733mhz G4 Loudish Fan

[Al Poulin]

Anne Keller-Smith <earthpigz at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> All working all right, I guess. It's been in for broken fan once already,
> and I've checked with Applecare re "how loud should it be?" and they
> say when Photoshop is up it should be louder, as more RAM, things
> heat up, etc. so the fan is working harder to keep things cool. And
> it should be quieter while surfing, doing email, stuff like that.
> 
Anne:

I'm catching up on traffic here.  You do not say which "733" you have.
There were two 733 models, and you probably have two or three fans.  The
first 733 was the highest, single CPU model in the "Digital Audio" series
which also had the dual 533 at the top end.  After that came the QuickSilver
733 which was the low end of that series.

I agonized over my purchases because of loudness.  First, I bought the
Digital Audio 733 at discount after the QuickSilver machines hit the stores.
The fan(s) were too loud, along with a high pitched whine that really set
off my ears to ringing.  Too bad, because I brought it back and came away
with the QuickSilver 733 for a higher price and without the L3 cache.  I
hear this machine, but the pitch is OK.

> I'm hard of hearing, so I'm not sure how loud it is. It's just loud
> enough to notice, and all I'm doing is email.

What AppleCare told you is hoowie!  The automatic controls for fan speeds
based on workload came in OS X for machines later than both 733s, beginning
with the so-called wind tunnels.  My QuickSilver 733 fans run at the same
high speed all the time.
> 
> I think this machine has issues with fans. Any input? It's okay for
> it to be loud, but I want to be aware if it is getting too loud so I
> can get it repaired, replaced, etc. before I'm in the middle of a
> crucial project or something.

I'd be concerned if you start hearing squealing or nothing at all.
Otherwise, just dust it off outside and a bit inside with your semi-annual
house cleaning.

Good luck,

-- 
Al Poulin
Anger, hate, and revenge are for the devil, forgiveness is for God,
proactive self-defense is for the rest of us.