Powermac Quad G5 -- What to look out for?

[VanneDC]

Hi all,

You may have guessed from my previous thread in regards to finding the fastest Vid card for a G5 Quad, and well yeah, i just acquired one, to be arriving here in a couple of days.

I know these things are not new, but can still hold thier own.

Id like to know some info in regards to what the best way to check it over.
Ive read up on the fact that most owners didnt like the Water Cooling system that these PMs employed. So ill porberly start there.

How common are leaks and what can be done about it?

What other issues should i check for and what are the pitfalls with this system?

The one iam getting has 4.5gig ram installed, a crappy Nvidia 6600 and a new 250GB HD.

Ill mostly be using this box for video compression and storage.

and a game of WC3 here and there 🙂

any info/help would be much appreciated.

(also quickly, can i mix ddr2800 ram with the ddr2 533 ram? or is that a nono?

cheers

 

[666sheep]

Look here for unofficial stats for G5 leaks (about 1200 units recorded): http://www.fusina.net/G5_coolant_leaks/index-stats.php
What you can do: inspect all hoses (and their connections), gaskets, radiators and pump for any traces of stain (blue or grey/white). To do that, you need to remove CPU cover. Flashlight will be helpful. But it's not quite possible to inspect it well without removing whole CPUs/LCS module (it's one module and gaskets are underneath).
When you'll remove CPU cover, there is small sheet of "material" (sorry for lack of right word for it) under LCS module. If there are any signs of stain or it's wet - you got leak somewhere.
Even small leak is dangerous because coolant is corrosive and conductive. It quickly damages logicboard, CPUs and PSU (big leak).

But good thing is that Quad had most reliable LCS of all liquid cooled G5.

 

[Roman23]

esp those quads with

a panasonic lcs.

Look here for unofficial stats for G5 leaks (about 1200 units recorded): http://www.fusina.net/G5_coolant_leaks/index-stats.php
What you can do: inspect all hoses (and their connections), gaskets, radiators and pump for any traces of stain (blue or grey/white). To do that, you need to remove CPU cover. Flashlight will be helpful. But it's not quite possible to inspect it well without removing whole CPUs/LCS module (it's one module and gaskets are underneath).
When you'll remove CPU cover, there is small sheet of "material" (sorry for lack of right word for it) under LCS module. If there are any signs of stain or it's wet - you got leak somewhere.
Even small leak is dangerous because coolant is corrosive and conductive. It quickly damages logicboard, CPUs and PSU (big leak).

But good thing is that Quad had most reliable LCS of all liquid cooled G5.