In years past, the PPC Challenge has always dragged on an extra week... keep posting!
2026 PowerPC Challenge, is it happening?
- Thread starter phunguss
- Start date
Good to hear I'm not the only one pushing the deadline out by 25% around here. 
If I can't make that extended deadline looks like I've got a project lined up for MarchIntosh!
edit: Checked USPS site, doesn't say it left Memphis, but "in transit to next facility." WHATEVER . . .
If I can't make that extended deadline looks like I've got a project lined up for MarchIntosh!
edit: Checked USPS site, doesn't say it left Memphis, but "in transit to next facility." WHATEVER . . .
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Re-creaming the G4 iMac heatsink and heat pipes, as well as letting the fan run at a higher speeds helped quite a bit, but I think the heat management in the G4 iMax is just not great. The system no longer does thermal shutdowns, but the processor runs really hot. Hot enough to steal my fingerprint if I touch it. It hasn't shut down playing a few rounds of Unreal Tournament 99, but the bottom is very hot, and the CPU gets way hotter than I think is safe or okay. As a general rule, if it's hot enough to burn you, it needs a heatsink or additional cooling. I'm thinking go replacing the Optical Drive with something else and packing a fan in there, but if something blows down at the CPU while the case fan blows up and out, I might accidentally create a negative pressure zone and then it's all for nothing.
I suppose if I run the machine more casually, it's okay. I'm just not willing to accept that this is just how it is. There has to be something more I can do to cool this thing down, give it a few more years.
I suppose if I run the machine more casually, it's okay. I'm just not willing to accept that this is just how it is. There has to be something more I can do to cool this thing down, give it a few more years.
Do you think the resistor you installed may be slowing things down too much when under load causing added heat resulting in the heatsink assembly & bottom getting hot?
Instead of slowing the fan with a resistor, you could use something like G4fancontrol. Maintain maximum fan speed and ramp it up when the system is under load and then back rpms off when not needed for casual use. I played a ton of UT back in the day and my Antec PC tower had at least 4 or maybe 5 iirc fans (on high) & a big cpu heatsink with a fan on it & a gpu with multiple fans to keep temps cool & in check. This and PowerPC isn’t known for being cool running out right. I’m impressed that the g4 with its mostly passive cooling system and one fan in an enclosure the size of a mixing bowl handles UT ok in any capacity. Thats pretty cool
Pretty low tech as solutions go but a friend of mine used to sit his 17” on a usb powered laptop fan lol.
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I would love to get some better cooling in the G3 and maybe push the envelope back to 700 MHz, but I'm also wondering if it makes more sense just to get a board with the 700 MHz chip on it already and go for 850/800. Getting rid of the HDD was a huge drop in heat output overall, but not enough to keep things stable with passive cooling.
Here is a thread on active cooling mods on an iMac G3.
Awesome, thanks! I just might have some small fans kicking around somewhere.
Currently browsing ebay for a 1 GB memory kit as well. I've got my son playing around with it running Kid Works 2, something I remember playing with as a kid in elementary school, so it's super awesome to get him into this stuff at an early age.
I removed the resistor for the fan, so it's spinning at whatever the G4 thinks is good enough. I don't think I've observed the G4 fan spinning any faster or slower at any heat level, it seems to just go at a set speed. I've seen the G4 fan control program before, and that works wonders with my G4 Powerbook, I tried the same application for the iMac and it reads no temp sensors or adjustable fans, so I don't think that'll work. I'll download the latest just to be sure, I'm willing to try anything, though I get the feeling these have a set fan speed.Do you think the resistor you installed may be slowing things down too much when under load causing added heat resulting in the heatsink assembly & bottom getting hot?
Instead of slowing the fan with a resistor, you could use something like G4fancontrol. Maintain maximum fan speed and ramp it up when the system is under load and then back rpms off when not needed for casual use. I played a ton of UT back in the day and my Antec PC tower had at least 4 or maybe 5 iirc fans (on high) & a big cpu heatsink with a fan on it & a gpu with multiple fans to keep temps cool & in check. This and PowerPC isn’t known for being cool running out right. I’m impressed that the g4 with its mostly passive cooling system and one fan in an enclosure the size of a mixing bowl handles UT ok in any capacity. Thats pretty cool
Pretty low tech as solutions go but a friend of mine used to sit his 17” on a usb powered laptop fan lol.
They are so cramped inside already, and their airflow concept make it really hard to just strap a heatsink on to something and jam a fan on it. I feel like I might be sleeping on this one for a bit until something hits me. If the CPU can't run at 100% for one hour at room temperature without feeling unsafe, then I need to go back to the drawling board. Because internet radio with a visualizer pushes the system, and I need this.
Your thought about removing the dvd drive would absolutely provide room for additional fans and without the drive there, you have easy molex power to draw from. If you needed a drive, a usb superdrive would work well for when you needed it. Hmm, maybe with the fan, you'd even have room for an additional SSD or msata+adapter. I think that with the CD-ROM gone, one could engineer a 3d printed replacement that would snap in and that housed front facing I/o like usb or something like a CF or SD card reader that connects to the ide in the back would be cool. That type of solution is so small, I think you could easily fit additional cooling in there as well.
Here is a recap of what happened yesterday.
Day 27: Day 27 is more of the same as I did some artwork on the PowerBook G4. But, I also played some Bejeweled 2.
Day 27: Day 27 is more of the same as I did some artwork on the PowerBook G4. But, I also played some Bejeweled 2.