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Frogzilla · 08:38 AM

Congrats all of you guys who just got this new Apple product.

I have an iBook G4 (800mhz), and it is totally silent (unless the fan kicks in).

Im thinking of getting an iMac G5: 17inch, 1.8Ghz, 1GB ram and 160gb harddrive or 80gb (not sure)

But my real question is how noisy it is with fans running, when doing "intensive" tasks, like rendering or 3D gaming ?

If the noise is there (has to be a little i presume), is it high pitched or low humming ? (maybe compared the the much to noisy imo eMac 1.2ghz)

I hope you can give me detailed information on this, as it is the only thing keeping me from getting one of these sweet retro looking iMacs

-Martin

kcmac · Sep 16, 2004, 08:35 AM

It runs very quiet. Probably a little louder than my 12" PB but more quiet than my iMac DVSE 400.

When the fans are on it is not as loud as the PB fan(s).

The sound is low vs high pitched like on my old iMac.

We haven't pushed it real hard yet so these are early results.

galarneau · Sep 16, 2004, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by kcmac:
It runs very quiet. Probably a little louder than my 12" PB but more quiet than my iMac DVSE 400.

When the fans are on it is not as loud as the PB fan(s).

The sound is low vs high pitched like on my old iMac.

We haven't pushed it real hard yet so these are early results.

The slot load iMacs were fanless so whatever noise you heard was from the hard drive.

kcmac · Sep 16, 2004, 10:07 AM

True. The Fan noise I mentioned was my PB.

Most of the noise you hear on the G5 are the fans which seem to run pretty much constantly. Very low noise though. Haven't heard them crank up like they do on the PB.

Frogzilla · Sep 16, 2004, 11:02 AM

Thanks for answering quick.

I never expected it to be nearly silent, but if you compare it to a little more then you 12" powerbook - then its very sweet.

I hope that other iMac G5 users will share their knowlegde with the noise, to get an allround answer

maybe one with a 17" 1.8Ghz model...

OB1 · Sep 16, 2004, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by kcmac:
It runs very quiet. Probably a little louder than my 12" PB but more quiet than my iMac DVSE 400.

When the fans are on it is not as loud as the PB fan(s).

The sound is low vs high pitched like on my old iMac.

We haven't pushed it real hard yet so these are early results.

You have the exact same Macs as me

Except for your new G5 (congrats). I'm also considering a G5 iMac, so I'm pleased to hear they're quiet. I'd love to hear more of your real life comparisons between your new iMac and your PB.

kcmac · Sep 16, 2004, 05:20 PM

OB1.

If you also had an icebook (first rev iBook) that would just be scary.

The problem I am finding between the two (PB and iMac) is that you very quickly fall in love with a large screen. It is just incredible to have 2 web pages open at the same time, or 2 word docs, you get the picture.

The quality of the screen is also much better than my PB. I always thought my PB was bright. It was compared to my G3 iMac. The G5 screen is gorgeous and very visible from extreme angles.

One thing I really liked about the entire process so far is this. The set up assistant is brilliantly easy.

Hooked up my G3 iMac to the G5 with a firewire cable. We have 4 users on our computer so this changeover has always been on the back of my mind as something I would rather not do. Follow the easy instructions from the Assistant and in about an hour everything was transferred.

Since I don't use the G3 and instead use the PB, I decided not to transfer my user account from the G3. After I was done, I just repeated the process with my PB and the G5. Took about another hour. (I have a lot on my PB.)

Had to go back and erase some duplicate folders that the assistant notes are from the old iMac as well as eliminating any classic apps and folders. (No need for 9 anymore.) That took about 20 minutes tops with some other housecleaning.

The set up assistant should be given more publicity. It is Apple simple.

I have the rev 1 PB. The G5 is noticeably faster and I still am using stock ram. Have a gig coming tomorrow.

There is no comparison between the G3 and G5 other than they both run OS X. The time was right for me and I think it is probably right for you. I also think there are many others out there just like us that couldn't quite go for the G4 iMac but are chomping at the bit for the G5.

Good luck.

Lancer409 · Sep 17, 2004, 01:47 AM

wow .. all this talk is making me want to break into an apple store right now =P..

wait til they get oled's working .. hehe .. 1000:1 contrast ... brighter better color and low power consumption!

OB1 · Sep 17, 2004, 03:08 AM

Originally posted by kcmac:
OB1.

If you also had an icebook (first rev iBook) that would just be scary....

I also think there are many others out there just like us that couldn't quite go for the G4 iMac but are chomping at the bit for the G5.

Good luck.

No iBook here unfortunately, although I am thinking about getting one for my girlfriend...

You've pretty much answered all my questions... Now I'm really itching for a G5 iMac! Although getting one would mean letting go of my beloved gumdrop DVSE to make space for it

(There is still a special place in my heart for those cool little machines...)

Thanks for replying kcmac.

orbital~debris · Sep 17, 2004, 03:26 PM

Congrats on the new iMac, kcmac and anyone else who's got/getting one!

Mine is still showing as shipping on the 1st of October

My old iMac G3 is starting to display daily warnings about low disk space (in protest i think!) - i just can't offload anything until it's successor arrives.

I don't know what I'm gonna do with all that screen space... I went from an iMac 15-inch CRT screen to a clamshell iBook G3 SE 12-inch screen whilst at uni (which ran at 800x600), and now since graduating I've come back to 1024x7687 on the iMac. But soon, I'll be moving straight to a Mac with enough space to fit two whole web pages side by side! Wow!