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Fans in Mac Pro are noisy, very noisy [Resolved - it was Indexing or Search Light]

G

ghoztman

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 23, 2008
104
0
Switzerland
I had no idea Macs were this noisy. All I did was download and view some photographs when the fans kicked in. They make an unholy noise I'm not sure I can be happy with.

Even when I quit my tasks, the fans keep going. If I shut down and restart, the fans just kick in as soon as I start viewing pictures.

My MBP edits HD video on Final Cut without even blinking. Are there settings for the heat sink fans on Mac or are they just that sensitive? This is a Mac Pro, 2 X Xeon 2.66 ghz, 5 GB RAM, 2 X 500GB Samsung drives.
 
I suspect you're using a Radeon X1900. That card has a ton of heat issues and that's most likely the fan you're hearing — not the mac pro itself. Been using my octo 2.8 with geforce 8800 for months and I've never heard any fans ramp up... ever. It's the quietest machine I've ever used.
 
CWallace said:
You think that is loud, listen to a dual-1GHz G4 sometime. :eek:
Click to expand...

That is the truth. I went from that to my Mac Pro, and I still can't believe this thing is actually on and running, let alone doing some serious heavy lifting. I get fans at start-up and waking from sleep. Otherwise, the loudest noise in the room is the G-Raid drive on the other side of the room.
 
Are you sure you didn't accidentally make your fans rev faster with SMC Fan Control? ;)

Right now the only things I hear are the whirr of the hard disks and the fan in the 8800. Other than that it's virtually silent. You shouldn't be hearing the fans that loud.
 
My system has a gforce7300gt that does not have the fan on, so it's not that. It's the big fan blower here...

gallery-big-03.jpg


It's blowing like a hurricane and I can't tell the difference between it or the trains going past my house.
 
ghoztman said:
I had no idea Macs were this noisy. All I did was download and view some photographs when the fans kicked in.
Click to expand...

Can you give us some fan speed and temperature readings?

(e.g., using iStat Pro or Temperature Monitor)
 
Stats using iStat are as follows (Degrees Celsius):

CPU A - 23
CPU B - 22
Ambient - 22
Northbridge - 33
Expansion Slots - 23
HD 1 - 23
HD 2 - 25

Fans

Exhaust - 2766
CPU - 2856
Power Supply - 600
HD and Expansion - 495

---------------------------------------------

This is driving me crazy. It starts off super silent and then just goes like a jet engine. I have not installed any fan control applications. It is a new installation on new Samsung 7200 drives (2 of them).

It's the exhaust fan.
 
All your temps are normal, but the CPU fan rpm and exhaust fan rpm are ridiculously high. For comparison mine are running at 599 and 499 rpm.
 
ghoztman said:
Stats using iStat are as follows (Degrees Celsius):

CPU A - 23
CPU B - 22
Ambient - 22
Northbridge - 33
Expansion Slots - 23
HD 1 - 23
HD 2 - 25

Fans

Exhaust - 2766
CPU - 2856
Power Supply - 600
HD and Expansion - 495

---------------------------------------------

This is driving me crazy. It starts off super silent and then just goes like a jet engine. I have not installed any fan control applications. It is a new installation on new Samsung 7200 drives (2 of them).

It's the exhaust fan.
Click to expand...

it seems that there's wrong data on smc...
have you tried this?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303446


ciao. :)
 
FF_productions said:
That is really high for the exhaust and CPU...I have SMC Fan Control and the Fans top out at 3000 RPM, so obviously something is up with the SMC, because even under heavy load, the Mac Pro stays around 600 rpm.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed. Those speeds are possibly - I emphasize
possibly - an indication of a hardware fault, such
as a sensor failure. I'd try the Apple Hardware Test
(reboot and hold down D) and speak to Apple.
 
Call Apple, or take the thing to the Genius Bar.

Something isn't right there. These machines are literally one of the more quiet machines in the entire industry... PC or MAC.
 
He could also try installing SMC Fan Control and reducing the speed through that.
 
Mackilroy said:
He could also try installing SMC Fan Control and reducing the speed through that.
Click to expand...

I might be wrong but SMC Fan Control has a safety feature that lets the system override it if the system wants to go faster than the user has set to prevent you from cooking your machine. So that wont work as the faulty sensor will still be faulty so the hardware will want to ramp up the fans.
 
yikes, that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Take it to Apple, quick. Even your cat will thank you :)
 
Something Has To Be Wrong With That Fan Noise

I have a 5GB 2.66 Mac Pro with a 4X Raid0, and I have had it make that kind of noise just once. I don't know what triggered it. I was in the process of putting it to sleep, and all Hell broke loose with the fans. Just like in your video.

However, it has never done it again, and I have used it for some fairly intensive video tasks. Usually it is very quiet. I have to think you've got to take it in for service.

Good luck I hope you get it fixed because it is a great machine.
 
ghoztman said:
I had no idea Macs were this noisy. All I did was download and view some photographs when the fans kicked in. They make an unholy noise I'm not sure I can be happy with.

Even when I quit my tasks, the fans keep going. If I shut down and restart, the fans just kick in as soon as I start viewing pictures.

My MBP edits HD video on Final Cut without even blinking. Are there settings for the heat sink fans on Mac or are they just that sensitive? This is a Mac Pro, 2 X Xeon 2.66 ghz, 5 GB RAM, 2 X 500GB Samsung drives.
Click to expand...

My Mac Pro is not noisy at all, and I'm doing 3d, video and photo.

Just saying, there's something wrong with yours, that's not how it's supposed to be.
 
man, I leave mine on all the time, and I can't tell if it's on our not until I hit the keyboard. Quiet as can be, and I usually have a VM or two running all the time, so the processors are doing some lifting while idle...
 
ghoztman said:
Here is an example of what happens, it occurs at about 2 minutes after starting... Thanks for the ideas, I'll try them and report back.
Click to expand...

That's crazy, mine is quiet.

Have you tried a PRAM reset (no one has mentioned it yet, has it)?
 
Mackilroy said:
He could also try installing SMC Fan Control and reducing the speed through that.
Click to expand...

Even if that worked, that would only masked an obvious hardware problem that he needs to get fixed ASAP while the machine is still under warranty.
 
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