2008 mac pro running hot with loud fans

Question

Level 1

8 points

2008 mac pro running hot with loud fans

Hi out there!

I have a 2008 mac pro
2 x 2.66 dual core xeon
10gb 667mhz ddrs ram
ati radeon hd 5770

the other day i woke it up from sleep and the fans started blaring! i shut her down, started up again, and they were still cranking full pelt. i then turned it off over night and the next day, and for about a week, she was fine. Then after been asleep again when it came out of sleep they started up again. now they will not stop, as soon as i push the on button i hear them rev up and keep going.

ive run istat and both processors are reading 126deg c and fans are running near on 2900. and this is the temp as soon as i turn it on and it doesnt change..

ive opened it up, pulled it completely apart and cleaned every last bit of dust out.

Ive checked for programs and theres nothing using the processors.

Ive reset smc.

ive used onyx to clean and repair.

so now what?? im at my ropes end without any idea!! so if anyone out there can help... please please please!!

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 3:50 AM

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Answer 1

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Apr 26, 2012 5:49 AM in response to surfynic

Those specs tell me it is MacPro1,1 - why not look at System Profile.

Maybe the PSU has empacked dust. Or the inside of the processor(s) or the cpus need to clean the contact and reapply paste properly.

There are 4 ways to reset the SMC. The "power on while unplugged" being one. Yours has a physical SMC button too.

But I would start with Apple Hardware Test.

2008 uses 800MHz and only comes in a 4-core SP or 8-core DP of 2.8 or 3.0 or 3.2GHz

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Apr 26, 2012 7:39 AM in response to surfynic

Disconnect all wired peripherals except keyboard, mouse, and monitor, if applicable. Launch the usual set of applications you use when you notice the problem.

Step 1

Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the page that opens.

Select the CPU tab.

Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.

Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.

Step 2

Launch the Console application in the same way as above. Post the dozen or so most recent messages in the log — the text, please, not a screenshot.

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Answer 3

DocLove

Level 1

13 points

May 5, 2012 8:43 PM in response to surfynic

POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
I have a MacPro 3,1 (Mfg Sept 2008) which I have used from 18 to 20 hours a day since it was new. A month ago it started having noisy intake fan issues (the dual fans at the front of the computer). At first I thought it was a harddrive issue, but after replacing all my harddrives with Intel Sata 3 SSDs (Speed Demon 520s, which make NO NOISE at all) I realized it was Fan Noise (sounded like they were out of balance during a cold boot).
Well, to make a long story short, the problem appears to have been a nearly dead CR2032 battery. At least the problem has not reoccurred or recurred again since replacing the 3 1/2 year old lithiums. It is at least worth a try if your battery is several years old.

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