Perfect! I would like to do it too!
Where did you pick the necessary tools for disassemble the G5 parts?
Yeah, that’s where I downloaded it too. I don’t know how to use it? Have I to burn the image in a DVD?
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Power Mac G5 Dust Out and Thermal Paste Re-do
- Thread starter AphoticD
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Perfect! I would like to do it too!
Where did you pick the necessary tools for disassemble the G5 parts?
Yeah, that’s where I downloaded it too. I don’t know how to use it? Have I to burn the image in a DVD?
I didn't source any particular tools as I was able to use what I already had on hand. You could of course get a decent toolkit from somewhere like https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools
Burn the ASD dmg file to DVD using Disk Utility and then boot into ASD hardware testing (OF) by holding the C key at the boot chime.
Ok then, thank you. I’m a bit unhappy now, since I spent “lot of money” for it and I do not have time/mood to make all these things now...
I just saw this Quad (which is quite rare to see) and I picked it. Thinking about it, a DC 2.3GHz could fits my needs 100%.
Hello @AphoticD
How are you doing?
I just disassembled my Mac. I found out it was opened before by someone!!! (angryface!!)
The CPU/heatsink piece! And she/he actually used a wrong driver too, since the screws are a bit tampered with. I hope it is not too late!
I am going to replace thermal paste to the CPUs. I would like to open the power supply to and remove the dust.
Let’s keep in touch in this critical moment!! xD
If you know some guide/tutorial about disassembling the CPU-heatsink body just write them here.
Also I am undecided about changing thermal paste to CPUs only or to the North bridge too which obv. would imply I have to disassemble quite everything.
Best,
mePy2
How are you doing?
I just disassembled my Mac. I found out it was opened before by someone!!! (angryface!!)
The CPU/heatsink piece! And she/he actually used a wrong driver too, since the screws are a bit tampered with. I hope it is not too late!
I am going to replace thermal paste to the CPUs. I would like to open the power supply to and remove the dust.
Let’s keep in touch in this critical moment!! xD
If you know some guide/tutorial about disassembling the CPU-heatsink body just write them here.
Also I am undecided about changing thermal paste to CPUs only or to the North bridge too which obv. would imply I have to disassemble quite everything.
Best,
mePy2
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Download the Apple Service Manual for the Late 2005 Power Mac G5 (which includes the Quad) here:
http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/powermac/powermac_g5_late2005.pdf
Along with step by step instructions, this guide lists all of the tools required and the Apple part numbers for the specialized tools such as the long handled hex drivers required for the CPU modules.
Hi, thank you. Yes, I used that PDF to disassembly my Mac. My doubt is about the screws that are under the CPU/heatsink in order to change the CPU thermal paste. In the manual, Apple just says “change the CPU/heatsink body” and actually to do not disassemble the CPU/heatsink body (which is what I want to do, in order to change the thermal compound).
Anyway... I just broke the clip that holds the GPU to the Motherboard! (The little black one). I’m so frustrated/angry now! I’ll write a blog post about it! People, pay attention to it when removing a graphic card!
Haha, Ive snapped a few of those off myself
No worries, the GPU will hold in place just fine without that stupid little tab. Think of it this way - over time, plastics get brittle and breaks occur. Ive swapped GPUs where snapping that little tab off was the only way to get the GPU out because that lock tab had become stiff & brittle over 15 years of use and would not let loose of the GPU.
They're like the appendix of computers and you're the surgeon performing the appendectomy.
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Oh man, thank you for your reply. I needed it. Although... I’m pretty sure mine was ok! I had to put a lot of force on it!! Oh man I’m suffering now!! I thought it was another mechanism –something like the flip-top mechanism of the glass bottles. Instead you just have to pull it a little bit WHILE removing the card for the first few centimeters. This was sure not clear enough in the Service Manual!!Haha, Ive snapped a few of those off myself
No worries, the GPU will hold in place just fine without that stupid little tab. Think of it this way - over time, plastics get brittle and breaks occur. Ive swapped GPUs where snapping that little tab off was the only way to get the GPU out because that lock tab had become stiff & brittle over 15 years of use and would not let loose of the GPU.
They're like the appendix of computers and you're the surgeon performing the appendectomy.
Just want to let you know how thankful I am that you provided step-by-step stuff and photos for the steps involving the disassembly of the processor assemblies — something which is not on iFixit.
Over the previous weekend, I took apart most of the G5 tower I have (leaving in the logic board) and cleaned fans, the interior of the power supply, and the heat sink contact points with each processor (and putting in some fresh Noctua). It was a lot of work for a single machine — much of that due to its high mass.
Idle temps since adding new paste are about 2-3°C cooler and power consumption is a tiny bit lower — some of this probably related more to cleaning out grime and dust than adding new paste.
Hey @AphoticD, here’s something I’m trying to wrap my brain around:
The temp figures you posted for your various G5 systems were all much lower than anything I’ve ever seen with mine (the June ’04 PCI-X 2 DP 2.0) — both before and after I cleaned out and applied new thermal paste.
For instance, before the overhaul, it was rare to see idle temps dip below, say, 64°C on the CPUs themselves (fortunately, the pair have always shown temps within 1°C of one another).
Running HD video, an intensive GyazMail search, or heavy use of the Photoshop heal tool on high-res images tended to peak the temps around 78–80°C. Relative to my Intel laptops, these numbers under intensive use didn’t seem beyond the pale (even if the PPC chips are far more energy-hungry).
Now, with just a couple of days since the clean/re-paste, idle is reaching as low as 57–58°C (which for this machine, is outstanding!). But these don’t remotely translate to the figures you posted earlier in this thread. High-intensity use (so far, just testing with HD video), peaks things at around 71–72°C. This is still a marked improvement over before.
To what extent do you hypothesize this dramatic variance between your G5 towers and mine could be implicated by the version of PPC970 chip (here, this is running on PPC970FX chips)?
Also, do you run your towers in an aircon-cooled environment, and if so, at what overall ambient temperature?
I’m just a bit perplexed, that’s all.
I no longer have the Dual processor G5s setup, but the Dual-Core 2.3GHz model is still up and running. I powered it on today, the CPU A Core 1 and Core 2 temps are 42.9 and 43.5°C respectively while idle using Automatic Processor Performance.
While watching YouTube 720p playback in TenFourFox (Leopard), temps are up to 67.8 and 69.6°C at 100% CPU. As soon as I stop playback, temps drop back to sub-50°C within 30 seconds or so.
These results are up a bit from when the thermal paste was completely fresh, but are still perfectly fine and the G5 keeps almost completely silent. The fans are just trickling along while pushing it like this, not much difference compared to idle noise.
I don't have aircon. Current ambient temperature is 22°C today (mid-winter).
Thanks for letting me know!
Now I’m pondering whether the overall higher temp on my setup is characteristically endemic to the first PPC970FX chips from mid-2004. As with the system you worked on separately, this is the model with copper heatsinks. The ambient temperature in the room tends to be around 22–24°C most times (a most merciful mid-summer where I am), though I've always kept the machine at height (usually 1–1.5m above the floor) and never once on the floor (where arguably it could be a degree or so cooler but also more prone to dust build-up).
Another factor I hadn’t really thought about until now:
the chamber in front of the CPU intake fans, since I first configured it years ago, has never been empty. In there are three 3.5" HDDs through which all CPU intake air must first pass before reaching the intake fans and radiator stacks. Still, the intake/exhaust fans hold fast at the minimum 300rpm most of the time.
Additionally, I have an SSD resting in front of the intake fan/speaker assembly at PCI card level. While the SSD is always cool, I’ve never tested the system’s idle temps without those three HDDs being in place.
[About the system: I inherited it in 2014 from some friends who’d been keeping it as their room door-stopper on a spring-loaded door. (It had been given to them by the original owner, who had since moved on to Mac Pros.) They only used it a few times and promptly christened it “Enron” for the amount of energy it consumed and heat it pumped out. They weren’t savvy on the level to manage energy saver settings, but they weren’t exactly wrong, either.]
On the other hand: it’s entirely possible the unit I have was always hot from the get-go, even with full clean-out* and fresh pasting. Oh well.
* I chose not to pull out the logic board, which means the memory controller heatsink was left alone and still has OEM paste on it. That heatsink, as with before, hovers regularly around 68–72°C.
My A1047 DP2.0Ghz hovers around 55-59C. It lives out in the garage without AC. Summers here are in the low 90's to 100s although today is a cool & sunny 89F. I repasted this machine a few months after Dan did his IIRC. I too did not remove the lobo, so only repasted the CPUs & GPU.
Now I'll switch it back to Fahrenheit. I should fire up my DC2.0 and see where it sits.
Now I'll switch it back to Fahrenheit. I should fire up my DC2.0 and see where it sits.
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Below is idle with Automatic processor setting in a room which is about 23°C (or, for the dinosaurs, 73.4°F).
As noted earlier, idle temps are lower than before the overhaul, but 58–61° is now the new par, whereas 64–67° was where these idled previously.
Temperatures for the lower three HDDs displayed are the drives located in the compartment in front of the CPU intake fans.
This approach isn’t terribly different from the Sonnet Jive product which enabled one to mount three 3.5" drives in that compartment. That cage — or anything like it — is all but impossible to locate anymore, so standoff screws under each drive provide space between the vertically-positioned drives. This is why, I’m certain, those idle at a much lower temperature than the two HDDs in OEM slots A and B.
(In theory, the G5 compartments can physically accommodate up to 11 HDDs, with ventilation to spare. I’m good right now with just six.)
The top listed drive, the SSD, is on the same bus as these lower three HDDs, but it’s positioned in front of the slot intake fan (the fan with the built-in speaker). This likely reduces coolness efficiency the way covering a the front of a vehicle radiator in wintertime does.
I’m hypothesizing that the higher temps for my setup could be a function of having an intermediate heat-generating source (the HDDs) as part of the intake/CPU/exhaust cycle, while the system adjusts for this reality (note how all fans are idling at minimum and both CPUs are running below 10A).
Nevertheless, it’s still higher than what other other folks are reporting with their setups.
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On behalf of dinosaurs everywhere, thank you.
On behalf of over seven billion people who rely on SI, you’re welcome!
My A1117 DC2.0Ghz PMG5 lives in my office. While we don't have AC but rather evaporative cooling, it stays around 21C indoors except on icky humid days. CPU core temps are right on par with the dual CPU A1047 - idling around 53-55C post screen shot. From this, it seems that both boxes are running comparatively similarly regardless of the 20 degree shift between 72F temperate office and hot stuffy 90F+ garage. BTW - the A1117 was repasted side by side to the A1047, so both with identical age thermal compound.
7 billion eh? Not everyone can be perfect I guess.
7 billion eh? Not everyone can be perfect I guess.
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Used to live in West Texas, had me a big ol' swamp cooler on the roof. Had never heard of such a thing before moving out there. I was pleasantly surprised with both my low electric bill and the way it cooled the house without further drying out already dry air to keep you cool. Great for the wood in the home, and for your skin; but you're right, on humid days it was completely worthless. Thankfully there weren't many of those.
7 billion eh? Not everyone can be perfect I guess.
I for one find Mr. Fahrenheit's scale, and for that matter the king's feet, to be perfectly acceptable standards of measurement.
Yes, my whole post is off topic, and no, I'm not sorry
Argh!
I'm in the middle of cleaning my quad and I finally arrived to the back of the motherboard to take a look at the memory controller heatsink because I always get temperatures over 80°C from the controller even when idleing.
But I can't get out the 3 white plastic pins. I'm even wiggling the whole assembly as I have anything else loose but it's a scary thing because I'm afraid of breaking the solder of the copper pipes.
Anyone already done this to his quad?
I'm in the middle of cleaning my quad and I finally arrived to the back of the motherboard to take a look at the memory controller heatsink because I always get temperatures over 80°C from the controller even when idleing.
But I can't get out the 3 white plastic pins. I'm even wiggling the whole assembly as I have anything else loose but it's a scary thing because I'm afraid of breaking the solder of the copper pipes.
Anyone already done this to his quad?
I ran across this in another thread. It may be of assistance to you.
https://www.thinkclassic.org/viewtopic.php?id=106
Looks like this guy in the linked blog used wire cutters to snip the plastic mounts off. Anyhow, Best of luck to you.
Thanks @RhianB.
I saw that but I don't want to try that yet as it involves having spare parts I would have to search/buy. And I'm not sure it would work as the heatsink assembly of the quad is different.
There is this other Blog entry where you can see that he succeeded in doing it with his quad.
https://thehouseofmoth.com/a-little...-mac-g5-and-what-to-do-with-this-information/
I saw that but I don't want to try that yet as it involves having spare parts I would have to search/buy. And I'm not sure it would work as the heatsink assembly of the quad is different.
There is this other Blog entry where you can see that he succeeded in doing it with his quad.
https://thehouseofmoth.com/a-little...-mac-g5-and-what-to-do-with-this-information/
I managed to get out 2 screws. 1 left. I take it with calm. Don't want to break anything at that stage.
I just used a wood stick to press against the pin from the other side and pulled the pin.
Another thing I saw when I took out the front panel is this:
I'm sure I didn't do this while taking out the board. I remember that the front ports had issues with not recognizing external drives so that was the cause.
I tried to bent some pins back in place but it didn't work out so well. But then I found a good method.
I took two precision screwdrivers and did the following:
I first put one screwdriver inside the rail under one pin and applied pressure. Then I could easily bent the pin in position with the other screwdriver.
That went quite well. It's not perfect but as you can see there are of the same height and that is important.
I hope it will work again right away. It's a hassle just to dismantle the whole thing to get to this connector.
I just used a wood stick to press against the pin from the other side and pulled the pin.
Another thing I saw when I took out the front panel is this:
I'm sure I didn't do this while taking out the board. I remember that the front ports had issues with not recognizing external drives so that was the cause.
I tried to bent some pins back in place but it didn't work out so well. But then I found a good method.
I took two precision screwdrivers and did the following:
I first put one screwdriver inside the rail under one pin and applied pressure. Then I could easily bent the pin in position with the other screwdriver.
That went quite well. It's not perfect but as you can see there are of the same height and that is important.
I hope it will work again right away. It's a hassle just to dismantle the whole thing to get to this connector.