Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

galarneau · Apr 20, 2004, 11:32 PM

I'm thinking of getting one of these to hold me over until next year, when I'll have a bit more money to spend.

I do like a quiet computer, however. How quiet are the newer eMacs? As quiet as an LCD model iMac?

Anyone know of an eMac being modded with a quieter fan, or perhaps a variable resistor to quiet the fan?

turtle777 · Apr 21, 2004, 01:16 AM

Originally posted by galarneau:
I'm thinking of getting one of these to hold me over until next year, when I'll have a bit more money to spend.

I do like a quiet computer, however. How quiet are the newer eMacs? As quiet as an LCD model iMac?

Anyone know of an eMac being modded with a quieter fan, or perhaps a variable resistor to quiet the fan?

You'll never get as quiet as the iMac's.
I've heard different things written about the eMac's fan noise.

Some say it's loud, some say it's reasonable, some say it's nothing compared to a regular Wintel box. As if this would help.

I tried to hear how loud the eMac is at CompUSA (old models), but I couldn't hear them. Well, too much background noise...

My main concern is all the crap I read about quality issues with the CRT. I'm still not sur what to think about that.
If you read the Apple Discussion Forum about that, it will really scare you away from the eMac !

-t

malvolio · Apr 21, 2004, 01:29 AM

The fan on my 1 GHz eMac can be heard only if there is virtually no other background noise. In other words, it's pretty quiet.
And the CRT is working flawlessly so far.

galarneau · Apr 21, 2004, 03:58 AM

My wintel box is super quiet, which is how I like all my computers.

Of course, I've replaced just about every fan in the thing with undervolted fans, as well as a huge Zalman heatsink for the CPU.

I'd like to hear opinions from people who have their eMac in the same room they sleep in... mine (if I should buy one) would be about 10 feet from my head while I sleep.

Link · Apr 21, 2004, 08:24 AM

They sound like a personal 6" fan on low without the "WHIRRRR" noise.

turtle777 · Apr 21, 2004, 10:51 AM

Originally posted by Link:
the "WHIRRRR" noise.

"sounds" cool....

-t

DoraExplorer · 09:53 PM

I really love my 1 ghz eMac, but it is a bit noisy. I was using an iBook, and I really noticed the difference when I got the eMac. But now I just wear earphones and listen to music.

But if I had to sleep in the same room with it, I would for sure turn it off before I went to sleep.

Pelao · Apr 30, 2004, 10:15 PM

I have a 1.25 eMac

I noticed the fan noise right away. But, not because it is loud; it's actually very soft and it's constant, so you forget about it.

It is noticeable because of the proximity to the user. In my case it is replacing a Wintel that sat on the floor. This machine had a low volume but rather high-pitched and variable noise.

The eMac is actually pretty quiet and you soon forget about it.

jimsmac · May 1, 2004, 06:22 AM

Originally posted by Pelao:
I have a 1.25 eMac

I noticed the fan noise right away. But, not because it is loud; it's actually very soft and it's constant, so you forget about it.

It is noticeable because of the proximity to the user. In my case it is replacing a Wintel that sat on the floor. This machine had a low volume but rather high-pitched and variable noise.

The eMac is actually pretty quiet and you soon forget about it.

I got my new emac yesterday, and I also have an iBook 600. The fan is very noticable.

I hope I get used to it. I can also hear it from other rooms in the house. (Maybe my fan is dodgy?)

Other than that, this thing is great!!

unfaded · May 2, 2004, 06:29 AM

I came from an iBook 500 mhz. The fan was immediately noticeable...and almost as soon as I noticed it, I stopped noticing it.

You get very used to the white noise, very fast

miloszwl · May 8, 2004, 06:04 PM

my eMac is quite quite although it is 1st generation eMac. it stands 8 feets from my head when i am sleeping.

and CRT is working good. no problems

Jack-iMac · May 11, 2004, 10:03 AM

there are about 20 1GHz eMacs in my school IT lab, overall , with them all switched on i can only just hear a slight humming noise, but thats it, bloody quite in my opinion! also the CRT�s are flawless so far

BTW, the stock RAM they came with is hardly enough to power thirsty apps, which is kind of crap, on some machines when opening System Prefs the app crashes

, add more RAM straight away

storer · Jun 5, 2004, 05:27 AM

Originally posted by Jack-iMac:
there are about 20 1GHz eMacs in my school IT lab, overall , with them all switched on i can only just hear a slight humming noise, but thats it, bloody quite in my opinion! also the CRT�s are flawless so far BTW, the stock RAM they came with is hardly enough to power thirsty apps, which is kind of crap, on some machines when opening System Prefs the app crashes , add more RAM straight away

there are 50 CRT imacs in my school lab, and you can barely hear them at all. you walk next door into the windows machines and you are deafened! does anyone know whether iMac CRTs are the same noise level as eMacs?

gsxrboy · Jun 5, 2004, 06:53 AM

Slot loading CRT iMacs are completely silent apart from the hdd spinning noise (which whines more in later years

).. I got to play with a few new 1.25ghz eMacs and I think they are pretty quiet really, you do hear the fan but not so much.. currently I use a FP800 and a DVSE500 and both those are quiet so I base them as my noise level reference..

storer · Jun 5, 2004, 08:57 AM

Originally posted by gsxrboy:
Slot loading CRT iMacs are completely silent apart from the hdd spinning noise

i agree... thats all the noise i ever hear from my own. just the hard disk. do they actually have fans? i suppose they must have. but they are super quiet.

CreepDogg · Jun 5, 2004, 11:01 AM

My wife and I have a 1Ghz iMac and a 1Ghz eMac. The eMac's fan is SIGNIFICANTLY louder than the iMac. With the configuration of our house, the best place to have a desk and computer happens to be our bedroom. There's no way I would put the eMac in our bedroom - we'd never sleep. The iMac works just fine in there - it's nearly silent. The eMac is in the basement. Before the eMac, we had a bondi iMac there, and I'd say the eMac is actually a little louder than that was.

The noise from the eMac is not overwhelming - but it helps to have iTunes going when working on it. Although I think this is probably one of those YMMV things, partly because the actual machines vary a little, and partly because everyone has a different perception of the noise. But relatively speaking, the eMac is the loudest of the machines I've had (bondi iMac, slot load iMac - loved that because it was silent!, 1GHz FP iMac, 1GHz eMac).

Grrr · Jun 5, 2004, 11:21 AM

You will hear it. But it really isnt too bad. Plus it's not a whine or an annoying buzz.. More of a soft woosh. Having said that, I can just about hear it in other rooms of my house too.
I really don't know if I would want to try to sleep in the same room with one on..

It is possible to modify the fan to slow it down a bit. A few people have done this and say it has no detrimental effects. I've done a few mods to my eMac now, But I don't consider the noise bad enough at all to justify modifying the fan..

BRussell · Jun 5, 2004, 07:25 PM

How come all you people sleep with your Macs on and not asleep themselves? If in sleep mode, they don't make any noise at all.

storer · Jun 5, 2004, 07:50 PM

Yeh, good point. Mine is asleep!! The worst thing is:
that dreaded pulsing snoring power light! i hate it. because of it, i turn the iMac off at night: i wouldnt sleep, and it lights up the hallway.

Grrr · Jun 5, 2004, 08:58 PM

Originally posted by storer:
Yeh, good point. Mine is asleep!! The worst thing is:
that dreaded pulsing snoring power light! i hate it. because of it, i turn the iMac off at night: i wouldnt sleep, and it lights up the hallway.

I swapped out that LED for a less bright, blue LED. Looks great..

storer · Jun 6, 2004, 02:01 AM

Originally posted by Grrr:
I swapped out that LED for a less bright, blue LED. Looks great..

yeh, but you'd think apple would have figured out that it is annoying and given you a setting where you could have a dim solid light.

francois9 · Jun 6, 2004, 07:33 AM

The main thing is, the fan sounds like a constant rush of air, very soothing, and soon you forget about it.

My PC's fan, on the other hand, emits a whining, high pitched sound that really can get on your nerves.

CreepDogg · Jun 6, 2004, 12:20 PM

On sleeping with the Mac on vs. sleeping - I agree - the pulsing sleep light is more annoying than the fan (the quiet one on the iMac at least). I have no desire to mess with the iMac's LED as it's embedded in the LCD display...

Loonter · Jun 6, 2004, 03:35 PM

I have an eMac and I don't notice the fan at all. It's not very loud and I can sleep next to it. When I got it I didn't really notice it except if I was playing music very soft, then you can hear it.

videian28 · Jun 6, 2004, 08:41 PM

my 700 mhz emac is a wind tunnel, my kids use it, and it is near my desk, I put it to sleep as soon as they step out of the room

Will C · Jun 9, 2004, 01:56 PM

I've had my eMac for a few weeks now after having a fanless iMac DV for four years, and I sadly have to say I find the noise a bit loud, it tends to mask out quieter background noises which I like to hear.

I may consider fitting a fan thermostat like I've read about on the net - though I may wait until the warranty is up.

galarneau · Jun 26, 2004, 11:31 PM

Well, I'm still thinking about getting an eMac if new iMacs aren't released at the WWDC on monday.

I hear the public library in town just replaced all their old tray load iMacs with eMacs, so I'm going to go down and check them out for noise levels.

Right now I'm using a wintel box that I've undervolted the fans, and I do hear a low pitched "whoosh" from the 120mm case fan and 80mm PSU fan. Not a problem as far as noise goes.

If the eMac is comparable, I don't think it will be a problem.

Thanks for all the advice.