MacPro 1,1 - Early 2008 - Fan Noise Help

[fantismo]

Hi Guys,
I have a MacPro 1,1 - Early 2008

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz


....with a X1900 Radeon Graphics card..

I've getting a loud fan noise from it which has gradually got worse over the years.. giving it a little thump does stop it for about 30 seconds... then it gradually gets worse...

(i know i shouldnt be doing that!)

How can I identify which fan is the culprit... i've tried SMC fancontrol but i cant seem to switch OFF a fan from that... probably for good reason..

can anyone help.. im happy to change the fan.. or even graphics card if needed...

should i just take it to the apple store? (a pain to do)

im quite computer savvy.. at least i used to be...

thanks for any help you can give

ben

 

[goMac]

Could the X1900's fan possibly be bad? Try removing the card (gently) and then starting the machine. Even though you won't get display you should be able to hear the fan noise.

 

[Darth.Titan]

If it really is a 1,1 Mac Pro, it's from 2006 not 2008.

Anyway to answer your question, my money is on your X1900 GPU fan being the culprit. I have the same machine and I hated that GPU.

Have you ever removed your video card and inspected the heatsink for dust? If not it's probably filthy and that will make it run hot.

 

[Kkwwb]

Fan noise

Hi Fantismo, stupid question i know, but have you tried vacuuming out all of the dust in your mac? When I opened mine it was chock-full of nasty dust clumps in places I didn't even know existed. The fans themselves collect alot of dust, and since the fan on the GPU is pretty well enclosed in a cage, it too collects dust, which clumps up into big webs of nastiness.

Also, the temp of the RAM has alot to do with the fans spinning at high speeds. I've got a Mac Pro 1.1 with 24 gigs (originally), and noticed that the memory sticks got really hot, forcing the fan to run at 2600 rpm. When I removed 4 gigs, it came down to 1000 +/- 10 revs.

Perhaps you could look for some ram sticks that are enclosed in some proper heat-sinks so that they don't rely so much on the fan to cool them down.

Anyway, hope this helps.