Noise Reduction - New PowerMac G4 line

[tcmcam]

I'm the proud owner of a new PowerMac G4 1gDP. That's the good news.

The bad news.... This thing is noisy.

The big fan is a Delta, notorious for moving air, also known for their noise. There are two small 40mm fans in the power supply that make a ton of noise.

Anybody seen any sites about Mod's to these fans to quiet this puppy down?

I love the box, but it is noisier than a refrigerator sitting on the other side of me!!

[Mr. Anderson]

That was one of my biggest concerns, damn, hate to hear that....I hope by the time I'm ready to get a new machine they've got a cooler system that doesn't need so much air.....

Good luck and post any progress in the noise reduction.

D

[topicolo]

ah, you'll get used to it. My PC makes enough noise to drown out an airliner. You don't see me having any hearing problems.:rolleyes:


















WHAT? Speak up! I can't hear you!:)

[ponyboy]

Originally posted by tcmcam
I'm the proud owner of a new PowerMac G4 1gDP. That's the good news.

The bad news.... This thing is noisy.

The big fan is a Delta, notorious for moving air, also known for their noise. There are two small 40mm fans in the power supply that make a ton of noise.

Anybody seen any sites about Mod's to these fans to quiet this puppy down?

I love the box, but it is noisier than a refrigerator sitting on the other side of me!!

Man the Powermac display section of an apple store must sound like a freakin tarmac!

[porovaara]

Can someone compare the new powermac noise to say a high end Athlon of P4 box... louder? more quiet?

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by tcmcam
Anybody seen any sites about Mod's to these fans to quiet this puppy down?

I'm also interested in knowing if there's an alternative fan. I'm sure there is, but where to find it?

[Chryx]

Originally posted by tcmcam
The big fan is a Delta, notorious for moving air, also known for their noise. There are two small 40mm fans in the power supply that make a ton of noise.

Eek, how big exactly is the big fan?, is it a 120mm or 92mm fan?

(does the heatsink get even remotely warm?)

If it's a standard size fan you could simply swap it out for one of the Pabst L1A's (which are pretty damn quiet)

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by dukestreet
That was one of my biggest concerns, damn, hate to hear that....I hope by the time I'm ready to get a new machine they've got a cooler system that doesn't need so much air.....

Good luck and post any progress in the noise reduction.

D


I'm sure they'll have something better figured out w/the next gen of procs, but the current G4s get pretty toasty in a dual configuration and need a lot of air movement. But it's not really that bad. The sound of my Superdrive spinning up is much louder than the sound of the case fan.


I've got the original DP 1gig G4. Yeah, that's right. I said "original" 'cause I don't wanna be confused w/all you copycat wannabe's out there. ;)

Lethal

[Chryx]

Originally posted by LethalWolfe

I'm sure they'll have something better figured out w/the next gen of procs, but the current G4s get pretty toasty in a dual configuration and need a lot of air movement. But it's not really that bad. The sound of my Superdrive spinning up is much louder than the sound of the case fan.

I doubt the new G4's get toasty with a heatsink THAT size on them.

Hell, a sink that size could probably passively cool a pair of AthlonMPs, they are many things, but cool running isn't one of them.

[beez7777]

Originally posted by ponyboy


Man the Powermac display section of an apple store must sound like a freakin tarmac!

Hmm, i go into the Apple store almost every weekend, and probably will continue to do so until i get my 17"iMac, and while playing around with the power macs i didn't notice too much noise, but then again i wasn't listening for it:)

[pgwalsh]

I was just in the Apple store in Palo Alot and didn't hear the noise either, but then there were guite a few people in the store. I think the new machines are pretty cool looking. They did have a 2.2Ghz model in the store. I asked a sales rep if the new 1Ghz was much faster then the old model even though it had a smaller cache and he said he didn't know and then walked awayl

A couple people that had been using OS X 1.5 said they didn't notice a speed improvement. One man said he thought it ran slower. One thing I did notice was Illustrator wasn't much faster to load or to use. It is smoother when moving the documents around, but it's still a slug.

[beez7777]

Originally posted by tcmcam
I'm the proud owner of a new PowerMac G4 1gDP. That's the good news.

The bad news.... This thing is noisy.

The big fan is a Delta, notorious for moving air, also known for their noise. There are two small 40mm fans in the power supply that make a ton of noise.

Anybody seen any sites about Mod's to these fans to quiet this puppy down?

I love the box, but it is noisier than a refrigerator sitting on the other side of me!!

hmm... not too sure about how to quiet the thing, but if u have an air conditioner in the room, u can put that on high and maybe it'll drown out the sound of the power mac:D

[Beej]

Quitcha bitchin and listen to some MP3s up loud :p :)

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by beez7777
if u have an air conditioner in the room, u can put that on high and maybe it'll drown out the sound of the power mac:D Air conditioners and computer don't get along.

[SilvorX]

but air conditioners and computers make a person happy on a hot afternoon :D

[tcmcam]

Trust me. This thing is loud. It replaced a Pentium 4 system (running 2.26ghz) that had a bunch of pabst fans in it and an Enermax quiet power supply. You could barely hear the PC when it was running.

I'd like to change the big fan, I believe it's 120mm or larger. But the big fan has a custom 2 pin connector (not the normal 3 pin or 4 pin) so finding a replacement will be tricky.

The real problem is the power supply. It runs very hot, so I see the need for the fans, but the two small 40mm fans make a ton of noise.

I'll keep enjoying my new Mac with my earplugs in.... :)

So to answer the question, a "stock" PC bought at a White box manufacturer will be very loud, a Dell is relatively quiet, an iMac is super quiet. A modified PC (check out www.plycon.com) can be very quiet.

The new PowerMAC, NOISY.

[pgwalsh]

I wonder how plausible it would be to replace the power supply and fan?

[bousozoku]

I got a big shock when I bought my dual G4/800. It was heavier and it was louder than my G3/400. Truthfully, after working with Windows on various PCs, the dual 800 is not so bad. It's just that, after so many years of very quiet machines, they're becoming more noisy and people familiar with Apple machines aren't quite ready for that.

Perhaps Apple should create an electronic muffler. They can put a microphone and speaker inside the machine. They input the current noise, move it out of phase 90 degrees, and output that noise at the same volume. You won't hear it anymore. This was actually an experiment for cars back in the 1980s and while it might have been deemed too expensive for low-tech cars, why not do it for computers?

You could always water cool. I've heard that the computer is much quieter a few minutes after dumping a quart of water onto the motherboard. :D

[3rdpath]

Originally posted by tcmcam

Anybody seen any sites about Mod's to these fans to quiet this puppy down?



www.xlr8yourmac.com has quite a few noise mods for the QSg4...some of them might be applicable to the new duals...that sight will have mods for the new machines in no time...cooling...overclocking...you name it.

warranties be damned.:eek:

[robpage]

(I posted this elseware before I figured out it should go here. Sorry, I'm a newbie, don't flame me...)

Wednesday I bought a new Dual 1Ghz from the Apple store in LA (The Grove). I'm a old time Mac nut but this thing is going back. It's louder than my Dual G4/450 as it is but it has a second HUGE fan in it and when it kicks in it's like my wife turned on the vacuum cleaner.

Lots of goofy-ness with the ATA busses too. I installed a 40 gig ATA/66 drive on that bus and the Mac booted up from that drive, the stock 80 gig that came with it wouldn't mount. Disconnect the 66, the other drive mounts. I fiddled with jumpers in every configuration. Nada.

The Apple tech support guy said these Macs were so new he didn't have any info on them and couldn't help. (I had to point out these new Macs have seperate ATA/66 & ATA/100 busses, he didn't know that.) Finally what worked, if you can believe this, was setting the 66 as "master", the ATA/100 as "slave" (on a completely different bus, go figure) and, get this, starting from the OS 9 CD holding down the "c" key. The Mac didn't boot from the CD but it did finally "see" the ATA/100 and everything works now. The manual says all drives should be set to "cable select" but that didn't work at all. Weird. (BTW, there's a screw that has to be removed first from the vertical drive caddy that the manual neglects to mention.)

I'm also getting a grinding-static sound through the speakers (not the headphones) whenever I drag something on the screen.

I'm crushed. I really wanted to love this Mac.

[topicolo]

The master/slave configuration has been around since IDE began. You're supposed to have two hard drives on separate channels because it speeds things up. There really isn't anything you can complain about with your computer (except for that static thing. did u check if the wires are properly shielded?). Is this the first time you've added a second hard drive?

[pgwalsh]

Many cables have a preferred drive order. Also many drives require two jumpers for slave configuration. Check the drive manufactures site for the configuration.

[Hoagie]

Has anyone seen or done a direct comparison of the noise of old and new dual gig machines? I do digital audio, sometimes recording in the control room, and mac noise is a serious factor.

FWIW, I read somewhere that the PS fan in the new model is rated at 47dBA; anyone know the rating for PS fan in the old dual gig? I realize that case configuration would make it hard to make any direct comparison of specs alone (do they even have the same number of fans?), but if the numbers are hugely different that could provide some indication.

With my frankenbeige G4/500 the noise is barely tolerable even when I screen off the Mac's section of the room with heavy duveteen drapes. From what I'm reading, it sounds like either of the dual gig machines will require either a serious soundproof enclosure or banishment to a closet (with requisite extended cables for monitors and keyboard).

TIA,
Hoagie

[kaneda]

I just got my Powermac dual 1ghz and yes, the fan is pretty noisy...but it is not as bad as a PC...I used the PC at work, PC made noise like it is going to explode...

The new powermac noise doesn't bother me when I am asleep...so it is not that bad for me...

JAGUAR IS FREAKING FAST!!! FASTER THAN MAC OS 9....

[robpage]

Hoagie,

All I can tell you about the new Macs is this: I'm a Mac nut. I've been making music on them professionally since 1989. I keep my Mac (and my crummy PC) in a cabinet, and still the fan in these new Macs is too noisy if you've got hot mics in the room.

I was really dissapointed but I had to take mine back.

I have to say, the Apple Store (The Grove) was really terrific about it too. They wouldn't have taken it back on the grounds that the fan made it unusable for me (of course, I wouldn't have bought it if it had gone off in the showroom), however they were able to reproduce the audio problem I was having so, with a wink and a nod, they acommodated me.

Now, about 10.2. I love OS X, and I love this update, but frankly, it didn't feel all that much faster than 10.1.5 on that Dual 1 gig (before I returned it). Get it...absolutely...Jaguar is a huge step forward, but the speed boost is not going to transform your life. We should all keep this in perspective.

[big]

>but air conditioners and computers make a person happy on a hot afternoon

Canadians have AC? Here in South Alabama, you have to have the AC on HIGH, as well as a good box fan just for typing (least you work up a sweat)

>JAGUAR IS FREAKING FAST!!! FASTER THAN MAC OS 9....

I doubt on my 450 mhz G4, this machine was built for OS9 (even though its still supported)

>Jaguar is a huge step forward, but the speed boost is not going to transform your life

bummer, I guess you really need a machine built for OSX to really use it.

[MacBandit]

I currently own a B/W G3 400 with a Maxtor 7200rpm drive along with the stock quiet 6gig. This is the noisiest Mac I have owned my last mac being an 8500 and a 7100 before that and many others.

I just checked the standing room noise from my seating position directly in front of the monitor the cpu sits the side of the desk on a shelf.

The noise level peaks at about 55db and consistently averages below 50db wich is the lower limit of my meter.

If anyone else can give me a standing db level for there listening position please post it here. I will do this test again with my new dual when I receive it.

[Dr_Floyd]

i havethe 867 model, it's fast and i can't hear any sound from it. it
s loud when it boots up. It seems to test the fans on start up

[3rdpath]

hey hoag,

i'll run an spl test on my QS dual tomorrow and post the results...IMO, its not that loud...certainly no louder than my old G3 with the external cheetahs.

i do think the new duals are louder from what i could hear in the store..and from what i've been reading.

btw, welcome...good to see some other unicornation names floating around here.:)

[Mephisto]

I have the new dual 1Ghz and I dont find it to be terribly loud. I mean, it does make its existence known, but it's not as bad as people here make it sound.

[Hoagie]

Originally posted by 3rdpath
i'll run an spl test on my QS dual tomorrow and post the results...IMO, its not that loud...certainly no louder than my old G3 with the external cheetahs.
SNIP
btw, welcome...good to see some other unicornation names floating around here.:) [/B]

Hey 3rdpath,

Metering your QS noise would be cool. Maybe post some info on metering distance, liveness of the room, etc. so if others do a similar test (hint hint) we can make plausible comparisons.

Who are you in unicornia?

[ktlx]

Originally posted by Chryx
(does the heatsink get even remotely warm?)


The heat sink in my new dual 1Ghz gets quite hot. I am not convinced there is a fan directly blowing on it all of the time. There is a large fan that sounds like it kicks on for short times here and there and is very loud. Other than that it is not bad and I think the only fans running all of the time are on the power supply.

[Mephisto]

Okay, after sleeping next to this computer...Its much louder than my old G3 400.
My old B/W wouldn't be this loud, unless my external CD-RWs were on and running too : /

On another note, I also stayed up for hours, trying to turn off my monitor...only to realize that I can't : /

I like to download overnight, i guess ill just have to set my monitor to dim within 5mins or sumthin.

But back to the G4...I can understand how this would be too loud to use in audio recording. I'd have to use another computer to record, then work on the audio on the G4.

[MacBandit]

For all those trying to use the new computer or any computer for audio recording and trying to eliminate noise.

Here's the problem as I see it if you try to hide the thing either in a closet which might not offer much noise control or in box or container of some sort you could get air circulation problems leading to the overheating of the computer.

Has anyone tried putting they're computer inside a smaller refrigerator or lay down freezer.

This seems to me to be a better answer then peltier cooling and the like and also should completely muffle any noise coming from the computer.

The best option would probably be a lay down freezer I've seen models that make no noise at all.

[gopher]

There are some good desks that have holes for cables and access to backs of towers out there with a door that will close so you don't have to hear the tower inside. Shop around...or build it yourself using wood from your nearby hardware store.

[robpage]

Hey MacBandit:

Make sure when you run your test you do it when the big fan kicks in. As I've mentioned before, when the new G4 is just sitting there running it's not much louder than the older G4's, certainly usable. It's when that huge honkin fan kicks in. And if you've got hot mics, singers and clients in the room, then you've got a problem.

BTW, because people seem to be interested in solutions others have come up with, there happens to be a built-in cabinet near my workstation where I've stashed both my Mac :-) and my PC :-(. I drilled a 6" hole through the back to the outside of my guest house and mounted a pro cooling fan. On the exterior of the house is a dryer vent. I got a Dr. Bott extension for my Cinema display. Heaven. But I promise all of you, the noise of the big fan in that new Mac blasted even through that.

Don't worry, they'll have this, and the other little problems I experienced fixed by rev. c.

[Hoagie]

MacBandit,

Putting your Mac in a fridge or freezer is a double plus ungood idea, because you'll get condensation.

As I read reports (here and elsewhere, e.g. dealmac forums) on the noise of new dual gigs, I get the clear sense that an iso box would be mandatory for audio recording. (Iso as in isolation, not iso cream).

Just to be clear, do the "old" dual gigs NOT have this problem of the jet engine/vacuum cleaner/leaf blower switching on periodically?

-- Hoag

[robpage]

"jet engine/vacuum cleaner/leaf blower switching on periodically?"

Great. No the earlier G4's do not have this problem. In fact, no Mac to my knowledge has ever had a fan like this.

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by Hoagie
MacBandit,

Putting your Mac in a fridge or freezer is a double plus ungood idea, because you'll get condensation.

As I read reports (here and elsewhere, e.g. dealmac forums) on the noise of new dual gigs, I get the clear sense that an iso box would be mandatory for audio recording. (Iso as in isolation, not iso cream).

Just to be clear, do the "old" dual gigs NOT have this problem of the jet engine/vacuum cleaner/leaf blower switching on periodically?

-- Hoag

Condensation becomes a problem only with a)high humidity or b) a big temperature differential I would definitely not use the fridge at very low temps say around 70-75f that should be enoungh for any overclocker and at the same time keep it quiet. On the other hand if you're not overclocking it or anything else stupid you might be able to use the fridge with out plugging it in just as a sound proof box. You could drill a few holes in it and put in a small fan to aid in circulation. You could even put the whole unit fridge and all in a closet.

[crazymacfan]

HAS ANYONE EVER TRIED WATER COOLING WITH A MAC... i did it to a friends pc.. and man it sounds like a fountain.. its a peacefull sound..

u could always hit up one of them pc tweaker sites for quiet fans and water cooling stuff...
I think im going to buy a dual ghz and change the fans.. im sure it'll be much quieter.

[3rdpath]

first, my mixing room is ultra quiet...with the A/C on its still below -30 db...it has some acoustic treatment near my workstation for early reflections and all of my guitars hanging as diffusers on the rear wall-with upper and lower corner bass traps. its carpeted also...so its pretty well balanced. not too dead and not too live. the computer sits on the floor under the desk with my monitors.

i fired up the mac and loaded a performer song with lots of audio( 30 tracks), plug-ins( 60, yes 60!) and reason 2.0...wanted to make sure the puppy was working hard.

at 2ft, floor level it was peaking at -40db.

at 3ft, floor level it peaked at -44db...so some of the room/table reflections were showing up.

at 3ft, sitting/mixing position the peak was -36db.

at -36db it was very tolerable and easy to mask with low levels of music(-64db). since i mix at around -84db, i won't ever know its running.

as far as recording vocals in the same room...i wouldn't hesitate for rock or any other "full" mix situations. i wouldn't throw up a u47 or c12 and do vocals for a ballad...you'd hear the white noise of the fan for sure-though it doesn't sound like a jet or leaf blower. so a raxxess or kk audio iso box would be needed( $600-1200...).

btw, my G3 with the external glyph cheetahs peaked at -44db at the listening position...which is considerably louder( every -10db increase in sound is perceived as being TWICE as loud...) not to mention those drives have a high pitched whine to them. the internal ata's on the dualie are super quiet...goodbye cheetahs.

now we just need to get the specs on the new duals to compare.

hope this helps.

[Hoagie]

Originally posted by 3rdpath
SNIP
at 2ft, floor level it was peaking at -40db.
at 3ft, floor level it peaked at -44db...so some of the room/table reflections were showing up.
at 3ft, sitting/mixing position the peak was -36db.
at -36db it was very tolerable and easy to mask with low levels of music(-64db). since i mix at around -84db, i won't ever know its running.
SNIP
now we just need to get the specs on the new duals to compare.


3rdpath,
Excellent work. I could work with that amount of noise – I suspect it's comparable to my franken beige G4. But a homemade iso box seems in the cards...

I urge you to get in touch with a person on unicorn and daw-mac who has done an SPL test with a NEW dual gig. He tested from an inch away from the Mac's rear, and found about 55 dBA; 'C' weighted, it's around 62 dB. Note: these numbers are for "idling". before the extra fan even kicks in.

If the two of you could match methodology -- each taking measurements the way the other did -- then we'd have a nice couple of data points to compare. Your method is more realistic, while his reduces "the room" in the equation. His first name is Ray, last name starts with C. (trying to respect privacy here.) He knows I'm interested in this.

BTW (again) who are you in Unicornia? I recall your discussion of dryer vent work awhile back, but....

-- Hoag

[DannyZR2]

Originally posted by 3rdpath
( every -10db increase in sound is perceived as being TWICE as loud...)

I thought every 3db increase was actually twice the volume. (3db to 6db to 9db to 12db -- all double volume increases.) Is this not right?

[3rdpath]

Originally posted by DannyZR2


I thought every 3db increase was actually twice the volume. (3db to 6db to 9db to 12db -- all double volume increases.) Is this not right?

nope, if you double the wattage of an amp you increase the level by-3db,

but for a perceived doubling of volume, you need a -10db increase.

all that stuff is easy to confuse-i had to check my references to make sure i wasn't mistaken...old age:D

hoag, i have the same name at UBB...i saw the dryer vent post but that wasn't me. i replied to your post about finding an out of cali QS dual 1ghz( i got mine from maczone before they sold out...)i would like to compare the systems...measuring from the back of the computer at 1", i agree, isn't realistic.

and a home-made iso box could be done for approx$150. maybe use a 19" stereo cabinet that has a glass front door, line it with acoustic foam and pop a dual rack-mount fan on the back for ventilation( sweetwater has them for $75).

[SPG]

You should hear the ruckus and feel the heat of my studio this week. The air conditioning has turned to a trickle and the HVAC guy can't track down why it's isolated to my end of the building. So, a big window that doesn't open, two towers, two big old raids with four drives each, two beta decks, three other decks, five monitors, and now two box fans so that I don't pass out from the heat...sweet! Loud and hot.

[3rdpath]

man, i've been in non-a/c hell...arrgghh. maybe you can rent a penguino portable while they suss out the problem. they're loud but its better than sweating all day. i also noticed my equipment fritzed-out after a few hours in the heat...and so did i:eek:

[3rdpath]

btw, a friend of mine had a similar problem in a multi-officed building. seems one office got to the duct work (drop ceilings make it easily accessible) and dammed up the duct to send a large portion of the air mainly to their office register.

no one could figure out what was the problem...so the super did a "goodwill" visit to all of the offices during the hottest part of the day to see who's office was overly chilled....of course, they had " no idea" how something like that could have happened....

;)

have you noticed anyone else in the building wearing sweaters?:D

[scem0]

Maybe you shouldalways keep music playing, just to drown out the noise. It couldnt be that loud. Im sure disturbed or slipknot should do the trick :d.

[MacBandit]

My new Dual/DDR just shipped so hopefully I will be able to post SPL test here before the end of the week.

[SPG]

3rdpath, that's pretty funny about the ac redirect. I've been told that the building we're in has always had lousy ac and heat, but maybe you're on to something.

[zanuzan]

My work just got some new dual 1 gigs. It is beyong annoying in it's loudness. Every 3 minutes it goes on for about 10 seconds sounding like a vacuum cleaner.

I would almost prefer the noise to be constant.

Well now it's gone away! Good riddance! Maybe this was some sort of break-in period. Weird.

[Multimedia]

Wouldn't a software fix be possible that would make the big fan run slowly all the time instead of freaking out every few minutes to the max and then dropping back off to off? Seems like Apple could come up with that sort of fix in the next .1 rev. or a third party could do it with a piece of freeware.

[gopher]

You sure it is the fan and not the optical drive?

[samboni]

Yep, I just bought a dual 867 g4 and the noise was just too much for me to take. The good news is that I finally forced me to build a partitioned space in my studio for all my computers. I should have done it long ago.

There is a great link for people with PCs for hybrid silencing gear.............
When I got my P4 pc I spent an extra $150 and now it's silent.

http://www.quietpc.com/

Unfortunately there are no vendors working with Mac hardware that I know of. If anyone knows anything out there........
lemme know..........



:confused:

samboni

[davidc2182]

there are other cooling options besides fans, they have these copper rods that absorb the heat in smaller peecee boxes, why don't they come up with something revolutionary??

[iJon]

Originally posted by porovaara
Can someone compare the new powermac noise to say a high end Athlon of P4 box... louder? more quiet?
I have a P4 box with 2 80 mm fans in it. i also have one of the new Mirrored door dual ghz. they were pretty comparable. i never understood the fuss about the powermac fans getting loud until one day. i have a usb ati tv tuner device and it didnt work in os x or classic. so i booted into 9 and started using it, watching live tv. this is where my computer really cranked up. i guess the program was using all the cpu power this computer had to offer. that 120 mm fan inside blew at full force and sounding like a blow dryer in my room. other than that it is usually fine. I am always listening to itunes anyways so it really doesnt bother me. it is very quiet though when i put it to sleep. but since i built me pc there are no sensors to slow down my fans automatically. if anybody knows of any software that can do this automatically with out physical fan controllers let me know please. it gets really loud in me room when i go to bed. hope my info on both my computers could be any help. if you have anymore questions just email me. jtaylor2d@ipa.net

iJon

[MrMacMan]

Is it impossible to stop the noise?
No water-cooling or smaller other fan solutions, tell me what workes before I buy one of these people...:(

[wilburpan]

Originally posted by davidc2182
there are other cooling options besides fans, they have these copper rods that absorb the heat in smaller peecee boxes, why don't they come up with something revolutionary??
Well, from what I remember from physics, there are three modes of heat transfer: radiation (heat fom the sun to the earth), conduction (the above mentioned copper rods), and convection (fans). Of these, convection is the most efficient. Therefore, fans are the most efficient way of cooling a computer, or oneself on a hot summer day, for that matter.

[gopher]

Good news! The noise problem has been solved and Apple is now replacing the motherboards of those machines who have been noisy.

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20021028073945932

"Monday, October 28 2002 @ 07:28 AM PST
Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door Fan Noise: Motherboard Flaw?

Robert Hamlin reports that Apple may be investigating, and potentially attempting to eliminate an excessive fan noise problem on its Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door systems, a problem widely reported on MacFixIt:

"Received word today from my Apple Authorized Reseller of a new Apple announcement. Apple says loud G4 fan noise is due to a motherboard problem so that fans run at high fast speed. The solution is reportedly replacement of motherboard that Apple will provide and have installed under warranty."

The problem generally affects systems when running under Mac OS 9.2.2, and can currently be remedied by a hardware procedure that may void Apple's warranty."

[tcmcam]

Don't get too excited. The excessive fan noise issue is only a flaw if you are running OS 9. OS X will change the speed of the big fan.

The issue is still the two 60mm fans that are inside the power supply. They are Delta's and make a very distinctive "whine" sound.

I just replaced mine with two Sunon fans that don't move as much air, but are a whole lot quieter.

Check out: http://www.directron.com/60mmfans.html
for fans. The new Ever Cool's look like they have a good balance of airflow versus decibels.

Let's hope Apple comes up with a quieter PowerMac in the next generation. Time for watercooling....

[e-coli]

i just got my new dual 1 gig. Sounds like an Airbus during takeoff.

:(

[samboni]

hey, tcmcam

Is this the one you purchased?

http://www.directron.com/magnetic.html

Sunon Magnetic Levitation Fan, 60X60X25, 3-Pin Molex or 4-Pin Pass-Thru Plug,-cg

Did you do the work yourself?

-sam

[tcmcam]

Yes, I did the work myself. Look on xl8yourmac.com. They have instructions.

Overall, it works great!!!

[samboni]

Ok. Let's say I did the fan mod.
Will this nullify my warranty with apple?

:(

[primalman]

Originally posted by pgwalsh
I was just in the Apple store in Palo Alot ...They did have a 2.2Ghz model in the store...
A couple people that had been using OS X 1.5 said they didn't notice a speed improvement.

WTF?? Who has 2.2Ghz mac? Who has OSX 1.5? These don't exist, unless my week long vacation a couple weeks ago was more like 12 months.

AAAGHHHHHH!

[gopher]

Clearly, someone is pulling our legs. Not to mention they can't spell Palo Alto. I was born there!

[samboni]

Since he is obviously from the future, maybe we should ask him how they fixed the noise problem in the old g4 models?
:p

[springscansing]

Originally posted by scem0
Maybe you shouldalways keep music playing, just to drown out the noise. It couldnt be that loud. Im sure disturbed or slipknot should do the trick :d.

Yes.. if I played Disturbed and Slipknot, the sound of my vomitting would almost definitely drown out my mac! :rolleyes:

[springscansing]

Originally posted by samboni
Ok. Let's say I did the fan mod.
Will this nullify my warranty with apple?

:(

Yes, sadly.