Mac Pro 1,1 - Fan noise

[Ih8reno]

Wanted to get all of your opinions but my Mac Pro 1,1 has began to make some odd fan noise from the front fans. It's quiet but every now and then it begins to make a rattling noise that comes and goes. Is this a sign that the fan is needing replacement or could it be possible something else because of heat issues. My mac has all drive bays used from 10.6-10.11 has a pc 8800gt and 32GB of ram.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Wanted to get all of your opinions but my Mac Pro 1,1 has began to make some odd fan noise from the front fans. It's quiet but every now and then it begins to make a rattling noise that comes and goes. Is this a sign that the fan is needing replacement or could it be possible something else because of heat issues. My mac has all drive bays used from 10.6-10.11 has a pc 8800gt and 32GB of ram.

My frontal fan assembly does that... not sure what causes it. This fan was a total of $15 shipped (but it looks like they gave me a rattling unit!), so maybe you can find whichever fan is bothering you and replace it cheaply.

 

[Ih8reno]

My frontal fan assembly does that... not sure what causes it. This fan was a total of $15 shipped (but it looks like they gave me a rattling unit!), so maybe you can find whichever fan is bothering you and replace it cheaply.

Should be picking up one locally soon hopefully, doesn't look like a very difficult swap.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Should be picking up one locally soon hopefully, doesn't look like a very difficult swap.

If you're referring to the frontal fan assembly then, yes, it's not too bad to swap. It's nothing like the ease of swapping the frontal fans from a PowerMac G5, but, once you learn how, it becomes an effortless chore. I've dismantled my Mac Pro 1,1 a few times already. The PowerBook Medic offers some nice YouTube videos on Mac Pro 1,1 take-aparts.

 

[Ih8reno]

If you're referring to the frontal fan assembly then, yes, it's not too bad to swap. It's nothing like the ease of swapping the frontal fans from a PowerMac G5, but, once you learn how, it becomes an effortless chore. I've dismantled my Mac Pro 1,1 a few times already. The PowerBook Medic offers some nice YouTube videos on Mac Pro 1,1 take-aparts.

After this i'll be getting a second display and a flashed gt 120 so I can have boot screens again, with El Capitan and max 32gb ram this thing works wonderfully.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

After this i'll be getting a second display and a flashed gt 120 so I can have boot screens again, with El Capitan and max 32gb ram this thing works wonderfully.

Mine does too, especially with my SSD. 32GB of RAM sounds SO nice, but definitely a bit expensive. If I choose to, I'll add up to 8GB more than my 4GB if anything.

It's too bad, though, that you need the Apple heat-sinks; they make it more costly. You can get about 16GB of RAM for, like $30, but it will have smaller heat-sinks. (Unless, of course, you ARE using your 32GB sticks with smaller heat-sinks. Seems to me, though, that the Mac Pro's fans would need to work harder for that. How is it?)

 

[Ih8reno]

Mine does too, especially with my SSD. 32GB of RAM sounds SO nice, but definitely a bit expensive. If I choose to, I'll add up to 8GB more than my 4GB if anything.

It's too bad, though, that you need the Apple heat-sinks; they make it more costly. You can get about 16GB of RAM for, like $30, but it will have smaller heat-sinks. (Unless, of course, you ARE using your 32GB sticks with smaller heat-sinks. Seems to me, though, that the Mac Pro's fans would need to work harder for that. How is it?)

Smaller heatsinks but never had any issues with them in another pro 1,1 I had before this one with identical specs. This fan thing is specific to this system. The last system I had I sold because this one was visibly better, other had case damage.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Smaller heatsinks but never had any issues with them in another pro 1,1 I had before this one with identical specs. This fan thing is specific to this system. The last system I had I sold because this one was visibly better, other had case damage.

What are your usual fan RPMs? There's a good chance that RPMs can go up drastically, and I'd like to avoid it if I can. (My CPU/PCIe front fans run at 500RPM, and the rear exhaust at 600; I use SMC Fan Control to check the RPM.)

Otherwise, I may consider trying the smaller heat-sinks if it means getting more RAM for the money... even if settling for cheap doesn't always work for electronics.

 

[Ih8reno]

What are your usual fan RPMs? There's a good chance that RPMs can go up drastically, and I'd like to avoid it if I can. (My CPU/PCIe front fans run at 500RPM, and the rear exhaust at 600; I use SMC Fan Control to check the RPM.)

Otherwise, I may consider trying the smaller heat-sinks if it means getting more RAM for the money... even if settling for cheap doesn't always work for electronics.

Fans are working faster then yours in some instances

the cpu/pcie is about 700, exhaust is about 800

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Fans are working faster then yours in some instances

the cpu/pcie is about 700, exhaust is about 800

Ah, I see. Normally I wouldn't care too much, but my 1,1 Mac Pro just seems a bit louder than it should be. I can't afford fan-speed increases.

 

[Ih8reno]

Ah, I see. Normally I wouldn't care too much, but my 1,1 Mac Pro just seems a bit louder than it should be. I can't afford fan-speed increases.

Just got the fans switched out and my new 8800gt flashed card installed. Works super quiet again and I love seeing a boot screen!

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Just got the fans switched out and my new 8800gt flashed card installed. Works super quiet again and I love seeing a boot screen!

Nice! I keep my 8800GT on the side for that reason. It's a very nice card for its age.

So you switched the frontal fans out? I did so as well, and they were quieter than the previous ones, but still somewhat loud. Now that I have the Mac Pro sitting in a cubby on the ground, though, it's very quiet. Sure, I can sense if it's on in the room, but it's so much better now. The only issue, though, is that it's really loud if there is any added noise. I use a passively-cooled GPU and an SSD as my main boot drive for this reason.

Anyway, I might purchase a GTX 660 for this Mac; apparently, it will work even without the web drivers (but I'm installing them for good measure). Hopefully it performs well, though. Now I have a dead(?) Radeon 5770, an 8800GT 1GB, and a 2600XT 256MB. Gotta sell one of these fast!