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5K iMac noise levels

a little noise, but i'll live

i was surprised by the fan noise on my 5K iMac - moved up from a iMac 2009 21" - which was always dead silent - but it did get hot.

while working on the new 5k - all of sudden i hear this noise - took me a few seconds to figure out it was coming from the new 5K - makes sense though - they have to cool it down.

the noise is elegant ; like all things apple - it's ambient noise if you will.

nothing to lose your mind over.
 
You sorta don't wanna buy anything with a fan in it if you want it to be silent. I suppose even air flow in a nMP might make noise. So an all-in-one is kind of a no-no, like the iMac. And even if the fan is quiet when new, with age it might make more noise.

Isolate the drive cases, and computer components, that make noise. That's one reason folks use Mac Pros or PC towers for audio work, so they can be put somewhere where the sound is deadened.
 
Chippy99 said:
Fair comment :)

But in a silent home office, if you can't hear it, it's definitely time for ear drops!
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I am sitting in a silent room and have good hearing, and i can't hear a thing from my rImac, I can only conclude that all the rImac's are not born equal in the fan noise produced.

after a 5 week wait jam pleased to say mine is staying put on my desk:)
 
This is my solution
 

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Vapor matt said:
I am sitting in a silent room and have good hearing, and i can't hear a thing from my rImac, I can only conclude that all the rImac's are not born equal in the fan noise produced.

after a 5 week wait jam pleased to say mine is staying put on my desk:)
Click to expand...

I think a lot of it is down to the room acoustics and whether there's a wall directly behind it or whatever. I am quite able to understand that some people in some environments can't hear their iMacs.

But when people say their iMac is silent (they are not) or that they can't hear anything with their ear right next to the vents at the back, then that's just nonsense, or they are slightly deaf!
 
jimgeo68 said:
i was surprised by the fan noise on my 5K iMac - moved up from a iMac 2009 21" - which was always dead silent - but it did get hot.

while working on the new 5k - all of sudden i hear this noise - took me a few seconds to figure out it was coming from the new 5K - makes sense though - they have to cool it down.

the noise is elegant ; like all things apple - it's ambient noise if you will.

nothing to lose your mind over.
Click to expand...

Does the 5k iMac get hot? Everyone is talking about fan noise and over 100 degrees temps but no one has commented on whether the device is hot to the touch!?
 
mattoligy said:
Does the 5k iMac get hot? Everyone is talking about fan noise and over 100 degrees temps but no one has commented on whether the device is hot to the touch!?
Click to expand...
Its like a warm breeze nothing you could fry and egg on.
 
mattoligy said:
Does the 5k iMac get hot? Everyone is talking about fan noise and over 100 degrees temps but no one has commented on whether the device is hot to the touch!?
Click to expand...

Mine (4.0/295) doesn't. WAY way cooler than my 2010 iMac was doing the same tasks. Others really pushing it have generated more heat, as you'd expect. Nothing out of the ordinary for a functional machine. The hottest I've got doing some browsing right now is 133F in a GPU proximity sensor.

And BTW "everyone" isn't talking about fan noise, if by that you mean complaining. My fan is at 1200RPM and I have to get behind the machine to hear it.

I just measured it. I have an ambient db in my house right now at about 31.5. If I stick the sensor about 1" from the vent in the back, pointed into it, I get up to 55-65. If I move to the side at about 2", or to the back side edge of the riMac, I get about 32-33. About the same in the front. So basically no addition to ambient noise for me unless I'm wearing the riMac as an ear bud.
 
robgendreau said:
Mine (4.0/295) doesn't. WAY way cooler than my 2010 iMac was doing the same tasks. Others really pushing it have generated more heat, as you'd expect. Nothing out of the ordinary for a functional machine. The hottest I've got doing some browsing right now is 133F in a GPU proximity sensor.

And BTW "everyone" isn't talking about fan noise, if by that you mean complaining. My fan is at 1200RPM and I have to get behind the machine to hear it.

I just measured it. I have an ambient db in my house right now at about 31.5. If I stick the sensor about 1" from the vent in the back, pointed into it, I get up to 55-65. If I move to the side at about 2", or to the back side edge of the riMac, I get about 32-33. About the same in the front. So basically no addition to ambient noise for me unless I'm wearing the riMac as an ear bud.
Click to expand...

The 2010 gets incredibly hot just doing the simplest tasks and increases the temperature of any room it's in (good for winter though). The top of the Retina iMac (and other iMacs of the thin design) actually stay cool to the touch for quite some time.
 
frompast said:
This is my solution
Click to expand...

What am I even looking at, and why would that help?

So, yeah... I hadn't considered it, but the iMac is right in front of a wall. It's possible whatever sound from the fan is bouncing off the wall back to me.

I wish I had something that could measure ambient decibels. That'd be interesting to know.
 
mattoligy said:
Does the 5k iMac get hot? Everyone is talking about fan noise and over 100 degrees temps but no one has commented on whether the device is hot to the touch!?
Click to expand...

The newer iMacs (2012+) doesn't get hot to the touch like the older models did since the air is vented straight out through the back and not the top.
Not sure why it would be relevant however.
 
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