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

calure

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 2, 2008
20
0
Hi, one of the most important issues for me is noise from the fans.
Can anyone please give their opinions on which is quieter - the macbook pro early 2008 or the latest one...

Would appreciate it greatly
 
late 08 is the quietest laptop i've ever owned. I had an early 08 before upgrading and the fans were quite loud under load. The late 08 is also quieter on startup as the dvd drive doesn't initialize as loud and Apple chime is softer. Other than the MBA, I havent heard a quieter Mac.
*personal opinion*
 
thanks

Thanks alot for your response, drewsof07

Maybe I'll just specify too that I want to get the 2.53 ghz with the 7200 hard drive... this might make a difference to the other configurations,

cheers in advance to all help...
 
No problem, I should clarify however that the early 08 is not loud by any means, just in comparison to the unibody.
Good luck :)
 
I second what drew said - the uni is quieter than the MBP1, but that wasn't "loud" by any means either.
 
Having owned old and new, the new unibody mbp's fan seems to be alot quieter even at higher rpms at around 5500.
 
I had a early 08 MBP and now the unibody MBP. The older was definitely louder though not by much. The newer shows the fans running at about 2K rpm but I have to put my ear very close to verify they're going.
 
Having had both, the new one is quieter. However the 7200rpm drive is going to be a lot louder than the fans unless you are doing something to spin up fans. Although the 7200rpm drives are quiet compared to drives of a few years ago, they are much louder than the 5400rpm drives in a very quiet room. If this is a big concern of yours, I'd seriously think about a 5400rpm drive or an SSD. The 5400rpm drive in the stock configuration benchmarked about as fast as an older 200GB 7200rpm drive.
 
quietness

Thanks for eveyones advice so far,

The 7200/5400 choice is a bit of a concern - I'm going to be running Pro tools and a mbox 2 pro with the mbp so i do need power, but how different is

a) the noise between the two when running hard?

b) the power difference?

Its this balance I need to find...

Cheers in advance to any knowledgables out there...
 
Thanks for eveyones advice so far,

The 7200/5400 choice is a bit of a concern - I'm going to be running Pro tools and a mbox 2 pro with the mbp so i do need power, but how different is

a) the noise between the two when running hard?

b) the power difference?

Its this balance I need to find...

Cheers in advance to any knowledgables out there...

I've got the 2.53 ghz and 7200 rpm hard drive. This doesn't make a sound unless you're really pushing it. When I say "doesn't make a sound" I mean I can't hear a fan or anything unless I put my ear to it while playing videos or multitasking with many different programs open.
 
I don't know about the MBP but the two Alu MacBook we now own are louder than the black MacBook and the white 2.4GHZ MacBook we previously owned. This is because it's fan is - even when it's idle - running a little faster. 2000rpm vs. 1400rpm or so. It's far from beeing loud though, when my external HD is on, then it's not even noticable.

This said I can agree to the other posts: Under load it's not as loud and it won't spin up the fan as often.
 
Thanks for eveyones advice so far,

The 7200/5400 choice is a bit of a concern - I'm going to be running Pro tools and a mbox 2 pro with the mbp so i do need power, but how different is

a) the noise between the two when running hard?

b) the power difference?

Its this balance I need to find...

Cheers in advance to any knowledgables out there...

The hard drive noise doesn't really vary much based on load. If you aren't using it mostly in a noisy room then the 7200rpm will probably be OK. The hard drive noise in a quiet room is more than the fans. But in a regular noise environment neither can be heard.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)

bcaslis said:
Thanks for eveyones advice so far,

The 7200/5400 choice is a bit of a concern - I'm going to be running Pro tools and a mbox 2 pro with the mbp so i do need power, but how different is

a) the noise between the two when running hard?

b) the power difference?

Its this balance I need to find...

Cheers in advance to any knowledgables out there...

The hard drive noise doesn't really vary much based on load. If you aren't using it mostly in a noisy room then the 7200rpm will probably be OK. The hard drive noise in a quiet room is more than the fans. But in a regular noise environment neither can be heard.

I have yet to hear the hard drive. At most I can hear the fans when I'm pushing the machine hard (gaming). The fans for just about everything else I've tried stay around 2,000 rpm which is barely audible. I do use a podium pad that keeps the back raised so air can get underneath it so that could be why for me. I like the raised keyboard too (easier to type and it doesn't hurt my wrists). Extremely quiet, and I suggest the op go to an apple store to hear one (if possible). It's hard to tell mine is even on it's that quiet.
 
Definitely Late 2008 Model. It's noticeably quieter compared to the previous one, Early 2008 Model, I had.

I second cg165. I'm yet to hear a single tick of hard drive. All I barely hear is fan noise. I couldn't believe how much quieter MBP has become compared to the early 2008 model. I can't even tell if the hard drive is working!

Note: My MBP is the base model.
 
thanks its looking good

Thanks everyone

I went to the apple store nearby,

a bit noisy in there to tell but i think the reports are an overwhelming : macbookpro late 2008!

cheers to all...
 
i had a mid 2007 with a 2.4, and now a late 2008 with a 2.4. both have had 5400rpm disks and 7200 rpm disks...

the late 2008 is noticeably quieter, and cooler. fans are quieter and dvd spin-up at boot is quieter, although it was strangely louder for a few days when i first got it.

as for the disk, the new 7200rpm disks made these days (mine is a 320) are FAR quieter than those in the past, and almost imperceptibly louder than a 5400 rpm. really just a fantastic drive.
 
My friend is sitting next to me right now and has an Early 2008 MBP (bought in August), and I have the Unibody MBP (2.4Ghz).

We're in a pretty much dead silent room and his is "louder" than mine. I say "louder" because while it is slightly more audible, it's hardly noticeable. Unless you're going to be operating in literally dead silence, there isn't much of a difference (the SuperDrives are a whole 'nother story though).
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20)



I have yet to hear the hard drive. At most I can hear the fans when I'm pushing the machine hard (gaming). The fans for just about everything else I've tried stay around 2,000 rpm which is barely audible. I do use a podium pad that keeps the back raised so air can get underneath it so that could be why for me. I like the raised keyboard too (easier to type and it doesn't hurt my wrists). Extremely quiet, and I suggest the op go to an apple store to hear one (if possible). It's hard to tell mine is even on it's that quiet.

Well, I have both one with a 320GB 7200rpm drive and one with an SSD. It's instantly apparent which one has the SSD in a quiet room. The 7200rpm drive isn't bad, but saying it's silent or even quieter than the fans just isn't true unless your fans are going full blast.
 
7200 problem

ok getting a bit of alt opinions now,

can anyone explain where the performance difference will actually be felt between the 5400 and the 7200?

cheers again all
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.