27" iMac Hard Drive Noise

[mtnDewFTW]

This is not an issue, it's a feature.
And yeah, I know it's really annoying to use a brand new computer that you paid top dollar for that sounds as grumbly as a PC built 7 years ago. I tried to do something about this, but sadly there is no solution.

Apple use WD, Hitachi, and Seagate HDDs. All 3 brands are perfectly fine, and have made great HDDs over the years, but ALL 1TB HDDs make noise. I went through 4 HDDs in this machine, and I'm stopping on this one.
Apple sadly don't buy the quiet models, instead they get the sturdier, much louder models for these iMacs. Before it was easy because Apple offered about 640GB space, which was pretty standard, so most manufacturers were able to produce quiet HDDs, but the 1TB+, believe it or not, are still 'new'. By that I mean most companies still don't know how to make these HDDs run quieter and still remain as good as they are now.

I really hope overtime Apple will offer quieter HDDs, or just drop HDDs and start selling products that come standard with SSDs.

As far as this 'issue' goes, I completely rest my case and am willing to live with a noisy Hitachi HDD for now, until I'm sure that Apple can replace this HDD with a much quieter one.

 

[Knives]

How do you guys know whether your Hard drives are WD, Hitachi, or Seagate?

i'm on my 3rd replacment 21.5 imac...

the first was dead silent the whole week I had it but had a dead pixel...

got it replaced and as soon as I turned on the new one it started making "belly rumbling" noises...

they said it was normal and suggested that the difference was from a difference in hard drive brands...although they couldn't identify which...

got that one replaced anyway and it makes the same sound AND has a dead pixel...

I'm starting to really despise this company...

please help...

 

[rmitchell248]

How do you guys know whether your Hard drives are WD, Hitachi, or Seagate?

i'm on my 3rd replacment 21.5 imac...

the first was dead silent the whole week I had it but had a dead pixel...

got it replaced and as soon as I turned on the new one it started making "belly rumbling" noises...

they said it was normal and suggested that the difference was from a difference in hard drive brands...although they couldn't identify which...

got that one replaced anyway and it makes the same sound AND has a dead pixel...

I'm starting to really despise this company...

please help...

Click on the Apple icon.
select "about this mac"
scroll down under "Hardware"
Click on "serial ATA"

That will tell you what brand and model your hard drive is.

In the file attached you will see all 3 steps

 

[Knives]

^ thanks for the response...

but where does it say WD, Hitachi, or Seagate? Or is it translated by a #?

forgive my noobness...I know nothing of computer hardware...

 

[Knives]

....


anyone?

 

[Knives]

bump...please help...I kinda need to know now...

 

[sadcamper]

bump...please help...I kinda need to know now...

Copy & paste the # into google.

 

[rmitchell248]

If you look at the picture I posted above you can see the manufacturer, i used my macbook pro to show you that and it's a fujitsu 500. Onyour iMac it will clearly give you a model number and a manufacturer on the right hand of where you click serial ata. On my 24 imac i had a 320 wd drive and it said wd where my macbook says fujitsu. I have not checked on my 27 but i can tell you that it is noisy but that's just the way it goes

 

[daryll]

I bought mine 2 weeks ago 27' i7 2 TB . My HD Model: Hitachi and it rumbles when surfing or opening up files . other than that its all working fine.. After reading a lot of bad experiences here I am just soooo afraid now to bring it back and ask them for replacement for a new HD or something. Who knows what new problem might arise?

Any DIY solution to overcome this problem appreciated .But asking to open up my brand new apple and toggle around with it could be a problem

 

[rmitchell248]

I bought mine 2 weeks ago 27' i7 2 TB . My HD Model: Hitachi and it rumbles when surfing or opening up files . other than that its all working fine.. After reading a lot of bad experiences here I am just soooo afraid now to bring it back and ask them for replacement for a new HD or something. Who knows what new problem might arise?

Any DIY solution to overcome this problem appreciated .But asking to open up my brand new apple and toggle around with it could be a problem

I guess you need to determine if you think this is an error or not. I cant hear yours but I feel that the noise coming from my 1tb HD is normal. Maybe in a few years they will have 1 and 2 tb units that are consistently quiet. I am getting a second 27 next week to use as a monitor I will see how the HD sounds in that one.

 

[cryer]

I bought mine 2 weeks ago 27' i7 2 TB . My HD Model: Hitachi and it rumbles when surfing or opening up files . other than that its all working fine.. After reading a lot of bad experiences here I am just soooo afraid now to bring it back and ask them for replacement for a new HD or something. Who knows what new problem might arise?

Any DIY solution to overcome this problem appreciated .But asking to open up my brand new apple and toggle around with it could be a problem

If you mean a kind of hungry person stomach grumbling sound then i've got that too (hitachi 1tb) and seems like lots of others have as well. The guy at the top of this page says its normal but the 2tb drives are quieter so don't know how you have a 2tb that makes the sound.

I am getting a second 27 next week to use as a monitor I will see how the HD sounds in that one.

You're getting a second 27 ONLY to use as a monitor? Why not get a regular monitor instead of a full computer?

 

[rmitchell248]

If you mean a kind of hungry person stomach grumbling sound then i've got that too (hitachi 1tb) and seems like lots of others have as well. The guy at the top of this page says its normal but the 2tb drives are quieter so don't know how you have a 2tb that makes the sound.



You're getting a second 27 ONLY to use as a monitor? Why not get a regular monitor instead of a full computer?

There are no monitors that I like as much especially sitting next to the 27. I cannot stand the look of mismatch screens and I found another 27 that is 2 months old that i am getting for 1250. I just got my wife a 13 MBP and a 24 apple LED so I will set her up with the keyboard and mouse that I get with the second imac and I can use the Hard drive on the second imac as a back up drive.

Essentially when you look at the savings of not buying another keyboard, mouse or a 1 tb hard drive I am paying less than 1k for a second monitor. I am not concerned if dell makes a better monitor or one is 200 cheaper ect. bottom line is it looks horrible and would not make me happy

 

[frosse]

So, have these issues been solved yet?

 

[Sensamic]

Im gonna buy an external hd and install Snow Leopard on it and use it as the main drive, so I can unmount or eject the internal hd of the imac and therefore work completely quiet.

Im trying to decide between an SSD or a traditional HD. Which is the most quiet hd in the world? I've heard WD Caviar Green.

 

[cryer]

There are no monitors that I like as much especially sitting next to the 27. I cannot stand the look of mismatch screens and I found another 27 that is 2 months old that i am getting for 1250. I just got my wife a 13 MBP and a 24 apple LED so I will set her up with the keyboard and mouse that I get with the second imac and I can use the Hard drive on the second imac as a back up drive.

Essentially when you look at the savings of not buying another keyboard, mouse or a 1 tb hard drive I am paying less than 1k for a second monitor. I am not concerned if dell makes a better monitor or one is 200 cheaper ect. bottom line is it looks horrible and would not make me happy

But with the amount of screen issues concerning the current iMac, why bother with it? You might end up with a messed up screen

 

[Anders Fischer]

New iMac

I got my iMac 27" quad-core, 2.93Ghz, and all that yesterday.
Then I played a game called Heroes of Newerth (HoN) with a friend of mine.
It was silent, but after 30 minutes the fan started making some noise.. After a couple of minutes it went away.
Is that normal, or is it a thermostatic error?
It doesn't really bother me, but if it's any kind of an error, I just want to have it fixed. I hate when there's issues with my devices, it's a headache.

Anders

 

[G-Force]

You played a game, the machine heats up, the fans rev up to cool the machine down. It's normal behavior.

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

I got my iMac 27" quad-core, 2.93Ghz, and all that yesterday.
Then I played a game called Heroes of Newerth (HoN) with a friend of mine.
It was silent, but after 30 minutes the fan started making some noise.. After a couple of minutes it went away.
Is that normal, or is it a thermostatic error?
It doesn't really bother me, but if it's any kind of an error, I just want to have it fixed. I hate when there's issues with my devices, it's a headache.

Anders

That sounds like the thermocoupler, not the thermostat. I would definitely bring that in before the grace period ends.

 

[hlrios]

IMAC 27 Fan Noise

I experienced the annoying noise as well on my 2009 IMAC 27". Apple Care and my local Apple store jerked me around for 6 months, going from they never heard of such a thing, to they didn't know what was causing it. They replaced the CPU Fan and sensor, then the logic board. Finally a local tech determined and resolved the problem by replacing the power supply. Works just fine now. No thanks to Apple Care. They certainly did not have my best interest in mind and are absolutely unresponsive to my complaints by phone or mail. Imac 27" - Love it Apple Care? Stinks!

 

[wilgin]

rumble

Just brought home the new iMac i7 tonight and it started rumbling immediately, like bubbling or gurgling stomach. I'm taking it back tomorrow. I could not stand that constant noise and will go back to the Mac Pro system and hopefully avoid this problem. We'll see what they say, but I'm just NOT putting up with this.

 

[appleman108]

i notice the fan coming on more since i installed some ram a week ago
up until that point, i didn't recall ever hearing the fan

i wonder if i bumped something when titling the imac to install the ram?
would adding ram increase heat output?

any thoughts?



2010 27" i7 imac 8GB ram

 

[yaqovisrael]

Apple, shame on you!

Same happened to me. new iMac 27.... expensive... excited and all of a sudden this noise coming from the inside. I called them within the first 14 days and they said it is only the fan. I called again and they say press ctrl+cmnd+p+r. Three times they asked me to do the same.

For weeks they said it is only the fan. I insisted. Eventually they said I need to get it back to the store (taxi £20) I said enough! so they sent someone to take it from my place (couldn't you say this from the beginning, it is a 27 mac after all).

A whole week passed by, I called and they said it was repaired, they just want to keep it in there for few more days to check it is all right. A LIE!!!
I called after 2 days and someone else said the new part just arrived.

They should have replaced the computer, I paid almost £2000 and need to go through weeks of frustration and misery, missing the deadline for my degree show project.

I didn't expect this from Apple!

::: NO COMPENSATION WAS OFFERED :::

 

[Poxican]

I posted this over on the Apple forums, I'll stick it here too:

I bought the 27" i5 only 3 days ago. I took it back yesterday as it had a dead pixel, and the hard drive made that irritating coffee percolator noise.

This new one is exactly the same. I bought this thing as all the other iMacs I've used have been silent. The two I've had can be heard anywhere in the room, nearly constantly. I've got the Seagate drive, the ST31000528AS 1TB.

Here are two recordings:
http://soundcloud.com/nathan-gallardo/ipercolator
http://soundcloud.com/nathan-gallardo/mac-noise

The top one is probably the better example.

It's a really irritating noise. My laptop for example is silent. The iMacs at uni are silent. My classroom has 24 of them, constantly running, and the room is silent. 24 of these would be incredibly annoying.

I've just spent a ridiculous amount of money, and I'm really ****** off. Some people may be able to live with it, but I don't think, for this amount of money, I should be expected to. This one is going back as well.

To be fair to the people at the store, when I told the manager I expected reimbursement for my travel costs, he was happy to do it. I'll be claiming for the cost to return this one as well. I think I'll just get my money back this time, and order over the phone and try to insist I dont get another Seagate drive, although I've heard people have had issues with other brands too...

Are there any drives that are known to definitely not make this noise?

iMac 27'' i5 Mac OS X (10.6.4)

 

[Skorpion24]

Ive the same problem but with my 24"

 

[idofotografie]

got the same grumbling sound with my new iMac 27'' too, and returned it today to the store, they ordered another one for me, wish this one is quiet. and without any dead pixel.