G4 (FW800) 1GHz Graphics card upgrade - Fan problems

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G4 (FW800) 1GHz Graphics card upgrade - Fan problems

I recently upgraded my graphics card to ATI Radion 9800 Pro (AGP slot) from the original NVIDIA GeForce4 MX.

I successfully flashed the card and got it working. However I was slightly worried that the fan was sitting extremely close to the case of the DVD when the G4 was closed.

It didn't seem to bother the machine in the begining. However I now find that my beloved G4 keeps freezing and sometimes loses the display. After opening the G4 I found that the fan on the Radeon had stopped spinning. So after a re-boot and a helping hand to start the fan off everything works fine, as long as I leave the G4 open. If I close the G4 I'm back to square one. This is probably due to inefficient air to pull in.

I have read a couple of threads that advise upgrading to a new fan (Vantec Iceberq), however the original fan is around 12mm thick. Some of the newer fans are 15mm, therefore they will probably touch the DVD case.

I'd be gratefully for any help as I really don't like seeing my G4 lying on the floor with its guts hanging out.

Thanks!

G4 (FW800) 1GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.4), iPod Touch, PC XP, Dell Laptop Vista, iPAQ H3900

Posted on Dec 30, 2008 7:53 AM

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Answer 1

wms44 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 8, 2009 2:16 AM in response to wms44

I thought I'd update this my self as no one seems to have shown any interest.

I finally found a fan that may do the job. Just waiting for it to be delivered.
My biggest hurdle was to find a suitable fan available in the UK. I eventually decided to order the 'Coolink SWAP VGA cooler 55(L)x62(W)x14(H), which is only 14mm high.

I will try and return to this thread to confirm installation, just incase someone else out there is trying to accomplish the same replacement project.

Mark

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Answer 2

Jan 12, 2009 9:57 AM in response to wms44

Hello,

I'm thinking about replacing the fan on my Radeon card as it's starting to get noisy. The route I might go down is getting a VGA cooler which fits into the side of the card and vents the hot air out the back, they have them down the maplin store for about £20 and they fit all radeon models.

I can't picture what you mean by the fan being by the DVD drive as they are no way near each other in my machine.
Sorry, I have just realised that yours is the MDD so the DVD drive is nearer the middle of the machine.

Message was edited by: JasonOsborne

Message was edited by: JasonOsborne

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Answer 3

wms44 Author

Level 1

21 points

Feb 25, 2009 12:51 PM in response to wms44

Mac is now working better than ever.

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