Hi guys, I'm still undeceided between a Mac Mini (quiet) and a Power Mac (been told they are loud, comp will be in lounge with my i7 PC)

Couple of questions about the Power Mac G4, if I find one with a Radeon 9000 Pro, is there anything else I need to look for? (it has 1Gb RAM, 1.25Ghz CPU, 160 & 120Gb HDD)
Will this be compatible?
It's £50 so a fair bit cheaper than buying a 1.5Ghz Mac Mini

Can I fit a new fan/fans/PSU to quieten it down?
if so, what should I be looking for and does anyone know of any UK stockists (or eBay) for what I'm after?

any help appreciated with this

@mmace

> Hi guys, I'm still undeceided between a Mac Mini (quiet) and a Power Mac (been told they are loud, comp will be in lounge with my i7 PC)

Mac mini is silent only if runs under light CPU load. Once loaded, its fan goes mad. On the other hand Power Mac has higher initial noise level, but it does not raise that much under workload. Also Power Mac may be silenced with better, new fans.

> Couple of questions about the Power Mac G4, if I find one with a Radeon 9000 Pro, is there anything else I need to look for? (it has 1Gb RAM, 1.25Ghz CPU, 160 & 120Gb HDD)

Should be compatible.

> Can I fit a new fan/fans/PSU to quieten it down?

Fans yes, PSU may be troublesome, but you can just replace PSU fan.

[ Edited by Krashan 21.08.2013 - 13:43 ]

9000Pro+1.25GHz suggest it's : http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_1.25_mdd.html
This should work out of the box.

Those MDD/FW800 are know to be louder than the older models and somewhat harder to quiten down.

Replacing fans with newer ones (make sure the offer sufficient airflow) should help a lot. Putting in some extra temp-control to slow down the fans can be tricky.

At 50Euro you should buy it and than decide on the actual noise level yourself wether it's o.k., needs fixing or is to be resold and replaced by a mini...

[ Edited by Kronos 21.08.2013 - 13:44 ]

Quote:

Although some people have reported that their minis got quite quiet by opening it and cleaning the fans... I don't know if you can even find new fans for it. Haven't done that myself yet... anyway I like my 1.5GHz mini. In normal use it's really quiet and compact :)

[ Edited by jPV 21.08.2013 - 15:01 ]

Cheers guys, there's a place a mile from me that are selling around 10-15 Macs a week on eBay with free pick up (from old Offices), the Power Mac G4's are £50, they have different types in all the time, Mac Mini's are £100 and G5's are £100-200 (this is pounds, not Euros)

Can anyone recommend a place to buy replacement/quiet fans for the Power Macs in the UK and what type I'm looking for?
I'm planning on making this my main PC for working on so workload could get quite high on it

thanks

[ Edited by mmace 21.08.2013 - 13:02 ]

> I don't know if you can even find new fans for it.

https://morph.zone/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7810&forum=9&start=2

Quote:

Get a G5 then you won't have to put your heating on this winter. ;)

Older MDDs are louder than later models.
Quicksilver Power macs are quite quiet.

I just pulled out all the original fans from my MDD and replaced them with newer ones in the power supply. The case fans have been replaces with larger slower speed fans that move a lot more air through the case. I also put a new CPU cooler fan on to replace the huge thing it came with originally. Its a night and day difference in how much quieter it is now.

Just changed out my CPU fan on the MDD, and it made a difference. No more do I have to hear the damnn thing whining at me when she starts to do work lol.