This paper presents modeling results for fatigue crack growths of a semi-elliptical surface crack in a V-shaped notched round bar under uniform cyclic tension. All the analyses were carried out by using a software package featuring the boundary element method. The J-integral technique was used to compute the stress intensity factors (SIFs), and the NASGRO crack growth rate was chosen to simulate the fatigue crack growths. Mechanical and fracture properties of AZ-6A-T5 magnesium alloy were used for our analysis. Crack shape evolutions for different crack aspect ratios and the corresponding stress intensity factors may be correlated to study the behavior of crack growths. An unstable crack growth was observed when the evolving crack aspect ratio was between 0.6 and 0.7. Careful consideration should be taken if the cylinder contains a defect which has a straight shape on the crack front or a smaller crack aspect ratio.