Thermal paste recommendations for PowerMac G5?

[rfomlover]

Hey everyone, pulling the powermac g5 2.5ghz quad out of the garage after a 4 year hiatus. Turned it on, and while 2 of the 8gb went bad, (ordered more) the computer still works fine...other than the extreme jet engine of the fans. Took it somewhat apart to check for coolant leaks and didn’t see any residue anywhere. Granted it could have evaporated after 4 years I figured I’d see something. Anyway I’m going to pull the CPUs out and clean of that 14 year old thermal paste. When I build PCs I use Tuniq TX-4 with good results. Is there anything you guys would recommend for the insane heat output of the G5? Thanks!

 

[JohnCL]

Arctic MX-4
GC Electronics 10-8135
Noctua NT-H1
Chemtronics CW7270

All above are good choices.

Give that thing a good once over, paying extra attention to the coolant lines. Have fun!

 

[rfomlover]

Welp, I ended up doing it today, but now it will no longer boot. It powers up, stays on for like 5 seconds then shuts off. Took the cpus back out and reseated and it persists. I guess I had a good run with it lol. Maybe I’ll build a pc in the case in the future.

 

[pigoo3]

Replacing the thermal paste on Powermac G5's and 2006-2012 Mac Pro's can be a delicate affair...since removing the large cooling components to get access to the CPU's themselves can be a bit tricky.

I probably should have chimed in on this sooner...and suggested following the ifixit.com procedure for removing Powermac G5 CPU and cooling unit.

Power Mac G5 Processor and Cooling Unit Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Hopefully nothing was damaged in the removal/reinstall already completed. Maybe there's something that wasn't reattached/reconnected.

Good luck,

- Nick

 

[rfomlover]

One thing I noticed was the 4 screws that go around the cpu to the water block, on one of the cpus were extremely hard to tighten. Several threads were still showing but I used vise grips and couldn’t get it any tighter. Maybe they are getting too hot? Idk.

 

[pm-r]

Several threads were still showing but I used vise grips and couldn’t get it any tighter.

OMG!!! I'm just wondering if you use a sledge hammer and cold chisel on your car's wheeel nuts?

Where they the correct and correct length screws???


- Patrick
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[rfomlover]

Yes the springy ones. I have had to resort to extreme measures with torches and cold chisels while working on cars but wouldn’t on the lug bolts lol. This PC was kind of expendable so I wasn’t too worried about it. But still I’m wondering if the gap is was is causing it not to boot. I’ve tried to back them all out and criss crossing it back down but 2 of the 4 just stop. Maybe I’ll take it apart again and take some pics. Can’t break it more lol

 

[pm-r]

Maybe I’ll take it apart again and take some pics. Can’t break it more lol

Sure can.

Having the tight screws break off and leaving them stuck and imbedded in their threaded holes comes to mind!!



- Patrick
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