After some hiatus, I wanted to post an update as I recently reinstated the G5s into my workspace because the MacPro has been having fan noise trouble.
As per the first post, I have a few G5s, this includes a Quad 2.5GHz. I have the late 2005 Dual Core 2.3GHz G5 which was my long-time favourite as it runs quiet and has a relatively low power draw (in comparison to other G5s). This G5 started life with a DC 2.0GHz CPU and I did a direct swap out with the DC 2.3GHz processor module (and heatsink), renewed with quality thermal paste (Grizzly Kryonaut) and ran the re-calibration. CPU temps run cool - below 70°C under load with typical CPU core temps sitting around 45°C during idle and normal use (I tend to keep it at the "Slower" processor speed).
Unfortunately, over time, this DC G5 has developed faulty RAM banks, where it will work fine for a few hours (even days), and then randomly freeze up if left running or fail to boot from cold or warm states. I would swap out RAM thinking the modules were faulty (replacing with known good) and it would seem fine for a little while, then fail again shortly after.
The failures started off at the inner two memory banks and worked their way out, until eventually all 4 pairs of banks will now intermittently fail at seemingly random intervals. It would be alarming to open the door to my office and hear the G5 roaring like it was ready for takeoff!
I tried many things to resolve this in an attempt to keep the machine cool, in the hope to keep it stable, but it has become too unreliable to run. So I accepted defeat a few months back and pulled the two HDDs (1TB + 3TB) out of the DC 2.3GHz and into my original, 2003 model Dual Processor 1.8GHz G5 (upgraded to 8GB RAM), which has also had the thermal paste re-do and internal clean out.
My DP 1.8GHz runs cool (both processors are currently idling at 41°C). This unit has provided decades of service, with it's heaviest use in production between 2005 - 2010. Back around 2017, this machine burnt out my ATI Radeon 9800 Special Mac Edition GPU and in turn, it's AGP slot, so required a drop in logic board replacement, and I bought a GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL GPU to get it back up and running.
A couple of weeks back, I fired up my DP 2.0GHz G5 to have a play and check over a few things. It started up as expected and all seemed good, but within about 5 minutes under load it blew out it's Liteon 600w PSU with a loud crack and cloud of smoke. I dismantled the G5 to find a rattle in the PSU. I opened up the PSU and half of what looks like a blown out SMD bridge rectifier dropped out... I haven't been game to attempt the repair just yet, so I decided to shelve this G5 as a parts machine until further notice.
In dismantling my DP 1.8GHz to give it an internal clean up and investigation, I found the difference with this and the same-year 2.0GHz unit was it is using the AcBel branded 600W PSU, which internally is a smaller / lighter layout than the Liteon unit. I can't be certain, but based on my experience here, I would say the smaller / lighter AcBel PSU is a more reliable unit than the Liteon PSU, but that could just be in my case.
So now I have one reliable G5; the DP 1.8GHz unit, and 2 parts units, the DP 2.0GHz and DC 2.3GHz machines. I also have the Quad I mentioned earlier, which boots fine, but fans will ramp up to full speed after a few minutes as it runs hotter and hotter until it powers itself off with OVERTEMP. I think the LCS must be blocked as I can feel the liquid flow moving from the pump to the radiator, but not returning, so I imagine the radiator grills are gunked up and need to be flushed out.
That's a maintenance job on the list to tackle over the xmas break.
To round out this G5 update, there is some interesting further reading on G5 upkeep here: https://g5center.net/hardware/ and an LCS maintenance guide written by TenFourFox creator here: http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/2014/04/long-life-computing-plus-quad-g5-cpu.html
Plus my own maintenance thread: Power Mac G5 Dust Out and Thermal Paste Re-do
forums.macrumors.com
Long live the G5! :salutes:
As per the first post, I have a few G5s, this includes a Quad 2.5GHz. I have the late 2005 Dual Core 2.3GHz G5 which was my long-time favourite as it runs quiet and has a relatively low power draw (in comparison to other G5s). This G5 started life with a DC 2.0GHz CPU and I did a direct swap out with the DC 2.3GHz processor module (and heatsink), renewed with quality thermal paste (Grizzly Kryonaut) and ran the re-calibration. CPU temps run cool - below 70°C under load with typical CPU core temps sitting around 45°C during idle and normal use (I tend to keep it at the "Slower" processor speed).
Unfortunately, over time, this DC G5 has developed faulty RAM banks, where it will work fine for a few hours (even days), and then randomly freeze up if left running or fail to boot from cold or warm states. I would swap out RAM thinking the modules were faulty (replacing with known good) and it would seem fine for a little while, then fail again shortly after.
The failures started off at the inner two memory banks and worked their way out, until eventually all 4 pairs of banks will now intermittently fail at seemingly random intervals. It would be alarming to open the door to my office and hear the G5 roaring like it was ready for takeoff!
I tried many things to resolve this in an attempt to keep the machine cool, in the hope to keep it stable, but it has become too unreliable to run. So I accepted defeat a few months back and pulled the two HDDs (1TB + 3TB) out of the DC 2.3GHz and into my original, 2003 model Dual Processor 1.8GHz G5 (upgraded to 8GB RAM), which has also had the thermal paste re-do and internal clean out.
My DP 1.8GHz runs cool (both processors are currently idling at 41°C). This unit has provided decades of service, with it's heaviest use in production between 2005 - 2010. Back around 2017, this machine burnt out my ATI Radeon 9800 Special Mac Edition GPU and in turn, it's AGP slot, so required a drop in logic board replacement, and I bought a GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL GPU to get it back up and running.
A couple of weeks back, I fired up my DP 2.0GHz G5 to have a play and check over a few things. It started up as expected and all seemed good, but within about 5 minutes under load it blew out it's Liteon 600w PSU with a loud crack and cloud of smoke. I dismantled the G5 to find a rattle in the PSU. I opened up the PSU and half of what looks like a blown out SMD bridge rectifier dropped out... I haven't been game to attempt the repair just yet, so I decided to shelve this G5 as a parts machine until further notice.
In dismantling my DP 1.8GHz to give it an internal clean up and investigation, I found the difference with this and the same-year 2.0GHz unit was it is using the AcBel branded 600W PSU, which internally is a smaller / lighter layout than the Liteon unit. I can't be certain, but based on my experience here, I would say the smaller / lighter AcBel PSU is a more reliable unit than the Liteon PSU, but that could just be in my case.
So now I have one reliable G5; the DP 1.8GHz unit, and 2 parts units, the DP 2.0GHz and DC 2.3GHz machines. I also have the Quad I mentioned earlier, which boots fine, but fans will ramp up to full speed after a few minutes as it runs hotter and hotter until it powers itself off with OVERTEMP. I think the LCS must be blocked as I can feel the liquid flow moving from the pump to the radiator, but not returning, so I imagine the radiator grills are gunked up and need to be flushed out.
That's a maintenance job on the list to tackle over the xmas break.
To round out this G5 update, there is some interesting further reading on G5 upkeep here: https://g5center.net/hardware/ and an LCS maintenance guide written by TenFourFox creator here: http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/2014/04/long-life-computing-plus-quad-g5-cpu.html
Plus my own maintenance thread: Power Mac G5 Dust Out and Thermal Paste Re-do
Power Mac G5 Dust Out and Thermal Paste Re-do
As a pre-new-years preparation for smashing out productivity in 2018, I decided to pull the 4 big aluminum towers out of my office and give them all a thorough clean up (plus vacuum the carpet in the dusty space they took up). The dust inside the Macs wasn't as bad as I expected, except the Mac...
forums.macrumors.com
Long live the G5! :salutes:
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