Fan management

[Southern]

So I managed to set up my aluminium iMac with Windows XP pro today and was happily mowing down some people in Team Fortress 2 when my iMac hung (owing to extreme temperatures!). The hardware itself was fine, but the interruption was not.

That said, does anyone have any good ideas for fan management of iMac hardware while in Windows or something that might turn the fans on earlier so I can play games for longer?

I would love to scrap my old PC, but until I can play games on my Mac for as long as I want, it's not going to be easy to migrate fully over!

 

[Consultant]

So I managed to set up my aluminium iMac with Windows XP pro today and was happily mowing down some people in Team Fortress 2 when my iMac hung (owing to extreme temperatures!). The hardware itself was fine, but the interruption was not.

That said, does anyone have any good ideas for fan management of iMac hardware while in Windows or something that might turn the fans on earlier so I can play games for longer?

I would love to scrap my old PC, but until I can play games on my Mac for as long as I want, it's not going to be easy to migrate fully over!

No problem with MBP which has smaller fans than the iMac. Did you install the bootcamp drivers?

 

[Southern]

No problem with MBP which has smaller fans than the iMac. Did you install the bootcamp drivers?

I wouldn't have been able to run online games in Windows if I hadn't; the Leopard disc I ran enabled the wireless card that allowed me to go online and play in the first place.

Sorry for the response, but the first thing I did was run the driver disc.

I have turned up a few programs that will allow you to affect Intel Mac fans from within OSX, including SMCFanControl, but no luck in finding a Windows program that will allow me to adjust fan speeds of an iMac.

Speedfan I have already checked out (but only gives me a readout of temperatures, afaik). I'd love to grab an app that allows me to turn on the fans earlier (maybe at 60 degrees C).

 

[Consultant]

Well the problem is that there are hundred if not thousands of such apps in windows and you have to figure out which works.

There are a few threads on where to find software / reviewers for windows. For example, you might want to go search at: Download.com

 

[Southern]

Well the problem is that there are hundred if not thousands of such apps in windows and you have to figure out which works.

There are a few threads on where to find software / reviewers for windows. For example, you might want to go search at: Download.com

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! >:3

If I find anything that works, I will post my results here.

 

[Neil321]

If you use smcfancontrol whack them up reboot into windows (not shut down)
and they should stay at the rpm you set them when you was in os x

Not a total fix i know but it'll stop your Mac over heating while in windows world

 

[Southern]

Aha I will have a quick look at this fix now. Cheers for your help Neil!

 

[Neil321]

Aha I will have a quick look at this fix now. Cheers for your help Neil!

that's ok let us know if it worked out

 

[Southern]

Neil, you win! It seems that SMC fan control artificially alters the fan speeds when in windows, as it doesn't actually shut down with the rest of OSX. I have been able to run most Half Life 2 games for about three hours before seeing any texture defects (indicative of overheating) are shown. I thought it wise not to push it any further.

So yeah, SMC Fan Control works perfectly well for Aluminium iMacs too. The fan you need to alter the most is the CPU fan, I'm not sure if you can alter the GPU fan, as SMC doesn't list it, but it should be enough for you to game for a little longer.

[edit] I should also point out that anyone experiencing a similar issue is advised, nay, instructed to go to ATI's website and download new bootcamp graphics card drivers (Jan 8th 2008 edition) because they work much better!

 

[Neil321]

Neil, you win! It seems that SMC fan control artificially alters the fan speeds when in windows, as it doesn't actually shut down with the rest of OSX. I have been able to run most Half Life 2 games for about three hours before seeing any texture defects (indicative of overheating) are shown. I thought it wise not to push it any further.

So yeah, SMC Fan Control works perfectly well for Aluminium iMacs too. The fan you need to alter the most is the CPU fan, I'm not sure if you can alter the GPU fan, as SMC doesn't list it, but it should be enough for you to game for a little longer.

[edit] I should also point out that anyone experiencing a similar issue is advised, nay, instructed to go to ATI's website and download new bootcamp graphics card drivers (Jan 8th 2008 edition) because they work much better!