[-=fatman=-]

I recently installed a RAID array in an older Mac at the office. The computer is dedicated to running Retrospect for all our clients.
BTW: I used the Sonnet Tempo RAID 133 and am pretty happy with its performance so far. And considering the price, its a great upgrade.
The only problem I have seen is heat. This G3 Tower just doesn't evacuate enough air from the case and the HDDs get very warm. I have removed the extra PCI slot covers to help a little, but it still gets very warm.
Do you Macworld gurus know of a product that resides inside the case that would help me here? It needs to be pretty quite so it doesn't disturb the whole office.
Thanks in Advance!!

[Karl_Seppala]

There are ways to rig up extra fans if that is necessary, but that can be a little kludgey. First, are you sure you're overheating? Are things just "a little warm", or are you having performance and reliability issues? A lot of computer stuff can get really hot, and still be well within specifications.
Second, if there are operational issues, are the drives stacked right together, and do you have anywhere else you can move one of them (assuming there are two and not four)? If they aren't feeding heat directly to one another, you should be able to gain some cooling efficiency. Locating either or both drives in the least confined locations possible might help for the same general reason.
If all else fails, you should be able to get a fan with a pass-through power connector compatible with your system. You'll probably need to look around the web a little, and be sure that you're getting the right thing for your G3 (beige or blue & white). Noise-wise, these can be kinda hit-and-miss, even among the very same model.

[doggdamac]

Do you have a Bust Buy or other Peecee store nearby ?
If so, go lookin for a PCI-slot-based exhaust fan. Just about everywhere sells them for around $15-20......they dont actually fit into the pci-mobo connector, but uses the same space and screw hole to mount to, and will suck alotta air right out of back of the case..........
a friend of mine uses one in his B&W, in which he has 4 huge ATA-133 drives (for his video work) and a G4/550 (o/c'd to 650mhz). Those babies put off alot of heat, but he has never had any problems with this set-up /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Of course you could always get real creative with a Dremel tool also, but that would mean more permanent & irreversable mods to the case, hehehe.......

[-=fatman=-]

Yeah, the two drives were creating enough heat to cause problems in the machine's performance. I don't know exactly how hot things were getting, but opening the case would give a wave of very warm air running out of the case and the tops of the HDDs was very warm to the touch... much too warm for me anyway /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I ended up fitting an old HSF from a Thermaltake Volcano7 in the machine, blowing directly on the two HDDs. It seems to be doing the job quite well and isn't overly noisy. Of course, I had to crazy glue it into place on some cardboard and then tape the cardboard to the inside of the case. Kind of stinks that Apple didn't vent the front of the case very well.
On a side note: The Western Digital 120GB Special Edition HDDs run very warm. If you are looking at one of these and are worried at all about heat, look at the Seagate option instead. I really wish I would have...
Thanks for the replys, I still might grab a PCI cooler just in case.