Southwest ohio. The A/C in the summer is set to 68F. And in the winter the heat is on 55F. I like cool tempurtures.
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Reapplied Thermal Paste on DC 2.3GHz G5
- Thread starter noodle654
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Southwest ohio. The A/C in the summer is set to 68F. And in the winter the heat is on 55F. I like cool tempurtures.
@noodle654
I just finished my thermal grease reapplication. I also used Arctic Silver 5.
I was curious-- why did you choose the smear method over the rice grain/straight line? Is it because the G5 does not use a heat spreader?
My temps are looking the same as yours at idle so far.
I just finished my thermal grease reapplication. I also used Arctic Silver 5.
I was curious-- why did you choose the smear method over the rice grain/straight line? Is it because the G5 does not use a heat spreader?
My temps are looking the same as yours at idle so far.
Correct, the G5 does not use a heat spreader. The core is exposed, so applying a film of AS5 will be more efficient. On my old Mac Pro when I converted it to 8 core, on each processor I used straight line method across the upper and bottom half's of each as to hit each core evenly across the IHS.
That is what I do at least...I find that the smear method, especially with mobile dual core/quad core CPUs, have more stable temperatures across cores. I am hesitant of using rice method because I just don't want the paste to overflow onto the chip or have there not be enough, which is what I come across when ripping open really hot Macs...overapplied thermal paste all over the chip and not the die, or in the case of my G5 not enough.
So I came into another Power Mac G5 recently. It is a Dual 2.05 Ghz model A1047. My average temps (58C under moderate load) are higher than the dual core 2.3 Ghz machine so I was wondering if I should reapply the thermal grease here also. Probably a good idea given its age.
At the same time, I know the dual 2.0 uses different processors that run hotter so I won't expect the same improvement. I have already made a change to my energy saver control panel that has stopped the revving fan behavior, but now I find the constant fan speed to have increased to the point of creating irritating noise.
I have also read that removing and reinstalling dual processors WILL require thermal recalibration. I have the ASD disc ready to go. I trust the procedure will be straight-forward.
I have booted from the disc already (without selecting anything) and noticed that my fans run at FULL speed. Is that normal? Seems a little scary to hear that.
At the same time, I know the dual 2.0 uses different processors that run hotter so I won't expect the same improvement. I have already made a change to my energy saver control panel that has stopped the revving fan behavior, but now I find the constant fan speed to have increased to the point of creating irritating noise.
I have also read that removing and reinstalling dual processors WILL require thermal recalibration. I have the ASD disc ready to go. I trust the procedure will be straight-forward.
I have booted from the disc already (without selecting anything) and noticed that my fans run at FULL speed. Is that normal? Seems a little scary to hear that.
The earlier generation Retina MacBook Pros can rise to 200+ degrees. No kidding, my brother's rMBP literally reached boiling. However, 190F is high for a spacious tower w/ a hungry G5 CPU.
Thanks for the MacPro, tidbit, I plan to do that soon to mine. To clarify, you use the tube to apply an even line of paste on the top of the chip and on the bottom?
It wouldn't hurt to reapply the thermal paste if it hasn't been done since the Mac was new. Some suggest Shin Etsu, others Arctic Silver 5. I used Ceramique 2 only because it was what I had available.
If you pull the CPUs and place them back into their respective logic board socket on the logic board from which they were pulled, you should not need to run thermal calibration. You only really need to run calibration if you're replacing the CPUs entirely, or if you mix up the CPUs when reinstalling them into their socket.
Success!
I reapplied a new layer of Arctic Silver 5 on both CPUs. It took me a while to figure out how to remove the CPUs from the motherboard, but I finally found a video from someone who revealed that the two "G5" logo plates must be taken off to expose more screws.
My temps seems to be about 4-5 degrees cooler now. Might get even better once the layer between the heatsink and CPU starts to gel nicely.
I reapplied a new layer of Arctic Silver 5 on both CPUs. It took me a while to figure out how to remove the CPUs from the motherboard, but I finally found a video from someone who revealed that the two "G5" logo plates must be taken off to expose more screws.
My temps seems to be about 4-5 degrees cooler now. Might get even better once the layer between the heatsink and CPU starts to gel nicely.
Just wanted to say that anybody getting high temps on a water cooled G5, like the Quad, or the dual 2.7 should be checking your water cooling system first.
Last year I got a near mint condition G5 dual 2.7, ran great, had 30 cinema, and even xserve raid array with it.
After having it a couple weeks, I got curious and popped the cpu and water cooler unit out to check for leaks. I was disgusted to see that it WAS leaking, no drips yet, but between the cpu tops and bottom of the water blocks was the rice looking crystallized coolant that had been slowly seeping out. I removed the cpu's from the water blocks, and could see that all the screws on the bottom side of the water blocks were seeping coolant. I caught it before any damage was done to the cpu's, but the water cooler was useless to me at that point. Rather than retire such a nice G5 just for that, I used a spare dual 2.0 G5 I had in my 'parts pile', and took the air cooler heat sinks off it. Transplanted them to the 2.7, and put it all back together. It works fine, I can hear the fans a bit more than when it was on water, but temps never go over 79-80 at max cpu load. There is one caveat I can think of when doing this, you cannot run the ASD since it expects the water pump to be connected and throws an error when it isnt. But, ASD isnt necessary I think, and this transplant will make the 2.7 never fear the very common 'death by water' we all know about. I can honestly recommend to ALL owners of water cooled 2.5/2.7 dual G5's to convert them to air cooling. Get rid of that leaking mess of hoses to a completely safe and reliable heat sink setup. I cant say the same about the quad G5, its cooler mounting is different and I don't know any way to convert it. I have a Quad G5, still runs like a champ, and no leaks or coolant crystals.. yet.
Last year I got a near mint condition G5 dual 2.7, ran great, had 30 cinema, and even xserve raid array with it.
After having it a couple weeks, I got curious and popped the cpu and water cooler unit out to check for leaks. I was disgusted to see that it WAS leaking, no drips yet, but between the cpu tops and bottom of the water blocks was the rice looking crystallized coolant that had been slowly seeping out. I removed the cpu's from the water blocks, and could see that all the screws on the bottom side of the water blocks were seeping coolant. I caught it before any damage was done to the cpu's, but the water cooler was useless to me at that point. Rather than retire such a nice G5 just for that, I used a spare dual 2.0 G5 I had in my 'parts pile', and took the air cooler heat sinks off it. Transplanted them to the 2.7, and put it all back together. It works fine, I can hear the fans a bit more than when it was on water, but temps never go over 79-80 at max cpu load. There is one caveat I can think of when doing this, you cannot run the ASD since it expects the water pump to be connected and throws an error when it isnt. But, ASD isnt necessary I think, and this transplant will make the 2.7 never fear the very common 'death by water' we all know about. I can honestly recommend to ALL owners of water cooled 2.5/2.7 dual G5's to convert them to air cooling. Get rid of that leaking mess of hoses to a completely safe and reliable heat sink setup. I cant say the same about the quad G5, its cooler mounting is different and I don't know any way to convert it. I have a Quad G5, still runs like a champ, and no leaks or coolant crystals.. yet.
Apple engineered the LCS setup for the faster G5s because air-cooled heatsinks were ineffective. I think you have the best of intentions, but I believe running your dual 2.7 with only air-cooled heatsinks will shorten its lifespan. It is possible to fix the LCS by replacing the leaking gaskets. A web search will return a few good tutorials.
I think Apple actually only used water because it was quieter. Air cooling works fine on the 2.7, I have been running it for almost a year. Water cooling can run slower fans than heat sinks, I think that's all it was.