Hi all,
I'm thinking about getting a new iMac G5 (with built in iSight). However, I'm still hesitating because of the thermic problems the previous iMac G5 edition had that caused hard disks to die early etc. Does anyone have a clue if this is still a problem with the new iMac edition?
Thanks & best regards,
Thomas.
In article 3rp5v7FkoscjU1@redacted.invalid, Thomas Billert thomas.billert@redacted.invalid wrote:
I'm thinking about getting a new iMac G5 (with built in iSight). However, I'm still hesitating because of the thermic problems the previous iMac G5 edition had that caused hard disks to die early etc. Does anyone have a clue if this is still a problem with the new iMac edition?
My iMac G5 ALS CPU is running at 54 degrees C, 45% CPU and a 30% average, and the hard drive is running at 53C. Ambient temperature is about 30C (I am in the tropics), the iMac is in a closet (well, on a surface that extends out of the closet on runners), and has very little additional air flow. The iMac is handling the temperature a lot better than I am (I'm about to get another cooling drink). Uptime at the moment is 16 days. I never bother to turn it off, just let it sleep.
At those figures, the fans run at their default lowest speed. If I rip DVDs or CDs or push Safari hard (30+ windows open say) then the fans ramp up (and so does the temperature, towards 70C)
You would need to check the specs for the disk drives to find what the
manufacturer thinks about them running at over 50C for extended periods
of time. I'd assume failure rates would about double for each 10C above
ambient, just on general pessimism. If the resulting estimated running
life is still significantly below the length of time you intend to keep
the system, then it is probably worth taking a chance.
In article 1129822931.395004.218850@redacted.invalid, "TheDarkTrumpet" dthole@redacted.invalid wrote:
This can't be the new imac though, since it just came out...I wonder if the new imacs have fixed the heat issue as well, as I already ordered mine and am very curious now.
No. As I said, it is the ALS (ambient light sensor) model, which is the revised iMac G5 which came out around April or May this year. This had a revised motherboard with a different video card to the original iMac G5, some of which had capacitor and power supply problems. The ALS also had totally differently designed fans.
It seems unlikely that the G5 is running at much less power on the new model, and the 180 watt power supply specification is the same. The internal layout has changed. Given Apple engineers know very well they had thermal problems, I assume the new iMac G5 camera model will be at least as good as the ALS in its thermal engineering.
Eric Lindsay wrote:
No. As I said, it is the ALS (ambient light sensor) model, which is the revised iMac G5 which came out around April or May this year. This had a revised motherboard with a different video card to the original iMac G5, some of which had capacitor and power supply problems. The ALS also had totally differently designed fans.
It seems unlikely that the G5 is running at much less power on the new model, and the 180 watt power supply specification is the same. The internal layout has changed. Given Apple engineers know very well they had thermal problems, I assume the new iMac G5 camera model will be at least as good as the ALS in its thermal engineering.
does this mean that the "spring revision" - i.e. the ALS edition - of the iMac G5 was less prone to this thermal problem? They got surprisingly cheap now, and I still think about getting one instead of one from the upcoming new edition. The new one has a built in iSight and double layer superdrive, and I need neitehr of them (I have an external Firewire DVD writer and an external iSight).
Difficult... :-)
Best,
Thomas.