help reducing imac fan speed (noisy imac w/ati 4850 card)

[danlovaj]

Just got my new 24" 3.06ghz ati 4850 imac.
But it is really noisy. installed smcfancontrol and istat, i notice my fan speeds are:

cpu 3600rpm
hdd 1600rpm
optical drive 800rpm

from the threads i've read, the cpu speed is much too high, but i cannot see how in smcfancontrol to limit the MAX speed, only MIN speed. The noise is driving me nuts, i thought macs were to be super quiet.

 

[Sebby]

What are your temperatures like? Get the iStat Pro widget to check.

 

[spencecb]

I guess I'm lucky about not hearing the fan noise on my new iMac 2.93 GHz. It's due to the fact that my partner has a Quad-core AMD PC sitting right next to it. Between the turbine-like fan noise and EXTREMELY loud, clicky HDD, I can't hear a thing from my iMac!!

In all seriousness, though, I'm not sure reducing the fan speed is a good idea. That CPU is sitting in tight quarters, and you don't want to risk reducing the life of the CPU by letting it overheat.

 

[Sebby]

I agree with that, but iMacs should generally be quiet, which makes me wonder about the temperatures.

 

[danlovaj]

Temps seem fine. Per istat widget, in degrees Celsius

HDD 48
CPU 32
CPU Heatsink 30
Ambient 21
GPU 42
GPU Diode 37
GPU Heatsink 35
HD Bay 47

Even after SMU, PRAM resets, no change in fan speed. I am not running any heavy CPU apps, this problem has been present since I first powered up the iMac out of the box. Calling applecare now to see if they have any ideas.

 

[Sebby]

Those temps are absolutely fine (actually very low). I was going to say it might be worth calling Apple as something doesn't sound right.

 

[danlovaj]

just got off the phone with them.

they now suggest taking it to a apple repair rep to have them diagnose the issue. if it is hardware fault, then i should be able to get a replacement. since i bought it online, i have to take it there.

i am leary of having them pop my imac open...

 

[Sebby]

Leary?

 

[danlovaj]

Leary?

leery?

aka afraid

 

[Sebby]

Ah. I thought that's what you were getting at.

To be honest, you shouldn't have to let them open it up. Explain that it's brand new and you don't want it messed about with, you just want it replaced (assuming it's a hardware issue).

 

[danlovaj]

Ran the Apple Hardware test, gave me an error code

4SNS/1/40000000:TLOP-128.000

No idea what that means, it suggested I run the extended testing, which is currently running now, to verify the error code. But hopefully that code means something.

 

[spencecb]

Ran the Apple Hardware test, gave me an error code

4SNS/1/40000000:TLOP-128.000

No idea what that means, it suggested I run the extended testing, which is currently running now, to verify the error code. But hopefully that code means something.

Let us know what this means if it gives you further explanation.

 

[Sebby]

Ran the Apple Hardware test, gave me an error code

4SNS/1/40000000:TLOP-128.000

No idea what that means, it suggested I run the extended testing, which is currently running now, to verify the error code. But hopefully that code means something.

A Google of that error code does throw up a few pages, but doesn't reveal anything much other than having to get it fixed by Apple!

 

[danlovaj]

A Google of that error code does throw up a few pages, but doesn't reveal anything much other than having to get it fixed by Apple!

Yep, gonna fedex it back and have a replacement in the mail as soon as they receive notice that i've returned it. The replacement is already on order and standby as soon as i return the first one. God this sucks, I read about problematic macs on this forum, and lo and behold my very first one is a problem. I guess the "it just works" thing is BS, macs have their share of problems like Windows PC's. That was one reason to get a mac in the first place. This is the first time I've ever had a problem on such an expensive investement, and had to return it.

 

[danlovaj]

Just to update, got the replacement in yesterday 5/18. Fingers crossed, powered it on, YES!!! No noisy fan. First I then did was installed iStat, CPU Fan speed at 1200rpm. PROBLEM SOLVED.

So far it has been a bliss to work with. Thinking about purchasing a Time Capsule next, 1gb model. Definite improvement over my old Toshiba Satellite M45 laptop.

 

[Sebby]

Great news.

 

[jmpage2]

Just to update, got the replacement in yesterday 5/18. Fingers crossed, powered it on, YES!!! No noisy fan. First I then did was installed iStat, CPU Fan speed at 1200rpm. PROBLEM SOLVED.

So far it has been a bliss to work with. Thinking about purchasing a Time Capsule next, 1gb model. Definite improvement over my old Toshiba Satellite M45 laptop.

I'm glad it got worked out. Something seemed wrong, the only time I hear my iMac is if I'm blasting peeps in a heavy duty FPS game running under Windows... then the fans spin loud enough to hear over background noise, but just barely.

As to the Time Capsule, it is ridiculously over priced. If you're just looking for the ability to store a lot of media and do Time Machine backups, take a look at the HP Mediasmart EX485. It is compatible with Time Machine, and has 4 drive bays so you can expand it out to over 6TB.

 

[phalewhale]

HDD Fan Speed?

Hi, just out of interest, on your new replacement what was the speed of the HDD and Optical Drive Fans?

The first CTO 24" Radeon was quiet but had issues with the screen. The replacement is noisier than the last one I had but the screen is perfect.

My iStats:

CPU: 1200
HDD: 1600
Optical: 800

Haven't tried the hardware test or anything else yet.