Processor Fried

[theos911]

I recently was performing standard cpu maintenance on my systems and was applying the thermal gel between the cpus and heat sinks. I did my *new* Powermac G4 QS (ithink) and closed up and did my other pcs as well. Later on the mac wouldnt boot, got the apple and about a rotation of spin on the gui boot THEN FREEZE. Later it quit completely, opened it up and cpu was smoking (OH GREAT) I am an adv lvl windows xp knowledgeable person, and same with most windows compatible hardware, but to a lesser extent. I really don't know standard apple hardware at all. I believe I have (*had*) the dual 1 ghz processor. I am wondering where to purchase a new cpu card. My model number is M8493, with 2 firewire ports(which is apparently important I've learned) I apologize for my mac inepitude. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[cwa107]

I can't help you on the part, but reapplying thermal compound is not standard maintenance. If it's done properly from the get-go, it doesn't need to be touched again - that is, unless you change the cooler. Even then, keep in mind that it needs to be just a paper thin coating. Any more than that and it acts like an insulator. It's just supposed to fill the microscopic gaps between the heatsink and the surface of the CPU.

 

[theos911]

ok I say "standard", but basically one of the pcs was getting tooo hot and needed to reapply and since I had never checked the mac's, i assumed it a good time to do both. Both were dry and cracking and seemingly less than functional. Thank you anyway.

Ted

 

[dtravis7]

Some of the PowerMac G4 Heat Sinks attack with spring clips. Did you get the Heat Sink on the right way and the clips tight? It almost sounds like it was not making contact with the Heat Sink at all.

From the model and the specs sounds like a Quicksilver 2002. You can get a CPU from Ebay a lot of the time or an upgrade CPU but they are VERY high in price.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25585

The 2nd chart gives the specs for the CPU. It probably was a Dual 1Ghz G4.

 

[Jamie-Jamie]

This is why you don't muck around with the guts of your computer if there's nothing wrong with it!

 

[theos911]

Yes, I got the heat sink on right. I had the heat sink off and started up after opening it up to make sure i hadn't done anything wrong. It worked fine until i actually put the gel on the top of the cpu. then it would boot and freeze , then it died completely. Yes, I'm aware not to mess with working things, but I had gotten this mac used and didn't know it's condition. I chose to take a look an err on the safe side. So much for that.



*And yes by comparison I *think* it is the QS 2002, main diff being cpu and video cards correct?

 

[theos911]

I know this is more softwarish-but the QS2002 had 2 HDrives when I got it. One had 10.4 and the other 10.5 I do not know the system architecture requirements for these, but would I be able to use them in a non-apple machine.

Windows: Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3
Memory (RAM): 3200 MB
CPU Info: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
CPU Speed: 2791.9 MHz
Sound card: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Display Adapters: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Monitors: 1
Screen Resolution: 1152 X 864 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: NETGEAR WG111v3 Wireless-G USB Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport | Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: D: SONY CD-RW CRX216E
COM Ports: COM1
LPT Ports: LPT1
Mouse: 8 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 37.3GB | G: 74.5GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 14.7GB | G: 66.5GB
USB Controllers: 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): Not Detected
PCMCIA (Laptops): Not Installed
Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
Product Make: HP Compaq dc7100 CMT(PC936A)
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 06/16/04 | COMPAQ - 20040616
Time Zone: Eastern Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard 0968h
Modem: Not detected

(Was going to use cpuid text log, but it was about 50,000 characters too long)

Sorry if that doesn't contain all needed info, but i can get you anything else you need.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[chas_m]

I recently was performing standard cpu maintenance on my systems and was applying the thermal gel between the cpus and heat sinks. I did my *new* Powermac G4 QS (ithink)

I think you mean "new to you," since the QuickSilver hasn't been made in like eight years now.

As for "standard cpu maintenance" I am sorry for your problem but I have to laugh at that statement. Oh you PC users!

Yeah, Macs never need to reapply thermal paste and applying it incorrectly causes problems -- as you've discovered. But to answer your question:

I am wondering where to purchase a new cpu card.

The answer is "you don't." You can certainly purchase a whole new logicboard or a replacement quicksilver (the latter is likely to be the cheaper option, actually), and you might possible find someone still selling a processor upgrade kit for that machine, but other than that you're probably out of luck.

Not meaning to be unduly negative, but a machine that old isn't worth sinking any money into, at least not on the scale you'd need to to resurrect it. If it really is a QuickSilver, that's a machine from 2002 and worth perhaps $100 (well, WAS worth $100).

Sorry.

 

[theos911]

Yes, i do mean *new* to me hence the asteriks.

Secondly, I"M AWARE THE GEL IS NOT STANDARD MAINTENANCE! I was doing it while doing other things. Though the mac only got the gel/nothing else.

Third of all, I am amazed that it really is from 2002. With its 1ghz cpu and 1.5 gb of RAM, it was keeping up well my dell that has a 2.8 ghz cpu and 3.2 gb of RAM.

Fourth of all, What do you mean by "You PC users"?

Fifth, ebay has lots of the cpu chips, most are about 300mghz for about 10$. The exact piece i fried is about 80$ on ebay. Someone is selling a working g4 cube with 10.3 os for about 50$. I'd get it, but the shipping would be 50$

And lastly, Any help with running 10.5 or 10.4 on a non-apple machine

Thanks,
Ted

 

[cwa107]

And lastly, Any help with running 10.5 or 10.4 on a non-apple machine

Thanks,
Ted

Sorry, not on this forum.

 

[dtravis7]

And lastly, Any help with running 10.5 or 10.4 on a non-apple machine

Thanks,
Ted

As CWA stated, not on Mac Forums. To install OSX on Non Apple hardware is against Apples EULA and also Apples copy protection has to be defeated breaking DCMA Copyright laws. So no Hackintosh questions are allowed here at Mac Forums.


On your question about G4 Cube. It's a 100Mhz Bus 500Mhz G4 and very slow. It's nothing like the machine that died on you. Keep looking for a CPU for that QS2002.

 

[theos911]

ebay has multiple, but only a few that are the dual. Meaning i'd need to buy a new heatsink also.

Didn't know that was illegal, so forget I asked ;-)

Ted

 

[the8thark]

But is new CPU + new heatsink worth it?
Check up on prices on used Macs. You might find one for a good deal. Maybe even less then the price of the new CPU and heatsink.