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How loud is a 2.4 GHz iMac?

J

jakesonaplane

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 3, 2008
5
0
Hey all! I have been looking to upgrade from my PowerMac G5 to a refurb iMac (20-inch, 2.4GHz, 1 gig RAM). My parents have offered to pay half but first I think my dad needs a little convincing as to why the iMac is better than what I have now. My PowerMac is in my room in front of a window and I keep the tower on top of my desk (for lack of any other room under my desk). Since our upstairs AC is busted and the tower gets flooded with sun from my window, the fans are often running really quickly and my machine gets super loud, which my dad HATES.

So I'm wondering- how loud is an iMac? Is there any difference in the loudness based on screen size or processor? (IE- 20" vs 24" or 2.4 GHz vs 2.66GHz.)

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for helping me out!
 
My iMac sits in front of my window and is on in the morning when the sun hits it directly (Louisiana Sun too!) and I must say to me it's completely silent and I have very good hearing. My iMac can get hot (Airport 61C) and its still silent with the fans going.

I have yet to hear it even with the A/C off and no outside or inside sound around.

It's quite amazing. I have the 24" 2.8GHZ model.
 
I have the 24" 2.8 ghz model. Haven't heard a thing since I got it. Great since I had switched from a PC that sounded like lawnmower. I once left this computer on all night when I was rendering a video...I couldn't sleep at all. With the iMac, the computer sounds just like it does when it's off, so I don't really have to worry about any of that. My iMac sits right in front of a window too, and its been getting up to about 106 outside, still silent. *The top of the iMac does get really hot though, no matter what temperature* but that's normal as it's just the heat escaping. The aluminum casing helps with this.

I don't believe that the screen size changes the amount of noise coming out of the machine.
 
My 3ghz iMac is the quitest machine I've ever used. Even at night when everything else is silent it's hard to tell that it's even on.
 
I have a 2.4ghz 20 iMac and its really quiet. I live in the south as well and I never hear the fans at all. Of course the house has a/c but I never heard it during the winter months either.
 
All the imacs are, by default, programmed to be whisper quiet. Literally. :D:apple:

EDIT: One time, I left it on while I went on vacation. I made a big deal of turning it off, too, putting my ear right up against it to see if it was really off. Of course, the a/c and my room fan must have drowned it out. :p
 
I had a 2.4ghz 24" iMac and it was really quiet. Not something you should worry about at all.
Now the Mac Pro I replaced it with... that thing is a loud, hot, beast.
 
If you want figures: According to C't-magazine (Dutch release), noise production is as follows:

20" 2,66 GHz copying CD to HD: 0,3 sone
20" 2,66 GHZ processor fully loaded: 0,1 sone

24" 2,8 GHz copying CD to HD: 0,9 sone
24" 2,8 GHZ processor fully loaded: 0,2 sone

Sone is a sound measuring unit that's better for comparing different values than decibel is. To give you an idea: 0,3 sone = 30 dB (sound of your own breath) an 2 sone = 50 dB (a normal conversation).

I've got a 24" 2,8 iMac myself and it really is quiet. The only machine I owned that was more silent, was my rev. E iMac G3. which didn't have any fans at all.
 
It's so loud I can't even hear it. Like many of the users, I've owned mine for almost 2 years now and I don't think I've ever heard any noise from it other than the optical drive...and of course the speakers haha.

By comparison, I've used MacPros that made me go deaf and I've been able to hear the humming from my MBP since the day I bought it.
 
i use mine in a very VERY quiet setting. the control room of a 3 room recording studio.

even during heavy cpu and graphics lifting, its as quiet as a mouse.
 
I have the 20" 2.4Ghz and its on all the time and I can't hear the fans at all. So So quiet.

My Dell XPS M1530 is a hell of a lot noiser when they are on at the same time.
 
I recently upgraded to the new iMac 3 GHz and what a difference compared to my old iMac G5!

The only thing I hear now is my refrigerator in the kitchen.
 
I am sitting at mine now and I can definitely hear it. It is by no means silent and I cannot sleep with it switched on.
 
My iMac is utterly silent most times. At the odd time when I CAN hear it, it is slightly annoying even though I have to strain to do so. And then I go back to work where I can hear a random PC through a closed door across the office.
 
Under no circumstances buy a 20" iMac

Firstly. I bought a 20" Aluminium iMac without checking Apple's discussion forums, first. The screens are flawed. Don't buy one. You will be bitterly disappointed. The colours fade from top to bottom of the screen - cheap screen, which Apple won't fix. They've been like this since 2007 and the 2008 model is no better.

That aside. Al iMacs are pretty well silent.

HOWEVER, since the latest EFI Update, the fan runs much louder & longer when the optical drive is being used. By comparison PC is much, much louder, though.

A lot of people wanted to downgrade, as this is quite annoying when you're used to an entirely silent iMac... but alas, there's no going back. If you get the option, don't load the April '08 EFI Update. If you buy a new one, you probably won't have a choice.

Get the Al 24", they're a brilliant machine and probably the best computer ever made.

You're not looking at buying a white iMac are you?
 
Thanks for the input everyone, this should definitely help! My PowerMac literally sounds like an airplane these days so it sounds like the iMac will be a nice change!

albusseverus said:
HOWEVER, since the latest EFI Update, the fan runs much louder & longer when the optical drive is being used. By comparison PC is much, much louder, though.

You're not looking at buying a white iMac are you?
Click to expand...

Do you mean that it only gets loud when burning a CD/DVD?

And no, I am going to buy an Alu iMac! :D
 
You must have gotten one with a certain model WD or Seagate drive - I know. Some WD drives especially can hum quite loudly.

I have a Core Duo white iMac. it's been problematic all of it's life but I just got a bad one. It can get very loud. As in Rack Server loud.
 
Hates said:
My 3ghz iMac is the quitest machine I've ever used. Even at night when everything else is silent it's hard to tell that it's even on.
Click to expand...

I know this isn't my thread, but that sounds great! (or rather not-get it? :p)
I'm getting my first iMac (and first Mac) sometime this summer and sometimes I download a lot of torrents, which can sometimes take a long time, especially the really long ones. Not being able to hear that it's on, coupled with a screen that's turned off, means I'll sleep a lot better when I'm waiting overnight for something to download.
 
jpmittins said:
I know this isn't my thread, but that sounds great! (or rather not-get it? :p)
I'm getting my first iMac (and first Mac) sometime this summer and sometimes I download a lot of torrents, which can sometimes take a long time, especially the really long ones. Not being able to hear that it's on, coupled with a screen that's turned off, means I'll sleep a lot better when I'm waiting overnight for something to download.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, this is exactly why I think this sounds great as well!
 
jakesonaplane said:
Ahhh, this is exactly why I think this sounds great as well!
Click to expand...

Ha, yeah. I do a lot of my downloading during the night, because it seems quicker since I'm asleep and because sometimes it screws up my internet since the upload speed may accidentally be set to unlimited. But my current laptop is just way too loud, the fans are ALWAYS on and ALWAYS loud, no matter what I'm doing, from the moment I turn on the computer to when I turn it off. Can't wait until I get my iMac to fix that problem. But I digress...
 
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