I've cleaned all the ventilation intakes since that picture. And removed all the dust from the logic board and other components.
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Proud new owner of MDD dual 867mhz Power Mac G4
- Thread starter KingKen1986
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Also replace the thermal paste between the heat sink and CPUs. I noticed that my G4s have run much cooler after replacing the stock paste.
Thanks for the tip, I've got some really good diamond nano thermal paste that I'm sure would cool this baby down quite a bit
Thanks for the tip, I've got some really good diamond nano thermal paste that I'm sure would cool this baby down quite a bit
eyoungren shared a tip that works wonders for removing the old paste. Try using an old credit card to scrape it all off then use coffee filters dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean both the CPU and heat sink surfaces.
Thanks for the tip but I use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol on one end and dry on the other, I remove a lot of thermal paste because I build and repair....evil....pc's for a living....lol.
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I love the Power Mac G4 because I can work on it right on my computer desk without even having to move it, just lift the tab and the whole logic board comes down, I wish all computers implemented this.
The only issue I see with using cotton swabs is that they can leave fibers on the surfaces.
I will definitely try the method you mentioned, I clean them off really well but I'm always up for trying different methods of things. I'll try it when I replace the thermal paste on my G4.
Just a correction here.
I don't use alcohol. I use Arctic Silver's cleaning solutions. They come in two bottles.
One cleans, one polishes up the surface when you're done.
The coffee filter thing was suggested by a website as a sub for a lint free cloth. When they are dirty, just toss them and get a new one.
If you have access to them, Kimwipes are the gold standard for a lint free cloth. I also like to use lab-grade solvents, which are generally cleaner than consumer grade stuff. I realize not everyone can do this, though.
When at home, I've been using cloth gun cleaning patches to clean processors and heatsinks. These are generally cut up cotton flannel, are cheap(of course, I buy them by the thousands, but a bag of 250 is $3 or so at Walmart-I mostly use the 2" square ones). Also, when at home, I use VM&P Naptha along with denatured alcohol. Acetone can be useful, but be extremely careful with it around plastic and also follow up with another solvent.
A razor blade can be useful to clean up heatsinks also. I shave with a double edge safety razor, so can just grab a blade that has been "retired" from shaving(I change them every three days). Of course, the trouble with double edges is that it can be hard to hold one without shredding your hand-if you don't have double edges on hand, buy some single edge blades intended for utility knives.
When at home, I've been using cloth gun cleaning patches to clean processors and heatsinks. These are generally cut up cotton flannel, are cheap(of course, I buy them by the thousands, but a bag of 250 is $3 or so at Walmart-I mostly use the 2" square ones). Also, when at home, I use VM&P Naptha along with denatured alcohol. Acetone can be useful, but be extremely careful with it around plastic and also follow up with another solvent.
A razor blade can be useful to clean up heatsinks also. I shave with a double edge safety razor, so can just grab a blade that has been "retired" from shaving(I change them every three days). Of course, the trouble with double edges is that it can be hard to hold one without shredding your hand-if you don't have double edges on hand, buy some single edge blades intended for utility knives.
I always use at least 90% alcohol as the water content is less and in the chance that it gets somewhere where it is not supposed to be, it will not kill anything.
Denatured alcohol is mostly azeotropic ethyl alcohol(96% ethanol and 4% water) with 10% methanol added and often 1% pyridine. The methanol is used to make it poisonous(so that it can be sold without the taxes associated with alcohol intended for consumption) and the pyridine is to make it unpalatable(so no one will drink it).
The "absolute" ethanol we use in the lab is 100% ethanol when unopened or freshly opened(although probably some remnants of toluene that is used to break the azeotrope), although within a few days of opening(or probably less in humid weather) it absorbs enough water from the air to drop down to 96% ethanol.
BTW, the bottles we buy are actually labeled "200 proof" and not 100%. It would technically be suitable for drinking(although it's not intended for that). The amount of paperwork and book keeping necessary to be able to buy it tax-free is astounding. The stockroom has to account for every drop that leaves, and we have to provide them with our intended use(a complete procedure in some cases) before buying a bottle of it.
Mine is a FW800 model and has the 4.6.0f1 firmware
Yeah the latest firmware for a MDD is 4.4.8f2, it's a MDD specific firmware and as far as I know is the last firmware update they made for the MDD's.
Does the FireGL X3 work under OS 9? My MDD I'm intending to dual boot for my collection of classic MacOS and pre-Intel games, so performance is important but I need to make sure it won't cause any legacy problems. Otherwise I've got a 4ti on standby and might just get that to swap for my 2mx since the price is very good.
EDIT: Also where do you get the 4.4.8f2 firmware these days? Is it still on an Apple support page?
I was referencing killing computer parts by my statement. If alcohol were to hit a logic board it is not likely to cause damage like water would.
Core Image and OS 9 tend to not be compatible-I'm not aware of any CI cards with OS 9 drivers. Thus, video performance will be poor at best under OS 9, and you might find the computer hanging at the desktop and not able to do anything.
The 4Ti is the best card-bar none-for OS 9 and will perform decently under 10.5. I like these cards so much that I just bought another a few minutes ago. A Core Image card gives Leopard a huge boost, but the 4Ti is no slouch either.
This is a lot of the reason why-even though I have a lot of computers set up to dual boot-I tend to designate them as either OS 9 computers or OS X computers. Maximum performance under OS 9 tends to sacrifice some OS X performance(at least under Leopard and-to a lesser extent-Tiger), while maximum OS X performance comes at a huge cost in OS 9 performance.
Yes the 4.4.8f2 firmware update is on apples support page still, you have to scroll down for awhile but you will find it. It's only for the MDD Power Mac G4 models. It's an easy install.
Isn't 4.4.8f2 older than 4.6.0f1? :/
EDIT: yes, it is
4.6.0f1 is from February 2003, the other one is from January 2003.
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Isn't 4.4.8f2 older than 4.6.0f1? :/
EDIT: yes, it is
Yes it is on a firewire 800 machine, but a regular MDD can only go to 4.4.8f2, I just looked all over the web and thats what all the websites said was the newest firmware you can have on an MDD. It is also the newest firmware they have for an MDD on apple support page.