[antdroid]

well yesterday i got my new quad.
today i loaded all my music software on (logic pro 7)

im so disapointed coz it starts up like a jet engine, whines...then spins down, hd sounds like a toilet flushing / dripping. at first i thought it was the cooling water running !

but if it was only the hd noise that would be okay.

i hadnt even loaded logic when after 20 mins the fans got louder..
the noise is just unacceptable, how can apple let this g5 go out sounding so loud ??

sure u wont hear it ovr the music, but lots of time is spent cutting etc ..no sound..
and wen im on the phone , its so annoying.... its like someone is constantly hoovering.

for so much money the product does not feel like quality.
nice design, but this machine should be semi quiet mostly...the keyboard felt cheap , (my powerbook is much nicer) the mighty mouse felt light and plasticy...

iv looked on the net , and peole say , oh the quad is quiet, is that because in usa its lower voltage so fans spin slower ?

is it just me , or is this machine too bloody loud ??

i have one question, i use my old 22" adc cinemascreen via dvi-adc adapter, would this make the fans extra noisey ? ( please answer only if u no 4 sure)

i havent run logic with lots of plugins yet to see how loud the fans really get under strain.


i keep the quad in a normal room..no office noise.


also will this quad in uk be expensive electricity wise ?

thanks in advance


sooo soooo dissapointed .

:-(

[Todd Madson]

Can you make a recording of the noise it's making? This doesn't sound right.

It will make some noise but it sounds as if it's massively louder than they normally
would be.

[wjpjr]

Originally Posted by antdroid

well yesterday i got my new quad.

im so disapointed coz it starts up like a jet engine, whines...then spins down, hd sounds like a toilet flushing / dripping. at first i thought it was the cooling water running !

Yes, my Quad startup does sound like a jet engine but right after the OS boots you can hear the fans throttling back to a nice quite comfortable level. My external Firewire HDs sitting on my desk are now the noise makers. The Quad a way quiter than the dual G5 2.5 it replaced IMO.

I think you have a problem ...

[Thinine]

My quad doesn't seem to change fan speed at all, even after I play games and the CPU temps get up around 140F. I actually think the fan for my graphics card / expansion slot area is running a bit higher than it needs to. But I find the noise level very satisfactory. I sleep next to the thing just fine. Setting your Energy Saver -> Options -> Performance popup setting to automatic will keep the noise down some too, especially when it's not under load. Finally, make sure you've updated to 10.4.3 (quads came with a later build of 10.4.2) as I'm pretty sure they updated the fan control software.

You may also want to check out one of the temperature monitoring applications (I use Temperature Monitor Lite) and make sure you're not running hot. Under usual load my procs run <110�F.

[mduell]

If the Mighty Mouse feels light and plasticy, that's because, uh, it is!
The screen you connect won't change the amount of noise that the machine makes.

[antdroid]

thanks for the comments, ill try temp monitor app, and report back.

yes i upgraded to 10.4.3 :-)

yes mine jets up on boot up, then drops down too..but 20 mins later very very loud.


thanks for the comments, would be nice to think i hav a dodgey unit, and that quads are quiet.

but we'll see wat temp it runs at.

any more comments welcome.

would usa ones be quieter in usa coz of the voltage ?

cheerz

[freebasen]

Originally Posted by antdroid

thanks for the comments, ill try temp monitor app, and report back.

yes i upgraded to 10.4.3 :-)

yes mine jets up on boot up, then drops down too..but 20 mins later very very loud.


thanks for the comments, would be nice to think i hav a dodgey unit, and that quads are quiet.

but we'll see wat temp it runs at.

any more comments welcome.

would usa ones be quieter in usa coz of the voltage ?

cheerz

What type of video card did you get with it? The 7800 has an annoyingly loud fan which can be easily swapped for a more efficeint replacement.

[freebasen]

Originally Posted by antdroid

thanks for the comments, ill try temp monitor app, and report back.

yes i upgraded to 10.4.3 :-)

yes mine jets up on boot up, then drops down too..but 20 mins later very very loud.


thanks for the comments, would be nice to think i hav a dodgey unit, and that quads are quiet.

but we'll see wat temp it runs at.

any more comments welcome.

would usa ones be quieter in usa coz of the voltage ?

cheerz

What type of video card did you get with it? The 7800 has an annoyingly loud fan which can be easily swapped for a more efficeint replacement.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by antdroid

would usa ones be quieter in usa coz of the voltage ?

No, they wouldn't.

[antdroid]

its just a standard quad , normal video card , ive not added any ram yet, its still512mb.

hmmmmmm, anyone else have loud quad ?..

[OreoCookie]

Just take a look at the respective threads here. Consensus seems to be that they are quieter than the last generation of PowerMacs. Take a look here and here.

The articles I've read seem to confirm this. BTW, having 512 MB of RAM is a disgrace to this machine!

[Big Mac]

Placement of your Power Mac matters. If there is a lack of ample space in back for sufficient ventilation, your G5 will sound like a wind tunnel.

[RevEvs]

Setting the "Performance" int he Energy Saver preference Pane to "Highest" will make the fans spin at a constant speed - they will no longer spin up and down - and they arent very noisy.

I'd give it a go!

If the performance is set to automatic then the fans spin like crazy

[wjpjr]

Originally Posted by RevEvs

Setting the "Performance" int he Energy Saver preference Pane to "Highest" will make the fans spin at a constant speed - they will no longer spin up and down - and they arent very noisy.

If the performance is set to automatic then the fans spin like crazy

My Quad has "Performance" set to "Automatic" and fans spinning like crazy has not been my experience. But YMMV ...

[RevEvs]

I hav found that on automatic the fans spin up and down, and on maximum the fans just spin at a constant rate no matter what.

[wjpjr]

Originally Posted by RevEvs

I hav found that on automatic the fans spin up and down, and on maximum the fans just spin at a constant rate no matter what.

What can I say ... my Quad's fans spin at a constant rate. During intense work they do spin at a higher rev but return to a constant spin rate after being stressed. The higher rev of my Quad produces nowhere near the sound level of my old Dual 2.5 G5. What you are describing is the symptoms my Dual 2.5 G5 had which forced a performance setting on that machine to "Highest" to acheive a more constant fan spin rate.

[antdroid]

i called apple who were very helpful,
they talked me thru reseting vram and pram etc,

still same, an expert then instructed me to do hardware test, which turns off liq coolin, and turns all fans on ...wow it really is like a washing machine wen they are on full.

check passed okay, couldnt handle the full 40 min test with all fans on lol...

the tech said could be a fault with liq cooling (i heard like a running tap sound very first time i started up)

used temp monitor, cpus started at 93f, after 15 mins were 105, after 1 hr were 119/125.
and thats just turning it on , not touching the mac.

it seems to be constant: turn on jet like sound then spindown (normal) then after 20 mins everytime, fan noise and slight high pitch that is as loud as my old quicksilver.

of course im planning to add 2gig ram wen i get round to it, ... its in silent room , no office noice....

i m worried that maybe its just me, but when it starts up, the noise level is great...then it doubles for no reason...im going to get it replaced as its only 2 days old...i dont know what i'll do if the replacement is as loud, because the noise is just too annoying..een under the desk, at the back etc...tried it everywehere...

iv tried 4.2 and 4.3...ive tried auto , reduced and highest with no difference...but who wants to put it on reduced.

one thing when its noisey ive never heard it spin down , slower etc...

any way thnx for the comments...i hope i just got a dodgy quad, ......

the noise is unacceptable 7 hours a day 5 days a week...

aggghhhhhhh...lol

[sheer]

FWIW I've got a 2x2ghz (8gb model) and even with Logic at 50%+ on the meter for long periods (ie a couple of hours) it's never what I'd called loud. Running X.4.3. too, 1.5gb ram (another gb would be nicer but not essential). HD isn't the quietest when it kicks into action tho. I don't have the G5 on the desk tho, it's nicely tucked away underneath.

[tigas]

That could really be a cooling malfunction. It failed the 40-minute test, right? Activate the RMA!

[jabbajon]

See my posts on this thread re the reduced noise levels when this plastic is removed from quad. It makes a huge difference. Does anybody else have the same results. And who can identify the mysterious fan?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....hreadID=121276

[Scotttheking]

To the original poster: I am so disappointed with your grasp of the English language.

[Al G]

Originally Posted by jabbajon

See my posts on this thread re the reduced noise levels when this plastic is removed from quad. It makes a huge difference. Does anybody else have the same results. And who can identify the mysterious fan?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....hreadID=121276

When you remove the clear air guide most fans drop to minimum speed and CPU performance is also automatically reduced drastically. I doubt I have to tell you that the machine was not meant to be run that way.

Where does the offending sound come from, i.e., front, back, top, bottom? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "pump-like" or "fish tank pump" sound.

I wouldn't expect a Powermac G5 to be as quiet as a Powerbook.

[jabbajon]

I realise that the pm was not meant to be run this way. When I remove the air guide, hardware monitor reports that all fans continue to run as normal. However I can clearly hear a single fan at the top of the case slow down and become near silent. This single fan is the cause of the unpleasant sound coming from the quad with fanless 6800 video card. Perhaps it is the drive bay intake, or the the strange fan behind it - is this the main logic board backside? I don't think this fan is meant to be so noisy and much more distruptive then all other fans...
Can you all try this test:
Listen to sound of quad in quiet room.
Then open case, and lift the bottom right corner of the air guide from the case, so that the silver covered corner is no longer telling the computer that the guide is in place. Or remove the air guide completely.
List to sound of quad. Do you hear a fan slow down. Where is the fan, and how much quieter is your quad.
Of course, don't do this when your machine is under strain, and don't do it for more than a couple of minutes?
I am trying to figure out if i have a defective fan or not. My machine is much louder with the air guide in place...
Cheers

[Thinine]

I'm not going to take out my air guide, but I will say that the fan for the PCIe section does seem to be louder than the CPU fans together. And it seems to run at a constant speed as well. I may test later this week to be sure.

[himself]

Anybody that expects a dual- or quad-core workstation-class machine to be whisper quiet is deluded. Some noise (maybe even a lot of it) is a part of the package. Deal with it.

[Geobunny]

Antdroid, your quad most definitely sounds like it's faulty. Mine is so quiet that if I'm not playing music, I can hear the hard drive ticking away occasionally (it's a smidge annoying but at least it's a normal healthy HD sound)

As for the keyboard, you may want to send it back as well; It looks like your Caps Lock key is broken!

[tigas]

While You're At It, Get Them To Fix The Shift Key For You Too!

[svtcontour]

Originally Posted by himself

Anybody that expects a dual- or quad-core workstation-class machine to be whisper quiet is deluded. Some noise (maybe even a lot of it) is a part of the package. Deal with it.

A dual cpu or dual core or even quad core system has the capability of being dead silent. I dont have a high end mac (only have a B&W G3) but I built my own dual xeon box running at 3Ghz and its pretty much silent. My system has 5 fans internally, 7 including the PSU. The PSU is an antec and its super silent because the fans only ramp up in speed under very heavy loads and heat and even then, its not loud, that leaves the following:

Rear 120mm (very thick kind) - 660RPM under normal conditions
2x 120mm (thinner kind) behind hard drives - 850RPM under normal conditions
2x 80mm for CPU coolers (which are large copper heatpipes) - 1100RPM under normal conditions.

Normal condition means that the set temperatures have not yet been triggered, therefore no need to increase fan speeds or noise. At 55C, the processor fans start to ramp up in speed and at 38C, the 120mm fans speed up to vent built up heat. The only time I hear any intermittent noise is when I play a minimum of 20 minutes of Doom3 or similar heavy game or some kind of constant cpu load for at least a few minutes, such as encoding video.

At work we have a dual 2.0 G5 and my machine is at least as quiet as that one and it takes a lot more for the fans to come on so overall, its very quiet.

So I think apple could have made a silent system without even trying.....

[svtcontour]

Originally Posted by Scotttheking

To the original poster: I am so disappointed with your grasp of the English language.

To the moderator (if this really is what you do): I am so dissapointed with your decision to insult and belittling a member because their grammar is not up to par. The guy is here with a problem and others are trying to offer help. So far you have been the only one to insult the guy. I'm sure your feelings are hurt because he's dissapointed with his new Quad G5 but he is entitled to that, especially if he got a noisy or defective one. Remember, he's trying to figure out whats wrong.

[himself]

Originally Posted by svtcontour

A dual cpu or dual core or even quad core system has the capability of being dead silent. I dont have a high end mac (only have a B&W G3) but I built my own dual xeon box running at 3Ghz and its pretty much silent. My system has 5 fans internally, 7 including the PSU. The PSU is an antec and its super silent because the fans only ramp up in speed under very heavy loads and heat and even then, its not loud, that leaves the following:

Rear 120mm (very thick kind) - 660RPM under normal conditions
2x 120mm (thinner kind) behind hard drives - 850RPM under normal conditions
2x 80mm for CPU coolers (which are large copper heatpipes) - 1100RPM under normal conditions.

Normal condition means that the set temperatures have not yet been triggered, therefore no need to increase fan speeds or noise. At 55C, the processor fans start to ramp up in speed and at 38C, the 120mm fans speed up to vent built up heat. The only time I hear any intermittent noise is when I play a minimum of 20 minutes of Doom3 or similar heavy game or some kind of constant cpu load for at least a few minutes, such as encoding video.

At work we have a dual 2.0 G5 and my machine is at least as quiet as that one and it takes a lot more for the fans to come on so overall, its very quiet.

So I think apple could have made a silent system without even trying.....

I whole-heartedly agree... under "normal" load (checking email, web surfing, and general light tasks), pretty much any machine should be near silent. You'd probably get at least a little hard drive noise here an there.

But if a person needs the kind of power that a multi-processor machine provides, I suspect that person will be doing some CPU and/or GPU and/or HD intensive stuff. And not just in short bursts, but for extended periods. I know I do (and I don't own a multi-processor/core system). We know the kind of power these machines consume, and the heat they generate under load. I'm just saying, if you're the type to put this kind of machine under heavy stress, expect to hear some noise, however annoying it may be.

edit: then again, if Apple and other OEM suppliers could use different components to reduce noise (fans, in particular), I'm all for it.

[svtcontour]

Hi Himself, yes I can agree with that too. I mean I know when I push my computer, its not quiet at all. God if anything its scary but it takes some work getting it to that point I think the original poster's machine was quick to get loud and then from what he was saying it seemed like it had a hard time becoming quiet again after heating up. Well hopefully it will get all sorted out for the guy.

[jabbajon]

Anyone care to remove the air guide and see the effects on noise, and try to identify which fan is affecting by the removal. My machine is not silent under no load. It shounds lilke a air pump for a fish tank, and the sound is coming from the mysterious fan that speeds up when the air guide is in place.
Please help. I want to figure out if I have a defective fan.
Thanks

[CatOne]

How can you hear your G5 when your bad grammar is so loud?

[antdroid]

phew..last time i checked thid thread i only had 17 replies...

thanks guys for talking about this issue.

im scared now tho that my grammer is not correct...oops....

it will be a long rely if i put all the quotes in to reply to....so ill keep it brief...

thanks sheer, im only planning to use logic on it, so hope to have same quiet g5 as u soon.

i called apple, and they are giving me a new quad in next 2 days or so.

they said keep the old one free....

JOKE...no they want it back ..lol. im hoping the new one will be quiet. if its not, i have decided that i'll keep it, but bung it out the door in the hall.

tigas , i Activated the RMA!..lol


scottthigin im sorry ur disapointed in my gramma.... so is my grandad ! ...lol


himself , yes your so right , we should all just accept ridiculously loud fan noise from the apple top spec models, its not like we pay a huge amount of money for them,...DERR!
its people who demand better faster quieter macs that makes the quality so high and progress, maybe you should expect a bit more rather than accept what your given.

for all i know my mac is faulty, but if you had my g5, youd be complaining not accepting it.

ive had macs all my life, since the L2, right thru to my last quicksilver...after 3 years of jet noise from quicksilver, my hopes are higher for the quad.
so you see im a loyal long term mac fan, would never get a pc ...coz i was brought up on macs.

Geobunny, cheers thats encouraging....remember my g5 fans went on even when doing nothing ...let alone logic 7 full on strain lol...


svtcontour, thank you, ..i didnt mind the grammer comments, made me laff that people still hit the roof when you use CAPS..lol...

weird how normal people get so irritated at reading caps....


when you do a hardware test with cooling off, boy the noize is scary at full speed....
SCARY !!!

oops there goes them caps again... oops there goes my grammer again...

will post wen my new g5 comes :-)


thanks again for the help and the entertaining comments...

please dont flame me..im only human


lol

[sokukodo]

Originally Posted by Scotttheking

To the original poster: I am so disappointed with your grasp of the English language.

I am so disappointed with your rudeness; your grasp of the basic tenets of decency are sadly lacking. In fact, it smells like arrogance.

[GORDYmac]

A word of caution to users peeved with the whole performance/noise trafeoff:

Don't buy a Porshe, BMW, Audi, Corvette, or a Mustang.
Stick to the Honda Civic and the Toyota Prius.

If I had a Quad G5, noise would be the least of my worries.

[svtcontour]

Originally Posted by GORDYmac

A word of caution to users peeved with the whole performance/noise trafeoff:

Don't buy a Porshe, BMW, Audi, Corvette, or a Mustang.
Stick to the Honda Civic and the Toyota Prius.

If I had a Quad G5, noise would be the least of my worries.

Oh please give me a break. If you spent big $$ and your computer sounded abnormally loud like a banshee then you'd be upset too. Its easy to talk when you have not spent the cash yet.

Apple can make a quiet dual/quad processor or core machine. I built my own and its dead silent. (its not an apple but that doesnt make a difference)

[jabbajon]

I accept that it will be louder than a mac mini or powerbook, but the sound coming from mine is not the sound of many slow fans, but from 1 fan that does not appear to be working correctly, hence i require others with quads to do the test I described above.
All I want is my quad to produce the amount of noise that is was designed to produce and not more. I can't believe Apple would design the quad to have water cooling and such a sophisticated fan system, but allow one fan to produce a sound like a fish tank pump...

Please do the test (noise (fan) levels (sounds) before and after removing the air guide) and report back your findings.
Many thanks

Originally Posted by GORDYmac

A word of caution to users peeved with the whole performance/noise trafeoff:

Don't buy a Porshe, BMW, Audi, Corvette, or a Mustang.
Stick to the Honda Civic and the Toyota Prius.

If I had a Quad G5, noise would be the least of my worries.

[sokukodo]

The fan noise my G5 makes has become part of the "sonic landscape", in that it is noticeable (by contrast) when I turn it off (and that event rarely occurs: I put the screen to sleep).
I'm not really sure what constitutes loud fan noise: music, games, etc. overcome what I hear from the fans.

BTW, is my grammer holding up?

[booboo]

I've been using a Quad for a couple of days. It is quite a bit noisier than ny Dual Core 2.0GHz, i.e. noisier than I would have liked, but less noisy than all previous generation G5's that I've used or owned.

I was using Logic with it, running various plug-ins, and with Energy Saver set to maximum performance, the fans did not rev up once, after they had settled down to idle speed upon reaching the desktop.

A very, very nice machine, but I'll still be happy with my DC 2.0GHz for some time to come . . .

[mduell]

Originally Posted by antdroid

"i" nine times
"thid"
"tho"
"im" six times
"rely"
"ill"
"u"
"lol" six times
"its" three times (misused)
"ur"
"gramma"
"your" two times (misused)
"youd"
"ive"
"thru"
"coz"
"thats"
"didnt"
"grammer" two times
"laff"
"noize"
"wen"
"dont"

In addition to your quad being noisy, your keyboard appears to be missing the Shift and apostrophe keys, and various other keys are occasionally malfunctioning.

[OreoCookie]

Guys, relax. This isn't the grammar police, so either stay on topic or I'll close this thread for good (since the OP's problem has been solved).

[Al G]

Originally Posted by jabbajon

but from 1 fan that does not appear to be working correctly, hence i require others with quads to do the test I described above.

Please do the test (noise (fan) levels (sounds) before and after removing the air guide) and report back your findings.

I don't have a quad so I can't help.

And I don't mean to be rude but if you have a bad fan in your machine then get it fixed. I don't understand how having other people around the world monkey around with their air guards is going help your machine. (If YOUR machine has a fan with a bad bearing then listening to YOUR machine is the way to find it.)

[tigas]

<bzzzzt> <thugathugathuga> >KLNK!< "RMA activated, keptain!"

Good. Good. Be sure to come back and tell us how the new machine works!

[FredT]

Originally Posted by jabbajon

Please help. I want to figure out if I have a defective fan.
Thanks

Hey jabbajon,

I've had two machines with what I'm sure is a poblem with the fan you describe. And yes, remove the air deflector is the only thing that would stop the noise. My guess it is either a problem with the fan itself or with it's mounting. Good luck getting Apple to put in a new fan though. They say it is "within spec".

[jabbajon]

Al G. How can I be sure my machine is a defect if I have nothing to compare it to.
FredT. Many thanks. Do you have a quad that does not demonstrate a change in noise levels when the air guide is removed?
Feedback from anyone else?

[elrah]

People don't tolerate innumeracy. Why should you tolerate illiteracy?

[Todd Madson]

I'd like to see what music projects can be done on a quad.
If I'm doing 80 track stereo projects with dozens of fx
plug-ins and lots of software synths on the G5 2.5, the
2.5 Quad might be able to let me do giant string choirs.

Hell, I haven't maxed out the 2.5 DP yet so I'd like to see
what some of you quad owners can do.

[sokukodo]

Originally Posted by elrah

People don't tolerate innumeracy. Why should you tolerate illiteracy?

Words are slippery and (can be) inexact; there can be many shades of meaning. Numbers are exact. "Innumeracy" is not a word.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by sokukodo

Words are slippery and (can be) inexact; there can be many shades of meaning. Numbers are exact. "Innumeracy" is not a word.

Innumeracy is a word.

Look at the list I posted at the top of this page. There's nothing about "shades of meaning" when the OP is inventing words like "thid", "tho", "u", "ur", "youd", "thru", "coz", "laff", "noize", "wen", etc. I'm not a fan of this sort of degringolade of the English language.