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iMac 27" - how quiet is it?

L

LeicaMan111

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 26, 2010
30
0
It is impossible to tell how quiet or noisy it is in the Apple Stores with all that ambient noise.

So can I please ask you? Unlike the 21" or MacMini which both have laptop drives (2.5"), the 27" has a full size 3.5" drive.

So how quiet is it?

Does Apple publish any audio level specs?

Thanks!
 
It's nice and quiet. Barely audible in a quiet room. There's nothing to worry about.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
It's nice and quiet. Barely audible in a quiet room. There's nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but that is subjective. One man's quiet is another man's noisy!

Is it as quiet as a MacBook Air for instance?

Can you hear the hard drive spinning at idle?
 
LeicaMan111 said:
Thanks, but that is subjective. One man's quiet is another man's noisy!

Is it as quiet as a MacBook Air for instance?

Can you hear the hard drive spinning at idle?
Click to expand...

Quiet is of supreme importance to me. However if you're seeking absolute quiet, you won't find it. If you tune your ear just right in a quiet room, you can hear the HDD.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
Quiet is of supreme importance to me. However if you're seeking absolute quiet, you won't find it. If you tune your ear just right in a quiet room, you can hear the HDD.
Click to expand...

So is the HDD the noisiest component? Can you not hear the fan then?

Damn shame they didn't put in a 2.5 inch drive :mad:

Still if at idle one can just about hear the HDD and not much else, it is pretty good, but I guess we have been spoilt by Apple. My Retina MacBook Pro is so, so quiet :)

How does it sound like at load? Like a hair dryer? My Retina MacBook Pro sure does!
 
LeicaMan111 said:
So is the HDD the noisiest component? Can you not hear the fan then?

Damn shame they didn't put in a 2.5 inch drive :mad:

Still if at idle one can just about hear the HDD and not much else, it is pretty good, but I guess we have been spoilt by Apple. My Retina MacBook Pro is so, so quiet :)

How does it sound like at load? Like a hair dryer? My Retina MacBook Pro sure does!
Click to expand...

When I run Handbrake, all cores are at maximum and that's when I can hear the fans. It's a low noise factor. This is not a PC with 10 giant fans running making it sound like a typhoon at idle.
 
If your looking for a completely silent powerful computer then you're out of luck. The iMac's are probably the most powerful, energy efficient machines on the market that make the least noise.
 
iMcLovin said:
Get the 768 flash drive and it's very silent.
Click to expand...

I second that. Got the 768gb SSD myself, and no HD noise (or spinups or slowdowns) to worry about. Seriously if the iMac fan should bother you, then you got some serious issues. :) Get the iMac, and don't worry. The fan sound is very, very low. Any less sound, and you would need a passive cooling system.
 
If noise is an issue, these can help .....

Reusable-Earplugs-300.jpg



But seriously the iMac is probably bothered more about your breathing they you would be about its noise.
 
If the room is quiet, and you put your ears 5 inches from the imac screen, you can hear the fan spinning but the sound is smooth and not like a turbine sound from a PC desktop.
 
Thanks for the replies. Sounds as if it is indeed quiet :)

And no there is no way I can afford the internal SSD!

In fact if I do get the iMac I will get an external SSD (Thunderbolt or USB 3.0) and use that to boot from and as my main drive. Then hopefully the 1TB hard drive will fall asleep soon after booting up and stay shut up!
 
I have now gotten my iMac 27 Inch and I am very pleased to say that it is EXTREMELY quiet! :)

I haven't yet stressed the machine's CPU or GPU, but so far it unbelievably quiet. As quiet as can be. I don't hear a damn thing! It is impossible to tell on from off!

Well done Apple!
 
I got the fusion drive thinking it would be quieter. Its the same HDD noise. The SSD is the way to go if you have the $$$.
 
LeicaMan111 said:
Thanks for the replies. Sounds as if it is indeed quiet :)

And no there is no way I can afford the internal SSD!

In fact if I do get the iMac I will get an external SSD (Thunderbolt or USB 3.0) and use that to boot from and as my main drive. Then hopefully the 1TB hard drive will fall asleep soon after booting up and stay shut up!
Click to expand...

My friend has one, and they surely SEEM pretty quiet under fairly heavy use.. That being said, in a room with Hard Surfaces (especially behind to reflect), No Carpet and limited Furniture to absorb/break up sound waves, you may think the computer is loud, and even more so if in a Corner of a Room.. If I get near again and have my SPL meter I will shoot you a pic of it in use.. :apple:

That being said, a mere Dollar will fix that issue for you too!!
 
we have a 2012 iMac in our studio and it does not make any noise at all, it's so quiet in fact that our two Rode studio microphones don't pick it up in the recordings.
 
I think he was making a funny. I, on the other hand, do hear strange noises coming from the speakers of my iMac. But, having worked on Windows machines for many years, my iMac is nearly silent.
 
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