Hello and questions...

[fueriose]

Hey guys, I'm new here.. I live in South Florida,
do a lot of computer and game console modding.
Produce music, Dj, etc.
I've been searching and searching for MDD cooling
mods (liquid and air) for DAAAYS and FINALLY came
across this site. I have to hand it to you, fantastic
work! I've been digging through the threads and
just reading up so far and by far this is the most
complete source of info for what I'm looking into.

So here is my situation:

I bought a
Powermac G4 MDD M8570 - M8689LL/A
Dual 1ghz cpu
1 Gig ram
RADEON 9000 Pro
Two FireWire 400

I've just gotten around to really getting it working.
I installed OSX 10.4.6 from the cd install set.
Updated the firmware to 4.2.8.
Installed a lot of my apps and started getting a lot
of lock ups, mouse would freeze system would halt.
Got a temp monitor program and found it was getting
all the way up to 59c at points.. I know the main 120mm
fan DOES rev up, because it does so at boot time.
But it didn't seem to be doing it to keep the system cool
when running...
I opened the case and ran a huge fan over the heatsink
and it seemed to keep the temp down so I assumed
I screwed up somewhere with OSX.. So I reinstalled
that from scratch and now I am in the process of figuring
out a plan for cooling the machine. So far I have just
pulled the heat sink and cleaned the processors and sink
off and re-applied some heat sink compound. Now on
to my questions....

Powermac, do you make and sell the metal adapters
you used to be able to mount the liquid cooling blocks
to the cpu board? From reading over your work I know
you drew up plans for them but I was just curious if
I could buy them outright.

Does the fan kext control all of the fan power headers
at once? Or are they split up? How many fans can I
connect to one header/how much voltage?

What do you guys suggest as the best temp monitor
software? Also, is there a program that can control
the fans/temp?

What is the best software to check for cpu/memory
faults? I'd like to make sure all the overheating
that took place didn't cook something.

I saw there was an airport extreme card in one of
the MDD's, it only supports 54b right? I might as
well get a pci card if I want G correct?

Is there a list of PC graphics cards that I can reflash
for mac? I have a bunch laying around here that I
may be able to put to good use.. Also is it worth
trying to overclock the stock Radeon 9000 pro?
I've read some success/horror stories and would
rather just reflash a pc card if there is a chance
of failure.

One last thing, has anyone seen a way to use
a 5.25" Drive bay fan controller in one of the
drive slots of the MDD? I'd almost be willing
to just wire the fans into that if I could get it
to fit nicely behind the silver door and still be
able to open the door to reveal it..

[aquamac]

Hi Fueriose & welcome to aquamac forums,

Taking your questions, one at a time, I do still have a few last remaining metal components for MDD's watercooling.

The fan headers are all controlled by the apple fan kext, which is pretty useful. I would not go too mad connecting loads of 120 mm fans for instance, however if you are sensible then you can connect other fans (I have a pci slot fan to expel air at the top of the case where there is a spare fan connector. Also download Chud & my apple auto nap from here which will drop your temps between 5 & 10 degrees C.

Click Here

For temp monitoring use Bresink temp monitor:

www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994

If your MDD does not have 54g built in as only the dual 1.42 did, then a pci card is the way to go.

For good graphics support look here:

strangedogs.proboards40.com/index.cgi

However for MDD, your best options are either ATI Fire GLX3 (flashed to X800 XT Dual DVI) OR NV 7800GS DVI/VGA flashed to mac, just make sure you get one with a G70 sticker on the back as G71 cards cannot be flashed.

There is actually a fan controller for the MDD I think, if I can remember the name of it I will post back (it may have fitted the Quicksilver - can't remember).

regards,

aquamac.

[vaz]

Hey good questions.
I'd recommend Temperature monitor to watch all your sensors. You can monitor your remote macs too.
Also for wireless i use a d-link wireless g usb stick which i have plugged inside my tower thru a pci usb card with internal usb plug. Saves you a pci slot if you already have a usb card with an internal plug.
If you want stability then avoid flashed cards. A lot of times not all the features will work.
i'd get the fastest 4x agp card which is along the lines of an ati 9800 card which hasn't done me wrong yet (except for a blown fan). The x800 can be made to work too just by taping off a connector.

[aquamac]

Vaz,

I think you mean 9600 can be used by just taping off a connector. Also a flashed Fire GL X3 is perfectly stable. I had one in a MDD then G5 for about a year with absolutely no problems. There is no X800 that can be used in a MDD by taping a connector as the G5 card will only fit a AGP Pro slot and will physically not fit in a MDD. It has to be a flashed card. Also I have flashed many 7800 GS cards for people with no problems. I currently use a Gainward in my G5. In fact I did have problems with the genuine Apple 6800 I had in before it which always stopped the airport card working. I thought it was just damaged until I flashed a Gainward ,installed it and it started working again. Put the 6800 back in, it stopped working, very strange.

[fueriose]

Thanks guys, great answers.
I signed up for strange dogs and if anything I will probably
keep it simple with an ati 9500. The video is last on my to
do list.. Right now I'm only seeing two pin headers for fans
one for the optical drive fan and one for the 120mm? Does
that sound right? I cant seem to find any logic board layouts
that list them for my model.

Aquamac, could you shoot me a pm with the info for the
liquid cooling parts you have and the prices? Chances are
it's out of my price range but it never hurts to look.

Chud and the autonap don't cause kernel panics or anything
with 10.4.9? Does the machine take a performance hit?

[aquamac]

There is absolutely no performance hit in 10.4.9 with chud. It has to be this particular version though. There should be a spare header very close to the airport card. Will send a pm soon.