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Is Fusion Drive noisy?

Sorry to bring up this old thread but I was searching around as I've just decided to return my iMac with fusion drive for pure SSD. My other machine is a 2011 MacBook Pro with SSD and is silent until the fans spin up (ie playing games). At which point the machine is on par with our vacuum cleaner.

So, I found the constant noise of the fusion drive annoying when just word processing etc, 1st world problem I know.

I'm not sure if the noise would bother most people - to be honest, it's not loud but once you are used to an SSD only machine, the noise is noticeable.

Hope this helps people. I've gone with the 256gb SSD and will use Dropbox for long term file storage.
 
shot2bits said:
Sorry to bring up this old thread but I was searching around as I've just decided to return my iMac with fusion drive for pure SSD. My other machine is a 2011 MacBook Pro with SSD and is silent until the fans spin up (ie playing games). At which point the machine is on par with our vacuum cleaner.

So, I found the constant noise of the fusion drive annoying when just word processing etc, 1st world problem I know.

I'm not sure if the noise would bother most people - to be honest, it's not loud but once you are used to an SSD only machine, the noise is noticeable.

Hope this helps people. I've gone with the 256gb SSD and will use Dropbox for long term file storage.
Click to expand...

I have a mixed setup in my home office and to tell the truth, I really never notice but again my office is not whisper quiet most of the time.

I bought my wife the 2012 i7 680MX 1TB Fusion drive which sits about 6' from me and I just installed a DIY Fusion drive in my Mac Mini "server" that sits about 3' from me and I never notice the sound from either.

For myself I did go with the 256GB SSD on my 2013 iMac just because I do not need loads of storage space as my Mini is my storage server for photos, files, etc.

I actually notice the fans spin up on the other two computers more than anything else.
 
I would agree, the noise isn't really noticeable when you have even the slightest ambient noise. However, working from home, my office is often whisper quiet and I'm working with the iMac right in front of me so it's bothering me!
 
shot2bits said:
I would agree, the noise isn't really noticeable when you have even the slightest ambient noise. However, working from home, my office is often whisper quiet and I'm working with the iMac right in front of me so it's bothering me!
Click to expand...

One of the big reasons I went pure 256GB SSD. Fusion Drive is great for people who truly need 1TB+ all internal, but I'd bet many leave 100's of GB's unused and could totally get by on 256GB and seldom used media files on an external USB3 or Thunderbolt drive.

SSD = silent. No burping, crackling, or grumbling.
 
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