I think that is what I have, I can hear the fan turning, a good fan should be silent at idle. It is probably the video cooling fan, they are loud on PCs as well.
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Should an iMac be silent at idle?
- Thread starter ninemill
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I think that is what I have, I can hear the fan turning, a good fan should be silent at idle. It is probably the video cooling fan, they are loud on PCs as well.
If there is a hum, they are not silent. I wanted to post a recording of the sound, but iPod Touch does not pick up on it. It just records static. So the fan's noise is probably below 20 db, but when you seat in front of the iMac, you can clearly hear it.
My iMac is about as loud as my MacBook Pro when idle, or in other words: It's almost silent.
The loudest part of it is the internal HDD, but even that is a lot less noisy than the external drive I use for Time Machine.
Unlike the MacBook Pro, the iMac doesn't get much louder under load.
It's much more quiet than my old, extensively silent-modded desktop PC.
The loudest part of it is the internal HDD, but even that is a lot less noisy than the external drive I use for Time Machine.
Unlike the MacBook Pro, the iMac doesn't get much louder under load.
It's much more quiet than my old, extensively silent-modded desktop PC.
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Same here. At idle my iMac is almost dead silent.. In a completely silent room I can just barely hear a tiny 'whoosh'-sound as the air leaves the iMac.
My iMac is kinda "loud". Not loud as e regular pc but i can hear the harddrive working when it is working (unlike my macbook pro where i hardly heard it) and it makes a sort of higher pitched sound that changes when i adjust the brightness. Also i can hear the vents but that doesn't bother me much. Its mainly the HDD that is a bit annoying. Goddamn Samsung 1TB.
Thats probably the least enjoyable thing about my Mac. Then again, I always have some music on, so its not such a big deal.
Another great aspect about the iPad btw
That thing is supercool and totally quiet.
Thats probably the least enjoyable thing about my Mac. Then again, I always have some music on, so its not such a big deal.
Another great aspect about the iPad btw
That thing is supercool and totally quiet.Just exported a 1 hour movie with FCP-X. CPU load was around 500% most of the time. There was a bit more air flow audible but not much. Still way more quiet than my external HDD (and that's not really loud either).
I have SSD only 27" 2011 iMac. First thing check if your friend's imac is the 2010 model because it's a bit less noisy because the Optical Drive Fan spins 150rpm less than the 2011 imacs. Mine is silent but not inaudible, neither a fanless pc with ssd is inaudible because the PSU and other electrical things (also the led/inverter/emi filter etc..) makes noise, also in a 100k $ audiophile setup there is some noise from the amps an the S/N.
In my bedroom there's also a Mitsubishi AC and it's rated to 21DB at idle and if I turn on it I can't listen the iMac so the imac's 18db are true but if i close the AC i can listen the imac, it makes a low "ffffrrr" from the right side (where is the Optical D Fan) and the PSU/monitor make a soft mmmmhhhhh. These sounds are normal sound, also my iPhone makes at almost inaudible fffzzzz sound when the display is on if i put my ear close to it!
Yes the hard drive is very noisy to my ear, infact for my files i'm using a lot of USB pen drives (64-128gb) but for the backup i must turn on the External HD and the ffffffffzzzz tzktzktzk it's very annoying
About the imacs, every model increase the noise, the all plastic imacs are very silent, the rear black a bit less, the 2009-2010 imacs are a big jump in the noise level and the 2011 imacs are up than the 2010 due to the default speed of one fan increase (i don't know why).
Other things are the enviroment (in a small and enpty room even close to a wall or a cross it is more audible) and any guy can listen in a different "quality" also the stress/age/glasses etc.. make differences in the audible sound!
Hi and sorry for my english.
In my bedroom there's also a Mitsubishi AC and it's rated to 21DB at idle and if I turn on it I can't listen the iMac so the imac's 18db are true but if i close the AC i can listen the imac, it makes a low "ffffrrr" from the right side (where is the Optical D Fan) and the PSU/monitor make a soft mmmmhhhhh. These sounds are normal sound, also my iPhone makes at almost inaudible fffzzzz sound when the display is on if i put my ear close to it!
Yes the hard drive is very noisy to my ear, infact for my files i'm using a lot of USB pen drives (64-128gb)
but for the backup i must turn on the External HD and the ffffffffzzzz tzktzktzk it's very annoying About the imacs, every model increase the noise, the all plastic imacs are very silent, the rear black a bit less, the 2009-2010 imacs are a big jump in the noise level and the 2011 imacs are up than the 2010 due to the default speed of one fan increase (i don't know why).
Other things are the enviroment (in a small and enpty room even close to a wall or a cross it is more audible) and any guy can listen in a different "quality" also the stress/age/glasses etc.. make differences in the audible sound!
Hi and sorry for my english.