Noise Reduction - New PowerMac G4 line

annoying noise

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.

What about a software fix for that large fan freak out?

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.

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

g4 noise.

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..........





samboni

lol

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??

Re: Dual platform owners?

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

Click to expand...

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

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...

Re: lol

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??

Click to expand...

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.

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."

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

dual cropduster 867

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

one more question.....

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

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.

Click to expand...

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!

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

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

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.

Click to expand...

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

Re: one more question.....

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

Click to expand...

Yes, sadly.