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Dual 2.3 G5: disassemble, clean, apply new thermal paste?

D

dpny

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 5, 2013
277
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Just got a dual 2.3 GHz G5 from a friend who had it in his basement. I got it home, booted it up, and everything works. However, I'd like to take it apart, give it a thorough cleaning, and put new thermal paste on the CPUs and Northbridge. I've googled but haven't found any specific instructions.

I've built PCs, so I have no worries about working on machines, but is there anything particular to the 2.3 G5s I should be aware of?
 
Look for an "Apple service manual" about your G5 online (Google, Archive.org, etc.) and you will have yourself a nice read since these manuals cover almost anything related to the machine including disassembly and troubleshooting. If you can, replace at least the thermal paste and clean the machine inside because G5s accumulate tons of dust over the years. Also make sure you have the right tools (especially a 3mm and 4mm Allen key).
 
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When the Cpu coolers are removed/repositioned a safetymechanical kicks in:
all fans inside the Tower start to run at 100%. Therefore to get the normal fan behavior back you should recalibrate your fans after you are done.
 
dpny said:
Just got a dual 2.3 GHz G5 from a friend who had it in his basement. I got it home, booted it up, and everything works. However, I'd like to take it apart, give it a thorough cleaning, and put new thermal paste on the CPUs and Northbridge. I've googled but haven't found any specific instructions.

I've built PCs, so I have no worries about working on machines, but is there anything particular to the 2.3 G5s I should be aware of?
Click to expand...
Cleaned up, and calibrated, it is a fantastic machine. Get the service manual. It's pretty easy to disassemble. Take the power supply out and clean all the dust bunnies out. Clean all the fans. Replace all the thermal paste, there are two chips on the mother board, CPU, and GPU. Download the Apple Service Diagnostic DVD, and run thermal calibration. Once that is done, you'll have an awesome machine that is very quiet, reliable and fast. Find a 30" Cinema Display and a set of Sound Sticks (I had both already). I posted a photo of my setup on the Show your PowerPC thread.

Imho, you got the best G5 ever made. Yes there are faster ones, but the difference isn't noticeable for normal computing and gaming. This machine runs so quietly and is just so reliable. Subjectively it is faster than both my early Intel- iMacs.
 
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An update: opened it up, cleaned it out, applied new thermal paste and it works like a charm. An older, slower, charm, but still so much better than being stripped for parts or tossed into a landfill. The only real issue I'm running into is incredibly slow network speeds. Don't know if the old Airport card plays well with my router.

Speeds are so slow trying to upload this screenshot kept timing out and I had to do it with my MBP.
 

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This is the setup I’m using in my 2.3 dual core. It’s fast! I know there is a thread here that talks about this. When I went on eBay to find the parts this premade on was offered for sale so I purchased it.
www.ebay.com

BCM94321MC Wireless WiFi Card PCIe Apple | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BCM94321MC Wireless WiFi Card PCIe Apple at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
 
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ww2_1943 said:
This is the setup I’m using in my 2.3 dual core. It’s fast! I know there is a thread here that talks about this. When I went on eBay to find the parts this premade on was offered for sale so I purchased it.
www.ebay.com

BCM94321MC Wireless WiFi Card PCIe Apple | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BCM94321MC Wireless WiFi Card PCIe Apple at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
That says it's PCI-E. It works in a dual 2.5 G5?
 
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