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Mac Zealot · Feb 21, 2003, 02:07 PM

WHY?!

I went to see an MDD mac, and set my head next to it, this was one that had been on all day and even with my playing around with it, didn't get that loud.

It was just a rather high pitched, but quiet noise.

My g4 was on the other side of the room, dominating the noise, I mean their MDD was just a whieeeirrieiririr

....

Mine was HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Like comparing a hair dryer to an industrial air conditioner.

And you MDD owners say your computers are loud?

lays little violin:

The Placid Casual · Feb 21, 2003, 04:41 PM

Hi MZ hows it going!

You still have your dual 800 right? If so I think that you may have a point about the noise...

My curent dual 867 is 'loud', I can hear it 3 rooms away down a staircase (really!) but in a way it is a much more bearable loud than my dual 800 used to be...

The dual 867 has a hoover like hum, I think 'whieeeirrieiririr' does indeed cover it well! Whereas the 800 sounded like it was sucking furniture in the vents when it got going.. a full-on howl!!

I think the answer lies in the vents and fans and things... I really quietened my d800 down by rearranging the vent plates on the back, I know a better bearing fan would also make things much more bearable... I guess the powersupply also has its part to play...

I would try and get one of the newer supplies and do some of the mods from xlr8... If your warranty is up and you can really have a hack about, I guess you could really quieten the beast down...

Peace,

Marc

TheMosco · Feb 21, 2003, 06:11 PM

Not all MDD are loud. Mine just happens to output 70 decibels out of the power supply. So imagine the whine noise that you heard even louder.

But i have heard the Dual 800s were noisy also.

reverb · Feb 22, 2003, 02:16 AM

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
It was just a rather high pitched, but quiet noise.

Generally, the higher the pitch the more annoying to most people.

Mac Zealot · Feb 22, 2003, 04:13 AM

*shrug* yeah I still have the g4.

It's in the shop again, too, lol.

And this time they have this HUUUUUGE list of things to go over and it won't leave the shop until the machine has been scrutinized and the plastics are brand new and the door is fixed.

And I have applecare, saved my arse back in the day.

*shrug* really didn't pay for itself though, as except for the monitor everything has been something apple could have done in the regular warranty if they didn't make such a fuss about it.

//rant

To the point, I hope when my machine comes back it's quieter. Can you believe my kernel panics were (probably) being caused by a bad video card?

Anyway, thanks for noting it, marc, I truly thought maybe something was wrong with my g4 but apparently it's just normal.

SplijinX · Feb 22, 2003, 07:18 AM

Not sure if this relates to you guys directly, but I just saw this article: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-985512.html?tag=fd_top

Basically if you have a "mirrored drive" power mac you can have your power supply and fans upgraded to quieter ones. Unfortunately the "quicksilver" model is not on the list to have such upgrades.

Also refer to this page on the apple site: https://depot.info.apple.com/generic/index.html#install

Hope this helps some of you out there.

Cadaver · Feb 22, 2003, 01:41 PM

My Quicksilver DP800 also used to be very loud. A really annoying kind of "whir" noise.
Finally, I got tired of it. I opened the case while it was running and one by one stopped each fan with a screwdriver to see which one was making all the noise. It wasn't the fan(s) after all. The hard drive, of all things, was the loudest component.
I replaced the HD, and now the machine is less than 50% as loud as it used to be.

reverb · Feb 22, 2003, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by Cadaver:
The hard drive, of all things, was the loudest component. I replaced the HD, and now the machine is less than 50% as loud as it used to be.

What was the make/model of drive you replaced? What was the make/model you installed?

The Placid Casual · Feb 22, 2003, 06:37 PM

Originally posted by reverb:
What was the make/model of drive you replaced? What was the make/model you installed?

Jst put in any 'fluid bearing' drive (like a Seagate Baracuda or something) and you will notice a big difference...

Marc

reverb · Feb 22, 2003, 07:44 PM

Jst put in any 'fluid bearing' drive (like a Seagate Baracuda or something) and you will notice a big difference...

Of course, but as he found the noise issue with his QS to be the HD it would be informative to know what HD he removed.

I am currently configuring a brand new QS 2002 1GHz DP with three WD SE 120GB (two of those as RAID 0) and one WD SE 60GB internal HDs.

Mac Zealot · Feb 22, 2003, 07:50 PM

I used to have a problem with my hard drive, but it was replaced.

Apparently something in the drive was griding against the top of it's casing. Weird.

They replaced it with a seagate barracuda Ata. NIiiicer but the seeking sound annoys the crap outta me.

The Ancient One · Feb 22, 2003, 08:02 PM

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
WHY?!

I went to see an MDD mac, and set my head next to it, this was one that had been on all day and even with my playing around with it, didn't get that loud.

It was just a rather high pitched, but quiet noise.

My g4 was on the other side of the room, dominating the noise, I mean their MDD was just a whieeeirrieiririr

....

Mine was HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Like comparing a hair dryer to an industrial air conditioner.

Interesting. I've also had fun with my early dual 800, including having the motherboard replaced under warranty. As far as the noise goes, I know what you mean, but I don't have the problem. That incredibly loud noise only has shown up two or three times in almost a year and a half, usually when I've been pushing the machine very hard for hours. The rest of the time it's about the same as my old 8500 and much quieter than my old Mac II. At it's absolute worst, the dual 800 is still quieter than the Mac II (which I had running for 13 years), or at least the frequency of the noise is less annoying. My setup has 1.125GB RAM, 2 60GB hard drives and a GeForce3.

Mac Zealot · Feb 22, 2003, 11:40 PM

Well lucky you :sigh:

The Ancient One · Feb 23, 2003, 08:36 AM

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
Well lucky you :sigh:

Just a thought - my 8500 hums quite loudly on occasion, but it's not directly due to drives or fans. The sound seems to come from some sort of structural vibration. Maybe isolating one or more rotating components with some kind of damping material would help in your case.

Joe Cool · Feb 23, 2003, 02:16 PM

When my Dual 800 is just sitting Idle in my dorm room, wich is proably around 65-70 degrees you can actualy hear the fans speed up and the noise Increase. As soon as I open the window in my room the fans slow way down and the noise is reduced to a low hummm. I find it real hard to imagine that the MDD are much if any louder than my dual.

Mac Zealot · Feb 23, 2003, 03:24 PM

That's just what I mean. Anyone ever feel the heatsink on theirs?

Mine used to feel mildly hot but now it's VERY hot. I wonder why

The Ancient One · Feb 24, 2003, 05:20 AM

Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
That's just what I mean. Anyone ever feel the heatsink on theirs?

Mine used to feel mildly hot but now it's VERY hot. I wonder why

Have you added any new software that runs all the time? It could even be related to a new hardware addition (for example, I see that Mouseworks Background for my Kensington mouse shows up in Process Viewer, although it has very little impact).