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Are Intel iMacs quieter than G5 iMacs?

H

harperb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2004
15
0
Hello all,

I've currently got a 20" iMac G5 (2ghz ambient light sensor), which I keep in my bedroom and usually need to keep on 24/7.

I was wondering if anyone has any first-hand experience as to whether or not the Intel iMacs are any quieter than their G5 predecessors. I know the Core Duo/Core Duo 2 (Merom) supposedly generate less heat than the G5 and in turn the fans might have to run less, or perhaps the new Intel iMacs have quieter fans, or both?

My iMac G5 is pretty noisy and drives me crazy sometimes at night (not to mention all the time when I use it) with the fan at the lowest or semi-lowest speed, so if anyone maybe has had both an iMac G5 and Intel iMac and could tell me if there's a difference in fan and system noise, i'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

--Ben
 
My parent's 17 inch imac G5, first gen computer is pretty loud at times. I work in a lab that has currently been updated to have about twenty-five 20 inch core duo imacs and I can't hear them. Silence is great!
 
My dad's last rev. iMac G5 20" (isight, 2.1Ghz, front row etc), is a little quieter, IMO, than my friends 20" 2Ghz core duo iMac:)
 
I find if you run a vacuum along the air intake grill at the bottom of the iMac Rev. A and the outlet strip at the top back occasionally it runs absolutely silent.
 
The Intel is much, much quieter than the G5. When using Teamspeak on my G5 I got the nickname "airforce commander" because they could hear the jet engines :p but with my Intel they didn't realise I wasn't using a headset.
 
Okay,

I've owned both for some time so hopefully I'm qualified to answer. I don't think the Intel iMac is any quieter per-se, but it makes a nicer noise. The G5's fan had a more distinctive sound which could be quite hard to ignore when there's no other noise (like in the middle of the night.) the Intel iMac makes a more normal gentle hum.

Obviously, given the choice I'd take the Intel.
 
Thanks for the info - at least I know not to set my expecations (too) high for my new intel iMac...but that'll be after my Merom MBP (c'mon Photokina!).
 
-Garry- said:
I don't think the Intel iMac is any quieter per-se
Click to expand...

Interesting. In the NZ climate, the G5 was a nightmare. My Intel's starting to "louden" as we come into summer, but it's nowhere near as bad as the G5 was.
 
I had a Rev A 17" G5 iMac, which was fairly quiet. The fans would come on now and then and it would generaly make a bit of noise. I kept it in my bedroom and left it running 24/7, with the screen turned off.

I do the same with my 24" iMac, but it has yet to make a single noise. Even the DVD drive, when copying/installing things, makes hardly any noise.

My external FW drive is noisier than the 24".
 
The iMac G5s with iSight were WAY quieter than the previous revisions. Mine only gets noticable when I'm doing DVD or TV encoding and the CPU is running full pelt. I suspect it's the same for the Intel Macs, although being much quicker they'll be louder for a shorter time.
 
I don't know about the G5s iMacs, but my Intel iMac is silent. I can't recall hearing a fan come on at any point. Mac Pro is pretty damn quiet too, except for a very loud Superdrive!
 
riciad said:
I find if you run a vacuum along the air intake grill at the bottom of the iMac Rev. A and the outlet strip at the top back occasionally it runs absolutely silent.
Click to expand...
Open it up and take a can of air to the duct work on the CPU. :cool:

The G5's fan had a more distinctive sound which could be quite hard to ignore when there's no other noise (like in the middle of the night.) the Intel iMac makes a more normal gentle hum.
Click to expand...
Here we go. Yes, the Intel is more of a constant drone even at 100% load. I remember listening my to my G5's fan rev up as the usage would go up.
 
Eidorian said:
Open it up and take a can of air to the duct work on the CPU. :cool:
Click to expand...

I did that too, but I found it was the grille at the bottom that was clogging up to the point where the holes in it directly under the air intake of the duct were completely blocked, that made the big difference.

Before I cleaned that part, the fans would rev up to maximum every time I was working in Artlantis for more than 10 minutes. Now they don;t cut in at all.
 
iMac G5s in my experience are silent on reduced but put it on highest and it's a constant "Whirrrrrrr". iMac Core Duos are a lot quieter.
 
riciad said:
I did that too, but I found it was the grille at the bottom that was clogging up to the point where the holes in it directly under the air intake of the duct were completely blocked, that made the big difference.

Before I cleaned that part, the fans would rev up to maximum every time I was working in Artlantis for more than 10 minutes. Now they don;t cut in at all.
Click to expand...
It's nice when you have the service manual too. You just take all the fans out and clean it. Even that 970FX has huge heatsink fins.
 
I sent 3 20" G5 iSight iMacs back because they made such an irritating buzzing sound. (Apple kept saying it shouldn't, but it didn't stop them sending me identical replacements...)

I few months later I tried again with Core Duo and it is much quieter.
 
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