i want a new fan and need help!!!! ;-)
hi there i have a g4 sawtooth 400mhz model, soon to be upgraded to a 1.4ghz with the help of sonnet!!!! 
i am also looking at doing a few case mods, like painting....when i figure out how to strip the old paing off!!!!
anyway, i want a direct replacement 120mm fan, preferably with blue leds in it? is there such a thing? i have only seen ones for a pc but im under the impression that the fittings are different, id rather not cut up stuff especially on a fan that is a vital piece of equiptment really! any ideas at all? id be really greatful!
also, is there any applefritter stickers or desktop designs out there?
cheers, philip
the 1.4 ghz is advertised as having 2mb of cache, i didnt happen to see what the 1.6ghz has for cache, safe to assume thats why they are the same price.
anyway, i want a direct replacement 120mm fan, preferably with blue leds in it? is there such a thing? i have only seen ones for a pc but im under the impression that the fittings are different, id rather not cut up stuff especially on a fan that is a vital piece of equiptment really! any ideas at all? id be really greatful!
It should be the same as a standard pc fan. After all, if you are unsure all you need to do is take the stock one out and compare it with a pc fan at a local shop.
Oh, and on the topic of CPUs, since that 1.6Ghz has no L3 listed it is liable to be a 7447. Not only the lack of mention of the L3 but how often do you see a 1.6Ghz 7455?
Also, according to geekbench my Sawtooth with 1Ghz 7455 (256k L2, 2MB L3) can perform better than a dual 533Mhz Digital Audio and 1.5Ghz 7447 12" PowerBook (I got pwned in the the RAM area though). This goes to show how much cache matters as that PB had only 512k L2 and no L3 as well as a faster system bus.
So in my opinion if a 1.4Ghz 7455 with 2MB L3 and a 1.6Ghz 7447 with no L3 are the same price you should go for the 1.4Ghz 7455 as that cache will help you significantly with your older logicboard.
i have it on order already, i hope its right!!!!
i have ordered a sonnet 1.4ghz encore/st/g4/2mb l3, the part number is sg4-1400-2m, any good then?
just found out that i will have to pay £40 tax import duties on it aswell as it is coming from the states!!!!!!! 
any ideas on stripping the paint off a case panel?
never thought of stripping out a fan and taking it to a shop, i shall do that, cheers!
anyway, i want a direct replacement 120mm fan, preferably with blue leds in it? is there such a thing?
I'll give a yes to that. I replaced a Sawtooth internal fan with a 120 blue LED unit. They pop up on ebay regularly.
The only change I had to make was the fan connector. I think I ended up snipping off the old connector and pigtailing it to the G4's PSU fan line.
do you have photos of it in action atall????
ive not seen any photos of the 'standard' internal fans with leds on, i am just a little concerned about cuttin wires, ive done it in cars before but never on a computer!!!!
There's a few pics of the G4 in my image gallery, but they were taken just before the new fan arrived. I no longer own it.
The wiring doesn't get much easier. Splice black to black, and red to (probably) red. Tape. It can be done better with solder and heat-shrink, etc., but pigtailing is the simplest method and won't fail you.
Here's an ebay link to show you some of what's available: link
ahh, if its only a case of black to black etc them im more than confident, this 3 pin and 4 pin thing is whats throwing me really!!!!!
so basically i can get any fan, chop the end off and splice it witht the original fans connections aswell?
great!!!! cheers!
id still like an applefritter or macmod desktop!
Or, go to any PC shop, buy a 120MM fan and a Molex to 3 pin adaptor and you don't have to worry about wiring things. Unless of course somehow the Mac won't work properly if it doesn't "sense" the fan being there.
Splice black to black, and red to (probably) red. Tape.
no, no, no, no, no! Well, that black to black was right but not red to red unless you want the fan to be running off +5v. Keep in mind that not all fans will even start up on 5v.
This is how fans are normally wired:
Fan black(gnd) to PSU black(gnd), fan red(+12v) to PSU yellow(+12v) and fan yellow(RPM) to _nothing_.
The fan's yellow is the wire used for RPM monitoring and is grounded a certain number of times per revolution, now, since that Mac does not support this it is best to leave it disconnected.
no, no, no, no, no!
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
We're not splicing into the 4-pin molex. If we were, you'd be quite correct.
The G4 has a two-wire red(12V) & black lead from the PSU dedicated to just the 120mm fan.
A purchased two-wire fan - and not that many 120mm fans have the RPM sense line - may just plug in, but I recall having to splice when I did mine.
We're not splicing into the 4-pin molex. If we were, you'd be quite correct.
Ah, well, I never really have buggered around in my sister's GBE case much and I never had a stock case for my Sawtooth.
will this do?
ive bought it anyway!
i think i have a spare 3pin plug to connect to but id need a connector with this fan, or is it easier/better to splice it to where the original fan was powered from?
That'll do just fine.
Since it has a 4-pin molex pass-through, you'll be able to attach it to one of the connectors for the CD-ROM or zip drive. No splicing required!
ahh, so that is a 4 pin!!! great!!!! so can i use the power for the original fan for something else........leds?????
ahh, so that is a 4 pin!!! great!!!! so can i use the power for the original fan for something else........leds?????
NO!
Your best to just leave the original 2 pin fan connection (now unused) alone. The computer varies the voltage (i.e. fan speed) to this connection based on temperature (as the computer heats up, it can increase the fan speed to keep things cool). Putting LEDs on this line could be A Bad Thing.
in that case then, would it not be more advisable to use the connection for a fan then? just cutting and splicing the new fan onto the connector?
You can do that. Or you can use a pin molex connector adapter, . the choice is yours. Not having a fan attached to the original fan connector will not hinder the performance or operation of your computer
It depends what your needs are, and how comfortable you are doing the splice operation. Splice gives the computer fan RPM control, but it involves more work.
The LED fan I purchased was quieter than the power supply fan, so the noise it made wasn't relevant.
sonnet prices
FYI -- the 1.6 is the same price as the 1.4
(maybe the 1.6 won't work below OS X?? Is it the cache? What is the deal here?)