The 2.5 is a noisy bitch from time to time. Even in a properly tempered room the fans start to be noisy whenever the CPU load is high. The dual 1.8, on the other hand, I remember as a quiet machine (I own neither of them).
I think they are. They talk about Whisper-Quiet Operation on their 2.5 product page. Well, the 2.5's are anything but Whisper-Quiet. If they were the same noise-level as the 2.0's it would be fine with me, but I was promised a more quiet machine than that, and they simply aren't!
I think they are. They talk about Whisper-Quiet Operation on their 2.5 product page. Well, the 2.5's are anything but Whisper-Quiet. If they were the same noise-level as the 2.0's it would be fine with me, but I was promised a more quiet machine than that, and they simply aren't!
i believe its best to read the nonexistent fine print with the powermacs...whisper quiet is low to normal operating settingsand room temp...so yes they are whisper quiet when ur typing in word of appleworks, but obnoxious when ur creating 3d objects or somethign in illustrator.
if only that were true as well. In my case, unless I run at reduced speed, the fans come on even when I just open several tabs in Safari. That never happened with the 2.0's
They're not lying, just imagine what the noise would be like if it was air cooled...
PCs with far simpler cooling set-ups are much quieter. If Apple would just blow air ONTO the heatsink and not past its fins, they could both reduce the size of the monster block of metal and make it quieter...
I have a G5 Dual 1.8 and it is very quiet. Only at startup the fans are a bit louder. And in a couple of months, I had two crashes. Then the fan noise became extremely loud until I restarted. This was also the case while running the Apple Hardware Test.
But overall, I am very pleased with this machine. And it is my most quiet Mac. (I have several Macs at home, from several generations)
I'm very disappointed with the 2.5's. They're way, way louder than the 2.0's. I wish Apple wouldn't lie so much about the quietness of liquid cooling.
My 2.5 is very quiet - much more so than my 2.0 at work.
I'm running Folding@Home 24/7, both processors maxed at 100% and I almost never hear the main fans spin up - only when I restart or sometimes when I launch the Increase application (it monitors Folding@Home).
The nosiest aspect of this machine is the small fan by the hard drives that quickly spins up and sometimes when I'm scrolling. That's no big deal though.
My 2.5 is very quiet - much more so than my 2.0 at work.
I'm running Folding@Home 24/7, both processors maxed at 100% and I almost never hear the main fans spin up - only when I restart or sometimes when I launch the Increase application (it monitors Folding@Home).
The nosiest aspect of this machine is the small fan by the hard drives that quickly spins up and sometimes when I'm scrolling. That's no big deal though.
well - I'm getting my 2.5 replaced shortly with a new one. I hope it's as quiet as yours. If not, I'm getting my money back!
I find the G5 variable speed fan arrangement kind of interesting.
An intermittant fan speed up is far more distracting to me than a constant noise.
Yes, the 2.5 is fairly quiet.. when you're not doing anything much. But almost any processor activity sends the fans into action and then back down again. Just scroll a browser window up and down a few times and cpu temps quickly jump into the 70's kicking in the fans. They do their job, but if this kind of thing would bother you, be warned.
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
I often work late and my workroom is next to our bedroom. If the fans kick in it sometimes wakes up my girlfriend. Other than that I'm disappointed because I specifically asked if the 2.5's were more quiet than the 2.0's. Based on that conformation I purchased it. Turned out to be untrue unfortunately. Otherwise though, it's a hell of a machine!
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
In a world filled with noise pollution, this issue is important to a lot of people. I sold an earlier Power Mac 466 and bought a PowerBook just for that reason. I was so glad to finally lose the fan noise!
To others, with loud TV and kids running around the house shouting, etc., it's probably not such an issue.
well unless you need to process files for long periods while away (but not) from yor mac... theres this thing called sleep.
The fan noise on my Powermac G4 bothers me when I'm listening to iTunes. If I put the computer to sleep, the fan shuts down and the music stops too. Hmm.
You certainly do not want a dual 2.5 if you are concerned about noise. My 2.5 is so loud that I run it in "reduced processing" mode under the Energy Saving panel to reduce the RPM of the fans. Hopefully that way I'm getting performance about equal to a dual 2.0 (according to my minimal tests of the matter) with 15% of the volume.
As far as the noise of the computer it works, but why pay the extra $500 when you can just get a dual 2 and not have to worry about it. (Frankly I wouldn't be shocked to learn that the dual 2.5 *is* a dual 2 being overclocked given the radically different behavior of the cooling system in the 2 different modes).
Comments
Originally posted by e1618978
I don't really care which powermac I buy - even the
1.6GHz seems fast enough, but I really want a quiet
environment. Do any of the G5 models (current or
available used) stand out as the most quiet?
They are very quiet. In fact, unless you are listening with your ear to the case there is no sound.
Originally posted by Relic
They are very quiet. In fact, unless you are listening with your ear to the case there is no sound.
Even when using the CD drive? Is there a difference
between the superdrive and the less expensive
CD/DVD in terms of noise? How about the multi-speed
fans, do they turn audible if they go to a higher
speed (i.e. when the ambient temparature is high, or
if you buy the hotter 2.5GHz processor?). Can you
hear hard drive access? Is one of the hard disks louder
than the others (250 gb vs 160 gb, for example)?
It's generally very, very quiet - just a slight hum.
At times of heavy load however, it can get quite noisy - nowhere near the fan noise of my old dual G4, but still noticable.
What makes it worse is some respects is that when they get going it's such a contrast to the quiet of normal operation.
It also seems to spin up at some odd times - like when scrolling a long page in Safari.. Who know why.
The main cause of this is temp variations in the memory controller - it regularly spikes up to 80C and the fans kick in to bring it back down.
I really only notice it when rendering in FCP, but then I'm going to get coffee anyway so it doesn't matter
Oh yes, the superdrive is pretty noisy - hard not to be when reading a CD at 32X or whatever.
Originally posted by macanoid?
I'm very disappointed with the 2.5's. They're way, way louder than the 2.0's. I wish Apple wouldn't lie so much about the quietness of liquid cooling.
They're not lying, just imagine what the noise would be like if it was air cooled...
Originally posted by macanoid?
I think they are. They talk about Whisper-Quiet Operation on their 2.5 product page. Well, the 2.5's are anything but Whisper-Quiet. If they were the same noise-level as the 2.0's it would be fine with me, but I was promised a more quiet machine than that, and they simply aren't!
i believe its best to read the nonexistent fine print with the powermacs...whisper quiet is low to normal operating settingsand room temp...so yes they are whisper quiet when ur typing in word of appleworks, but obnoxious when ur creating 3d objects or somethign in illustrator.
Originally posted by kiwi-in-dc
They're not lying, just imagine what the noise would be like if it was air cooled...
PCs with far simpler cooling set-ups are much quieter. If Apple would just blow air ONTO the heatsink and not past its fins, they could both reduce the size of the monster block of metal and make it quieter...
But overall, I am very pleased with this machine. And it is my most quiet Mac. (I have several Macs at home, from several generations)
Originally posted by macanoid?
I'm very disappointed with the 2.5's. They're way, way louder than the 2.0's. I wish Apple wouldn't lie so much about the quietness of liquid cooling.
My 2.5 is very quiet - much more so than my 2.0 at work.
I'm running Folding@Home 24/7, both processors maxed at 100% and I almost never hear the main fans spin up - only when I restart or sometimes when I launch the Increase application (it monitors Folding@Home).
The nosiest aspect of this machine is the small fan by the hard drives that quickly spins up and sometimes when I'm scrolling. That's no big deal though.
Originally posted by Cake
My 2.5 is very quiet - much more so than my 2.0 at work.
I'm running Folding@Home 24/7, both processors maxed at 100% and I almost never hear the main fans spin up - only when I restart or sometimes when I launch the Increase application (it monitors Folding@Home).
The nosiest aspect of this machine is the small fan by the hard drives that quickly spins up and sometimes when I'm scrolling. That's no big deal though.
well - I'm getting my 2.5 replaced shortly with a new one. I hope it's as quiet as yours. If not, I'm getting my money back!
An intermittant fan speed up is far more distracting to me than a constant noise.
Yes, the 2.5 is fairly quiet.. when you're not doing anything much. But almost any processor activity sends the fans into action and then back down again. Just scroll a browser window up and down a few times and cpu temps quickly jump into the 70's kicking in the fans. They do their job, but if this kind of thing would bother you, be warned.
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
Originally posted by dirk gently
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
I just don't like ambient noise - I seem to care a lot
more than anyone else - possibly due to a blown ear drum.
I sometimes get something that is way too loud for me -
but you don't find out until you already own it. Noise
specs are not normally published on most gear, and even
if they are, the frequency of the noise changes the
situation a lot.
Originally posted by dirk gently
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
I often work late and my workroom is next to our bedroom. If the fans kick in it sometimes wakes up my girlfriend. Other than that I'm disappointed because I specifically asked if the 2.5's were more quiet than the 2.0's. Based on that conformation I purchased it. Turned out to be untrue unfortunately. Otherwise though, it's a hell of a machine!
Originally posted by dirk gently
Out of curiosity, why is quiet so important? Small room recording studio?
In a world filled with noise pollution, this issue is important to a lot of people. I sold an earlier Power Mac 466 and bought a PowerBook just for that reason. I was so glad to finally lose the fan noise!
To others, with loud TV and kids running around the house shouting, etc., it's probably not such an issue.
gotta lose the heat somehow. Noise is inevitably involved to some extent.
Originally posted by dirk gently
well unless you need to process files for long periods while away (but not) from yor mac... theres this thing called sleep.
The fan noise on my Powermac G4 bothers me when I'm listening to iTunes. If I put the computer to sleep, the fan shuts down and the music stops too. Hmm.
As far as the noise of the computer it works, but why pay the extra $500 when you can just get a dual 2 and not have to worry about it. (Frankly I wouldn't be shocked to learn that the dual 2.5 *is* a dual 2 being overclocked given the radically different behavior of the cooling system in the 2 different modes).