Replacing fans in Mac Pro 2008

[andogrando]

Hi!
I'm sorry if this has been taken up before here in the forum, but I couldn't find what I'm looking for.

I have a Mac Pro 2008 8-core with a 4890 that i bought used, and I think the fans are a little bit loud. Not anything extreme, but just as loud as they bug me. I left the computer at my nearest Apple Store so that they could have a look at it, as well as some other minor problems. (Superdrive)
They did however not find any abnormalities with the fans - so I thought I might replace them on my own.

Now to the real question. If I have understood it right, you can replace the fans with just about any other fan brand, like Noctua 120mm?
I'm pretty sure the Noctua's would be quieter than the original fans, but would they provide sufficient airflow? Or is there a better alternative with better airflow/noise-ratio? Maybe someone has tested it already?

I would order 4 of them right away if i was certain!

Thanks in advance,
andogrando

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

I'm afraid you can't replace the fans with standard PC fans since they're controlled in a completely different way. You could, in theory, wire up some PC fans with speed controller dongles attached to some Molex or SATA power connectors but you'd be stuck with having to have them run at a constant speed, your system wouldn't be able to tell you fan speeds and the machine would fail the Apple Hardware Test.

I spoke about this a little more in detail here.

Since you've got a 4890 in there chances are that is the loudest fan in your system. If it is then you are somewhat in luck since that is pretty easily changed with an aftermarket 4890 cooler of which there are a plethora of out there.

 

[andogrando]

Hi Spanky, and thanks for your fast reply.
That's a shame!
I thought it would be an easy operation, now I'm stuck with my half-noisy fans. (Sure you are right about the 4890, the fan will be replaced with a better one, but i still think the case fans are loud.)

Well, thanks again!

 

[milk242]

Maybe the previous owner had smc fan control installed and set the fans to a higher rpm. When he reinstalled the OS, maybe he didn't reset the smc which would have your fans not running at default speeds.