G5 and it's turbo jet of a fan

ghiangeloghiangelo
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
i have been using a new dual 2Ghz G5 for about half a year now. i love the thing, fast, cool looking and OsX is great.



what i've been noticing is how the fan works... basically i can't make sense of it. every so often usually while doing something like web browsing or making a selection in Painter or Photoshop the fan suddenly starts up BIG time. it is quite loud and it really pushes air and is rather nerve racking. then after a few seconds it just dies down.



but it mostly happens while web browsing!?



i'm sure anyone with a G5 probably knows what i mean... is this due to some sudden increased cpu usage?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    o4blackwrxo4blackwrx Posts: 383member
    I was in the exact same position you were in and then I added 1GB of RAM. I swear I have yet to hear it get like that. I know exactly what you're talking about too, when it just went to warp speed. Ever since I added RAM my temperatures have not gotten nearly as hot, yet I am doing more because I have that extra RAM. Dunno if it's just a cowincidence or not though.
  • Reply 2 of 20
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    i had issues like that until 10.3.8.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    ghiangeloghiangelo Posts: 95member
    well i have 2GBs of ram and 10.3.8... not sure what is going on with it. i do remember that when i updated the firmware for it recently, after i rebooted the fan freaked like it was going to take off. but that happen only once.



    i guess the fan thing is here to stay. doesn't seem to affect the performance though and it only happens once or twice a day.



    \
  • Reply 4 of 20
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    clean out some of the dust and then check again
  • Reply 5 of 20
    archrenov8archrenov8 Posts: 7member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by slughead

    clean out some of the dust and then check again



    When you clean the dust out, either use a no-static spray, or get a not-static vacuum. Do not jsut use your regular vacuum, as the static generated from a normal vacumm will do much harm.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    archrenov8archrenov8 Posts: 7member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by O4BlackWRX

    I was in the exact same position you were in and then I added 1GB of RAM. I swear I have yet to hear it get like that. I know exactly what you're talking about too, when it just went to warp speed. Ever since I added RAM my temperatures have not gotten nearly as hot, yet I am doing more because I have that extra RAM. Dunno if it's just a cowincidence or not though.



    I suppose it is possible that without the extra RAM, as you are caching different sites, it starts to use the hard drive in loiue of RAM, and that spinning generates heat that it suddenly responds to, and as soon as that heat is dissipated, it quiets down again. I have read that 10.3.8 changed the fan performance, making it seem worse in some cases than before.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Make sure your processor performance is set to maximum in the energy saver preference pane. 10.3.8 seems to rev the fans a lot if it is not. Earlier versions of OS X don't seem to do this.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    robin hoodrobin hood Posts: 513member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ebby

    Make sure your processor performance is set to maximum in the energy saver preference pane. 10.3.8 seems to rev the fans a lot if it is not. Earlier versions of OS X don't seem to do this.



    I have noticed the exact same. Ever since I set it to maximum on 10.3.8, my fan has never reved again. Not evern a single time!
  • Reply 9 of 20
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by O4BlackWRX

    I was in the exact same position you were in and then I added 1GB of RAM. I swear I have yet to hear it get like that. I know exactly what you're talking about too, when it just went to warp speed. Ever since I added RAM my temperatures have not gotten nearly as hot, yet I am doing more because I have that extra RAM. Dunno if it's just a cowincidence or not though.



    Hard drive cacheing, and cpu use to do it explains the temp drop.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    tuttletuttle Posts: 301member
    After having a 2gig G5 for over a year now, my best guess for the fan control logic is it's a simple random number generator that is seeded from the OS version number.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    ghiangeloghiangelo Posts: 95member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Tuttle

    After having a 2gig G5 for over a year now, my best guess for the fan control logic is it's a simple random number generator that is seeded from the OS version number.



    interesting. kinda like when you get a Quick Pick lottery number...



  • Reply 12 of 20
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    Try watching system monitor when it happens. There are websites out there that will actually max out your CPU when the wrong flash ad appears. Then there's java, where one poorly coded ad or site can make your system take a dump. If it always seems to do it on the same sites, then chances are it's a cause.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    archrenov8archrenov8 Posts: 7member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Wingnut

    Try watching system monitor when it happens. There are websites out there that will actually max out your CPU when the wrong flash ad appears. Then there's java, where one poorly coded ad or site can make your system take a dump. If it always seems to do it on the same sites, then chances are it's a cause.



    I think you are right. I have noticed, in the last month, the macosrumors.com is particularly guilty on this account. They have been selling ad space to some vendors who have managed to work around Safari's pop-up ad filter, and even since they have realized this, and pledged to stop this, their website never seems to fully load. It keeps spinning long after you have read the new content.

    I am about to stop going there altogether of it doesn't stop.

    I am sure there are many others out there like that.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    try using Firefox



    Safari eats up processor like hell sometime sespecially with animated gifs, etc etc.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    londorlondor Posts: 258member
    Quote:

    Try watching system monitor when it happens.



    Cee Pee You (freeware) shows the CPU load in your menu bar.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    archrenov8archrenov8 Posts: 7member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Londor

    Cee Pee You (freeware) shows the CPU load in your menu bar.



    What is "System Monitor" anyway?
  • Reply 17 of 20
    londorlondor Posts: 258member
    Quote:

    What is "System Monitor" anyway?



    I guess he meant Activity Monitor (Applications/Utilities).
  • Reply 18 of 20
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    lol, yeah, Activity Monitor is what I meant. I have it in my Dock, since I reference it quite often.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    thomazthomaz Posts: 42member
    Well may i ask what is your temp when the fan kick in high gear?If it only spin up when web browsing if the cpu hits 100% your would think if your doing anything like video editing it would do it too because your cpu's would be running high unaliztaion then=more heat?With the newer osX it might have set the temp higher before it will kick in.





    BTw this is my frist time ever posting in a mac forum and i am a pc user.But i have used macs and learn abit about them and heck when i was in shool by learning on a mac i started to know more than the hot shit mac user for a teacher .
  • Reply 20 of 20
    macflymacfly Posts: 256member
    i think my dual 2.0 with 1.5 GB ram started doing it after the latest 10.3 update too. wasnt doing it before but now it just goes kind of randomly. at work now but will check the energy saver idea when i get home. sounds like a good explanation.
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