Cooling a PowerMac Tower???
I've been throwing back and forth for months, whether to buy a PC or Mac, for 2D/3D graphic design and landscape design & rendering. The only reason I could ever fathom buying a PC is expandability options and lower price points.
After months of debating, I can't resist buying a Mac. I'm starting a business and I'm going to be using this computer all day, every day. Let's face it, Mac's are absolutely beautiful machines to look at, and I've heard that they are stable beyond belief, which is a very important issue for me.
I'm interested to know what the cooling is like inside the Dual G4 Tower. Specifically, the Dual 1Ghz machine.
How many fans are included?
Do they cool it well, even after extensive daily use?
Can you customize and add more fans to the case?
Loudness is not really an issue, but I am interested to know what I can expect.
Here are the specs I'm looking at:
PowerMac G4 Dual 1Ghz
1MB L3 Cache / Processor
512 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Superdrive
80GB ATA HD
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro/64MB DDR
I'm trying to restrict the upfront costs, but I will eventually be upgrading the RAM, # of HD's, and possibly the Graphics Card.
Anyone know how much difference the 128MB NVIDIA Ti Card makes, compared to the ATI 64MB 9000 Pro?
I'd probably wait for compatability with the workstation cards but I'm still interested.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.
After months of debating, I can't resist buying a Mac. I'm starting a business and I'm going to be using this computer all day, every day. Let's face it, Mac's are absolutely beautiful machines to look at, and I've heard that they are stable beyond belief, which is a very important issue for me.
I'm interested to know what the cooling is like inside the Dual G4 Tower. Specifically, the Dual 1Ghz machine.
How many fans are included?
Do they cool it well, even after extensive daily use?
Can you customize and add more fans to the case?
Loudness is not really an issue, but I am interested to know what I can expect.
Here are the specs I'm looking at:
PowerMac G4 Dual 1Ghz
1MB L3 Cache / Processor
512 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Superdrive
80GB ATA HD
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro/64MB DDR
I'm trying to restrict the upfront costs, but I will eventually be upgrading the RAM, # of HD's, and possibly the Graphics Card.
Anyone know how much difference the 128MB NVIDIA Ti Card makes, compared to the ATI 64MB 9000 Pro?
I'd probably wait for compatability with the workstation cards but I'm still interested.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys.
Comments
Apple is somewhat mysterious about how they rate power consumption; I'm running it on a UPS so needed an accurate figure. I forgot how much it is rated at but it is in the same range as the quicksilver.
<strong>Loudness is not really an issue, but I am interested to know what I can expect.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I do have a Dual 1GHz MDD ("Mirrored Drive Doors"). Compared to your planned configuration, I have added a second HD and a additional CD drive I had lying around. 512 MB is the minimum in my opinion (Depending on what you'll do with that machine). The case is extremely easy to upgrade. Installing extras is a matter of seconds. So far, I'm quite happy with this machine, the only let down is the noise. For more information on this issue, including several modification how-to's, see <a href="http://www.g4noise.com"; target="_blank">G4Noise.com</a>. There are probably some third party products in the works to reduce the fan noise (fan replacement kits).
Noise is very subjective, so you'll have to hear for yourself. (Personally, I can tolerate the lowest fan setting when I have some music in the background. With heavy work, the main fan will go to middle level. I find this level rather disturbing. The max level ("leafblower") I only got for some seconds after a hard reset (seems to be a kind of self-test). If this noise would go on for more than some seconds, I would probably smash the machine on Steve's head - It really sounds like a hair-dryer or a leaf blower. So probably you'll go nuts before the machine overheats.
Trust me, you don't want more fans (I think there are four). They are cool enough, except for the power supply which is sort of hot (and noisy). The more hard drives you put in, the louder the machine gets (fans on more).
As for graphics, the GF4 is a little better in 3D stuff while the Radeon 9000 is a little better in 2D stuff (according to XBench).
[ 01-27-2003: Message edited by: chych ]</p>