Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Silencing a G5 PM

M

mannybianco

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 4, 2005
24
0
Quite keen on getting one of these, but the frequent complaints about fan noise and "chirping" problems concern me. I hate loud computers, and have spent a load trying to get my pc to **** so i can use it as a media centre (with some success). I also do some digital audio work, so my machines need to be fairly quiet when they are getting caned, as well as when they are just playing dvds

So my question is - how loud are these things, and also what scope is there for silencing them without blowing the warranty to bits?

All my pcs have been self-build, so doing things like lining the case with sound-absorbing foam hasnt affected the warranty on the other components.

All advice appreciated....
 
Is there nothing physical you can do to quieten them down? Short of a spare room and some long cables....
 
It's OK

My dual 2.5Ghz chirps as well. It has done it from day 1 and I have gotten used to it.

My PowerBook chirps as well when the PowerBrick is plugged in about once every 5 seconds. There is also a faint crackling sound when the PowerBrick is plugged in, again both sounds have been there since day 1 and have not gotten any worse.

I can hear the high pitched whistle sound on the G5 - it's similar to the sound of an old TV when you just turn it on - when playing UT 2004, believe it or not, when there is minimal load on the processors.

It must be something to do with the Power unit - not the processors. There are threads about this on the Apple Discussions forum.
G5 chirps

Again, it has been there since day 1 and I have 11 months of AppleCare left on the G5 so I will monitor it to see if it gets worse.

edit - have a listen to this guy's PowerBook. (save link to disk and take the .txt off the end of the filename to play)

PowerBook under load

Now THAT'S something to worry about :p

aussie_geek
 
Daveway said:
To fix/remedy this problem: Install the CHUD tools and disable NAP mode. This will cause a speed-up in the fans, but the noise should stop.
Click to expand...
What is CHUD Tools?
 
OK, lets forget about the chirping issue and think about general noise.

If i was looking to mute a noisy pc, i would be looking at ultra-quiet replacement PSUs, quiet case fans, quiet processor fans - maybe even watercooling, sound absorbing foam, hard drive sleeves etc.

Forgetting about the warranty, is there anything like this available for the PM?
 
As odd as it sounds...the quieter your computer, the more amplified every little *eep* is. This means HD access, DVD/CD-ROM access, or heck even listening to the GPU fan speed up are much louder (in relativity). This may sound odd, but if you are a stickler for having absolute quiet, using a computer at all may be something you need to really sit down and figure out.

Do you rather have a medium level of white-noise? (consistency)
Or absolute quietness (<20dba), marked by sudden interruptions? (chirping bugs from nature? Pardon the pun).

I prefer the first choice, and its even nicer that PCs have something called "Speedfan" which is a software-based fan speed controller. Fans that haven't already been set to 7V, can vary from 100% down to 0%; the biggest reductions obviously coming when you initially step down to 90% and then 85%.

Macs don't really need this since its dynamically varied, in a sense like Q-fan except in real time. Yeah, with Macs you only have the "nature" choice (no "white noise" alternative)...so those with soft ears may have problems.
 
I think id be one of those peeps that likes a low background noise that can be kind of blanked out, as opposed to fans spinning up and down. Bugger...

The best option I have seen so far for silencing is these things
http://www.silencecases.com/
...but they are a bit expensive. And may have adverse affects by running the g5 hot all the time.

What do you think?
 
I think my Quicksilver is loud as hell. I think the G5 is silent as a grave in comparison. I think you should stop complaning about it. But, that's just what I think.

Oh, I also think it's a bad idea to mess with a G5's cooling zones.
 
Im glad your G5 is quieter than your old machine, but that doesnt mean **** to me.

Why should I stop "complaining about it"? I didnt think I was complaining about it, I thought I was trying to find a solution to a problem, which judging by the number of threads about it, is widely recognised. Sticking your head in the sand and saying we shouldnt be talking about it, well, what does that acheive? If you dont think its a problem, why exactly are you posting on this thread? Does everything that could be perceived as criticism of Apple have to be blindly refuted?

Ironically, my ears are full of gunge at the minute and I cant hear a damn thing anyway...
 
yellow said:
I think my Quicksilver is loud as hell. I think the G5 is silent as a grave in comparison. I think you should stop complaning about it. But, that's just what I think.

Oh, I also think it's a bad idea to mess with a G5's cooling zones.
Click to expand...

I agree. I was impressed with how much quieter the G5 is compared to my Quicksilver. Unless you're doing audio recording/monitoring in the same room, it's only loud enough to disturb the most obsessive of people.
 
The G5's are so quiet, that when I have my PowerBook on the desk and the G5 under the table, I can hear the PowerBook's hard drive some times when I open a big file.

Compared to my 'wind tunnel' MDD G4 tower, the G5 is a different beast all together.

The G5 is the quietest Mac's I have ever owned.


aussie_geek
 
Maybe its because my PC before I got my PowerMac sounded like a fighter jet taking off, but I think my G5 is almost silent. I can sleep with it in the room and on and not have any problem.
 
yg17 said:
Maybe its because my PC before I got my PowerMac sounded like a fighter jet taking off, but I think my G5 is almost silent. I can sleep with it in the room and on and not have any problem.
Click to expand...

Hmm...the more I think about it, maybe mannybianco is actually looking for a noiseless system. I'm talking about where HD access, even with quiet drives like a Samsung are dampened by a thick (but cool) case. Where the CPU is cooled sufficiently, with no discernable noise. (W/C? Got radiator noise. Air? Got turbulence to deal with; etc. etc.) Is this thermally possible?

In engineering fast/good/cheap are only available in pairs. Having a fast chip that is also dead-silent is going to be expensive. I think the reason people are telling you to stop complaining is that, at least on the Mac side, it is better than you don't tinker with this.

While I don't entirely support the "take it or leave it" approach, you have to remember that you are already buying into this when you go Apple.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back