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Dual-2.5GHz Power Mac G5 features "liquid cooling"

updated 12:00 pm EDT, Wed June 9, 2004

\"Liquid Cooling\" in PM G5


Apple's new dual-2.5GHz Power Mac G5 features "an that's more efficient than a traditional heat sink. This system provides a continuous flow of thermally conductive fluid that transfers heat from the processors as they work harder. The heated fluid then flows through a radiant grille, where air passing over cooling fins returns the fluid to its original temperature." Apple says that the sophisticated liquid cooling system takes off the heat without creating additional noise that Mac OS X dynamically adjusts the flow of the fluid and the speed of the fans based on temperature.


by MacNN Staff

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  1. klinux

    Senior User

    Joined: Jul 2002

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    06/09, 01:16pm | report spam | Reply |

    Pure spin

    That's not really liquid cooling but heatpipe technology that has been used in the PC world (small form factor computing, silent video card cooling, etc) for at least 12 months or more.

    -Ken

  1. beeble

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

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    06/09, 02:00pm | report spam | Reply |

    Heat pipes

    don't use a flow system. They've been used on Apple's powerbooks for several years and they don't flow like this system. It is a liquid cooling system by any description. A liquid absorbs heat from the processor and then flows to a radiator where the heat is transferred to the air and then the liquid moves back toward the processor to start the cycle again.

    By your description, my car uses heat pipe technology because the heat gets carried by a liquid from the engine in a pipe.

    Incidentally, heat pipes use an gas usually rather than a liquid. They are mostly used in portables and gas is lighter and the processors don't out put as much heat so a liquid isn't needed. Nor would it work as well in a pipe with both ends closed off.

    Heat pipes don't work through heating a substance and then moving that substance. They work by conducting heat along the pipe in the same way that heat travels through metal. The gas just conducts much better than a simple metal pipe would.

  1. droosan

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2001

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    06/09, 04:09pm | report spam | Reply |

    Ignoring Ken, who's

    demented.

    It was dumb of Jobs to say "3GHz next year." I thought it was dumb to say it the moment he said it. A lot of people thought, "I'll just wait for the 3Ghz machines." Even if he believed it, he shouldn't have said it.

    Without that stupid prediction, this is a decent upgrade. Wintels aren't increasing proc speed 25% right now.

    Note that Apple has delivered liquid cooling, not Dell. Of course, Dell will be tearing a G5 apart next month and should have their own liquid-cooled machine in about 9 months. They will then advertise it as the eighth wonder of the world.

    Apple will never be able to match the predictions of all the rumor sites, so people will always b****.

  1. Maflynn

    Professional Poster

    Joined: Mar 2002

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    06/09, 04:57pm | report spam | Reply |

    liquid cooled

    I cannot see how people can say its not liquid cooled but uses heat pipe thats been in pcs for years

    while liquid cooling is not new (ibm & cray used it for years).
    There is a mechinism inside the PM that uses liquid to reduce the temp. To my uneducated mind that sounds an awful lot like liquid cooled.
    Mike

  1. macmad

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Dec 2000

    0
    06/09, 05:14pm | report spam | Reply |

    clocked

    The 2.5Ghz G5's are really 2Gig ones clocked... hence the cooling. What a rip off!

  1. mcruder

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2004

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    06/09, 05:17pm | report spam | Reply |

    no clocked

    The 2.5Ghz chips are not over-clocked. They are officially rated by IBM as 2.5Ghz.

  1. SplijinX

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: Feb 2003

    0
    06/09, 07:41pm | report spam | Reply |

    It's all marketing

    It caught everyone's attention didn't it? Innovative? I think not, Shuttle's been offering barebones boxes with heat pipes for quite a few years. Maybe they are referring strickly to PMs.

  1. klinux

    Senior User

    Joined: Jul 2002

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    06/09, 07:51pm | report spam | Reply |

    Hello zealots

    I know you will come out sooner or later. :)

    When beeble, you are such an idiot I do not know where to begin with you. I suggest you take a few more classes in physics and engineering before opening your mouth.

    When one speaks of liquid cooling in the PC world, one is talking about an active cooling system i.e one with pump, a liquid, a radiator, etc. There is no phase change of the substrate.

    Heatpipe, on the other hand, is a passive system. The liquid in the pipe absorbs the heat, evaporates, travels to the cool end, condences and release the heat in the process, and the cycle repeats. This is what Apple is using.

    Look up the definition of heatpipe, children. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heatpipe.

  1. iamnoone

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2003

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    06/09, 08:36pm | report spam | Reply |

    Hello Jackass

    Liquid cooling Def - Liquid cooling is the practice of the of transferring heat from an object and dissipating it using a liquid medium, such as water. Liquid cooling is frequently used on high-end computer systems that generate so much heat that the number of fans required to cool the system becomes prohibitive or acoustically unpleasant.

    Heat Pipe Def - A heat pipe is a heat transfer mechanism that can transport large quantities of heat with a very small difference in temperature between the hot and cold interfaces. Practical heat pipes vary from around 0.5cm diameter and 10cm long to devices 10cm or more in diameter and several metres long.
    Each pipe is sized and designed to work at a particular temperature with a certain heat flow capacity. Heat Pipes are sealed hollow tubes containing a fluid where the fluid and internal pressure is such that at the designed working temperature the fluid evaporates and in doing so absorbs significant latent heat from the hot end of the tube. The gas then travels along the tube until it reaches the cold end where it loses its latent heat with the gas returning to the liquid phase. The liquid is then transported back to the hot end by capillary action of a wick.
    Not only are there no mechanical parts and no energy required to transport the heat but because of the significant amount of energy involved in latent heat, the devices are very effective at heat transfer and can carry heat quantities many times that which could be carried by an equivalent metallic conductor.
    Applications of Heat Pipes are found in laptop computers to cool the processor (see CPU cooling) and also in space technology.

    So just out of curiosity....What makes you so sure that the cooling system apple has is a heat pipe system rather than a liquid cooling system? I see nothing on the apple tech specs to indicate either for sure....nor do I see anything in the definition of liquid cooling that says it needs a pump and radiator, etc. And assuming it is a heat pipe...what difference does it make, they are both forms of cooling processors with some form of liquid....thus liquid cooling. Semantics? Or perhaps you are just one of those uber geeks with a tiny weenie and like to come on mac boards to show everyone how smart you are and how big your piece is. Why are you constantly giving people a hard time about things for no reason whatsoever?

  1. beeble

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2004

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    06/09, 08:39pm | report spam | Reply |

    klinux

    Have a look at the heat pipes Apple has been using for years. They are horizontal. How is gas going to magically flow from one end to the other. I don't see Apple requiring people to hold their powerbooks at unusual angles in order for them to cool properly. Perhaps you should refer to a physics textbook yourself.

    You're right in referring to a heat pipe as a passive system but since when does a liquid system need a pump. Many liquid cooling system doesn't use pumps, although you are right in reserving that part of your comment to the PC world where extreme heat is the order of the day due mostly to poor design. The heated liquid rises, gets pushed through a radiator and and can then fall in a vertical system all without a pump. In case you hadn't noticed, this isn't the PC world, it's the Mac world intelligent people understand that if liquid is involved, then liquid is involved.

    Other than make a few snide and immature (not to mention factually incorrect) remarks, most of your post simply repeats what I said. Having actually worked with real heat pipe technology in the real world, I speak from experience not from reading a faceless website with questionable credibility. We all know we can trust everything on the internet for accuracy can't we.

    Perhaps you should also look up a dictionary. If the system contains liquid, irrespective of how that liquid moves, if it moves at all or how it is cooled, the system is, without question, a liquid cooled system.

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