Case Mod - In Progress Project Gravitas - A Sponsored G5 Mod (December 2012)

Well after testing the motherboard with known-working components, and not even getting a beep from the debug speaker when turning it on, I knew it wasn't me! The motherboard was whizzed away by the mailman today, on it's way to MSI's RMA department. Strangely enough, I got an email from a tech representative, saying that they would do their best to send one back out with a day or two of receiving it - I wonder if they checked the URL on my WhatTheTech email address and saw that I do product reviews...I've never had someone contact me promising to RMA something quickly before...

So, my LGA775 set up has been running for about 24 hours, and I have some findings.

The first thing that happened was that one of my 60mm fans for the PSU stopped working. Whether it came lose at the connector (my money is on this) or it actually died (doubt it), I'm not 100% sure. Either way, I'm thinking they may not be the best solution anyway, and here's why. When I had them testing on my workbench, they were incredibly quiet. Now that they're in, the one that's running is blowing at a high-pitched frequency. It's not loud like some fans are just loud in the amount of air they push, but sometimes it's the way that a fan pushes that creates the noise, if you know what I mean? I'm no engineer, please excuse my lack of terminology here. It could just be that they are in a less than ideal location, being close to the front metal of the case, what I could be hearing is noise from air being pulled in. The good news is, even one 60mm fan is doing a good job of cooling the PSU. I can feel a good amount of warm air being pushed out of the back, and even during my video editing test (heavy load) I didn't notice any huge increase in temperature.

So I have a couple of options. First step of course will be to analyze what could be creating the noise.

1) If it is simply unavoidable due to the location of the fans, I will cut a hole in the top of the PSU case, and install a 120mm low-noise fan to cool the PSU components.
2) If noise can be reduced by slowing down the PSU fans (without resulting heat issues), I will install a rheobus to reduce fan speed.

I wish I had some G5 enthusiasts that lived near me. This is the kind of thing that is a lot more fun to deal with when you have a buddy over, rather than sitting at my desk staring at the case...lol (if anyone is in north-east ohio...hit me up...I'll buy you a drink and we can mod some G5s I have coming in...)

 

I am sorry to hear the motherboard is dead. For the psu I would personally go with larger fan. You might not even need a 120 mm, an 80 mm might be just fine.

Modding the apple cases makes me wish I know couple modders near by. My Mac Pro case make me think then think some more, Google my ideas, and sleep on it. Then couple days later it comes to me how to solve the issue. Check this video out. It inspires me and there is a key thing he says, " of course its that way, why wouldn't that way". (2:05mins)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3q6ULOT9Q4M

 

It's life, you know? I sent it out this morning via priority mail and as I mentioned, already got an email with a non-form apology. Bonus points there. I have a Mac Pro case coming in tomorrow, and a mac mini 2007 that I have a fun little project lined up for. I still love Lian-Li, Corsair and that nifty little Bitfenix number that just came out, but I do love me some anodized aluminum. Thanks for that video link!

Update:
Well, I was right. The second PSU fan had unplugged itself from the 3pin-molex adapter, and is working nicely again. Following the suggestion of someone on the Xoxideforums that the high-pitched noise I was hearing might be vibration-related, I decided to add some rubber washers to all eight fan screws. While this didn't reduce the decibel level, it did remove the annoying pitch of the noise which is really great news! I didn't mind the noise level as much as I was annoyed by the high pitch of it, rather than the usual sound of air flowing.

I'm still undecided on whether I should switch to a 120mm top fan, but for now I am much happier in general. There's nothing worse that a constant, annoying noise!

I'm still looking in to hard-drive solutions, but hopefully tomorrow or the next day I'll have an answer!