# Fan noise on the iMac G5



## ajaxline (Jul 20, 2005)

Howdy, ehMac'ers - 

This question goes out to those of you who own (or have owned) iMac G5s.

There seems to be a lot of disparity in online reviews, forums, etc., concerning the amount of noise generated by the fans in the iMac G5s. I have read reviews which call the iMac G5 "whisper quiet", and I have read reviews where people compare the iMac G5 to a buzzsaw.  

So, I turn to you for some objective input. How would you rate your iMac G5 for noise, both in comparison to a standard PC tower case, and just as it is in your environment?

(I ask because computer noise is almost as important a factor to me as performance, expandability, and so on.)

Cheers,
A.J.

www.closetuniverse.com

Buy the CU book!
http://www.lulu.com/content/150260


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## planders (Jun 24, 2005)

My 20"/2.0 GHz Rev. B definitely falls into the "whisper quiet" category, though you can certainly hear the fans at all times. It's just the sound of moving air though, none of the buzzing reported by others.

The noise level is affected by processor load and ambient room temperature, so now that the heat wave appears to be over the iMac runs quieter--and it should be even quieter when winter comes as I keep my room fairly cool. But it should be noted that even with the fans cranked to the max (i.e. in Open Firmware, etc.) the noise level is far from the worst I've heard. My big PC tower with four 10K SCSI hard disks and a pair of 12 cm fans idles much louder!


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## Jordan (Jul 20, 2002)

The fan noise you've been reading about affects the first generation iMac G5s that were released. Sometimes it's hard to figure out which version iMac G5s people are talking about because they don't say if it's the first release or ALS.
I have a 20" iMac G5 ALS and it's whisper quiet, considering there are 3 fans running I'm amazed it's this quiet.


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## coreLlama (Aug 5, 2005)

I can definitely say my 20"/2Ghz iMac G5 rev.B is also in the "whisper quiet" area. Even if the room is silent the fan noise isn't at all distracting, barley noticeable. I've only heard the fans rev up a lot once, when I tried a hardware test. No where close to a buzzsaw though. 

My work IBM intellistation dual Xenon thing is incredibly noisy. I can hear the fan speed increase the longer I hold down my Wacom pen (like a pen stroke). It's a buzzsaw...

I also noticed when I maxed out the iMac RAM it runs slightly cooler so the fans work load is decreased.


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## planders (Jun 24, 2005)

coreLlama said:


> I also noticed when I maxed out the iMac RAM it runs slightly cooler so the fans work load is decreased.


Probably due to reduced hard disk activity. RAM runs mighty hot these days, but a busy hard disk is hotter...


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## green_ears (Feb 26, 2005)

ajaxline said:


> How would you rate your iMac G5 for noise, both in comparison to a standard PC tower case, and just as it is in your environment?


I have a 2d generation. You will hear the fans. I can hear myself wisper. But I can also hear the fans buzzing away at a very low volume. I also have a Shuttle XPC and it's so small and incredibly hot, that the fans rev up and down all the time and it sounds like a vaccum. The mac is quiet compared to it, but definatly not silent. You will always hear the fans running, but I have only heard them rev up when doing 3D stuff, playing music and watching movies at the same time.

Either way, if you play music or a movie while working, it will drown out the fans. So, it's no big deal and, IMO, one of the more quiet PCs I've ever come accross.


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## Brian Scully (Jan 23, 2001)

*Noise*

My 17 inch G5iMac is virtually quiet unless processor hits 80% or more then they kick in and within seconds the temp drops and all is quiet again First generation manufactured November 8 2004 and while it is in the serial number range for the extended warranty I have had no problems with the unit which is running 24/7
1 gig of memory perhaps helps it run cool but base temp is in the 63 C range 
The only tower I have owned was a StarMax 3000 (Mac 4400) and its fan was quite audible but not annoying


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## Peter Sensei (Jul 8, 2005)

My 17 inch g5imac is also a first generation, but I second Mr. Scully's opinion the machine is "wisper Quiet" unless under a large load. My advise go for it .


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## ajaxline (Jul 20, 2005)

green_ears said:


> I also have a Shuttle XPC and it's so small and incredibly hot, that the fans rev up and down all the time and it sounds like a vaccum.


I have an Intel P4 2.54 GHz Shuttle XPC, with a single 120 GB HD and 1 GB RAM. The machine is remarkably quiet, especially since I chose a passive-cooled video card, the All-In-Wonder Radeon VE (I sacrificed some 3D performance for quiet, and a TV tuner).

The only fans in the Shuttle are on the heatpipe chip cooler, and in the power supply. The bios-controlled fan on the heatpipe never ramps up on me, even when I am doing processor-intensive work such as audio mastering (I am a musician, and use Adobe Audition to record and master tracks. Thus, my interest in the noise level of the iMac G5.). 

I recently had to get a new power supply for my Shuttle, as the original unit was beginning to buzz and howl like mad. The new unit, which I was actually able to find in stock at Memory Express, is even quieter than the original power supply was when it was new.

Are you running an AMD or Intel processor in your Shuttle XPC? I know that the AMD processors tend to run hotter, and are more likely to cause the heatpipe fan to ramp up in speed.

Thanks for your feedback!

A.J.


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## jicon (Jan 12, 2005)

Check the apple website, as the iMac G5s now have an extended repair program from what I remember... The fans are also different between revision A and B. B has a quieter design.

http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/


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## green_ears (Feb 26, 2005)

ajaxline said:


> I have an Intel P4 2.54 GHz Shuttle XPC, with a single 120 GB HD and 1 GB RAM. The machine is remarkably quiet, especially since I chose a passive-cooled video card, the All-In-Wonder Radeon VE (I sacrificed some 3D performance for quiet, and a TV tuner).
> 
> The only fans in the Shuttle are on the heatpipe chip cooler, and in the power supply. The bios-controlled fan on the heatpipe never ramps up on me, even when I am doing processor-intensive work such as audio mastering (I am a musician, and use Adobe Audition to record and master tracks. Thus, my interest in the noise level of the iMac G5.).
> 
> ...


Off topic, but FYI: I have an SN41G2 with a 1.33 Ghz AMD K7 Athlon-C in it, 2 HDs and a Radeon 9700 Pro.


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## mac_geek (May 14, 2005)

I have a rev.B 2.0ghz G5 iMac with 2gb of RAM and the 400gb HDD.

The fans run very quietly, continuously, and only ramp up under heavy load. There is no buzzing, and it is generally very quiet.

On a bit of a different note, one observation I've had is that because the whole unit is up on top of my desk (rather than near the floor,) which is generally clean, I suspect that my iMac will suck very little dust into the intakes.. which seems to be a design advantage over a tower that is generally closer to a floor and sucking so much air that dust accumulation becomes a real problem.


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