Ian, Well, I guess I feel a little better knowing that I wasn't the only one with a less than perfect Pismo upgrade out of the gate. I posted an update yesterday, so you can read the full text on the xlr8yourmac.com site.
The short version is that after trying a few things (including Arctic Silver), they were not sure of the problem, so they issued an RMA and I sent it back to Powerlogix. After testing and working on it for 2 weeks (and seeing it crash a lot), they agreed that it was a bad CPU and replaced it. I got it back a few days later (almost 3 weeks total). I'm still out the return postage. I can't get an answer back on whether they'll be refunding me that. It now runs significantly cooler than before. The cache control software is reporting impossibly low temperatures (so I know it's not accurate), but it feels cooler to the touch. I ran some pretty severe tests (including exporting a 5gig quicktime movie from a divx file), and no problems so far. With the first G4 chip, it'd crash after a few hundred megs. Now it works great. I don't know of a user group or board for G4/Pismos, but if you see one, let me know! As far as the thermal paste thing, I understand the risks in normal useage, but I've never had problems with it. I used it in a Yikes G4 that I had overclocked for over 2 years without incident. I just make sure that the layer of paste is so thin it's almost transparent. I'm very patient. :-) I haven't opened up the Pismo since getting it back, but I may add some Arctic Silver 3 later. When I opened up the Pismo with the first G4 chip in it, there was a big glob of white thermal paste on the chip. They didn't apply it very well then, but I don't know about this time. I'm a little reluctant to pull it apart, since it's working so well. At some point, I'm sure the tinkerer in me will get the best of me and I'll do it... cheers, -Hal On Tuesday, December 10, 2002, at 07:44 PM, Ian Haddock wrote: > Hi Hal, > > Thanks for the note. I'm glad your thinking about updating your note to > xlr8yourmac.com. Right now it seems like you were hung out to dry. I > have no doubt there are many like me ready to hear the rest of the > story. > > It seems many of us are having overheating problems. This may be a > problem we all share to one extent or another. Do you know of a user > group for G4 upgraded Pismo's? > > Regarding the thermal grease. This was the same information given to me > as a final 'if all else fails' solution from Powerlogix. The view on > thermal grease, as hip as Arctic Silver 3 has become in the past > months, is (from the mouths of Engineers who deal with thermal in > telecom systems) to stay as far away from the stuff as possible: > > In horizontally standing, constantly running systems, where there is > little vibration, thermal grease can be used with some degree of > safety. Even then, much R&D has been spent creating thermal 'pads' > which replace greases and remove the chance of grease coating the board > around the heat sink junction. Even vertically positioned boards in > those same systems create a situation where grease will flow - just > from gravity - everywhere. > > In the portable market, with all the bumping and heat cycling, thermal > grease can run freely around the junction area, slowly coating your > boards with a sticky film, perfect for attracting dust (and creating > disastrous power arcs). > > This conversation happened, ironically, because I was asking about the > possibility of more powerful 'stuff' than Arctic Silver. I would be > especially careful with your Pismo and make sure your grease has not > run out. > > Hopefully someone knows the manufacture Apple (or powerlogix) used for > the Pismo and at least give me an idea of the depth and size required. > > I'm just getting tired of having DVDs crash (!) and not being able to > export out of FCP without an extra fan blowing over the computer. > > -Ian > > > On Tuesday, December 10, 2002, at 06:36 PM, Hal wrote: > >> I had my processor upgraded by Powerlogix and they specifically told >> me >> to remove the pad when I was having problems with overheating. >> >> I removed the pad and used Arctic Silver 3 on the CPU-heatsink >> junction. >> >> -Hal >> On Tuesday, December 10, 2002, at 06:26 PM, Ian Haddock wrote: >> >>> Long shot, but since we have some pro's on the list why not: >>> >>> I upgraded my Pismo to a G4 processor and recently (since dealing >>> with >>> OWC and bad ram) have had overheating problems. >>> >>> After conferring with some telecom engineers with free time (ha) and >>> inspecting the cooling system they recommend I purchase a new pad. >>> >>> Does anyone know what type Apple used in the Pismo powerbook and/or >>> where I can purchase one? >>> >>> This being between the processor and the heatsinc. My sweaty >>> processor >>> would be eternally grateful. >>> >>> -Ian -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
