[alex-dtp]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to buy a Dual G5 soon, but i need to know which one is the quietest of them all.

Price is not as big a factor as noise here, so which is the quietest:

Dual 2.0/2.3 - or - Dual 2.7?

Thanks in advance!

- Alex

[Big Mac]

The quietest G5 is probably the SP 1.6 or SP 1.8, but since you're asking about duals. . . There should not be that much difference in the fan rate of the DP 2.0 and 2.3. The DP 2.7 will be louder. But G5s are quiet Macs in general.

[TiDual]

I've now had (a) a Rev. A, dual 2GHz, (b) a dual 2.5GHZ and (c) a week old dual 2.7. To be honest the Rev A dual 2 GHz was the best of the bunch ... quiet as a mouse. The 2.5 was a touch noisy, and the 2.7, while similar, seems a bit better than the 2.5 (difficult to quantify). I can only conclude that the slower (and cooler) the better. For everyday tasks you won't see much difference in speed unless your doing very intensive tasks. We do, because we run simulations that take 7-10 days, and even a 2.5 -> 2.7 upgrade can shave a day off the simulation. Interestingly, even when a simulation is taking up 100% of one CPU, the machines still runs smooth as silk. Gotta love dualies!


Oh, and I have an iMac G5 (Rev A, 20") at home: a touch noisy in my view, the minute it's made to work.

[loki74]

my dual 2.5 is pretty quiet. The fans only kick in if youre doing something "strenuous," and are assisted by liquid cooling. I'd say the difference in between the various models is negligable compared to more important purchasing factors: price, power, etc

[Ron Goodman]

I have a Rev A DP 2 gHz and the fans hardly ever run. There was a bug in 10.3.? that caused them to run excessively, but it was fixed by 10.3.9, and didn't come back with Tiger.

[alex-dtp]

Thank you very much for the info!

But aren't there some info on the dB of each PM?

Something like:

Dual 2.0 ≈ xx dB
Dual 2.3 ≈ xx dB
Dual 2.7 ≈ xx dB

If any of you could measure your PM in some way and ^ fill this out, i'd be very greatful.

Alex

[Al G]

Originally Posted by alex-dtp

Thank you very much for the info!

But aren't there some info on the dB of each PM?

Something like:

Dual 2.0 ≈ xx dB
Dual 2.3 ≈ xx dB
Dual 2.7 ≈ xx dB

If any of you could measure your PM in some way and ^ fill this out, i'd be very greatful.

Alex

Sorry but that just isn't going to happen. Aside from the problem that few have sound meters, the data provided would be anecdotal, and NOT valid overall. There are too many variables. Each machine is physically different (some fans just make more noise than others). And it also depends on the both the CPU load and the ambient temperature.

[k2director]

Alex,
Besides the loudness of the computer itself, don't forget to factor in the video card's fan. I have a dual 2.0 (original), with an ATI 9800 card, and the card's fan makes more noise than the computer's. I had a dual 2.5 for a brief while, with an nVidea 6800, and again, the graphcis card was noisier than the computer itself.
Personally, if silence is truly the goal, I think you'll be fine with any dual configuration, but just go for a video card like the ATI 9600 or 9650, which is very quiet. And if a high performance video card is a must, then look into after-market fans for the ATI x800 or nV6800, which can apparently bring the fan noise down considerably (do a search on Macnn for some more info).

[d.fine]

The G5's are very silent, my Dual 2.0 with fanless vid card sits 30 cm from my head on the desk and I hardly hear it. I hear it running when the room is dead quite, but on a normal day, some music on the background, I sometimes forget it is running

[frido:mac]

I have three G5´s sitting on my desk at the moment, a single 1.6, a dual 2.0 from last summer and a dual 2.3 from 2 weeks ago... and I have to say the 2.3 is the quietest.... (all with stock video cards, 5200 Ultra on the 1.6 and 2.0, 9600 XT on the 2.3)

Bye, Frido.