Getting Weird With Quadra 950 Cooling!

Thanks PCBWay.com - Today we're tearing back into the Quadra 950 to up the cooling, make a few internal changes, and get it ready to be a CircleMUD server at VCF East this year! Also, I make a dad joke.
🍎 Ron's Computer Videos: / tyrantulas
🍎 Previous Quadra 950 video: • Upgrading Apple's 1992...
🍎 The funky fan controller: amzn.to/3BegVWA
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#Macintosh #Quadra #AUX

[@jesdadotcom]

This is becoming my favorite retro tech channel. No yelling at the camera, pushing old hardware to the max.

[@thomasb.900]

Sean is the type of guy to set the date and time on the fan controller but not on the actual computer

[@ActionRetro]

This is true 😂

[@ncot_tech]

I do like that green desktop, it's like an Atari ST.

[@AmstradExin]

*Pleasant Mega STe noises*

[@SilverX95]

16:02 most smooth panning i ever seen in a YT video also i find it funny in a good way, nice job.

[@CocoaEm]

the desk was moving down. not the camera moving up

[@LellePrinter82]

Easter egg Power it on and press 4 keys simultaneously: s, e, t, Esc - it should reset and display a picture collage of development team. This should theoretically work in Quadra 700 and 900 too, as the date is "1991", the team described themselves as "Reign of Terror '91" to be exact. Source: oldcomputer . info/apple/quadra950/

[@LeBlau]

Alarm C/F: Alarm in centigrades, alarm in fahrenheit

[@mojoblues66]

For those poor 4% of the world's population using Fahrenheit...

[@shadowhuntergmd7059]

Centigrade?, your joking?

[@babyboomertwerkteam5662]

@@shadowhuntergmd7059 centigrade is another name for celsius

[@shadowhuntergmd7059]

@@babyboomertwerkteam5662 I know, as an Australian, centigrade is never used as the term,

[@LeBlau]

@@shadowhuntergmd7059 very common name in europe

[@infi84]

That CD-Rom is a caddy-drive I believe, it doesn't have anything to eject if there is no CD-Rom caddy inserted ;)

[@kbhasi]

-I think the flap would normally drop down when the eject button is pressed-

[@CoreyDeWalt]

@@kbhasi nope. That's what the tab is for that he is using to open the flap...

[@CoreyDeWalt]

@infi you're correct!

[@kbhasi]

@@CoreyDeWalt Oh. Didn't notice that.

[@axi0matic]

Yeah, I wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen, on a drive with no drawer...

[@WalnutSpice]

I actually really like that mint green display, if it is just the VGA cable, that'd quickly become my favourite VGA cable

[@saikothesergal]

The moment I saw the thumbnail I both cried on the inside and my interest was peaked. I found a still working Quadro 840AV with the original hard drive still in it. It boots up too, But I still need to get the money to buy an ASB keyboard and mouse and a display adapter

[@eDoc2020]

That fan thing is so atrocious, but I don't really have a problem with it. I think you are supposed to stick the CPU sensor inside the heatsink fins. After all, you care about the temperature of the components, not of the air. I would also move the fan to the 'CPU' connector so you can monitor this critical temperature and control the speed without switching screens.

[@icantgivecredit871]

Yeah, I'm sure plenty of Quadras were used heavily for years and without issue. I doubt the stock cooling is an issue, and I'm sure that air being pumped through and out of that power supply is not hot. Even the air being rushed out of my PowerMac 9600 feels cool. The hottest thing in the case would probably collectively be a hypothetical handful of NuBus cards.

[@canadianman000]

You know why its got a super loud speaker? Imagine and error beeping away in a room full of those loud ass fans.

[@ActionRetro]

Haha good point!

[@windowsxpnt2347]

no joke, if you set up an onlyfans where you fixed old macintoshes and reviewed other apple stuff, i would watch it

[@gavinthesniper4465]

Same

[@EVRLYNMedia]

i was scrolling down to see the comment about the thumbnail heh

[@AmigaofRochester]

Maybe we will =) We fix a lot of Macintoshes =) Got a pretty narley LC II coming in that needs some SMD rework.

[@9inchpp]

Would you pay for it tho?

[@windowsxpnt2347]

zanza kuro hell yeah

[@billkalwite728]

It is awesome to see Tom’s Quadra getting new life. You might be able to use a very slim speaker and put behind the font plastic cover where the vents are located. It comes off, I took it off when I retrobrited it before you got it.

[@ActionRetro]

Oh nice, that's a great idea!

[@tallpaul9475]

You could make a simple bracket to attach the speaker to the top of the new fan.

[@livefreeprintguns]

That temperate panel module is cool as hell and I think I'm going to buy three for all my workstations.

[@nicwilson89]

That rear grill would be perfect for both an exhaust fan and the speaker. I used to have one of those Creative optical drives!

[@koztech]

Almost as if Apple engineers foresaw the overheating issues, intentionally designed the speaker opening to be "not quite" the same size as a fan (in order to not piss off Jobs) and hope people would figure it out.

[@alphaLONE]

7 years after jobs had left the company I think the engineers working on this couldn't give less of a damn about what jobs thought, I think it was just bad design like the whole quadra 800 design

[@seshpenguin]

@@alphaLONE Yep, Jobs wasn't around during this era of Macs (which is arguably why Apple had such a decline during this period)!

[@eDoc2020]

My guess is they just chose a standard size speaker and it just happens to be close to a standard fan size. It's possible it was originally designed for a fan and then switched to a speaker, but I really have no idea.

[@UNSCPILOT]

It's still funny time to time seeing Apple devices that just suffer hideously with heat every few generations

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

0:04 Shutup and take my money!

[@ActionRetro]

😂

[@ftlbaby]

This is the coolest thing ever... I've been using Macs since 1988 and all your videos unleash massive nostalgia in me noggin! 🎉

[@brianterrill9587]

One of the first WC mods was the Beer Can mod. Steel dome from a beer can bottom was welded to a plate cut from the wall. It was then tapped and you used an aquarium pump and motorcycle radiator as the rest of the watercooling rig.

[@tech34756]

Trying to cool my Ryzen server was a pain, with particular thanks to the Adaptec RAID card. The original case was too small/limited so I had to bring forward a plan to upgrade it, I also had to screw a Noctua fan into the Adaptec’s heatsink and add an additional fan to the side of the case, in addition to the front, rear and top. I’m going to try making/3D printing an exhaust outlet for the adaptec at some point to see if that helps.

[@msthalamus2172]

When faced with a similar problem where I had a PC speaker and no place to mount it, I ended up just sticking it to the case's interior by the magnet on the rear side of the speaker. This didn't do any harm to the speaker itself and sounded just fine for the simple beeps one would expect from a PC, but I don't know how it would affect the sound from the Mac speaker. Probably you wouldn't be able to tell the difference given that it wasn't exactly in a box to begin with. So you could just stick it facing straight up from the bottom of the case.

[@AmstradExin]

The Quadra 950, with PPC Card, Overclocked to 80Mhz. With 128MB RAM. This was the computer I first used DSL in 1999. I had to 'hack' OS 8.6 onto it to connect to the DSL MOdem. But it worked so wonderfully!

[@AmstradExin]

Also Amiga guys with their PPC cards sneered at me...But I had Photoshop and free Ethernet on the computer. The Machine did cost 40€.

[@icantgivecredit871]

@@AmstradExin That is awesome. Did it have cooling issues?

[@johncate9541]

That clock/fan controller/temperature sensor device for the drive bay has been sold for years. I bought one around 2012 and it's still in use on my wife's machine. The C/F means Celsius and Fahrenheit; you can toggle between them. We only use the clock and the case temperature these days but everything still works.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I was thinking you could add buttons on the bracket you're designing, that way it matches the system, and then you only have to have the display shown from the outside. You could make it by printing blocks of plastic out with a collar from the back so they won't fall in

[@stephanemignot100]

Adrian could use this "thing" for his C128! ^

[@dataterminal]

What you really need is a cpu shroud. You can make them from plastic drink bottles, craft knife or scissors, and that candle lighter... or you can 3d print one I guess.

[@dotmatrixmoe]

Cannot wait to see you at VCF! Expect an autograph and a selfie!

[@cdtheman95]

I’ll be there too. So excited

[@apogeedata]

I know my life is pathetic when this guy’s channel is the best thing on TV😂😂😂😂

[@daspec]

The best mod for the Quadra is to throw away the giant old PSU and replace it with an ATX one with a simple cable adapter.

[@casev799]

Im not an computer engineer at all but the words "no fans" set me off so hard. Who tf checked them and said "yeah the heats not a problem"

[@JVHShack]

That machine looks sooo much better with the fan controller than what I believe to be a Creative CD-ROM drive for a PC.

[@RockwellAIM65]

As I recall from the days when I was working at Ample Computers, you have to cool the RAM to keep these servers up. They were designed to move air around your room, not the computer itself. This is why I left Apple... typical quality issue.

[@mojoblues66]

Now you work at Dell?

[@UNSCPILOT]

It's funny looking at that thing then looking over at my modern system in a Thermaltake Core v21 with a monster 200mm turbine-of-a-fan keeping my system fed with cool air (along with like half a dozen other fans, I like my system cool)

[@MinorLG]

Great that your making a mud. I'm working on one using coffee mud, which is written in java.

[@redroC171]

"Apple was famous for not including fans in their systems and the cooling was notoriously poor because of it" wow some things never change

[@TheAlphaWoomy]

You should see if that 3D bracket can be modified to cover the up the buttons and yet still be able to be pressed making it look completely flushed.

[@CassandraCarter]

This almost makes me want to do a project where a beige mac is transplanted into a tricked out RGB gamer case with a whole bunch of displays and doodads.

[@seshpenguin]

I wanted to do something like that too! Buy a logic board from ebay and get it all setup in a modern PC case/power supply/ssd/etc. Reverse sleeper?

[@UpLateGeek]

Looks like you've have to have a hackathon at VCF Eeast to fix CircleMUD before everyone can play! I'm sure there's some experienced coders around that could get it going without the memory leak. Actually, can QEMU emulate a Quadra 950 ROM running A/UX on the 68040? That way you could just take an image of your machine, and have a virtual hackathon before the event where people download the image and try to get it running themselves.

[@vonmatrices]

Multiplayer Circle Mud, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

[@AmigaofRochester]

Nice updates. I've been wanting to go to an event. We do a lot of Amiga and Macintosh work, I mean a lot. We've been working on a lot of SE/30s and Classics. Been enjoying this series.

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

Great work once again and as usual the gestures get an A+.

[@steaker-gi9uw]

You can potentially make the fan a bit quieter by 3d printing a little adapter to move the fan further away from the grill. I found when I added a fan to the side of my beige G3 that it was super loud right up against it, but as soon as I move it over a few mm it's pretty quiet. I had it held in with tape, but if I ever get un lazy I'll try 3d printing an adapter that moves it away and lets it mount nicely.

[@icantgivecredit871]

How come you added a fan to it?

[@steaker-gi9uw]

@@icantgivecredit871 I overclocked the CPU and I already have a bunch of cards installed so I didn't want anything to get too toasty.

[@robsquared2]

I am so glad you're going to fix the missing faceplate.

[@aa-au]

That Creative Labs drive either needs a caddy or possibly uses a DVD-RAM disk? Bah, what would I know it's probably just a faulty CD-ROM drive as suggested.. maybe look up the model number..

[@CoreyDeWalt]

Definitely needs a caddy to do anything if it does work.

[@RockwellAIM65]

In general, buy only Jobs-era machines. If you want to run a server, get a NeXTStation. It runs Appletalk via CAP just fine and can serve up your vintage macs.

[@NKlint]

That CD-Rom drive looks like a caddy loader. It wouldn't eject anything because there was no caddy casette loaded into it. The eject mechanism is spring loaded and partially spits the casette out so you can grab it with your finger tips. An extremely early CD Rom design, and was quickly out-dated. It potentially still works, but not without a CD Caddy.

[@ActionRetro]

Ah thanks!

[@michaelgeleff4991]

Yea, I had the 512k and I wouldn't drop it, but I would hit the side. My stepfather and I had to repaired some solder joints about 3 times.

[@SethModThis]

He is gonna wake up one night to the pc beeping xD

[@nikogamingandrepairs536]

The time when Papa Steve wasn't around apple was weird

[@jameswyma9849]

lol the cd drive looks like a cute little hat

[@BrianBoniMakes]

I don't remember Creative making SCSI cd drives. Looks like there's more for another fan at the back of the drive bay.

[@nickwallette6201]

Creative never made a CD drive. They just rebadged drives by almost everybody else. Lots of Panasonic / Matsushita / MKE drives, like the one in the CD300e shown here. They used Philips drives for a while (like the Hex Speed and 8x models with Eject and Play buttons.) I believe they also had a Creative-badged Sony drive back in the proprietary Sony / MKE / Mitsumi 2x interface days. I saw a weird Funai drive with the Eject button _above_ the tray and bought it just for the oddity of it all, but unfortunately it doesn't work. So yeah. Somewhere in the world, Creative sold an OEM'd version of about half the drive models ever sold, at least for a while. ;-)

[@Storm_.]

The 040 machines don't generate much heat so you'd be better off getting a wind tunnel from the front bezel direct to the PSU noctua fan.

[@Space_Reptile]

if you are still in need of Good quality fans that move a good amount of air whilst being silent, Arctic fans are my Go-To for PC fans

[@nickwallette6201]

I have a couple of those, and they seem pretty good. I also use Gelid Silent series (Silent 8, or Silent 9, or Silent 12 etc, for 80 / 90 / 120 mm) I've also used a ton of Qualtek fans from Digikey - the 1600 RPM 80mm is really quiet. Has a different "tone" than the Noctua, and I've a hard time picking one or the other as quieter, but I would give a nod to the Qualtek. I buy the 2-wire unterminated version and use it to replace PSU and case fans in everything I restore.

[@zaxchannel2834]

That fan controller is pretty cool looking

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

That Is The Perfect Fan Controller For That Beast Nice That It Gives You The Options Of Speed And Temp Nice Find Sean

[@mojoblues66]

Will that MUD ever be accessible from the internet? We could build a little RPG community around it!

[@ActionRetro]

It's technically already available :) wanna join? Beware - it does crash after a while 😅

[@xredhead7135x]

I hope the flame didn't do any damage to the temp sensor

[@MistahMatzah]

Hair dryer? Heat gun? Sheesh!

[@CoolDudeClem]

Dam, I was hoping I'd found a simple solution to cool my room before I either melt or burst into flames! (whichever comes first)

[@cheedam8738]

Wow a Purple PCB

[@fsfs555]

A couple things: did you consider the CFM ratings of the stock fan with those you used to replace it? If your stock fan moves, for example, 100CFM but the replacement only pushes 50CFM, you've cut your cooling in half and that is not ideal. There are also ratings for static pressure. As with CFM, if your replacement fan halved your static pressure rating, you'll have problems. See the grille at the very top in the back of the disk drive bay? Air was supposed to be pulled through there (also through slots above the NuBus cards), routed down through the case via channels in the removable side panel and behind the logic board and all, and then blown through the power supply by the fan. This is one of many reasons you're not supposed to run those things (or indeed most computers) for long periods without the case closed: with the case open the fan's just pulling air from directly in front of it through the gaping hole in the case rather than through the closed channels it's intended to. The WGS 9150 had a CDROM bezel that you could probably copy if you know someone who can loan it/make a CAD file for you.

[@icantgivecredit871]

Doesn't static pressure correlate with fan diameter (within a realistic CFM range and class of fan)? For example - an 80mm fan pushing 40CFM should, I think, have a greater static pressure rating than a 120mm fan pushing greater CFM. In that's the case, and the user is replacing only the stock fan and not adding others, I would imagine most fans of the same diameter as the stock fan would work as well or better than the stock fan.

[@wojiaobill]

if i owned that Quadra id use it to watch naughty videos all day while my wife is at work

[@headshotsyouintf2]

I would attempt a compiler upgrade if I was in your shoes

[@MistahMatzah]

For dead platforms like this you frequently lose the build target well before you get meaningful library upgrades.

[@BAgodmode]

If a noctua ain’t doing it, you got other problems that need addressing

[@JimmyDoresHairDye]

You should put a slot loading CD ROM drive in and 3D print a faceplate in the style of the FDD faceplate above.

[@wilfredpayne433]

It's so weird watching videos before his "face reveal" 😂

[@iSamYTBackup]

well if you muffle a speaker over time it will become distorted i muffled a bluetooth speaker and at max volume it was distorted like hell

[@SirSmilie]

make sure you are cleaning your surfaces with alcohol inside the case prior to sticking things or else that adhesive will be seriously crippled and will fall off over time.

[@dcfuksurmom]

Now run a website on it lol, setting up a web server on this thing should be an interesting challenge, assuming it doesn't just work.

[@wdd6864]

That a Caddy CD-ROM for the Creative? Also the 300e is a 2x. Apple represented their CD-ROM Drives by Speeds 300i is 300kbs which is 2x. The 600i/e which would be the quad speed drive. I think system 7.0.1 and AUX is having the 128mb limit on the ram. Is this the latest version?

[@RockwellAIM65]

Quadra 700 is a much better machine overall, btw. I dumped my 950 as soon as I found out what a hunk o' junk it was. Fortunately, I was an employee at the time so didn't get ripped off too badly. I sold it and bought a IIFX and a Quadra 700. The 700 did better with CPU upgrades, etc... was all around much better thought out machine, probably coz the design was based on a Steve Jobs era machine, the IIcx.

[@icantgivecredit871]

The IIcx was from 1989, which was a few years after Jobs left Apple; he had nothing to do with it. (Furthermore, the team of the original Macintosh II made sure Jobs was not privy to the plans for said system.) The Quadra 700 was a fantastic system for its size, even if not as fast as a Quadra 950 OOTB. The thing that made the Q900 and Q950 attractive, however, was the fact that it was more expandable than any other Mac (including the Quadra 800, which was its eventual successor). The cooling may be lackluster in design, but the designers were at least deliberate in their adding of a high-static-pressure fan to carry a strong flow of air from the case. I don't think the large Quadras ever failed from overheating - I think their power supplies have just simply been dropping, like flies, due to age. Or, maybe it was expected that the Quadra 900/950's operating environment be sufficiently air-conditioned (hahaha).

[@jessesayre4236]

Hey Sean, what are the two NuBus cards you have in there?

[@4ngeldus739]

I used to have that exact same fan controller, it was really cool but I unfortunately threw it out when I threw out an old pentium 4 PC that I'm still upset about having gotten rid of ;-;

[@seshpenguin]

Ahh, the fan controller is awesome lol

[@renatoscutube]

Now that I've accessed your only fans, you've gotta show it... : D

[@dennisp.2147]

You should add a cpu cooler to the '040 and a suitable fan.

[@andresbravo2003]

this is going to be great!

[@kibblestherexouium4775]

"Laughs hardly"

[@michaelsanders5815]

That's pretty funny. I know Ron. Who do you think gave him the Quadra 700! Maybe we could pressure him to show for VCF East..

[@ActionRetro]

Hah awesome!!

[@tookeydookey]

That only fans joke🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CheshireNoir]

Did you ever find a good solution for the 5 1/4 inch bay? I'm thinking of designing something up in OpenSCAD, but if this is a "solved problem", I'll save my time.

[@ActionRetro]

Nope, I have not! Let me know if you design something!

[@CheshireNoir]

@@ActionRetro time to fire up OpenSCAD I guess :-D

[@puwazatza]

the thumbnail was very hard to pass

[@breestandard1318]

Its a caddy load CD ROM. It has no tray.

[@memadmax69]

Never show jobs trying to laugh again....

[@kittyztigerz]

throw video card in there if u dont like that color because on board video doesnt support over 150mb when u go over 150mb it cause failures or reply on green only like era unset of being vga n put video card in it will change it self back to all colors

[@kstudios9513]

anybody know how to run minecraft on an early 2009 mac

[@sebastianruedac]

Is the magnet in the speaker going to cause trouble so close to components?

[@dennisp.2147]

No, it's shielded.

[@KorbenTheFireX]

Amazon link for fan-controller, please?

[@ActionRetro]

Right here! amzn.to/3BegVWA

[@PovSlacking]

dang that computer is so hot... 🔥🔥🔥

[@socialistsuccubus822]

>complaining about a noctua fan being loud Bro how silent did you expect it to be? xD

[@X150t]

You sound like Scott Cramer

[@tuff_lover]

Bro, San Ace fans is to die for, yours must just be lousy.

[@thecomputergeek101old]

What do you mean your printer isn't big enough?

[@CanadianComputerCollector]

Dem fans doe

[@francoisrevol7926]

What, no liquid cooling?

[@dsan558]

256megs damn

[@victorfigueroa9385]

an Onlyfans with computers is a mighty fine idea.....

[@DecibelAlex]

wtf my fan controller only goes to 2008 lol

[@ThatOneWeeb420]

is that what everyone is working on? jk

[@westtell4]

haha his only fans

[@OtterlyInsane]

Could you not just have mounted the speaker to the back of the fan you installed?

[@tubularmonkeymaniac]

Lol

[@nickwallette6201]

Oh man I hope this is sarcasm.... if it isn't, please just lie and say it is.