[chrmoen]

I've just bought a 20" iMac and I'm very happy with it in general, but I think it's quite a bit noisier than I expected which is a bit disappointing. I dropped by a dealer the other day to check whether my iMac is particularly noisy compared to those in the store, but I think the noise levels were comparable. Mine might be somewhat noisier, but it's hard to tell since my iMac is used in a completely silent room while the store was a bit noisy.

The noise is a mix of humming and flapping and I think it's caused by the fan on top of the base which doesn't seem to be of excellent quality. I've been playing with the idea of getting the current fan replaced with a very silent fan, but I'm not sure if the fan is replacable at all or if it's custom made. Judging from the images on http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/i...takeapart.html the fan seems like a regular 92mm fan, but then again the images are a bit dated...

Does anyone know what kind of fan the 20" iMac uses? If not, any suggestions on how I can find out? Does anyone here have similar noise issues? Anyone know the dB level the machine is supposed have?

Any tips on how to deal with this issue is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Christian

[Detrius]

The iMac FP fans have grooves in them for the wires from the display to run through. Also, the fan should not be loud.

[discotronic]

I have the 17" model iMac which is the same thing as yours except the screen. Mine is as close to silent as you can get without going to a laptop.

[vmarks]

If you just got the iMac you don't want to void your warranty to replace the fan.

You want to have Apple deal with it.

[tRr]

I use a 15" iMac all the time and I don't think it's loud at all. Sometimes a weird cracking noise (I guess the plastics flexing... ), I definitely wouldn't take it apart though since you just got it.