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Will my imac 27" work if....I broke the GPU temp sensor upon removal of video card?

HI everyone,

So long story short, I pulled the wires out of the video cards temp sensor today.

I have a 2009 imac 27" with Radeon HD 4850 GPU.

I was struggling getting the wire out because I was trying to pinch it from the sides instead of from the top and bottom.


Anyway I have already replaced the HD about a year ago and I use SD fan control to keep the fans running from 2,220-2,500 rpm.

So my question is will my imac still run if the GPU temp sensor is not plugged in, assuming I get proceed to get the video card fixed?

Thanks in advance!-Matt

Posted on Feb 5, 2016 6:53 PM

Reply
12 replies

Feb 5, 2016 8:37 PM in response to a brody

So what would normally keep the video card from burning a hole in my computer? ....The fans are going to keep it from burning a hole?

Also I have done multiple upgrades and fixes to my apple products over many years (only after my apple support has timed out) and with great success, 100% until this point.

However I am still learning, always learning. Contrary to what you may believe, no single person knows everything, but your know it all, degrading attitude makes learning PAINFUL!!!! For people who are brave enough to ask for a little help or to seek advice, it's really unpleasant. So thanks for that, made an already stressful day that much better!

Any other help would be greatly appreciated.

Feb 5, 2016 10:11 PM in response to mattier303

Well,

Whether you like brody's comments or not. He is right.

The additional fans in your iMac won't, necessarily compensate or work fast enough if the rest of the temp sensors in your iMac are not reporting accurate temperature information.

The CPU and GPU are, typically, the hottest running components in an iMac. WIth the GPU temp sensor not working properly, failing/failed or broken, your iMac will NOT be reading accurate enough temperatures to ramp up the internal fans enough to keep your iMac properly cooled resulting in a possible burn out of the GPU and the board it's mounted to, as well as, possible, potential damage to the iMac's logic board.

With this one seemingly small mistake, you have a potential of burning up your Mac's logic board to the point of failure.

You have, indeed, " screwed the pooch" on this one.

You're a perfect example of why I discourage many users NOT to try to tear into their expensive Apple iMacs and start a whole DIYing of their iMacs.

I consider myself a long time, long term, very seasoned Mac DIY upgrader for many tower, desktop style Macs, but have "ON PURPOSE" stayed away from doing any of my own hardware upgrades on iMac models because Apple purposely designs these with no user serviceability inside.

The reason for this is just, EXACTLY, what has happened to you.

Too many different sized fasteners and too many tiny, thin, fiddly and finnicky cable connections that have the potential to get damaged or broken, either at the teardown stage OR during the reassembly stage.

The only iMac model I ever felt comfortable enough with to actually do some hardware upgrades on were the older G4 desk lamp style iMacs which had easier access to the optical drive and hard drive than the new style, aluminum iMacs do now.

I will never do any teardown of these newer model iMacs.

I'll have an Apple Authorised reseller/repair center do any repairs or hardware upgrades to my two 2009 and 2010 iMacs.

Thank you very much.


Which brings me to my reply.

Apple Stores won't work on your iMac, but Apple Authorised resellers/service centers should be able to do the work on your iMac, instead, and fix the GPU sensor issue.

You will need to find such an Apple Authorised repair center in your general location to bring your iMac to to get the temperature sensor replaced.


Good Luck to you!

😉

Feb 6, 2016 8:44 AM in response to mattier303

You should be able to make this work, though not at its best.


Without the sensor, I believe your Mac will default to running the fan(s) at top speed. Very noisy, must people will install a fan control app to turn the fan speed down manually.


Now the fan noise is tolerable, but your Mac can't react to a GPU that may be being taxed by usage and heating up. Plus since there is no temp sensor, you can't tell if it's heating up and manually adjust the fan.


I believe there is a fan control app (maybe Mac Fan Control) that allows you to reassign temp sensors to control various fans. You could for instance, assign the CPU sensor to also control the GPU fan. You could also define a minimum speed for the GPU fan.


It's all a kludge, but it may be your best option short of having the Mac repaired.


Tom

Feb 6, 2016 10:19 AM in response to mattier303

And no, we are not snobs. We are cautious when it comes to computers. We have seen situations where CompUSA even sold an open boxed iMac, that caught fire in the store. We don't want to be blamed for giving you faulty dangerous advice. When you aren't paid for the work of offering service here, we can only give you the best advice you can get short of paying someone. http://www.ifixit.com/ has a lot of do it yourself instructions manuals. You can also go to Peachpit Press and take lessons on do it yourself on Macs. http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ is another good do it yourself place. Good luck!

Feb 7, 2016 4:23 PM in response to mattier303

Thanks Brody and Tom. I'll have to check out the peach pit. I knew about ifixit and used the instruction manuals for various fixes. I did end up fixing the graphics card (radeon 4850) and the imac runs great for now, we'll see. I have been using ssd fan control but I am going to try your suggestion Tom on Mac Fan control, I have heard it's bit more in-depth. I tried to find another temp sensor at a few local computer stores with no luck. Anyway Thanks guys.

Will my imac 27" work if....I broke the GPU temp sensor upon removal of video card?

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