G5 video cards and PCI-X motherboards

[Macdrone]

OK so far for me all PCI-X motherbaord ram slots 2.0 ghz duals go bad.  Im shooting at 5 here and lots of beachballs in testing.

To add insult to injury any video card that requires a fan seems to crap out.

So far a 6600LE mac card, boot screen, video scream as driver loads from card then black, fans go high speed.  I figuring core image is what causes it to die I would guess.

              X800 XT mac card chime boots, monitor never shows anything, ADC or DVI.

The 5200's all going strong but nothing else AGP wise.

G5's just too much heat I guess.

 

[Elfen]

I should look into this as I do have a couple G5s in my collection and they are used for some projects.

Anyway to pump the heat out or be aware of places where the cooling fins could clog up?

 

[Macdrone]

its not fins its the issue of no lead in the solder,  solder joint are breaking due to flex from heat.  I revived a video card for a while, then the computer would beachball and ram would disapear showing me the motherboard problem.  My non PCI-X G5 had a bad processor when I got it, replaced it did calibrate and its solid as a rock.

 

[Floofies]

When I had my G5, I noticed the room it was in would always reach scorching temps, even with an AC running. I built an interesting contraption to fix that... A mini-cooler with dryer-ducts, duct taped to the ass end of the G5. In the cooler I'd constructed a radiator with cooling fins, and filled it with ice.

Or I could have just opened a window... lol.

 

[Macdrone]

I am going to Hackintosh this newest G5 acquisition.  Since its video cards are toast, motherboard is toast (baking tricks never last long as heat causes problem to re appear) gonna give it a shot at a Mac Pro Hackintosh.  I want to use original ports (and fans , I know ya right) so we will see what I can get done. 

I am in no rush as I will have to get funds to do such a task, and look up the most compatible parts.  I would like most of it to be boot ready without much adjustment if possible.

 

[Elfen]

its not fins its the issue of no lead in the solder,  solder joint are breaking due to flex from heat.  I revived a video card for a while, then the computer would beachball and ram would disapear showing me the motherboard problem.  My non PCI-X G5 had a bad processor when I got it, replaced it did calibrate and its solid as a rock.

Interesting. As I remember, the melting point of Lead/Tin solder is about 525F. What is the melting point of non-lead solder? Well, that would depend heavily on the type of solder used but for all intended purposes, that recipe is unknown. It could be silver bearing, or it could be something else. Lead-based solder tends to be a bit flexible because lead itself is flexible. How hot is it getting inside the G5 PCI-X system?

By non PCI-X G5, you mean the G5 iMacs with the white bezel?

 

[Unknown_K]

I think he means the low end PCI G5s that all had 4 RAM slots (all PCI-X models had 8 RAM slots). I have an original PCI G5 1.6Ghz (first intro model with 1 CPU) and a PCI-X 2.0 ghz model with 2 CPUs that was the high end intro model.

My PCI-X model uses a Geforce 6800 Ultra card that works fine. I have a spare 6800 Ultra that boots and works for a few minutes then the screen freezes (by which I mean the screen stops changing mouse doesn't move but no revving of the main system fans or anything weird). No idea what is wrong with that card.

 

[Macdrone]

Unknown is right on.  G5 towers were 4 ram slots, PCI-X have 8 and the motherboard is just different enough that the bluetooth card will not work from early G5 towers to PCI-X.  Heat sinks and stand offs are also completely different. Early G5's havethat spreader like screw assembly and the PCI-X have just plain screws into stand offs.  

I am not saying the solder melts, I am saying with no lead the heat flexes the mainboard and bends the joints a bit, cools off then bends back and starts to crack over time.  With lead it is more maliable and bends and bends without the same cracking. I reflowed a PCI-X set of ram slots for someone years ago, then the chip on the back did the same thing.  It didnt even dawn on me as I put a low profile heat sink on it with a little thermal paste to help but again flex in that board is enough after a while nothing is safe.

 

[Schmoburger]

Much as I love G5's, I must concede that the PCI-X dual-processor machines are one of the biggest pile of junk paperweight boat anchors Apple ever made... I parted my flakey dual-2.0 out some time ago as I frankly could not even be bothered with a reflow on what is just an all out badly engineered machine. The PCIe 2.0 dual-core that replaced it is a far better, faster, more stable and also much cooler running machine which has given me next to no trouble with hardware other than the DVD drive going on the fritz, which is a normal wear and tear item in my books.