Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

madflava54

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2011
94
0
I got a new MBP about a month ago as a gift. I transferred my 60gb Vertex 2 SSD into the MBP. I never noticed a noise before on my Macbook 7;1, but I can hear the SSD think. I'm not doing anything intensive and it's not a fan or anything. Not sure if my SSD is failing or something.

Any thoughts? :confused:
 

negativzero

macrumors 6502a
Jul 19, 2011
564
55
If you also transplanted the HDD into the optibay slot, its prob the HDD noise because the optibay slot doesn't have the noise isolation the HDD slot has.
 

dusk007

macrumors 68040
Dec 5, 2009
3,411
104
Maybe the op is talking about some logic board cheeping. That is common with some bad produced logic boards and can sometimes depend on certain power savings levels or other stuff. An HDD would sound a lot like a fan only slightly higher pitched. He says it is not a fan.
 

lamboman

macrumors 6502
Aug 13, 2011
394
2
What? SSD doesn't emit any noise. It doesn't have any mechanical parts to create noise.

SSDs can make slight amounts of audible noise. My Crucial m4 whines under some heavy write loads - this is completely normal.
 

Nameci

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2010
1,944
12
The Philippines...
Whine? No mechanical parts, nothing to generate audible sound. It may not be the SSD, it is something on the computer itself that is making it. It is now audible since the spinning mechanical drive is gone.
 

lamboman

macrumors 6502
Aug 13, 2011
394
2
Whine? No mechanical parts, nothing to generate audible sound. It may not be the SSD, it is something on the computer itself that is making it. It is now audible since the spinning mechanical drive is gone.

Doesn't mean it cannot generate noise. Coil whine in power supplies and on graphics cards are common, as further example.

It is a very common "problem", a lot of SSDs do it. Nothing to be worried about usually though.

Back on topic, madflava54, if the problem is still there, can you describe the noise?
 

madflava54

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 20, 2011
94
0
I will say that with just Chrome and Word open, I only hear a fan running. I guess it's the CPU or something. The sound I was hearing did remind me of a HDD spinning or accessing information.

I hope it's not a faulty logic board........

When I scroll up and down the page a webpage, I can hear that noise again. Maybe I'll take it into a store. I only assumed it was the SSD b/c I was hearing it towards the left palm area.
 
Last edited:

ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
SSDs can make slight amounts of audible noise. My Crucial m4 whines under some heavy write loads - this is completely normal.

Respectfully, you're spreading false information. You have no clue what comprises an SSD. If you're going to act like an expert, get the required education.
 

lamboman

macrumors 6502
Aug 13, 2011
394
2
Respectfully, you're spreading false information. You have no clue what comprises an SSD. If you're going to act like an expert, get the required education.

Have a search. That's all I'll say.

And if you're going to try and act like some superior power, the Internet isn't the place to do it.
 
Last edited:

Nameci

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2010
1,944
12
The Philippines...
Doesn't mean it cannot generate noise. Coil whine in power supplies and on graphics cards are common, as further example.

It is a very common "problem", a lot of SSDs do it. Nothing to be worried about usually though.

Back on topic, madflava54, if the problem is still there, can you describe the noise?

I rest my case. But really, it is the first time I have read that an SSD "whines".
 

jon08

macrumors 68000
Nov 14, 2008
1,885
104
SSDs can make slight amounts of audible noise. My Crucial m4 whines under some heavy write loads - this is completely normal.

Hi, where did you get this info?

I just installed a brand new 512GB M4 into my MBP and have also noticed a slight, barely audible whirring (kind of similar to regular HDDs) or squealing sound coming out of it every now and then. Are you sure this is normal?
 

russgold

macrumors newbie
Jun 11, 2012
26
0
I replaced my Macbook Pro with an SSD and it now makes this weird pitchy sound when I scroll up and down webpages to. It's like an electricity noise or something it drives me crazy. I'm not sure if it's the SSD or something else, its like that SSD uses less power so now there is extra its dissipating or something.

I didn't hear the noise before and its not a crappy SSD its a Samsung.
 

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
This is just a possible technical explanation:

U are replacing a higher performance component in there, higher frequency, higher power drain.

So the notebook was originally designed to accommodate (drive) an HD and the driving components were designed for HD.

Now u got a "hotter" engine. Now the original hoses, wires, coils blah-blah have to be pushed beyond what they were originally designed for.

Something as simple as a wire trace on the circuit board, it's designed to run 500 mhz with acceptable EMI, emission that can cross-talk into nearby components. Now your are pushing 1 ghz into it, it's going to have a "noisier" EMI signature and nearby components such as the trackpad can capture that and turn into static noise.

But that's just my geeky 0.02.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
Something as simple as a wire trace on the circuit board, it's designed to run 500 mhz with acceptable EMI, emission that can cross-talk into nearby components. Now your are pushing 1 ghz into it, it's going to have a "noisier" EMI signature and nearby components such as the trackpad can capture that and turn into static noise.

500MHz and 1GHz are way outside of the hearing range of humans(even most animals, AFAIK). Whine and hum are usually associated with power supplies if they're not mechanical noise. It is entirely possible that the SSD is actually drawing more power during heavy activity and causing the internal PSU circuitry emit some noise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vanilla35

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
500MHz and 1GHz are way outside of the hearing range of humans(even most animals, AFAIK). Whine and hum are usually associated with power supplies if they're not mechanical noise. It is entirely possible that the SSD is actually drawing more power during heavy activity and causing the internal PSU circuitry emit some noise.

Possible.

But, I think this is definite, the SSD itself DOES NOT emit noise. Is the "buddies" around IT that are going "wow, how did you get here, where are our old friend HD we were so comfortable with???"


For the rest of you who may read this and are asking, So what's the fix Einstein?

The lower performing SSD may be the key. So you had a choice between the cheaper 1.3 ghz SSD and the super duper 1.6 ghz SSD and OF COURSE u went for the best, but that 0.3 ghz difference may just be enough to make that noise that annoys you.
 

Genoskia

macrumors newbie
Sep 9, 2007
2
0
I think almost every electronic has a whine to it... its really up to if your ears can hear that frequency and/or how close you are too it... to be honest I hear it with my phone charger (makes a different sound for when charging and not, same with my computer) my cars stereo makes it my amplifier makes it, old and some new TVs make it (old TVs are the worst) and even electric cars have it.. anyways its normal and is something annoying... if it bothers you, you can try replacing it and it may not whine or have a different frequency that you can't hear.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
Possible.

But, I think this is definite, the SSD itself DOES NOT emit noise. Is the "buddies" around IT that are going "wow, how did you get here, where are our old friend HD we were so comfortable with???"


For the rest of you who may read this and are asking, So what's the fix Einstein?

The lower performing SSD may be the key. So you had a choice between the cheaper 1.3 ghz SSD and the super duper 1.6 ghz SSD and OF COURSE u went for the best, but that 0.3 ghz difference may just be enough to make that noise that annoys you.

We're agreeing on the fact that the SSD isn't making the noise, some other component is. I'm just not sure where you're getting the 1.6GHz and 1.3GHz numbers. The frequency of SATA doesn't change at a given speed, SATA is 1.5GHz, SATA II is 3.0GHz and SATA III is 6.0GHz(I can't actually find the datasheet to support this, it's possible that it uses a 3.0GHz signal but operates like DDR RAM does, basically running at 6GHz).

But yes, we're mostly agreeing. :D
 

tadziak

macrumors regular
Jan 4, 2011
162
6
We're agreeing on the fact that the SSD isn't making the noise, some other component is. I'm just not sure where you're getting the 1.6GHz and 1.3GHz numbers. The frequency of SATA doesn't change at a given speed, SATA is 1.5GHz, SATA II is 3.0GHz and SATA III is 6.0GHz(I can't actually find the datasheet to support this, it's possible that it uses a 3.0GHz signal but operates like DDR RAM does, basically running at 6GHz).

But yes, we're mostly agreeing. :D

I have heard that SSD noise in the last 4 Macbooks Pro Retina I have checked. It's audible enough to hear it from a sitting at the desk position in a complete silent room. It seems like a standard feature, since it's like this in each Retina I tried lately...It's most noticeable when I do the 'verify disk permissions'.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vanilla35

reery

macrumors regular
Sep 18, 2012
127
13
I've got a rMBP as well and noticed the SSD noise today. It was very silent before but then started to be a little louder.
 

tadziak

macrumors regular
Jan 4, 2011
162
6
I've got a rMBP as well and noticed the SSD noise today. It was very silent before but then started to be a little louder.

Do you also hear it as a little high pitched/squealing noise when you run disk operations like repair disk permissions?
 

jon08

macrumors 68000
Nov 14, 2008
1,885
104
^^I hear this noise in my Crucial M4 512GB when it's under load.. but I got a replacement and it did the same. I even tried a different SSD, an OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 120GB, but it also produced pretty similar noise, so apparently it's quite common with these SSDs??

I even got the drive ribbon cable inside my MBP replaced, but it didn't really make much difference, so I have no clue what it is.

Anyways, you can only hear it in a really quiet environment and if you're close to the MBP.
 

katmeef

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2010
404
28
The frequency of SATA doesn't change at a given speed, SATA is 1.5GHz, SATA II is 3.0GHz and SATA III is 6.0GHz(I can't actually find the datasheet to support this, it's possible that it uses a 3.0GHz signal but operates like DDR RAM does, basically running at 6GHz).

But yes, we're mostly agreeing. :D

I think you mean Gbps not GHz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#Revisions

Edit
I used to hear the whine with my old 09 MBP on heavy writes after installing an ocz agility 3 ssd.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.