Quieting the Mac G5's ATI 9800 GPU Fan -- a Zalman upgrade!

[Part-Time Audiophile]

For those of you with aging Power Mac G5's, you're probably already aware that they're a noisy bunch. Very, very noisy. Opening up the case, you can blow out all that dust (recommended), but there is still no getting around the fact that there are 9 (!) case fans in this thing and together with the fan on the video card, this box can quite easily sound like an aircraft taking off when you start it up. Luckily that tends to quiet down, but even so, there's a rather penetrating high-pitched whine that just won't go away.

 

Seems that that's coming from the fan on the video card. YMMV, but in my case, that was the source of the most annoying sound coming out of the computer. Encasing the box in 4" of packing foam (with clever positioning to allow airflow) didn't do much to attenuate this particular frequency. It was loud enough, and distracting enough, that critical listening to music in my "office" with the computer on was simply not enjoyable -- unless I turned it off. Which made computer playback ... challenging.

 

What to do? Well there's other video cards. Given that this design was new back in '03 and that current manufacturers don't really invest in AGP slot cards anymore, there are some old (NOS if lucky, used in not) cards I could find -- but anyone who's done searches on these has undoubtedly learned that those still available go for a premium. Quite the premium -- well north of $200. And there'd be no guarantees that they'd be better. So the option was to either "downgrade" and get a Mac-compatible AGP video card with no fan (very slow performer) or go for an aftermarket upgrade.

 

I bought a Zalman VF700 CU for $30 off of Amazon.

 

The instructions weren't difficult. I popped off the old fan with a twist and a pop, cleaned off the GPU with some acetone (wife's nail polish remover), added some conductor, and screwed the new fan in place. It's a monster, easily 3x the weight of the card it now sits on and it completely obstructs the PCI slot next to the AGP slot on the mobo, but whatever, I have 2 more I can still get to.

 

Problem -- connecting the power. Oops.

 

Mac's don't really have extra power connectors lying around, and the connector the Zalman shipped with was not terribly helpful. What I really needed was a 3-pin to 2-pin connector/adapter so I could power the fan directly from my video card. I found them at Performance-PCs dot com. Unfortunately, there are 4 different types of these connectors -- but at $1 each, I simply ordered one of each and figured I'd see if any of them worked.

 

3 days later, I got them, unpacked them, and no, none of them fit. But, the "TYPE B" was "close", and with a little extra shove, I just crammed that sucker down onto the power jack on the card, popped the whole into the Mac, powered up ....

 

And it worked. Not only that, but that annoying whine? Gone.

 

:-)

 

That isn't to say that the computer is quiet. Remember, there are 9 case fans! But now, the hum is low, not high, and I can live with it, even though it's not ideal. One caveat -- this adapter doesn't allow me the ability to change the fan speed on the Zalman -- it's set at max, about 2600rpms instead of half that, which would be totally silent. I may fiddle with this to see if there is another set of adapters which would get me to where I want to be, but right now, I'm just happy it works.

 

Best of luck to you would-be modders! IMO, this is the biggest improvement I've been able to make so far ... and for $30, what's not to like?

 

[cfmsp]

Scot,

 

Did you consider a downgrade? I"m hoping I can fit an ATI Rage 128 Pro into my early 2005 G5. Cost ranges from $5 to $15 on ebay. I have an ATI Radeon X800XT in my current G5 - an aftermarket upgrade, which runs HOT, despite it's own fan.

 

I believe the Rage I have in my Cube will be fine for a dedicated music (ie. but NOT video) server. I figure that since it works in a fanless box, and is totally quiet, that it should be a great retro "upgrade".

 

The Rage 128 has ADP output, whereas the 128 Pro offers DVI.

 

 

Anyone know the details on G5 slots? I'm assuming that a 4x AGP board should fit right in?

 

Clay

 

 

 

[vortecjr]

I think the "mini" has a fan in it:) I remember something in youtube video floating around on changing the drives. It could be for the video though. Anyway, I installed a Ninja Heat sink this weekend and its pretty awesome. Not sure it would fit, but a simple bracket would hold it in place.

 

Jesus R

www.sonore.us

 

[cfmsp]

 

"I think the "mini" has a fan in it:)"

 

Yes, it does, but it practically requires a stethoscope to hear it.

 

In any event, the fanless model I was referring to was the closest thing the 'mini' has to a predecessor, the Apple Cube.

 

thanks for trying to help out,

clay