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Webscreamer · Oct 9, 2003, 10:13 AM

I just got my G5 on Tuesday after ripping on Apple on Monday and then recieving a new ship date(Oct 21st). Then I found out next morning they sent it priority overnight and would be here when I got back from class... it was!

My real question is this...

I tried many G5s at the Chicago Mich. Ave. Apple Store, and the G5s were amazingly quiet. When I got mine, it sounds like a wind tunnel. I think I have it narrowed down to my 9800 Radeon, which gives off a lot of noice, and even a high pitch sometimes.

Is this normal?

When ever I do ANYTHING CPU intensive, like resize a iCal window for like 10 secs, the fans kick is on high. Or even resize columns for like 10 secs. And when I play any game, I gotta turn my speakers up to even hear the game...

Is this normal?

When I have my speakers plugged in and then I plug my headphones in the front, the headphones work, but the speakers keep playing as well...huh!?

Is this normal?

triplezoom · Oct 9, 2003, 10:15 AM

The loudest part of my G5 is the hard drive, but I only have a 1.6 with the 9600 card. I've only used it for about two hours so far, so I'm not sure what is "normal" or not but I would suspect your video card is at fault.

-Q- · Oct 9, 2003, 10:57 AM

I think the ramp up of the fans is tied to the amount of work the processor is doing at the time. Because the processor is working "hard" at launching the apps, the fans think it's going to heat up quickly so they speed up. The fans in my dual do that and then immediately slow down when they realize the processing isn't sustained, just a small burst. I only have a Radeon 9600, tho' so I'm not sure what kind of noise a 9800 makes...

You want a wind tunnel, try running it in FireWire Target Disk Mode.

rhogue islander · Oct 9, 2003, 11:43 AM

The behavior you describe sounds 'abby'normal to me.

My Dual G5 w/ Radeon 9800 Pro Retail during extended sessions of Q3 will undergo a fan speedup, but it's something I almost have to strain to hear. I should add that my machine is on the floor.

On the other hand when I run the extended hardware test it turns into a leaf blower.

I can hear a very faint 'screeee' sort of noise when I pass my pointer over the dock. When navigating menus in Quake3 options, it actually changes pitch depending on the particular menu. Once I am ingame the noise is absent altogether.

SSharon · Oct 9, 2003, 12:23 PM

just to answer your last question, when headphones are plugged in the speakers still play and thats normal (on my MDD anyway).

giantmike · Oct 9, 2003, 01:12 PM

That is not normal. My Dual G5 with 9800 is very quiet, even when playing Warcraft 3 for two hours (all settings on high).

As for the speakers, I guess this is normal. The sounds play from both speakers and headphones. Guess I just gotta hit the mute button on my speakers if I don't want to wake my roomate.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Oct 9, 2003, 01:56 PM

Not sure, all I can tell you is my Dual with a 9600 card is very quite. Quieter then any G4 tower in the past.

devmage · Oct 9, 2003, 02:29 PM

Sounds wrong to me. I have a stock Dual G5 with an extra gig of ram. It is the most quiet computer I've ever owned. The only time I have heard the fans kick was when I litterly was pushing it hard. Or like when I imported my mail from my PC it ground the HD for quite a while and it spun up the HD fans I think to cool it off. Maybe your fan control system is malfunctioning.

Devmage

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Oct 9, 2003, 02:30 PM

Originally posted by devmage:
Sounds wrong to me. I have a stock Dual G5 with an extra gig of ram. It is the most quiet computer I've ever owned. The only time I have heard the fans kick was when I litterly was pushing it hard. Or like when I imported my mail from my PC it ground the HD for quite a while and it spun up the HD fans I think to cool it off. Maybe your fan control system is malfunctioning.

Devmage

Do you have a 9800? Though? I think that is his main concern.

eggman · Oct 9, 2003, 02:36 PM

Here's a thought... make sure that the clear plastic enclosure (the one that you see when the aluminum side panel is removed) is properly seated. If it isn't, the fans go full blast.

It's possible that either that plastic "wind guide" isn't well seated... or that the sensor that's supposed to detect its presence isn't working properly.

devmage · Oct 9, 2003, 02:37 PM

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Do you have a 9800? Though? I think that is his main concern.

No the stock is 9600, which is passively cooled. I have heard complaints that the 9800 does have a noisy fan on it. However I do not think the 9600 could generate enough heat to effect the temperature in the case and cause the fans to move into over drive by merely scrolling

Devmage

Webscreamer · Oct 9, 2003, 03:10 PM

I talked to the Apple Store today, they are like.. "Yah, problems! Bring her in"... ;p

I forgot something else too. Once in a while I get flickers of lines of static on my screen.

I think its a bad 9800 card ;0

The headphone thing is messed up too they said...

Every computer i ever got from Apple needed repair within the first week... normally a new motherboard

Bad luck... I guess so.

The Mick · Oct 9, 2003, 04:32 PM

My headphone jack does the exact same thing, I don't think it's broken.

Elderloc · Oct 10, 2003, 04:13 AM

I had issues with my 9800 when I got my dual. The oem fan on it made a whining noise. I found a quick fix though I removed the fan from my PC's 9800 pro and swapped it with the G5 one. The oem uses plastic mounts the Retail PC one uses copper pins.

Yes the 9800 is much louder than the 9600 Duals. I have a stock g5 dual at work and it is so quiet I could not even hear it with everything else off and my door closed at work. How ever my home machine is not ear deafing but there is a huge difference. I'm looking for a heat pipe or something to put on there.

Gul Banana · Oct 10, 2003, 06:33 AM

Originally posted by devmage:
I litterly was pushing it hard

I assume you do not literally mean literally?

bri-guy · Oct 10, 2003, 10:09 AM

Originally posted by Gul Banana:
I assume you do not literally mean literally?

Well it is a bit heavier than the G4

Webscreamer · Oct 10, 2003, 11:21 AM

Originally posted by Elderloc:
I had issues with my 9800 when I got my dual. The oem fan on it made a whining noise. I found a quick fix though I removed the fan from my PC's 9800 pro and swapped it with the G5 one. The oem uses plastic mounts the Retail PC one uses copper pins.

Yes the 9800 is much louder than the 9600 Duals. I have a stock g5 dual at work and it is so quiet I could not even hear it with everything else off and my door closed at work. How ever my home machine is not ear deafing but there is a huge difference. I'm looking for a heat pipe or something to put on there.

If you sit and resize a window for about 10 secs does your fan speed up? And if you play like 20 secs of a game, do they really get loud?

Jerome_69 · Oct 10, 2003, 05:58 PM

Originally posted by Webscreamer:
If you sit and resize a window for about 10 secs does your fan speed up? And if you play like 20 secs of a game, do they really get loud?

I 've exactly the same thing on my Dual 2.0 but not on my 1.6.
1) sounds like a air pump in a fish tank
2) whisling type sound
3) when I click Shut down, , I hear a loud whisle
4) Radeon 9800 make a high pitch noise
5) when I "shaking/resize" a window in the finder or Safari. If I do that in less than 20 sec. the fans goes up. Idem with visualizer in iTunes, a 20 mb image in photoshop or playing Unreal 2003.
When you're additioning all these noises... I can't tell you that it is very annoying ! It's much louder than my Dual G4 1.25 !

In comparison my 1.6 is whisper quiet. No fishing tank, no chirping, nothing.

I also asked to Lionel from MacBidouille who has also a Dual 2.0 with a 9800, if he has all these problems. He told me he don't have any !!!

So today, my Dual goes to an AppleCare technician for all the week-end.

I will tell you how it goes.

macrophyllum · Oct 10, 2003, 06:42 PM

I have a dual with a 9800 and I get a whining noise sometimes too. If I knock it with my knuckle or open the side and close it, the noise goes away. The noise from the fans is very quiet, it is just the whining that gets annoying sometimes. Just seems to come on randomly, intense graphics or not.

Webscreamer · Oct 10, 2003, 09:37 PM

Originally posted by Jerome_69:
I 've exactly the same thing on my Dual 2.0 but not on my 1.6.
1) sounds like a air pump in a fish tank
2) whisling type sound
3) when I click Shut down, , I hear a loud whisle
4) Radeon 9800 make a high pitch noise
5) when I "shaking/resize" a window in the finder or Safari. If I do that in less than 20 sec. the fans goes up. Idem with visualizer in iTunes, a 20 mb image in photoshop or playing Unreal 2003.
When you're additioning all these noises... I can't tell you that it is very annoying ! It's much louder than my Dual G4 1.25 !

In comparison my 1.6 is whisper quiet. No fishing tank, no chirping, nothing.

I also asked to Lionel from MacBidouille who has also a Dual 2.0 with a 9800, if he has all these problems. He told me he don't have any !!!

So today, my Dual goes to an AppleCare technician for all the week-end.

I will tell you how it goes.

mine is going in tomorrow morning

tonewheel · Oct 10, 2003, 11:05 PM

My G5 1.8 fans build to jet aircraft noise levels when placed in target disk mode. Otherwise, really nice and quiet.

Cadaver · Oct 11, 2003, 08:28 AM

Originally posted by Webscreamer:
If you sit and resize a window for about 10 secs does your fan speed up? And if you play like 20 secs of a game, do they really get loud?

My Dual 2.0GHz'er (Radeon 9600, 1.5GB RAM) is whisper quiet, even after playing a round or two of UT2K3. The loudest thing about the machine is the hard drive.

BTW, the fans running full-blast in FireWire disk mode is normal (if possible, put the other computer in to target disk mode.)

JustinD · Oct 16, 2003, 01:46 AM

My Dual G5, 2GB RAM, 2x250GB HD, Radeon 9800 Pro, is right on my desk less than 2 feet away from me, and after turning off Nap using CHUS to get rid of the chirp. is dead quiet - even after Unreal 2k3 for a few hours! The fans kick in higher once in a while, but it's barely noticible.

Webscreamer · Oct 16, 2003, 06:37 PM

Mine is louder than my G4 400. Apple said "everything looks and sounds good"

wtf?!?!

If I resize a damn window for like 10 secs it picks up.

Cadaver · Oct 19, 2003, 09:46 AM

Until I reorganize my home office, I've got my G5 sitting on my desk next to me. The desk surface is pretty hard, and the fans would reasonate through the desk, making things sound louder. I put some thin sheets of rubberized foam under each handle/leg, and it's now much quieter.

I had a bunch of this stuff left over from spending tons of money quieting down my home-built Athlon box (which now, btw, is only very, very slightly louder than the G5).