iMac G5: overheating problems?
posted March 4th 2005 7:16AM
Om Malik mentions some buzz about iMac G5 machines encountering overheating problems, resulting in power supply brownouts and fan problems. One iMac G5 owner reports the power supply completely flamed out, actually leaving scorch marks on the motherboard. Because the machine was designed to be almost completely user-serviceable, he was able to order and swap out the replacement parts himself, but delivery of said parts was delayed for a few days because of 'stock issues' — indicating this may not be an isolated occurrence. It does seem that cramming a G5 processor into such a tight space would lend itself to overheating, so iMac G5 owners might be wise to make sure their machines get put to sleep when not in use. Apple has posted a document that describes four LED indicator lights nestled behind the back cover of the machine, one of which should indicate whether or not the computer is overheating — be prepared!
Had my new IMac G5 for three weeks, when the fan problem began. They told me it was a logic board, and after a week, I'm still waiting for the part to come in.
I think the early failure was due to my kids heavy use of the video games included with the new OS. What do I do once I get it back, tell my kids they can only use the machine for ten minutes at a time?
I've been a loyal Apple customer since the LC days, this is new to me and very troubling.
I have a revision A 17" Imac G5 1.8GHz. I was pleased with it during the cold winter months. Now that it is summer, the cpu fan runs at 5600 rpm all the time. It is a little loud. The cpu runs at around 176 F and forces the machine to sleep when the air conditioning is turned off to let in some fresh air from outside.
Some comments about the Imac G5 flaming out are so way off its not funny. One guy says that so what its one in how many thousand? Im thought the same thing with my Imac Flat panel G5 until it flamed out and had smoke coming out of it. Then I did a google with the words smoke and Imac G5 well well well if Apples dirty secret hasn't risen from the ashes of my old G5... there are hundreds of people out there who have had the same problem. The first generation of this computer SUCKS... and we can only hope that the second generation will be better but it really bites how the first generation user has to be the guineau pigs.....
Some comments about the Imac G5 flaming out are so way off its not funny. One guy says that so what its one in how many thousand? Im thought the same thing with my Imac Flat panel G5 until it flamed out and had smoke coming out of it. Then I did a google with the words smoke and Imac G5 well well well if Apples dirty secret hasn't risen from the ashes of my old G5... there are hundreds of people out there who have had the same problem. The first generation of this computer SUCKS... and we can only hope that the second generation will be better but it really bites how the first generation user has to be the guineau pigs.....
Same power supply problem here. Bought in Nov 2004, and the other night it smelled like a fire in the house. We panicked until I figured out it was the iMac G5 power supply. I turned off the computer and am leaving it off until a new power supply arrives from Apple.
Why isn't there a recall???
Super Drive lag / OS Tiger Crash
My recently purchased iMac G5/2.0 has had three major problems:
1. The computer would freeze during the application of some software. More specifically; software that was designed for previous OS versions. Some of those programs needed to be trashed, but some files still remain causing more freezes.
2. The super drive would intially read DVD's that had data with no problem. But after trying to access that data when the drive stop reading; I would get error codes saying that it couldn't find/access that file. I would have to eject, and then re-insert the disk to access the file in question.
3. After completing my last software update from apple, the computer froze and had to be unplugged to re-start. Upon restart, the apple sign appears and the drive appears to be working, but never gets past that point. Additionaly, the fan is constatnly blowing and doesn't turn off until I unplug the machinge again.
I'm going to attempt to have apple fix this for the first time tonight. Hopefully I won't need a second.
They have a dashboard widget OSX Tiger that will keep an eye on your cpu temp .... ministat cpu heat
Yup! Another fried power supply. I’ve had my iMac G5 20” for about a year, and now I’m one of the unlucky ones. I’ve been waiting about two weeks for a new power supply to arrive and still nothing. If I also needed a new midplane, I’m afraid my computer would be obsolete by the time it arrived. Now that the fall semester has started and I have no computer, will Apple reimburse my tuition? Glad to see Apples’ stock price is doing well. Hope you’ve made lots of money this year Mr. Jobs.
Yup! Another fried power supply. I've had my iMac G5 20" for about a year, and now I'm one of the unlucky ones. I've been waiting about two weeks for a new power supply to arrive and still nothing. If I also needed a new midplane, I'm afraid my computer would be obsolete by the time it arrived. Now that the fall semester has started and I have no computer, will Apple reimburse my tuition? Glad to see Apples' stock price is doing well. Hope you've made lots of money this year Mr. Jobs.
I was wondering what is the normal temp for a powerbook g4, 1.33 ghz, 512 RAM. I am playing World of Warcraft on it, and I seriously am having heat issues. Also, when I am running a bit torrent client and Instant messenger, it heats up as well. Mainly in either case it's the graphics processor that heats up.. While playing WoW, 167+ degrees. And when idling or runing bit torrent it's at 137 - 142 degrees.
Well!! What a surprise!!Apple delivering machines with problems? Sorry to say but the same thing happened not only with iCube but also with the first gen of iBooks (G3 processor)where the power supplies,batteries and speakers didn't work as they should or -as in my case- didn't work at all.User friendly machines, user hostile after sales.
I recently bought (and am currently using) a 17" iMac G5 and after reading all of these negative comments I'm a little worried.
So far I haven't had any problems but the other day I downloaded the ministat widjet to keep track of the processor heat. On the ministat website it said that it is dangerous to go over 70-80 degrees celsius. My average temp seems to be around 65-70 after an hour of running basic applications (such as iTunes, surfing the web, etc.) and it starts pushing 72 shortly after that.
I'm finding that I'm getting obsessed because I end up checking it quite frequently. I hope I won't run into any of the overheating problems and faulty parts as a lot of other G5 users have. However, compared to my old iMac G3 it seems to run relitivly cool (at least to the touch) since my other comp would heat up a whole shelve of books inside my desk.
No company or product is perfect, and overall my postivie experiences with Apple have far outweighed the negitive. I adore my new computer and I look forward to many happy years together.
I have joined the ranks of first generation suckers. I never buy the first gen of anything until now. I thought with Apple's rep I would be fine, G5 burnout was what I got instead. Have an Applecare warrant and haven't taken for service yet. No smoke or flame out just a burning smell, probably the power supply and/or fan. Wish me luck.
The G5 imac fiasco
I am on my third mother board now guys ! (bought G5 20 inch sept 04)
This time the warranty was 4 days over and the "authorised dealer" claims that they are not "authorised" to action the Apple extended repair program, and want me to pay for the repairs and will not put a new power supply in even although it is obvious that it is frying my machine on a regular basis. When I get it back it will just blow again.
Apple: I want a new RevB machine that actually works.
Send me one now !
The overheating issue is not a isolated issue. I was just reading a popular mechanics (or maybe it was popular science) and they had heard about the heat issue and took one they had apart and sure enough the capacitors were all "bloated" (a sign of too much heat and an indicator of future failure). They also did some research on returns, or troubles reported, and it was something like 20% of the imacs had heat problems. The 20" models were quite a bit worse. That is not an isolated issue. It's too bad because I would love to buy one, but won't after reading this.