Trying to find a cooling fan for my G4 Cube

[macnerd93]

Hi all,

So I got my G4 Cube onto my desk the other day (after spending around a year on a shelf on display) she’s now setup with Mac OS. 9.2.2 and OS X Jaguar as a working computer and it actually works great with my FireWire 400 capture box And Final Cut Pro Version 3. Something my 15 inch MBP retina could not do.

Upgrade wise I am fitting a 120GB SSD to it later today via aid of a IDE to SATA adapter, upgrading the RAM and I’ve also just realised that the 32MB ATI Radeon 7500 in my old QuickSilver model, will actually fit inside the Cube and work if I cut down the I/O shield of the card.

Been advised to install a fan in my Cube as I am Installing an ATI Radeon 7500. As this 7500 graphics card is a non standard install for the Cube, I was advised to install a cooling fan, the problem is I am unsure which type to buy. There’s a bit of information online about adding a fan, but these guides either had dead picture links or low resolution Photos making it difficult to see a proper close up of the header and fan connector.

There seems to be plenty of lots of options in regards to the right dimensions of fan, but no fan I’ve found yet seems to have the correct two pin connector fitted. Some cooling fans I’ve found are two pin, but the connectors look too large to fit in the unused fan header inside the Cube.

Does Anyone know of the type of fan connector I need in order to connect a fan to the internal board?

Form factor wise I seem to require one of those superslim 80mm x 15mm fans.


chillin with Mac OS X Jaguar

 

[Project Alice]

Following. I’d also like to know where people get the fans for these things.

Also I’ve had a Radeon 7500 in my cube for awhile without a fan and no negative effects. It’s also got a 500Mhz CPU card out of a G4 tower. I don’t remember if it was a 7400 or a 7410 card but it has worked fine.

 

[macnerd93]

Following. I’d also like to know where people get the fans for these things.

Also I’ve had a Radeon 7500 in my cube for awhile without a fan and no negative effects. It’s also got a 500Mhz CPU card out of a G4 tower. I don’t remember if it was a 7400 or a 7410 card but it has worked fine.

thanks thats good to hear, I am also hoping that the SSD inside will help with cooling a little too.

 

[Wouter3]

In your case I would not install a fan at the Cube's bottom as the graphics card does not sit in the flow of the fan. It does not benefit of any cool airflow, which goes from the case bottom to the top, cooling only the processor heatsink and the harddisk/SSD bay.
I don't think a smaller fan will fit on the Radeon 7500's heatsink with the Cube case closed.

If you want to cool the processor you can fit a standard 8x2.5 cm fan. You need to bend the metal brackets inside the Cube a little, but it slides in without too much effort. I have installed such a fan to cool my processor upgrade for which I also installed a VRM upgrade card. I just cut the connector from the fan and soldered a Molex connector on it (chose either 5 or 12 volt). You also need a twin Molex connector so it connects both fan and the DVD drive. I also had a Radeon 7500 installed that got very hot, but I replaced it with a NVIDEA 6200 that doesn't get so hot and even has more memory (256 vs 32).

 

[ervus]

Form factor wise I seem to require one of those superslim 80mm x 15mm fans.

This size will fit the mounting tabs built into the base. As wouter3 says, you can fit an 80x25 with a slight modification. The thicker fan can usually move more air with less noise. I like to add a temperature controller so that the fan runs a low speed unless needed. A fan will help cool the video card and VRM slightly. One thing you can do is remove the modem board and connector to open up things a bit and allow more air through.

If you get a 12v fan, you can use one of the molex connectors for power, or solder onto a 12v line from a number of locations. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[Spinnr]

Morning.

The fan I have been using in my working cube for ten years, all day, everyday, is the Zalman ZM-F1. Install is easy, connectors are perfect, performance keeps the cube cool. Cool meaning down to just above room temperaure. Temperature measured by the Gauge Pro from Newer Technology, in 0S9. Super quiet, and I blacked out the annoying blue led. Fan installed at the bottom where Apple had planned to place a fan when upgrading to a planned 600Mhz processor, or the twin 450Mhz. Bolt 6mm holes threaded, ready, and waiting in the bottom cube frame. You will need four metal bolts, 6 x 30. That's 6mm in diameter by 30mm in length.

No games, and no load on the original ATI graphics card which is on the side, so not in the middle airflow column of the fan. The Zalman is still avalable, my two are black, one for each working cube, just bought two new ones for two more cubes, they are now clear.

Honey, I shrunk the super computer.

Spinnr.