Finally took the time today (all of ten minutes) to silence my MDD G4 PowerMac. Should have done that years ago!

Everybody’s favourite company (yeah, Apple) released magnificent G4 PowerMacs at the time. I have a dual 1.25 and it still runs like a champ! Yes, that includes Tiger and all the latest software available. Doesn’t break a sweat.

But the noise…. yes the noise. It’s bad. The fans are just too damn cheap and, well, noisy!

I believe I already have the upgraded power supply (it’s rated at 360W) but the mac still was just too noisy. It’s like a vacuum cleaner. There’s a kit available to silence a G4 but it’s a whopping 250 euros! Well that’s about the resale value of the entire mac, so no deal.

Just for fun, today I disassembled the mac’s power supply, took out the fans and brought them to my friendly neighbourhood electronics shoppe. Expecting nothing, the guy behind the counter grabbed two replacements without blinking. Twenty euros and a bit of screwing later….

… bliss …

What a difference.

Anyone reading: if you have a loud MDD G4 PowerMac, you really should know that it’s easy to reduce the noise. Every computer/electronics store has these fans. They’re 10 euros a piece.

Next up is the main case fan, also noisy but much less so.

I’ll keep y’all posted but for now I am extremely happy!