What is the best PowerMac G4 MDD CPU fan that I can easily find?

[kotlet]

I've been searching for a good CPU fan replacement for the "windtunnel" PowerMac, as the Delta CPU fan is insanely loud. Now I wanted to ask someone, who already has a modded MDD with a quieter CPU fan, what fan did they use and how powerful it was. The Delta one was around 150CFM and the Papst (Apple modded) was around 100CFM. I think it's safe to say that going above 100CFM is unnecessary and will introduce more sound that I try to get rid of.
@jbarley used Antec's TriCool fans both for his PSU duct (so genius, definitely doing that one) and for his CPU. He said he used both of them on the second speed, which in term meant that he used 56CFM fans which don't sound powerful enough (although they max out at 79CFM). I'd love to hear from him what he has to say about the temperatures. Also I cannot find these exact fans in my country, so I have to find something else anyway.

 

[reddrag0n]

for my mdd, i used a coolermaster 120mm fan. pushes 69 cfm and runs at 19dB.

SickleFlow X (Red LED)

 

[reddrag0n]

just an update, i tried an experiment, and i voltage modded the updated papst fan in the 2002-2003 mdd's. 12v makes it roar like heck, using the noctua reducer cables makes it so the fan doesn't spin at all and then i voltage modded a cable to run at 7v. now it pushed a crap-ton of air but the sound is manageable. i also cut away the internal spider behind the fan that was causing some air turbulence in the case. now it sits under my desk and it's a low hum instead of a high roar.

*edit... with chud nap off, my cpu is hovering around 49 celcius

 

[weckart]

I used a particular SilenX as recommended by a page showing the recommended upgrades to the CPU and PSU fans to cut down on the windtunnel din.

The PSU fans I found immediately on eBay, the SilenX took a while before I found one at a reasonable price. Most were in the US and shipping to Europe bumped the price up to painful.

 

[reddrag0n]

i bought one of those too to try it out. too bad for me it was $60 including shipping from frozencpu

 

[reddrag0n]

Well, the SilenX 120mm came in today. I will admit, being a 12V fan, it is definitely quiet. I plugged it into my fanbus and it blows alot of air. I'm surprised that at 1400 rpm @ 90 cfm it pushes that much air. It is very noticeably quieter than my modded papst fan running 7V. Right now i have nap turned off just to see what the peak temps will reach. So far running this website only i am sitting at around 50 celcius. I will load several apps and then see what my reading are.

 

[09872738]

What did you guys do with your power supply‘s fans? I modded each fan so far, exceot the power pupply‘s (for obvious reasons).
The power supply is just so annoyingly loud, I haven‘t booted my MDD in years. For some time Inwas looking for a replacement - no joy though

 

[reddrag0n]

What did you guys do with your power supply‘s fans? I modded each fan so far, exceot the power pupply‘s (for obvious reasons).
The power supply is just so annoyingly loud, I haven‘t booted my MDD in years. For some time Inwas looking for a replacement - no joy though

i have a set of noctua 60 mm fans and the only mod i did to them was a wire mod. swapped the red and black wires on the plug then directly plugged them into the psu fan headers. so when you look at the fan it will show the red and black wires backwards. also i will upload specs of the noctua fan too. FYI i don't use any of the wire reducers with the fans, so no 9v or 7v

 

[reddrag0n]

This is a video of all the fans i have running in my MDD and how quiet it is
*after watching the video, it sounds like the machine is loud but take into consideration the the iphone mic is very sensitive. So it sounds louder than what it actually is

 

[09872738]

This is a video of all the fans i have running in my MDD and how quiet it is
*after watching the video, it sounds like the machine is loud but take into consideration the the iphone mic is very sensitive. So it sounds louder than what it actually is

Nice machine! Judging from the copper heatsink it appears its the dual 1.42?

Thx for the info on the fans. Its been a while I tried; as far as I remember the power supply‘s (The dreaded Acbel) fans are not replaceable.

Fyi: Single 1.25 GHz MDD

 

[reddrag0n]

Nice machine! Judging from the copper heatsink it appears its the dual 1.42?

Thx for the info on the fans. Its been a while I tried; as far as I remember the power supply‘s (The dreaded Acbel) fans are not replaceable.

Fyi: Single 1.25 GHz MDD

Yes, that is a dp 1.42 and yes the psu fans are replaceable. Just need to do a wire mod on the fans, thats all. And the psu does the rest. I chose the noctua fans because at full blast, those little guys are quiet. And i have used them before in the mdd psu’s without ever having an issue

 

[reddrag0n]

This video shows the mdd psu fans, jump to 26:31

 

[weckart]

Nice machine! Judging from the copper heatsink it appears its the dual 1.42?

Thx for the info on the fans. Its been a while I tried; as far as I remember the power supply‘s (The dreaded Acbel) fans are not replaceable.

Fyi: Single 1.25 GHz MDD

They have always been replaceable, as per my link above. Having said that, at normal operating temps, I didn't find the sound all that much lower as there are probably limits to what you can do in such a small space needing two small fans.

You might be able to get things a bit quieter using more modern fans as per reddrag0n's suggestion with Noctua fans. The best solution would be to replace the PSU altogether with a more modern unit but that would mean modding the MDD case fundamentally. It depends how much work you want to put into it vs keeping everything inside as stock as possible.

 

[reddrag0n]

For the mdd psu mod, check out my site. Already did that mod some time back 😁

 

[ACD30"]

Well, the SilenX 120mm came in today. I will admit, being a 12V fan, it is definitely quiet. I plugged it into my fanbus and it blows alot of air. I'm surprised that at 1400 rpm @ 90 cfm it pushes that much air. It is very noticeably quieter than my modded papst fan running 7V. Right now i have nap turned off just to see what the peak temps will reach. So far running this website only i am sitting at around 50 celcius. I will load several apps and then see what my reading are.

I read an old xlr8yourmac post wherein someone mentioned that their new 120mm fan was not moving enough air when converted to 2-pin connector — and that, to remedy it, they converted the new fan back to 3-pin and this time stuck it on 3-pin-to-4-pin adapter. What is your experience? I'm wondering whether I convert the cable, or simply use the aforementioned adapter to power the fan from a hard drive power cable.

 

[reddrag0n]

I have all my fans except the psu fans and cd fan hooked up to a fan splitter. Takes the load off the logicboard. And with those there are no wire mods, just noctua fan resistors on some of them. The silenx fan is hooked up to the cpu header and gets a full 12v and is very quiet and pushes a crapton of air

 

[ACD30"]

I have all my fans except the psu fans and cd fan hooked up to a fan splitter. Takes the load off the logicboard. And with those there are no wire mods, just noctua fan resistors on some of them. The silenx fan is hooked up to the cpu header and gets a full 12v and is very quiet and pushes a crapton of air

Awesome, I'll attempt this on my system. Thank you for the explanation.

 

[jim_090]

This video shows the mdd psu fans, jump to 26:31

Thanksss! it saved my time

 

[reddrag0n]

when i get a chance, i'll take some pics and upload them here with the wire routing and all the fans in my MDD.

Right now the machine isn't hooked up because i am running most of my software that i need on my mac pro. i also have a g5 dp 2.0 sitting on the floor collecting dust that i may or may not use for older software that my TiBook can't handle. also need a video card sometime down the road for my QS thats also sitting on the floor collecting dust.

i may need to sell some of my extra MDD parts that i have sitting around (case, cpu's, heatsinks, cages and whatnot)

 

[reddrag0n]

 

[Stubbertville]

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I noticed thats a 2003 model, did you do a cpu upgrade? or did you put the copper there to be safe?

 

[reddrag0n]

I noticed thats a 2003 model, did you do a cpu upgrade? or did you put the copper there to be safe?

actually its a full mod. the case is a different one than what i was originally using, the board is an older 167mhz board and the cpu was pushed to 1.5ghz. the copper heatsink is there because of the high heat output

 

[reddrag0n]

body transplant is a result of reading this site, MDD full body transplant

 

[Stubbertville]

actually its a full mod. the case is a different one than what i was originally using, the board is an older 167mhz board and the cpu was pushed to 1.5ghz. the copper heatsink is there because of the high heat output

How hard is it to do a 1.5 GHz overclock? Also do you notice any benefit?

 

[reddrag0n]

MDD 1.5 overclock

its a little faster but make sure your L3 cache can handle it or it might act wonky. i had a 1.25 that i OC'ed and the cache quit working after awhile years back