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PowerMac G5 Cooling/Sensor Issues?

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Apr 12, 2001
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Appleinsider points to sensor issues causing delays in the PowerMac G5 updates.

According to a "reliable" Appleinsider source, "Apple was recently forced to completely rework the internal temperature sensors inside the current G5 case design to accommodate the new 90 nanometer G5 processors."

The information is somewhat consistent with early rumors of cooling issues with the new PowerMac revisions.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2004/04/12/powermac-g5-cooling-sensor-issues/
swissmann said:
If the current case can cool the old chips why couldn't it cool the newer and cooler chips? Or don't I understand something?
Click to expand...

The article said the chips WERE cool, but the sensors were misreading the temperature and thus made the fans go wild. Supposedely that's fixed now, but there are just supply issues at this point.
 
if this is true and apple has been holding back Rev. B's which probably wouldve been up to 2.4gig processors will they release what "wouldve been" between the dual 2's and the 3's [dual's or single's] or just skip ahead to what probably wouldve been Rev. C three gig'ers...???

doesnt seem like the summer is shaping up the way steve-o had hoped...

long live the apple digital music corp...
 
The real question is why should we believe this or care? Either they're coming out soon, or they're not.

And I agree that this sounds strange given that the new chips are supposed to run much cooler. The only explanation would be a case reworking which has lead to a heat up inside. But hey- as long as they come out soon I couldn't care less if they had to use ultra-poisonous freon to cool them. ;)
 
Hmmm... This may tie into older problems.

I wonder if this ties in at all to the drive bay cooling issues as well. I know that 10.3.3 has made a decided difference in my G5 DP (2x160G), but that the essential design had a bit of a flaw.

Just musing.
 
As swissman already said.

Why is this a problem? If the g5 case in its current configuration runs fine cooling the 130 nm chips, why are the smaller 90 nm chips which are supposed to be cooler a problem? Actually did they ever say anything about being cooler or did they simply say require less power?
 
swissmann said:
If the current case can cool the old chips why couldn't it cool the newer and cooler chips? Or don't I understand something?
Click to expand...

It has to do with the sensor and not the issue of cooling; it could be that since the new chips aren't as hot, the current temp sensor are relatively useless. ;) :p :)
 
siliconjones said:
Why is this a problem? If the g5 case in its current configuration runs fine cooling the 130 nm chips, why are the smaller 90 nm chips which are supposed to be cooler a problem? Actually did they ever say anything about being cooler or did they simply say require less power?
Click to expand...

You guys need to read the article. It is not a heat issue, it is a sensor issue. The new chip sits differently and gives out the same amount of heat, but sensor was forcing the machine to shut down. It's a minor issue that the article claims is fixed now.

The real news, though, is that IBM is not able to produce chips faster than 2.0 -- according to AppleInsider. It's not that they can't get to 3.0, they can't get to 2.8, 2.6, 2.4, or 2.2!
 
maybe since the newer chips are smaller, they couldn't use the same sensors because of the size difference? it could either be making the fans not going on enough, or too much.
 
The article says it's the sensors that screw things up, the temp of the processor itself is fine! you guys need to read the source article a bit better before saying something..

If they can't yield the processor consistently, that means no consistant supplies of processors, and if that's not the case, than Apple can't release the products, cause of the possibility of another delay between ordering and shipping. And they had that same problem with the Xserve, so I bet they don't want this to happen to the PowerMac too.


If this story is true, than the question is, what are they going to do with this revision. I suspect they already have put a lot of work into this one, and to just throw this one away, and go to the rev C (3ghz) that would be a rather drastic measure... But the article says nothing about pending releases or releases at wwdc, or whatever..
 
Well, this seems like a good explanation as to why we have seen some delays. Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon, if it hasn't already been, and we'll see the updates in a timely fashion.

But, I certainly don't like the sound of this in the article:
though sources say that low processor supplies may have acted to compounded the delays.
Click to expand...

So hopefully IBM can keep up with the demand...
 
This doesn't make that much sense....lets say the fans ran at speeds made for the 130nm chips...big deal...they'd be running faster than they'd need to, but the same as rev A models. This of course assumes the 90nm chips are cooler.

If this rumor is true, I think its good news in terms of G5 progress. That means that once they get the fans issue resolved, we'll hopefully see a few series of updates in the next little while.

oops.....whats this about Ibm falling behind?
 
numediaman said:
You guys need to read the article. It is not a heat issue, it is a sensor issue. The new chip sits differently and gives out the same amount of heat, but sensor was forcing the machine to shut down. It's a minor issue that the article claims is fixed now.

The real news, though, is that IBM is not able to produce chips faster than 2.0 -- according to AppleInsider. It's not that they can't get to 3.0, they can't get to 2.8, 2.6, 2.4, or 2.2!
Click to expand...

I'm sure they could if they overclocked either the 130nm ones? Why was production on these stopped, couldn't they run both types of processors at the same time to allow for scalability and a fallback, what if the older ones could go faster than 2Ghz? They did it with G4's.
 
What everyone seems to be missing from this article is IBM is having problems above 2.0. please remember the Xserve fiasco and the fact that it was advertised for a moment at 2.3 then changed to 2.0 Sounds like IBM may have problems on the 90nm process but i would guess the controler. were they not going to integrate that into the chip instead of on the motherboard like 970s? anyways since Apple uses the HORRIBLE tier structure for its line up. If Powermac isnt going faster then they cant release a Imac G5 and if they cant release a Imac G5 then they cant update Emac. I wonder how many Apple executives along with Steve Job can fit into a VW bug? cause they are looking like a bunch clowns to me. :)
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
What everyone seems to be missing from this article is IBM is having problems above 2.0. please remember the Xserve fiasco and the fact that it was advertised for a moment at 2.3 then changed to 2.0 Sounds like IBM may have problems on the 90nm process but i would guess the controler. were they not going to integrate that into the chip instead of on the motherboard like 970s? anyways since Apple uses the HORRIBLE tier structure for its line up. If Powermac isnt going faster then they cant release a Imac G5 and if they cant release a Imac G5 then they cant update Emac. I wonder how many Apple executives along with Steve Job can fit into a VW bug? cause they are looking like a bunch clowns to me. :)
Click to expand...

DHM, you always seem to find a way to blame these things on apple execs, you said it yourself, it's IBM that's having problems, damn dude, get yourself together, and stop bitching already, it's getting annoying to read all these same posts from you.. and i'm sure i'm not the only one

now back on topic
 
finally we get even possible answers concerning the delay. this doesn't really affect my life in any way since i'm not buying a desktop for quite a while. anyway it would be nice if they actually reached the 3ghz by july so that steve wouldn't have been overhyping this like he pretty much is used to. (uh oh, quite a long sentence ;)
 
Could this have anythinng to do with the Fan Control Update that Apple released for the G5's about a month ago?
 
klaus said:
DHM, you always seem to find a way to blame these things on apple execs, you said it yourself, it's IBM that's having problems, damn dude, get yourself together, and stop bitching already, it's getting annoying to read all these same posts from you.. and i'm sure i'm not the only one

now back on topic
Click to expand...
Please stay on topic address the thread, your post has 0 to do with the thread and it is the executives fault for such a poor tier structure. 1 Product holding up the whole line up for 3/4 of a year? inexcusable.
 
Thanks for straightening me out that it is a sensor thing and not a heat thing. I still ask why is this a problem. As others have stated shouldn't Apple have this worked out by now. Time is quickly running out for an incremental upgrade if it hasn't run out already. Maybe the jump straight to 3 is what is going to happen. I am sure Steve would hate to have to say, I know that we promised 3 but... suppliers missed, uh ... heat problems ... uh 9 fans now ... uh. So much is behind controlling all those fans (my G5 is way quieter than my G4s luckily) but I am wondering if liquid cooling would simplify things and improve things? My bet for the future. WWDC we see Dual 3 GHz G5 with liquid cooling.
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
1 Product holding up the whole line up for 3/4 of a year? inexcusable.
Click to expand...

How can you be sure that's the case? It's just an assumption, as all of these news/rumor posts are...
 
I really wonder what Steve is going to say at the WWDC 2004. He openly made a promise that we would see 3GHZ G5s in 12 months. That really gives him until september to deliver since the dual 2GHZ didn't ship until then. So he better announce dual 3GHZ G5s on june 28th and let us know that they will ship in 2-3 months. He already seems to have failed on his 100million ITMS promise, that I don't mind, but give us dual 3GHZ g5 this summer, please.

Tyler
 
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