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Fan noise or hard drive noise?

K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
I just got my macbook pro yesterday and ran it all yesterday not hearing anything. Today when I woke it from sleep I could clearly hear the fan or hard drive going. I was in a quiet room and it's quite annoying.

istat says its at 2000 rpm so thats when I started thinking it may be the hard disk. It does pulse every now and then but thats even while it's just sitting idle.

I guess I could live with it but its just annoying. Anyone else having this?
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
320GB @ 7200 rpm

But I didnt notice this all yesterday when I was using it. Thats what irks me.
 
J

James17

macrumors 6502
Dec 13, 2007
361
0
Mines started doing this the other day. Quite loud "whirring" noise coming from the fans area. I phoned AppleCare and put the phone up to it for the guy to listen, he said he could hear it and it's unacceptable. He classes it as a hardware fault. Someone from Customer Relations will be in contact with me on Monday. I'm not putting up with this. I have a Penryn MBP still sitting here and it's silent when running.
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
James17 said:
Mines started doing this the other day. Quite loud "whirring" noise coming from the fans area. I phoned AppleCare and put the phone up to it for the guy to listen, he said he could hear it and it's unacceptable. He classes it as a hardware fault. Someone from Customer Relations will be in contact with me on Monday. I'm not putting up with this. I have a Penryn MBP still sitting here and it's silent when running.
Click to expand...

Mine isn't loud. I just remember it being absolutely silent all yesterday. I was really impressed with how quiet it is. Now today its starts making what seems to be like fan noise coming from the right side only. Might be the hard disk but its all the time even at idle with no processes running. I guess I could live with it but I just like it a lot better when I couldn't hear a thing.
 
dudemac333

dudemac333

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2007
26
0
KilljoyPBN said:
Mine isn't loud. I just remember it being absolutely silent all yesterday. I was really impressed with how quiet it is. Now today its starts making what seems to be like fan noise coming from the right side only. Might be the hard disk but its all the time even at idle with no processes running. I guess I could live with it but I just like it a lot better when I couldn't hear a thing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Killjoy, i have the same problem now. I remember my MBP not making any noise, but now it seems like there is a noise coming from the right side. I definitely know that this noise was not there the first day I got it :(
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
dudemac333 said:
Yeah, Killjoy, i have the same problem now. I remember my MBP not making any noise, but now it seems like there is a noise coming from the right side. I definitely know that this noise was not there the first day I got it :(
Click to expand...

Yeah but I also dont want to schedule an appointment and look like an idiot if it is completely normal. It's just that I don't remember hearing even a whisper all yesterday.
 
J

James17

macrumors 6502
Dec 13, 2007
361
0
KilljoyPBN said:
Mine isn't loud. I just remember it being absolutely silent all yesterday. I was really impressed with how quiet it is. Now today its starts making what seems to be like fan noise coming from the right side only. Might be the hard disk but its all the time even at idle with no processes running. I guess I could live with it but I just like it a lot better when I couldn't hear a thing.
Click to expand...

Mine was silent for the first two days then started making this noise. I'm not spending £1,749 for a machine that you can hear whirring.
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
James17 said:
Mine was silent for the first two days then started making this noise. I'm not spending £1,749 for a machine that you can hear whirring.
Click to expand...

Its not as loud as the PC I custom built but I just dont remember this from yesterday. How loud is everyone else's late 08 MBP?
 
dudemac333

dudemac333

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2007
26
0
KilljoyPBN said:
Its not as loud as the PC I custom built but I just dont remember this from yesterday. How loud is everyone else's late 08 MBP?
Click to expand...

Mine is the 2.53 MBP and I can noticeably hear that whirring sound in a quiet room. It sounds like it is coming from the right side, and it sounds like a fan or the hard drive working. I think I am going to call Apple on Monday and see if it is normal to hear this kind of noise from the right side all the time.
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
dudemac333 said:
Mine is the 2.53 MBP and I can noticeably hear that whirring sound in a quiet room. It sounds like it is coming from the right side, and it sounds like a fan or the hard drive working. I think I am going to call Apple on Monday and see if it is normal to hear this kind of noise from the right side all the time.
Click to expand...

I called today and they told me to reset my smc or whatever which I already did. The sound was still there so it didn't help so I am a bit worried that it is something I may have to deal with. He told me I should probably set up an appointment with a genius to get it diagnosed correctly.

The strange thing is I can distinguish the noise coming from the macbook pro while my custom built pc that I made has its own fans running. I mean the macbook pro is a work horse too but I don't think the fan or hard drive noise should be this distinct. When I can hear it while the five fans in my pc are running that might be a problem.
 
dudemac333

dudemac333

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2007
26
0
KilljoyPBN said:
I called today and they told me to reset my smc or whatever which I already did. The sound was still there so it didn't help so I am a bit worried that it is something I may have to deal with. He told me I should probably set up an appointment with a genius to get it diagnosed correctly.

The strange thing is I can distinguish the noise coming from the macbook pro while my custom built pc that I made has its own fans running. I mean the macbook pro is a work horse too but I don't think the fan or hard drive noise should be this distinct. When I can hear it while the five fans in my pc are running that might be a problem.
Click to expand...

This is really weird... I reset the SMC like what you said apple told you to do. After I turned the computer on, the noise on the right side kept happening, but my fans on the left side started to go really fast. They kept going faster and faster until i put it to sleep, and now they are back to normal. I don't know what is going on, but I dont think any of this is normal
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
dudemac333 said:
This is really weird... I reset the SMC like what you said apple told you to do. After I turned the computer on, the noise on the right side kept happening, but my fans on the left side started to go really fast. They kept going faster and faster until i put it to sleep, and now they are back to normal. I don't know what is going on, but I dont think any of this is normal
Click to expand...

Well if I have time tomorrow I might go up to the Apple store and see what they say. I need to return my mighty mouse and get a case so I might make the trip up. If I do go I will let you know how it goes.
 
M

Mackan

macrumors 65816
Sep 16, 2007
1,421
91
dudemac333 said:
Mine is the 2.53 MBP and I can noticeably hear that whirring sound in a quiet room. It sounds like it is coming from the right side, and it sounds like a fan or the hard drive working. I think I am going to call Apple on Monday and see if it is normal to hear this kind of noise from the right side all the time.
Click to expand...

The harddrive is located in the lower right corner. All fans are located more to the upper left corner. So it is most likely the noise from the harddrive that you hear.
 
I

iBunny

macrumors 65816
Apr 15, 2004
1,254
0
I have the same issue with my MBP. The left fan was making the buzzing/whirling noise. Its not the hard drive because my harddrive is in the lower right corner, and this is comming directly from under the 234 number keys. Its horrible and in a silent room, its unacceptable.

So I took it to an apple store and they are fixing it for me.
 
dudemac333

dudemac333

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2007
26
0
iBunny said:
I have the same issue with my MBP. The left fan was making the buzzing/whirling noise. Its not the hard drive because my harddrive is in the lower right corner, and this is comming directly from under the 234 number keys. Its horrible and in a silent room, its unacceptable.

So I took it to an apple store and they are fixing it for me.
Click to expand...

This noise for me is definitely not coming from the left fan side, but it is coming from I think under the Arrow Keys where the hard drive is. Is there any noise for you coming from where the hard drive is?
 
S

sk47

macrumors member
May 28, 2008
97
0
i think its the 7200rpm hard drives that are usually causing this whirring sound.

To me it kinda goes like this: room is quiet, then i hear something like a VERY faint small click (arguably the hard drive actuator arm) and then a louder but still relatively faint whirring sound, kinda like listening into a seashell and hearing the "ocean" (...lol)

but yeah, seeing as how it is emanating from the bottom right side and almost inaudible from the left top-bottom side, i would say it is the hard drive.
 
SchneiderMan

SchneiderMan

macrumors G3
May 25, 2008
8,332
202
i have the same noise from the top left that just started. it also gets hot without doing anything, what should i do?
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
K Im glad this is bothering other people so I am not freaking out. It just that it started up recently. Maybe I am being too much of a perfectionist.
 
K

KilljoyPBN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
156
0
Sbrocket said:
My MBP with a 7200rpm drive has been silent - the only thing that I've heard sound out of is the optical drive.
Click to expand...

Thanks thats really good to know. I have heard that the fans at 2000 rpms is silent and so I thought it might be the hard drive. If everyone says even the hard drive is pretty quiet then I really would like to switch out the drive. haha if they even have the 320gb @ 7200 rpm drive at the store.
 
I

iBunny

macrumors 65816
Apr 15, 2004
1,254
0
dudemac333 said:
This noise for me is definitely not coming from the left fan side, but it is coming from I think under the Arrow Keys where the hard drive is. Is there any noise for you coming from where the hard drive is?
Click to expand...

I have confirmed for me that the noise is defiantly a fan. I replaced the Hard Drive with a 64GB Solid State Drive, and the noise was still there, obviously not the hard drive..
 
O

Owyn

macrumors newbie
Jun 16, 2008
12
0
Fan noise...

Hi. I have a new macbook pro that seems to have the same issue. I found this thread after searching the forums after it occurred... I've had it since thursday and it was _dead silent_. Then late saturday night it started making this loud fan noise all of a sudden after I woke it from sleep. I've had a LOT of computers, most of them home built, and I've heard a lot of bad fans over the years. This sounds like a fan. It's kind of annoying to have a $5 part mess up the experience of an otherwise excellent product. I will be contacting Apple about this asap and I will try to report my findings here.
 
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