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Calling all imac G5 owners and users! Is this normal???

nospleen

nospleen

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Dec 8, 2002
2,737
1,620
Texas
First off, I looooove my new imac G5. But, this thing is so loud. I understand it has a G5, so I can deal with the noise issue if this is normal. But, some people are saying theirs are super quiet and some have exchanged loud ones and said the new ones they received are quiet. I am curious, do you all think this is normal? If they all sound this loud, I can deal with it. If not, I will call Apple to exchange it. Note, I was only surfing the web and checking my email when the fans were this loud. I was not using iDVD, photoshop, FCE, or any other processor intensive app. Let me know what you all think. Thanks!

http://homepage.mac.com/emsdad/iMovieTheater50.html
 
hahaha i couldn't even distinguish the sound of that fan from the ones in my Powerbook. I hate that sound, don't you? I like regular fans much better... lower pitched sounds bother me much less.
 
is it loud like that ALL of the time? only after using it for a while? or just occasionally? that does sound a lot like the fan in my rev. a 12" pb, but still a lil bit louder, if its like that all of the time, get a new one, if it only comes on after mild use, get a new one, if it only comes on after long periods of use, consider a new one, if only every now and then dont worry about it
 
It is quiet for the first two minutes and then it gets like that. Even from just reading posts at macrumors, the fans spool up.
Texas is pretty hot, but only outside. :p Inside, it is a cool 72 in my house.
 
Also, it does get louder than that too. The level I recorded was not nearly as loud as it gets. I know it is not the best recording, but it was with my isight.
 
i wouldnt waste your time with it then, get a new one, if the fans kick in that soon and loud i think there is a problem personally, especially with how much it has been touted as being a quiet machine
 
I hate thermal regulated fans. My god damn G5's fans spool up every 5 minutes, annoying the hell outta me. What the hell's wrong w/ using low dba fans w/ good cfm, ie, Panaflo. But hey, thermal regulated fans sure sounds impressive to J6Ps, which in turn sells your products, and it's the only thing that matters to Apple.

Was at the library the other day. Those mofo sitting across from me was working on Alu PB 15". The fans in that thing was going off every 5 minutes and doesn't stop for 10 minutes. It was just LOUD.
 
FuzzyBallz said:
I hate thermal regulated fans. My god damn G5's fans spool up every 5 minutes, annoying the hell outta me. What the hell's wrong w/ using low dba fans w/ good cfm, ie, Panaflo. But hey, thermal regulated fans sure sounds impressive to J6Ps, which in turn sells your products, and it's the only thing that matters to Apple.

Was at the library the other day. Those mofo sitting across from me was working on Alu PB 15". The fans in that thing was going off every 5 minutes and doesn't stop for 10 minutes. It was just LOUD.
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Not Apples fault the people w/ defective fans dont wanna get them replaced..... :p
My 1.6Ghz G5 is whisper quiet most of the time(even when under heavy stress). Only time i've ever heard the fans really kick in is when i booted the HW Test CD.
 
FuzzyBallz said:
I hate thermal regulated fans. My god damn G5's fans spool up every 5 minutes, annoying the hell outta me. What the hell's wrong w/ using low dba fans w/ good cfm, ie, Panaflo. But hey, thermal regulated fans sure sounds impressive to J6Ps, which in turn sells your products, and it's the only thing that matters to Apple.

Was at the library the other day. Those mofo sitting across from me was working on Alu PB 15". The fans in that thing was going off every 5 minutes and doesn't stop for 10 minutes. It was just LOUD.
Click to expand...

Just get the sensors changed for free and quit complaining.
 
My 1.8's noise is very annoying. Plus, discs come out steaming hot -- the hottest I have every seen. And I am not even talking of buring a disc. Just reading a file.
 
Update... My imac started freezing today and would not do anything. I called Apple and we tried everything. Finally, they asked me to uninstall the ram I purchased from memorytogo. I did so, and it booted perfectly and is running much quieter. It is about the same as my old imac G4, which is fine with me. I guess I learned a lesson about buying ram from the cheapest source. I think I am going to order some from crucial, I keep reading positive things about their ram. Side note, here is a link to some pictures of my imac.

link
 
I just got an imac g5 (17" w/ superdrive) today, and was just about to post and ask about the noise.

Mine makes a high-pitched hum constantly...and I was going to post and ask if thats normal.

Some people are saying theirs hum, others say they are whisper quiet.

I only have safari, mail, ichat, and yahoo open right now, and its doing it.

I have only the 256mb of ram that came installed with it.

Is the high pitched hum normal, or is it an issue?
 
nospleen said:
Update... My imac started freezing today and would not do anything. I called Apple and we tried everything. Finally, they asked me to uninstall the ram I purchased from memorytogo. I did so, and it booted perfectly and is running much quieter. It is about the same as my old imac G4, which is fine with me. I guess I learned a lesson about buying ram from the cheapest source. I think I am going to order some from crucial, I keep reading positive things about their ram. Side note, here is a link to some pictures of my imac.

link
Click to expand...
Ouch! I got RAM from them, too! How did the return process go?
 
Josh said:
Mine makes a high-pitched hum constantly...and I was going to post and ask if thats normal.

Some people are saying theirs hum, others say they are whisper quiet.
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I have a 20" iMac G5, and there is a constant hum, bu I wouldn't say it is high-pitched. I would also say that my iMac is whisper quiet. You have to remember that a whisper is not silent, so you should expect that your iMac will make a constant sound, just not a very loud one.
 
Elan0204 said:
I have a 20" iMac G5, and there is a constant hum, bu I wouldn't say it is high-pitched. I would also say that my iMac is whisper quiet. You have to remember that a whisper is not silent, so you should expect that your iMac will make a constant sound, just not a very loud one.
Click to expand...

The sound mine makes is more of a buzz than a hum. At first, I thought it might be coming from the LCD or something, but its not.

When it first boots up, its dead silent. Then when OS X is fully loaded, the high pitched buzz kicks in, and never goes away. It gets a "little" louder if I open iDVD or something like that.

To describe the sound, I would compare it to those bug zapper things people hang that light up and attract bugs, then zap them.

I can hear it buzzing 10-15 feet away.
 
MacinDoc said:
Ouch! I got RAM from them, too! How did the return process go?
Click to expand...

I called them right now and asked for a return. I was going to go for a refund and order from Crucial. He said crucial uses 'micron' ram, and that he would replace mine for no charge with a 1GB micron stick. So, I am going to send it off tomorrow.
 
I just got off the phone with Apple.

They are assuming a new power supply will fix my problem, but because I wasnt at my computer when I called, so they want me to chat to online support tonight.

On the apple discussion boards, a user posted a sound file of the problem that a new power supply is fixing. The sound file sounds like a clicking/chipring kind of sound.

The problem with mine is different. It sounds like a high pitched wine with a slight buzz...no clicking or chirping. Its constantly loud, with the pitch varying slightly throughout the time. It can be heard up to 15 feet away, and can even be heard over the TV when I am using the computer.

Hopefully the problem can be fixed quickly and easily...I'll update this after I chat with apple tonight.
 
Update on my noisy imac. I thought it was fixed, but it came back shortly after removing the bad ram. Applecare told me to take it to the store and get a new one. I swapped it for a different one, and the new one is much quieter. My fans came on the old one ALL the time. I transferred all my pics, music, docs, and installed software and the new one was quiet as it could be. It was just as quiet as my old G4 imac. I am much happier with the new one.
 
I talked to Apple support last night online, and they narrowed the buzzing sound down and said it was my power supply.

I couldnt get the website to request the part to work, so I had to call Apple this morning.

They took my address and sent me the part :)

All in all, I must say...I was VERY impressed with how friendly/helpfull Apple's support staff was.

Hopefully the new power supply will quiet my imac down :)
 
nospleen said:
Update on my noisy imac. I thought it was fixed, but it came back shortly after removing the bad ram. Applecare told me to take it to the store and get a new one. I swapped it for a different one, and the new one is much quieter. My fans came on the old one ALL the time. I transferred all my pics, music, docs, and installed software and the new one was quiet as it could be. It was just as quiet as my old G4 imac. I am much happier with the new one.
Click to expand...

i think that this proves if your worried about your mac being noisy, get a new one....
 
AL-FAMOUS said:
i think that this proves if your worried about your mac being noisy, get a new one....
Click to expand...

I am very glad that I swapped mine. I was not too impressed with the Apple Store service though. Online, they were great and they told me to go to the store to swap it out. (They could even hear it on the phone) When I went to the Apple store, they set it up in the back and then told me that they could not hear any noises whatsoever. I offered to go back there with them, but they said it was for employees only. I was frustrated because Apple told me to return it, so I drove 90 miles to do so. They finally swapped it and the difference is night and day. I would have to say the online service was fantastic, the gentlemen was very easy to deal with. The store service was lacking, but, on there behalf, it was noisy in the store.
 
Elan0204 said:
I have a 20" iMac G5, and there is a constant hum, bu I wouldn't say it is high-pitched. I would also say that my iMac is whisper quiet. You have to remember that a whisper is not silent, so you should expect that your iMac will make a constant sound, just not a very loud one.
Click to expand...

I agree with Elan0204. There is a constant hum but it has never become loud. My PB 17" is very quiet 90% of the time, but can get a lot more loud than what this G5 iMac has (and I've kept it busy all day) :)
 
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