X1900XT and TMG AT1

[Fair Witness]

I got my Thermaltake TMG AT1 videocard cooler in, here are my install pics.

I didn't want the Arctic Cooler blowing hot air right back underneath my hard drives:

So I got the TMG AT1 cooler instead:

The original ATI cooler intact and then off:

The TMG AT1 installed on videocard:

Now, inside the Mac Pro:

You'll notice that I had to run the fan wire up to the optical bay so I could tap into the power adpaters up there. The molex power adapter for the fan won't fit onto the card itself. Now this presents a problem because the Mac Pro side panel won't fit flush with that wire there. If I knew anything about rewiring I could slip the wire up through a hole underneath, then reinstall the molex connector.

If someone else gets this card and has any ideas please let me know. Thanks.

Oh, and I forgot to take temp measurements before and after, sorry. The fan is really quiet, and when playing games the fan never spins up or anything, it stays as silent as a mouse.

 

[slughead]

If the power cable is long enough, you should try and string it behind the front fan assembly
http://www.tenthousandpercent.com/?article=65&section=other

 

[Fair Witness]

The big fat connector at the end is the problem, I couldn't even get it to fit back there behind the fan. If I had skills, I would just take the fat connector off, run the wires straight up through the holes under the optical bay, then put the connector back on. The fan wire isn't really that long though, it barely makes it to the optical bay to tap into those power connectors.

 

[Fair Witness]

I noticed there are two power connectors on the motherboard that are right next to each other, one of which powers the videocard. What if I found the right connector to tap into the unused one, something like this:

I don't believe that wire is exactly correct, but some of you may understand what I mean and can point me in the right direction. I assume that supplies 12v right? The fan on the TMG AT1 said 12v.

 

[dusanv]

Thanks for reporting about the cooler.

Are there any thermal pads included? I'm asking because some people bought the Arctic Cooling X2 which came with thermal pads that go on top of memory chips. Those cannot be removed after a while so X2 stays permanently attached to the card. Anything like that here? What goes on top of memory chips?

Where did you get it?

P.S. I wonder whether we can use the on-card power connector. I'll ask ThermalTake.

 

[Fair Witness]

Are there any thermal pads included?
Where did you get it?
I wonder whether we can use the on-card power connector. I'll ask ThermalTake.

Yeah the thermal pads for the memory were included, they were a little sticky so I'm sure they'll be a pain to take off (although I don't plan on taking it off anyway).

I bought the card from frozencpu.com last week, it was one of the first places to get it in stock I believe.

It would be nice if we can connect the fan to the video card itself, although we'd need some sort of adapter (I also assume it is supplying the 12v needed). Hopefully Thermaltake has some good advice for us.

 

[dusanv]

ThermalTake got back to me really quickly:

I would suggest getting an extension for the molex at your local computer
store. But you can also buy an adapter for using the onboard. However, the
molex will be much more reliable.

Peter Ho
Marketing Depertment
Thermaltake USA Inc.

 

[Fair Witness]

Maybe someone can help then, we need an adapter that converts the molex from the TMG AT1 to whatever the connector on the video card is.

 

[dusanv]

This is what he had to say about the power connector on the card:

From past experiences, the fan can overload the board and the fan could just stop working.

Peter Ho

 

[dmw007]

Nice pictures (and upgrade) Fair Witness.

 

[trainguy77]

I was thinking of getting the cooler. But since the power cable problem I may not want to get it. Also I don't like the idea of voiding the warranty.

 

[Tangerine]

Fair Witness,

I have also order the TMG AT1 for my ATI X1900XT. Can you tell me how easy it is to install the TMG? How long did it take you? It's quite ashamed about the fan power not fitting. You said you wire it to the Optical Bay? How does this work for you? I would thought the Optical bay have a much higher voltage? Is there any alternative? I think someone mention a Molex? What kind and how it is going to work?

Thanks

 

[Fair Witness]

Can you tell me how easy it is to install the TMG? How long did it take you? It's quite ashamed about the fan power not fitting. You said you wire it to the Optical Bay? How does this work for you? I would thought the Optical bay have a much higher voltage? Is there any alternative? I think someone mention a Molex? What kind and how it is going to work?

Installing the TMG is super simple, there's no way you could mess it up. When you remove the old heatsink/fan you'll only need to clean off any residue left on the processor and ram chips, I used Isopropyl Alcohol to do this. Once you have everything cleaned and shiny simply put the included transfer pads on your memory chips, then install the heatsink/fan. It is really easy and almost impossible to mess up.

The TMG fan has a molex adapter, they want you to plug it into any molex connector coming from the PSU, so attaching it to the molex connectors in the optical bay is fine. The problem is to get up to the optical bay you can either go on the outside like I did, or cut the wire and send it up through a little hole, then re-attach the molex adapter and plug it in.

I may end up cutting the wire and re-attaching it, but there could be another solution. The cable that provides power to the X1900XT card comes from an area on the motherboard that is really close, and there is a second unused plug there. If this supplies the 12v needed, and if we can find a cable that has the proper molex on one end along with the proper connector to attach to the motherboard we'd be in business. (see my post above with the New Egg picture, it would be a cable very similar to that).

I'm hoping someone smarter than me can give us some advice. But, worse case scenario you can just run the cable up to the optical bay as I did, but the side panel of the Mac Pro won't fit flush anymore.

 

[SMM]

Please excuse my ignorance - what is the advantage here?

 

[Tangerine]

Please excuse my ignorance - what is the advantage here?

The Advantage here is that TMG Cooler blow air outside the case. I think it look better too.

 

[trainguy77]

Please excuse my ignorance - what is the advantage here?

Noise...the x1900's stock cooler is noisy yeah it blows air outside the case but its noisy. Especially when in a mac pro. The X2 cooler is very quite but it blows air back into the case.

 

[Tangerine]

Installing the TMG is super simple, there's no way you could mess it up. When you remove the old heatsink/fan you'll only need to clean off any residue left on the processor and ram chips, I used Isopropyl Alcohol to do this. Once you have everything cleaned and shiny simply put the included transfer pads on your memory chips, then install the heatsink/fan. It is really easy and almost impossible to mess up.

The TMG fan has a molex adapter, they want you to plug it into any molex connector coming from the PSU, so attaching it to the molex connectors in the optical bay is fine. The problem is to get up to the optical bay you can either go on the outside like I did, or cut the wire and send it up through a little hole, then re-attach the molex adapter and plug it in.

I may end up cutting the wire and re-attaching it, but there could be another solution. The cable that provides power to the X1900XT card comes from an area on the motherboard that is really close, and there is a second unused plug there. If this supplies the 12v needed, and if we can find a cable that has the proper molex on one end along with the proper connector to attach to the motherboard we'd be in business. (see my post above with the New Egg picture, it would be a cable very similar to that).

I'm hoping someone smarter than me can give us some advice. But, worse case scenario you can just run the cable up to the optical bay as I did, but the side panel of the Mac Pro won't fit flush anymore.

I was so excited about this until I realize about the adapter problem. When you say the side panel of the Mac Pro will not fit flush anymore, does this mean it cannot close all the way? I would not attempt cutting the wire and re-wiring it. If you don't know what you are doing, not only you could kill the Graphic Card but may damage your Mac Pro Hardware. I'm really hoping someone have a solution where an alternative Molex adapter long enough that could fix the problem. I have not seen the TMG yet, so I do not know what the cable look likes, but I though it would be simple as going out to the Computer store and grab one of the Molex adapter that work?

FairWitness, how is the ATI X1900 XT with the TMG Cooler install working for you? Any noise after startup or during heavy gaming? Have temperature been drop? How it is compare to the Accelero X2?

Thanks

 

[Fair Witness]

FairWitness, how is the ATI X1900 XT with the TMG Cooler install working for you? Any noise after startup or during heavy gaming? Have temperature been drop? How it is compare to the Accelero X2?

I never installed the Accelero, I didn't want the hot air blowing back into the case. I forgot to measure the temps before I took off the old cooler, so I can't say one way or the other but the card stays cool so it's fine. Also, the fan runs at a constant rate, so no matter how much you stress the card it will always remain silent. There is a huge difference in noise between the stock fan and the TMG, now my Mac Pro is always very quiet.

As for the side panel not being flush, yes you can still close the side panel, but it's a tight fit and it bulges out a bit in the middle because of the wire. I'll mess around with it some more this weekend and take a picture of the molex adapter on the TMG.

 

[Tangerine]

I never installed the Accelero, I didn't want the hot air blowing back into the case. I forgot to measure the temps before I took off the old cooler, so I can't say one way or the other but the card stays cool so it's fine. Also, the fan runs at a constant rate, so no matter how much you stress the card it will always remain silent. There is a huge difference in noise between the stock fan and the TMG, now my Mac Pro is always very quiet.

As for the side panel not being flush, yes you can still close the side panel, but it's a tight fit and it bulges out a bit in the middle because of the wire. I'll mess around with it some more this weekend and take a picture of the molex adapter on the TMG.

Thanks, keep us updated

 

[cynerjist]

the TMG looks like a beast! Despite the cable issue, how are you liking it so far?

 

[Tangerine]

I noticed there are two power connectors on the motherboard that are right next to each other, one of which powers the videocard. What if I found the right connector to tap into the unused one, something like this:

I don't believe that wire is exactly correct, but some of you may understand what I mean and can point me in the right direction. I assume that supplies 12v right? The fan on the TMG AT1 said 12v.

Why wouldn't this work? It look perfect? And how many volatage is the one ont he motherboard that power the Graphic Card?

 

[Tangerine]

Hi, I have a question because it's been bugging me. If I take the Cooler out and re-install it again. Will this effect the Thermal Paste and performance with the cooler?

Thanks

 

[THX1139]

I don't see what the big deal is. Just cut the wires and use a bit of solder and shrink tube to join them back together. You can get the supplies at Radio Shack for a few bucks. Maybe I'm missing something, but this doesn't look like rocket science.

 

[Digidesign]

I also bought the Thermaltake AT1 replacement fan. The problem is, as the OP noted, that the power cord for the fan is a four-plug molex, which the Mac Pro motherboard has only molex plugs for the Optical drives (x2).

My problems:
1) The cord is way too short to reach all the way to the optical drives if two optical drives are installed.

2) The case has no space to run the plug up to the optical bay. The original poster ran it up along the side, but this pushes out the side panel and makes it difficult to lock the panel.

3) The 6-pin adapter pictured above (6-pin to molex) doesn't work. It requires a mini male 6-pin-to-molex plug. I had the plug pictured above but it wouldn't fit, so I had to do it another way.

Solution:
Extend the cord for fan, and run it up another location.

It's pretty straightforward, but just remember to run up the wire in the right location. I ran it up another hole, then realized that I couldn't put my HDD sled #3 back in (there are little to no gaps in the design of the Mac Pro), so I had to re-do it.

Here's what I did:

1) Cut the fan cord about 7" from the plug. Save the sheaths.
2) Cut out ~8-10" of patch wire. I used an old ethernet cable (white+orange).
3) Put on the long sheath on the fan cord (red+black wires).
4) Shear the tips of the fan cord and one end of the patch wire.
5) twist-tie and electric tape it.
6) slide the sheath up to re-enforce/cover the patched area.
7) run the patch wire up the hole between sled #2 and sled #3. It's the one that when you lock the lever, it has the bolt that slides back and forth. In the hole, there is a small groove. Make sure the patch wire stays in this groove so that it doesn't interfere with the locking bolt. I taped it down with a bit of electric tape.
8) Put on the short sheath on the patch wire.
9) Shear the tips of the patch wire and also the plug cord (red+black).
10) Twist-tie and electric tape it.
11) slide the sheath over the patched area.
12) You're done!

Some photos are included (may be out of order, but you get the idea).

 

[Digidesign]

other round of photos.