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Weezer · Nov 28, 2005, 08:27 PM

My trusty 933 G4 has starting making loud "engine rev" type noises lately. I am also getting more frequent beachballs. I'm thinking it's either the power supply fan or the graphics card fan, but what should I do?

Weezer · Nov 28, 2005, 08:28 PM

sigh, such a noob, sorry for the triple post.

booboo · Nov 28, 2005, 08:41 PM

Decide whether it's time for a new Mac, and if so buy one now, and transfer all your files while your QS is still alive. Then fix it and put on eBay . . .

Otherwise, try to establish which fan is making the noise - afaik the QS fans spin pretty constantly, i.e. they're noisy all the time, so it's unlikely they've ramped up in response to any increase in internal temperature, maybe some foreign matter has gotten into one, and is responsible for the noise increase.

Replace the offending fan with a known quiet fan of the same physical dimensions.

I replaced all my QS fans with quieter ones, and it ended up not only much, much quieter, but also the nature of the noise was much more pleasant (the cpu fan used to whiiiine . . . )

I had blissful silence for 3 days and then some burglar broke in and stole the damn thing. Curse his hide to Hades . . . !

new newton · Nov 28, 2005, 08:44 PM

Have a look at Activity Monitor, and see if there's anything eating up CPU cycles and causing the fans to speed up. Palm's software was causing me problems like this.

Weezer · Nov 28, 2005, 08:44 PM

It's time for a new mac, unfortunately I'm at a loss as to what to buy

Intel seems so close, yet so far away...Is it safe to open it up while its running to try to find the offending fan?

booboo · Nov 28, 2005, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by Weezer

It's time for a new mac, unfortunately I'm at a loss as to what to buy

Intel seems so close, yet so far away...Is it safe to open it up while its running to try to find the offending fan?

Yes, no problem. Open her up . . .

Footy · Nov 29, 2005, 02:25 AM

Spinning beachball could be your HD getting ready to puke too. What did you find when you opened it up Weezer?

Weezer · 02:50 AM

I just took a look, and the loud noise appears to be coming from the geforce4 TI. I touched my finger to it, and the heatsink/fan was EXTREMELY hot. I have heard other reports of the fans on these cards failing, so I guess that makes sense. I seem to remember cooling units that attach on to these cards, but a quick search on newegg isnt finding anything...

edit:

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556035404.html

if I bought something like that, how do I deactivate my loud/broken fan?

Footy · Nov 30, 2005, 01:23 AM

You should be able to remove the fan & heatsink easy enough. Pull the card out when the part gets there and you'll figure it out no problem, should just be a few screws. Just take your time.

Weezer · Dec 1, 2005, 03:35 PM

okie, so I ordered the graphics card fan, and threw in:

http://www.svc.com/tricool120.html

to help quiet things down a bit. However, the fan noise problems don't really explain my beachballs. I tried to verify my HD, but its failing and needs repair. Without a 10.4 version of BootCD out, how do I repair my bootdrive?

Weezer · Dec 8, 2005, 04:53 PM

Update:

My parts arrived, and everything is good now! I will tell you, putting on that NV silencer was extremely stressful. I had to take a hairdryer and nuke the fan/heat sink, and then pry it off. I got it on, and it seems to be working great.

I also changed the 120 nm case fan, which was sort of a pain with the little screws, but it seems to be working well. I also cut off the finger guards to help with the noise.

Footy · Dec 9, 2005, 02:58 AM

Good news buddy... Glad it went well!

Doesn't it feel good to have done it all on your own!