Mac Pro (1,1) fans speed

[F1Mac]

When I encode HD video in handbrake, my CPU and Exhaust fans almost max out (at 2200+ rpm from what I saw on iStatMenus). I know it's perfectly normal that they run fast with that type of tasks, I just wonder if I'm still safe at these speeds. It makes a lot of noise of course. Temps seem fine.

I've used handbrake for years and it's the first time I've noticed the fans going that high - maybe I was just not paying attention but I tend to remember the CPU/Exhaust fans ran at about 1400-1500 with handbrake before, and that noise is distracting. But more importantly I don't want my trusty mac pro to overheat

fwiw, I just updated to 10.9.3 (running Mavericks on this 1,1 without any trouble whatsoever), and the only "upgrade" I made recently is changing my monitor configuration by installing 2 monitors to my Radeon HD 5770 (minidisplay to HDMI)


tx.

 

[NOTNlCE]

I would say you're perfectly fine. My 1,1 does audio mixing where I work and the fans go a bit past that during processing and mixing. As long as you aren't hearing clicking or whining in the fans, you'll be fine. Temperatures are the thing to worry about, but that's what the fans are for.

 

[Sko]

RAM temperature

I experienced maximum fans speed too after installing some additional RAM. While the old RAM (4x512MB + 4x 1GB) was around 70°C idle, the new RAM (2x 2GB) was barely below 80°C and the fans speed up when it reached 80°C, it took only a medium workload.

As it was low budget RAM selling for about half as much as 'branded' I was prepared to hit some hiccups. So I disassembled the heat sinks, applied new thermal paste, reassembled and was rewarded with a ~3°C drop in temperature. I tracked the temperatures with Hardwaremonitor and placed the hottest chips in the slots that seemed to be the coolest spots. Fans never go to full throttle now, maximum is the 1,5k region you mentioned.

TL;DR For me it was RAM temperature that triggered the fans, you may want to have a look at that.