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For those with the new Mac Pros...

T

theBigD23

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
A couple of questions.

1. How noisy is the 5770? 5870? compared to the Nvidia GT 120. I'm not concerned about under heavy use, just under idle conditions. If you've owned a 2008 Mac Pro, how does the noise compare?

2. What exact model is the 1 TB drive with 32 MB of cache? I'd like to upgrade my hard drive and was wondering which ones it is so I can just order the exact one from New Egg.

Thanks!
 
Considering the GT120 has no fan, it's not going to make any noise, so anything with a fan will. I have a 4870 and it is practically silent at idle.

As for the HD it's a WD Black.
 
I can't comment on how the video card noise levels compare, but hopefully someone here will chime in.

Desmo1098 posted photos of his new 6-core at this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/999906/

From the photos of the hard drive, it appears to be a WD1001FALS ($88 @ Newegg).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

FWIW, although Newegg has lower prices than OWC, be aware that they do not pack hard drives with much, if any, care. I bought 4 drives from OWC, which came in very sturdy, heavy cardboard boxes, packed with foam, and shipped in a larger box with appropriate bubble wrap. I bought a single drive from Newegg, along with some other products. The drive from Newegg was not in any sort of packaging, and had minimal bubble pack wrapped around it. The drive and other contents of the shipping box had a single piece of bunched up craft paper as their only padding. When I received the box, it was badly dented (could have been the courier's fault) and the hard drive was sliding around in the bottom of the box with half its bubble wrap off. I would buy more durable products from Newegg, but I won't buy another hard drive from them.
 
sboerup said:
Considering the GT120 has no fan, it's not going to make any noise, so anything with a fan will.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not sure why this keeps getting repeated. The GT120 has a very decently sized fan, almost the same size as the 8800's fan.
 
There's actually quite a noise from the computer too. Not from that fan. I think the HD... more of a variable hum
 
This is my first MP so I can't compare to other models, but I've got the 5870 and I barely hear anything at idle. Leaning up right against it, there's a slight fan whir. Ambient noise from an open window completely drowns out anything coming from the machine.
 
Thanks for the help. After reading on barefeats article that the MDPs do not work, it completely killed this video card. Very disappointed. It looks like to get faster speeds I may have to get the 4870.
Can two 4870s run together to run two Apple LEDs?
 
theBigD23 said:
Thanks for the help. After reading on barefeats article that the MDPs do not work, it completely killed this video card. Very disappointed. It looks like to get faster speeds I may have to get the 4870.
Can two 4870s run together to run two Apple LEDs?
Click to expand...

No, running additional GT 120's is the only way to run additional MDP displays.

Fortunately the GT 120's do not consume power connectors. It's better to run your second display off a different card anyway, and the GT 120 isn't a horrible performer for what it is.
 
goMac said:
No, running additional GT 120's is the only way to run additional MDP displays.

Fortunately the GT 120's do not consume power connectors. It's better to run your second display off a different card anyway, and the GT 120 isn't a horrible performer for what it is.
Click to expand...

How frustrating. I was hoping that I could use the 5770. I hope someone figures it out. The GT 120 is a nice card for running the displays, but the Expose issue (which I thought was fixed, but keeps coming back) is annoying me. I was really hoping to get the 5770 and run two displays off of one card.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
5770 is fairly quiet. My 2.8 overall is maybe a whisper. OEM drive is WD Caviar Black -- quite impressed w/ that one.
Click to expand...

What computer did you own before this one? I have the same Mac Pro, just arrived today. Haven't owned a MP before - my iMac and (especially) my Mac Mini are what I would call whisper quiet - this one makes a racket in comparison. Especially the lower pitched variable hum, almost makes my desk have a slight vibration.
 
5870 is pretty quiet. The Hitachi 2TB drive is louder.

I was playing Portal last night - full res (1920x1080) and high settings. I decided to fall infinitely to put some stress on the framerate and muted the audio to try listen to the Mac Pro.. no discernable difference compared to not playing any games.
 
blackmtn said:
What computer did you own before this one? I have the same Mac Pro, just arrived today. Haven't owned a MP before - my iMac and (especially) my Mac Mini are what I would call whisper quiet - this one makes a racket in comparison. Especially the lower pitched variable hum, almost makes my desk have a slight vibration.
Click to expand...

That's my experience too. I think it depends too on where people put their MP mine is next to me. On the floor I guess it would be more like a whisper.
 
blackmtn said:
Especially the lower pitched variable hum, almost makes my desk have a slight vibration.
Click to expand...

😛 so you made a sound board for your computer to make it louder? Try separating it from hard surfaces and make sure it doesn't touch anything on the sides either.
 
pascals said:
😛 so you made a sound board for your computer to make it louder? Try separating it from hard surfaces and make sure it doesn't touch anything on the sides either.
Click to expand...

How do you separate it? Please give us some tips. Mines on a hollow cabinet and I'm sure that's the problem. MPs have no rubber feet.
 
englishman said:
How do you separate it? Please give us some tips. Mines on a hollow cabinet and I'm sure that's the problem. MPs have no rubber feet.
Click to expand...

Go to a hardware/DIY store and buy some felt or rubber feet with sticky back? I don't know which works best for you. I prefer felt, which slides nicely on a hardwood floor/cabinet. As the case is made from aluminium the sticky stuff can be removed years from now with little trouble. Thicker ones are better at dampening vibrations, especially from the optical drive, but the thinnest ones you can find are probably more than sufficient.

For me, room ambient noise is more important than the looks of the underside of my new Mac Pro. You?
 
pascals said:
Go to a hardware/DIY store and buy some felt or rubber feet with sticky back? I don't know which works best for you. I prefer felt, which slides nicely on a hardwood floor/cabinet. As the case is made from aluminium the sticky stuff can be removed years from now with little trouble. Thicker ones are better at dampening vibrations, especially from the optical drive, but the thinnest ones you can find are probably more than sufficient.

For me, room ambient noise is more important than the looks of the underside of my new Mac Pro. You?
Click to expand...

I'll try separating it with something and get back to the forum with results.

The computer itself is actually pretty quiet, I pulled out my (Radioshack!) decibel meter and it read generally below 50 db (the lowest it will read), sometimes peaking around 54 db, all while the computer was at idle. That is pretty quiet - maybe it's the low pitch hum that's bugging me the most and hopefully your idea will help that.

[Edit]
Well, I now have a nice thick wool sock under each end of the computer and it still sounds the same.
 
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