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Any hard drive noise issues with the 27" iMac?

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Sir Cecil

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 31, 2008
793
0
I had a lot of rumbling/noisy HD problems with early versions of the previous model, eventually giving up and settling for my MacBook Pro (with cinema display) that has been extremely quiet and dependable. I do a lot of audio editing sitting very close to the equipment and often focus on extremely low-level sounds, so I'm very sensitive to noise from the computer.
I'm keen to get the new iMac so long it doesn't resurrect that old frustration all over again. Have early buyers been pleased with noise levels and, also, does the fusion drive configuration have any noticeable affect in that sense? Thanks.
 
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12dylan34

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2009
884
15
I have a 1TB fusion model and the room that I'm sitting in is completely silent. The only perceptible noise right now is my fingers typing this.

The only noise I've heard from this machine is that coming out of the speakers, and the fan with its light "whoosh" on a long render out of Cinema 4D that I've done.

No noticeable HDD noise.
 
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dryice589

macrumors member
Dec 10, 2012
81
0
I have the 1TB Fusion. While running migration assistant, the new iMac was completely silent. The only slight thing I heard was the fan in the Mac Mini from which the files were transfering from.
 
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bigcat318

macrumors 6502
Dec 25, 2007
377
138
1TB fusion, computer has been dead silent. I have not put it through any strenuous testing though.
 
aerobyravol

aerobyravol

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2012
146
0
Switzerland
Good to know that.
I'm eagerly waiting my brand new 27" running on a 3T Fusion Drive.

May I ask you guys whether on the temperature side, everything is OK?

I mean, I'm really impressed by the thin form factor and hope it will be good enough to cool the beast down :confused:

12dylan34 said:
The only noise I've heard from this machine is that coming out of the speakers, and the fan with its light "whoosh" on a long render out of Cinema 4D that I've done.
Click to expand...

12dylan34, did you have any issue during that rendering (that was probably CPU consuming) ?
 
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torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
3TB fusion here and i have not heard a peep out of it in two days. The only way to hear the HDD is when it is writing and reading random data with my ear right up to the back of the imac lol. The highest temp the HDD has reached is 45deg Celsius. This thing runs cooler then the old form factor iMacs believe it or not :)
 
1

12dylan34

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2009
884
15
aerobyravol said:
Good to know that.
I'm eagerly waiting my brand new 27" running on a 3T Fusion Drive.

May I ask you guys whether on the temperature side, everything is OK?

I mean, I'm really impressed by the thin form factor and hope it will be good enough to cool the beast down :confused:



12dylan34, did you have any issue during that rendering (that was probably CPU consuming) ?
Click to expand...

No, nothing to speak of really. The fans got up to about 2900 RPM from their regular 1200 RPM, but the back only ever got a bit warm to the touch. Nowhere near as warm as the the previous generation. You could definitely hear the fan, but it made more of a soft "whooshing" noise rather than the normal electric motor kind of fan noise. A lot quieter than my old MacBook Pro.

There was a ton of hot air blowing out of the back vent, though.
 
aerobyravol

aerobyravol

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2012
146
0
Switzerland
torana355 said:
3TB fusion here and i have not heard a peep out of it in two days. The only way to hear the HDD is when it is writing and reading random data with my ear right up to the back of the imac lol. The highest temp the HDD has reached is 45deg Celsius. This thing runs cooler then the old form factor iMacs believe it or not :)
Click to expand...

That's great news!
My early 2008 iMac used to be very warm when used intensively, must say.
Rather happy to hear that the new form factor helps dissipating the heat :)

----------
12dylan34 said:
No, nothing to speak of really. The fans got up to about 2900 RPM from their regular 1200 RPM, but the back only ever got a bit warm to the touch. Nowhere near as warm as the the previous generation. You could definitely hear the fan, but it made more of a soft "whooshing" noise rather than the normal electric motor kind of fan noise. A lot quieter than my old MacBook Pro.

There was a ton of hot air blowing out of the back vent, though.
Click to expand...

Thank you for you answer.
Happy to hear that it's that silent :p
 
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wood.matt

macrumors newbie
Dec 12, 2012
5
0
I have spent about a week with my 27" and have noticed a ton of noise. I have a high pitch whine and a lot of clicking and grinding from the HDD. Last night when I tapped the chin on the left hand side the noise stopped for a bit then started right back up. I came into work today and checked the forums and it seems that everyone is saying they are quiet as a mouse so I called apple support to see what can be done. They need to see what "processes" are running on mine before they do anything further. So I will have to wait to go home and call back in a few hours. :mad:
 
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torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
wood.matt said:
I have spent about a week with my 27" and have noticed a ton of noise. I have a high pitch whine and a lot of clicking and grinding from the HDD. Last night when I tapped the chin on the left hand side the noise stopped for a bit then started right back up. I came into work today and checked the forums and it seems that everyone is saying they are quiet as a mouse so I called apple support to see what can be done. They need to see what "processes" are running on mine before they do anything further. So I will have to wait to go home and call back in a few hours. :mad:
Click to expand...

I started a thread about HDD brands in the new iMacs and it seems Apple is using all sorts of HDD's in these things, what is the model of your HDD?
 
larzy

larzy

macrumors 6502
Nov 16, 2008
283
289
Denmark
I just got my brand new 27 today - and just set it up. I'm getting a constant fan noise from what I think is the harddrive.

Ordered the 3TB fusion - and the 3TB is a Seagate Baracuda as far as I can tell (ST3000DM001) - it's really annoying :-(
 
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mjsurf

macrumors newbie
Dec 13, 2012
10
0
larzy said:
I just got my brand new 27 today - and just set it up. I'm getting a constant fan noise from what I think is the harddrive.

Ordered the 3TB fusion - and the 3TB is a Seagate Baracuda as far as I can tell (ST3000DM001) - it's really annoying :-(
Click to expand...

I also have a constant fan noise, not very loud. Is this a regular noise?

i7, 675mx, 3TB Fusion
 
FFabian

FFabian

macrumors regular
Aug 26, 2010
155
168
Bochum, Germany
I have a fan noise too, very quiet though. Do those of you that say their iMac is silent really hear nothing at all or just a very very quiet noise?
 
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dryice589

macrumors member
Dec 10, 2012
81
0
FFabian said:
I have a fan noise too, very quiet though. Do those of you that say their iMac is silent really hear nothing at all or just a very very quiet noise?
Click to expand...

Yes, by silent, I mean very very very quiet. It it physically impossible for a fan to make no noise. It just seems un-naturally quiet for how much air it is pushing out. My A/C / Heat makes significantly more noise than the iMac and my central heat and air is not that loud.
 
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Fynd

macrumors 6502
Aug 11, 2010
445
275
My HDD makes a very distinct, constant noise when anything is being written to it. Ie: Downloading Diablo 3/WoW through the Blizzard Downloader. It's kind of distracting, and definitely annoying.
 
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torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
FFabian said:
I have a fan noise too, very quiet though. Do those of you that say their iMac is silent really hear nothing at all or just a very very quiet noise?
Click to expand...

I cant hear anything unless i put my ear to the back of the iMac while the HDD is reading and writing. The fan is completely silent at 1200rpm, you can hear it if i use iStat to turn the fan up though.
 
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