool enough. So it seems to work as it should.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 🙂

 

[martinlk]

Pointless topic. Unless your mac pro has five 10,000 rpm hard drives, 8 ram slots filled, is overclocked, with broken thermal control software (built into the OS), and already on the brink of overheating, with fans at max speed — there is nothing you need to do to keep your MP cool over the summer.

Yes, this is spot on. Modern computers will run as cool as required without any intervention from your part. If things get too hot, the fans will ramp up accordingly. Stop worrying about this, it's a non-issue!

 

[peejack]

My OWC ram has hit 61c since day one. It's going to be hotter than that in the coming months.

If you're worried, take the side panel off. I think that may help 5-10 degrees.

LOL that statement could only come from a PC users 😀

 

[supercooled]

Tell me about it... my room is like an oven with my Mac Pro on. I usually leave it on 24/7, but after the recent warm weather, I've taken to sleeping it when not in use, the room ends up noticeably cooler after a while 🙄

Unless you absolutely need the power, I would suggest running the MBP or the Mini.

I have not had the need to use my Mac Pro for quite some time but it's nice to have a nice compromise in the MBP. The only thing I don't like is the fan whirling incessantly when I'm using GPU intensive applications.

 

[supercooled]

yeah, i've seen the assertion that it's worse for air flow to have the side of the case off before too, and have wondered if there's any actual evidence to back this up, or if it's just pure conjecture?
i mean, how could having way more space for air to flow in and out actually hurt circulation?

See, I'm not convinced at all despite all the efforts to debunk this tenet.

Just try it and see if it improves. I personally saw my CPU running cooler with it off so colour me skeptical.

 

[fluidedge]

but personally i don't really want all the extra dust and cat hair 🙂o) going in my machine! The side is staying on for me.

 

[netnothing]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Macs designed to regulate their own temperatures?
I don't see the need to chase after this with monitoring and fancontroller software when the system is designed and outfitted to take perfectly good care of that on it's own.
I can hear my Mac Pro's fans spinning faster when the temperature inside the room get's hotter to keep itself cool enough. So it seems to work as it should.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 🙂

Personally I think Apple is a bit on the conservative side for minimum fan speeds. I think the SMC controller for the fans doesn't kick in at nearly the right times to keep memory modules cool. A lot of my modules would get to 170-175F before the fans kicked up to start cooling them. While technically this temp is fine (although OWC doesn't agree), I'd like to see them cooler.

I use smcFanController to simply increase the CPU fan from the default 500rpm to 600rpm and the temps go down nicely. This is the default level for me. If it gets hotter in the room, I kick it up to 700rpm.

I understand that keeping the Mac Pro quiet is very important to Apple, and it's nice that they do that, however, I think they need to adjust the levels a bit. I can go up to close to 1000rpm without any noticeable increase in noise.

Just my thoughts.

-Kevin

 

[JeffDM]

I thought that was just with the G5?

There's less problem than with the G5 (those chips were way too hot), but really, the panel is supposed to complete the enclosure, directing air flow. The PCIe section probably won't get consistent flow throughout if the side panel is off.

Anyways, no need to worry about the MP overheating. I went through a brutal summer last year, I even kept the MP inside a cabinet (don't ask me how) and it actually turned out fine.

Of all Apple Computers, the Mac Pro is the finest one because it has the fewest amount of problems if any (for what I've used, so don't bash me if I'm wrong)

The optional ATI 1900 cards seem to be causing people problems.

But in terms of fan flow, the Mac Pro is supposed to run the fans higher when it gets not. Dynamic fan control is part of why it's usually so quiet.

 

[JeffDM]

yeah, i've seen the assertion that it's worse for air flow to have the side of the case off before too, and have wondered if there's any actual evidence to back this up, or if it's just pure conjecture?
i mean, how could having way more space for air to flow in and out actually hurt circulation?

Think of it as a duct. If you don't have an enclosed duct, the flow that you want isn't necessarily going to where you need it to go. Try taking out a segment of a heating duct in a house and see if the upstream rooms get better heating or cooling.

Sure, there's less restriction, but there's less flow control too.

It's probably not a major concern with the CPU and memory because it has a leading and trailing fan, but the last two drives in the PCIe cage probably won't get the flow it needs from the PCIe fan because it's just blowing out the side of the case instead. The forward most drive is probaby relying on Bernoulli principle to get air flow around it too.