New PowerMacs - Loud?

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bsharpbsharp
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Some new owners (here and elsewhere) have commented that the fans in the new PowerMacs are loud. Have other new owners noticed the same thing?



If you can, compare it to other computers. My old 8500 hums along all the time - Are the new PowerMacs that loud?
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  • Reply 1 of 29
    imudimud Posts: 140member
    NOOOOOOO!!!!! Say it isn't so! The new powermacs are supposed to be less noisy than the Quicksilvers!!! <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
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  • Reply 2 of 29
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    I would bet they are the same. My Power Mac has the same size fans. My QuickSilver is pretty loud, but it's not that horrible as long as you keep it under your desk.
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  • Reply 3 of 29
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    I want to put my SlowSilver(tm) on floor but I just don't have space
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  • Reply 4 of 29
    imudimud Posts: 140member
    Surely the new PowerMac Dalek is less noisy than the Quicksilver. I mean it has all those holes...
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  • Reply 5 of 29
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    They're loud! That's all I have to say.
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  • Reply 6 of 29
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    I had a PowerMac G4 466 at one time and I thought it was very quiet. Are the quicksilvers really much noisier than that model?...........................
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  • Reply 7 of 29
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    [quote]Originally posted by steve666:

    <strong>I had a PowerMac G4 466 at one time and I thought it was very quiet. Are the quicksilvers really much noisier than that model?...........................</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Sawtooth and Gigabit G4s are the quietest.



    DA, SlowSilver(tm) are blowing like hell.
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  • Reply 8 of 29
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    does it really matter that much, these are pro machines, pro machines need awesome cooling. If its the same fan in both, then the extra holes would just be more sound to escape if you think about it. These rn't iMacs or cubes we are talking about, we are talking about macines with dual processors, 2x the heat, apple decided it needs 4x the cooling (ok my math isn't perfect but fans plus extra holes are about 4x). Perhaps the extra holes are for the switch to a different processor. IBM showed a new fast G3 that ran VERY HOT didn't they? Also any newer G4's i'm sure will create heat if they go higher MHz...the more electric u put through something the more it tends to heat up...thus more MHz, more heat.
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  • Reply 9 of 29
    cosmocosmo Posts: 662member
    I also think they are loud because they are designed to run cool even when maxed out with hot scsi drives and pci cards. The fans are certainly more than enough to cool the basic configurations, but when you stuff the case full of heat producing drives (etc) the fans and holes become necessary.



    [ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: Cosmo ]</p>
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  • Reply 10 of 29
    bsharpbsharp Posts: 64member
    So the fans are over-kill for someone who doesn't want to max out the system?



    The fans are variable speed fans, aren't they? Shouldn't they run quieter for less 'cluttered' boxes?
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  • Reply 11 of 29
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    I find my G4 533 noisy, if the new powermacs are louder, i can't imagine ...
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  • Reply 12 of 29
    jerombajeromba Posts: 357member
    I've got a Dual 533 before my Quicksilver Dual 800 and I can tell you that the 533 is SILENT compared to the 800.



    Hoping that the new ones are quieter...
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  • Reply 13 of 29
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    The Dual 533s are quieter then the Dual 1Gs we have. The Dual 800's are loud.



    Dobby.
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  • Reply 14 of 29
    brdocbrdoc Posts: 31member
    [quote]Originally posted by bsharp:

    <strong>Some new owners (here and elsewhere) have commented that the fans in the new PowerMacs are loud. Have other new owners noticed the same thing?



    If you can, compare it to other computers. My old 8500 hums along all the time - Are the new PowerMacs that loud?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I used several of the new PMs at the apple store yesterday, and they were rather quiet. I put my ear up to the intake holes ( sounds like a car) on the front and it was still quiet. Man did that thing pump out the heat on the back!!!!
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  • Reply 15 of 29
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by BrDoc:

    <strong>



    I used several of the new PMs at the apple store yesterday, and they were rather quiet. I put my ear up to the intake holes ( sounds like a car) on the front and it was still quiet. Man did that thing pump out the heat on the back!!!!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    There was no sound coming out of the instake holes, but all I know is that I heard the fan over loud music playing from one of the other Macs in the store.
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  • Reply 16 of 29
    o and ao and a Posts: 579member
    [quote] Processor heatsink is considerably larger than previous models, but lacks a fan

    Macminute <hr></blockquote>



    graphics card has a fan right?



    [ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: O and A ]</p>
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  • Reply 17 of 29
    tsukuritetsukurite Posts: 192member
    [quote]Originally posted by O and A:

    <strong>



    graphics card has a fan right?



    [ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: O and A ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I think MacMinute may be wrong. If you view the new PowerMac VR of the case opening, you can see there is a HUGE fan right in the middle that will blow across the mammoth headsink. See the VR <a href="http://www.apple.com/hardware/gallery/pmg4_august2002_480.html"; target="_blank">here</a>.



    And you can also see the smaller fan for the graphics card right up in front.



    [ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: tsukurite ]</p>
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  • Reply 18 of 29
    - j b 7 2 -- j b 7 2 - Posts: 201member
    [quote]does it really matter that much, these are pro machines, pro machines need awesome cooling.<hr></blockquote>



    Well this might be true if you work in graphics, but for us working with sound and/or video w/ sound, it's drag. This is also made a lot worse I think by people in these feilds being generally more sensitive to ambient noise.



    [quote]If its the same fan in both, then the extra holes would just be more sound to escape if you think about it.<hr></blockquote>



    The thinking was that Apple was distributing the sound, in a lower frequency across a greater amount of space. Instead of a lot if little screamers emiting from a limited space, like a whistle.



    Well I 'm disapointed as I have a new dual gig w/ G4Ti ordered. On the bright side, there are a lot of mods you can do to reduce the amount of noise, but they do require effort and some experimentation. Good sources are:



    <a href="http://www.quietpc.com"; target="_blank">QuietPC</a>

    <a href="http://www.xlr8yourmac.com"; target="_blank">XLR8 Your Mac</a>

    <a href="http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=26"; target="_blank">AVS HTPC forum</a>



    I'm sure others here know of some good ones too.
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  • Reply 19 of 29
    microsoftosxpmicrosoftosxp Posts: 91member
    why not just get a bunch of foam insulation to wrap around your mac if your woried about noise? sure it won't look as pretty but oh well.
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  • Reply 20 of 29
    o and ao and a Posts: 579member
    [quote]Originally posted by MicrosoftOsXp:

    <strong>why not just get a bunch of foam insulation to wrap around your mac if your woried about noise? sure it won't look as pretty but oh well.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    cause the thing has vents for a reason





    Anyway i was in the apple store with a dual ghz in new enclosure and i could barely hear noise coming from it granted there was some ambient noise already but it wasn't all that loud so if they do make noise its not as bad as what they use to



    [ 08-18-2002: Message edited by: O and A ]</p>
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