Mac Pro Overheating!!!

[rueskinner]

Hi there, since upgrading to OSX Lion, horizontal lines of multi-coloured dots keep randomly appearing in most applications, then after so long my mac crashes and i have to restart. I have discovered that now i have a huge fan blowing air into the front of the tower, this problem is fixed. But then if i turn the fan off for more than 30 mins, the lines start reappearing and eventually it crashes. I am running the following spec, the machine is approx 5 years old, can anyone help please - I suspect that it might be a graphics card issue not being compatible with Lion:

Processor 2 x 3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 4 GB 667 MHz ECC DDR2 FB-DIMM
Graphics ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1 (11B26)

Running 2 x Apple Cinema Displays
2 x ‪23-inch DVI‬ (1920 x 1200)

Thanks Andrew

 

[DasShrubber]

...spec, the machine is approx 5 years old, c...

I'm assuming that the machine is a stock mac pro, and that you did not upgrade the CPUs your self.

Take the side panel off and find the dead fan. It's either the case fan, one of the CPU fan, or the one on the graphics card. Good luck.

 

[Spacedust]

It's probably the X1900 XT. Replace it with something else.

 

[Shazaam!]

When was the last time you cleaned out the dust inside with compressed air?

 

[somnolik]

I've got a similar problem right now with the same graphics card. For the time until the replacement card arrives I've found a workaround: the system still works without crashing in safe mode (hold shift while booting). In safe mode there's no video hardware acceleration, therefore no glitches & artifacts. This points quite clearly in the direction of a faulty GPU or VRAM.

 

[rueskinner]

I've got a similar problem right now with the same graphics card. For the time until the replacement card arrives I've found a workaround: the system still works without crashing in safe mode (hold shift while booting). In safe mode there's no video hardware acceleration, therefore no glitches & artifacts. This points quite clearly in the direction of a faulty GPU or VRAM.

hi there, thanks for your info. so do you think i need a new graphics card?
if so, can you suggest a good one to buy, or whether i just get the same one again?

 

[blunti]

people are liking the 5770's... maybe try that. Or 285gtx mac edition for about $130ish if you care about CUDA.

 

[Inconsequential]

I thought Apple had a X1900 replacement program, or was that for something else?

Either way: X1900 is dying.

Either way find yourself a GT120/4870/5770/5870/GTX285 in Mac flavour or if your feeling adventurous try a 6870 PC and fiddle with it to make it work (see another thread in this forum about that!)

 

[derbothaus]

When was the last time you cleaned out the dust inside with compressed air?

^^ This. Seriously. Do it.

----------

I thought Apple had a X1900 replacement program, or was that for something else?

Either way: X1900 is dying.

Either way find yourself a GT120/4870/5770/5870/GTX285 in Mac flavour or if your feeling adventurous try a 6870 PC and fiddle with it to make it work (see another thread in this forum about that!)

I'd nix the GT120/4870. 120 too slow, 4870 too power hungry and noisy. The 5870 is the fastest of all of them including the PC 6870 option.

 

[rueskinner]

^^ This. Seriously. Do it.

thanks but i have already done this only a couple of weeks ago. have cleaned with compressed air so is clean as a whistle. i think it must be graphics card or internal fan not working so mac overheating?!?

 

[derbothaus]

Then it is the card. You could try to re-apply thermal paste or get an after market cooler but X1900 is pretty old and the chip may just be fried.
Perfect candidate for nice cool running 5770
Or if you game the 5870 runs very fast and cool and in games about twice the speed of the 5770.

 

[Inconsequential]

I'd nix the GT120/4870. 120 too slow, 4870 too power hungry and noisy. The 5870 is the fastest of all of them including the PC 6870 option.

The X1900 is also noisy and power hungry lol.

I've had a few, including the X1900XTX

But yes, the 4870 is power hungry, and fairly noisy but nothing major.

 

[derbothaus]

The X1900 is also noisy and power hungry lol.

I've had a few, including the X1900XTX

But yes, the 4870 is power hungry, and fairly noisy but nothing major.

4870 is a great card (I have one in a Quad 2.93GHz 2009) but you just can do the same with a 5770 and it is so much quieter. Maybe save you 10.00 a year in power. Maybe. Never did the math on that one.

 

[rueskinner]

Then it is the card. You could try to re-apply thermal paste or get an after market cooler but X1900 is pretty old and the chip may just be fried.
Perfect candidate for nice cool running 5770
Or if you game the 5870 runs very fast and cool and in games about twice the speed of the 5770.

I'm not using my mac pro for gaming, but am a heavy user of Adobe CS5 (it's my job!) so am on Photoshop, Illustrator etc. all day long. Will the 5770 be OK for this, or will I need a more powerful card?

if I go for a 5770, do I need to get a mac version or can I get a PC version (cos PC surely gonna be cheaper)? If I get the PC version, are drivers available for mac or will I need to do something to the card? (BTW, I'm not very technical, so nothing too taxing please!)

 

[Inconsequential]

4870 is a great card (I have one in a Quad 2.93GHz 2009) but you just can do the same with a 5770 and it is so much quieter. Maybe save you 10.00 a year in power. Maybe. Never did the math on that one.

True.

I want a 6870 in my next Mac Pro

I'm not using my mac pro for gaming, but am a heavy user of Adobe CS5 (it's my job!) so am on Photoshop, Illustrator etc. all day long. Will the 5770 be OK for this, or will I need a more powerful card?

if I go for a 5770, do I need to get a mac version or can I get a PC version (cos PC surely gonna be cheaper)? If I get the PC version, are drivers available for mac or will I need to do something to the card? (BTW, I'm not very technical, so nothing too taxing please!)

More than enough for what you want to do.

The mac version will give you hassle free computing.

As for the PC version I *think* it needs flashing, the 6770 or whatever works better tbh.

 

[rueskinner]

True.

I want a 6870 in my next Mac Pro





More than enough for what you want to do.

The mac version will give you hassle free computing.

As for the PC version I *think* it needs flashing, the 6770 or whatever works better tbh.

thanks for that - can you give me a link to a site where I can get one from (a UK site as am in birmingham UK) - direct link would be appreciated to make sure I'm getting the right one

is there much of a price difference between 5770 and 6770?

 

[Inconsequential]

Edit:

Ok I don't think you can use the 6 series cards due to lack of 64-bit EFI on your part.

So I think you need to buy an Apple 5770.

 

[rueskinner]

Edit:

Ok I don't think you can use the 6 series cards due to lack of 64-bit EFI on your part.

So I think you need to buy an Apple 5770.

ok thank you to everyone for your help and advise, its been great.

i have bought the following: Apple MC742ZM/A - ATI RADEON HD 5770 1GB FOR MAC - PRO MID 2010 IN. hopefully this will fix the problems.

thanks again!!!!

 

[rueskinner]

Edit:

Ok I don't think you can use the 6 series cards due to lack of 64-bit EFI on your part.

So I think you need to buy an Apple 5770.

ahh my next question: my mac pro is 2007, so 4 years old. the card i have bought is Apple MC742ZM/A - ATI RADEON HD 5770 1GB FOR MAC - PRO MID 2010 IN - does this mean the card will only work in a mac pro that was built in mid 2010, or will this card work ok in my mac?

if it won't work, may someone post a link to the correct version of the 5770 that will work in a 2007 mac pro.

thanks all

 

[initialsBB]

It will work.

 

[derbothaus]

The 5770 will work in all Pro's that I am aware of. I never put it in a 1,1 model but others have. So you should be just fine. There are no other versions of the card. 5770 is a 5770.