Noise on new G5´s

does updating to 10.4.3 cause reving of fans on the dual-core as many have reported on the dual single cores G5's ?

also barefeats.com has compared single-core vs dual core at their homepage and concluded that the dual-core never exceeded 42 decibels in all test.

Plus firewire limitation is still there.

When I updated my profile yesterday to reflect my new dual core, I erroneously selected 10.4.3 vice 10.4.2 - I have NOT updated to 10.4.3, and after reading the discussions here and over on Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, I think I'll wait until I'm confident I won't have the fan problem (which may require waiting until 10.4.5....)

Sorry.

Although my work habits haven't changed, the fans on my computer have been acting up as of late. This was before and after applying the 10.4.3 update.

Safari seems to be the most abusive application. I watch it in the Activity Monitor and it's eaten the most CPU cycles out of all the applications I have open (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adium, Mail, iPhoto, iTunes), and whenever I am clicking on various links, the fans start to whirr up and down. Not full blast, but enough to let me know they're there. I even changed the processor performance setting in the Energy Saver control panel to Automatic, from Highest.

PatrickL,

Did you try repairing permissions?

I have installed the 10.4.3 update, and although I have only done limited testing (had to leave on a business trip) I would say there is no difference in noise levels on my dual core between 10.4.2 and 10.4.3. Of course I think my dual core is loud anyway 😉 Fans are still running at 499rpm at the cpus and 1100rpm at the exhausts (from memory, might be the other way round), so there has been no increase there.

What i have noticed with 10.4.3 is that the idle CPU temp is a couple of deg C lower than it previously was (now running at around 32c, previously was 34 or 35c)

I am running processor at highest setting

Grtz

Simon

well, i'm happy to report that my new dual core 2ghz G5 seems to be free of the digital noise that plagued the previous models. i use a hifi-link usb audio output adapter into a hafler amp, mackie mixer, and acoustic energy speakers, and the sound is quite good, no graphics related noise as far as i can tell, certainly nothing like the previous G5 i had last year and promptly returned.

in addition i don't really find any power supply related noises so far (about three days). and the fans do seem to have their speeds under control, no runaways or unusually high rpms so far. i must comment however that the harddrive itself is quite loud when it writes, even normal updates like mod dates and stuff that get written each time a file is accessed (the optical disk drive is also very loud when it spins up). this is most likely due to the open design of the perforated cabinet face, obviously for airflow. so, a trade off it seems. i don't however remember the harddrive being this loud on the last g5 i had... curious. at any rate, it is quite liveable, and so far i am pleased and happily relieved to find this new machine as quiet and bug-free as it seems to be.

now that i've said all this of course, it's bound to completely fall apart any second now!

I hope others are having this experience as well, and we all continue to - many thanks to all who posted and helped push apple through this bottleneck of product design and customer service.

dt

I have a new dualcore 2,3 and i hear a constant buzz or mmmm. It seems to be a vibration sound in the drive bay area. Maybe the vent there.

I don´t know if i have to call Apple Care or not. It only have 1 day 🙂

dtich, have u considered my post ?

Helge B., "Anyone used Hitachi Feature Tool to turn Quiet Seek Mode on?", 03:41pm Nov 9, 2005 CDT

JasonHH, still waiting for some quad cpu temp...

I have the same noise problem you describe. I have a dual processor 2.0 G5,but these aren't dual core processors.

I have run the machine with the side panel off, and the noise does not come from the large cooling fans, because they run at very low RPM.

I expect the noise is from the cooling fan on the video card, which probably runs at a much higher RPM, or it might come from the disk. Could the video card itself cause the noise?

This is a real problem for me, because it is contributing to a tinnitus problem for me. I'm now buying a Mac Mini to use for some weeks to see if the tinnitus goes away. If it does, then I think I will investigate converting the PowerMack to run OS X Server, put it in another room, and use the Mini as a client. Has anyone here set up somthing like that?

The description of the noise as sounding like a three year old PC is exactly right. I have a Dell 2.8 Ghz PC that makes almost no noise at all. I expected the PowerMac G5 to be that quiet, given the Apple marketing info, but the PowerMac is a noisy machine. Period.

Simon, i have a DualCore 2,3 and i think it is noisy. It is my second one. O sent back the first for the same subject. The new one has the same noise. I think it come from the drive bay fan. I have looked at it and it looks low quality.

I'm very disappointed.
My brand new g5 is louder than my 3 years old vaio and louder than a mac mini. Noise seems to come from the hard disk bay, I removed power from the hard disk and the noise is still there, meaning it comes from the fans. How can I check the status/speed of the fans?

I have come from a powerbook and mac mini to the quad with 6800.
I would say that under low loads the pb and mm are near silent.
I could sleep with either of them on. I would not be able to tell you if the pb was on even if I was in the same room with it.
However the quad sounds like a fish tank pump when idle. This is not a loud sound, but it is noticeable, and does break the silence. When playing music, I can just hear it, but after some time, the music drowns it out.
What is causing this pump like sound? Is it a defect, or is this the normal sound of the quad, coming from a fan or the actual cooling pumps?
Cheers

When I removed the clear plastic airlow sheet, the pump sound disappears and all I can hear is the much quieter sound of the fans. Now the quad is really quite quiet.
Actual when putting the plastic back, I can hear a fan start spinning and visa versa. But this fan is not shown by hardware monitor? Which one could it be? The 6800 graphics card does not have a fan.
Problem now is that the quad has 3 status lights lit up - green, yellow and red. I guess this is a warning that the clear plastic airflow sheet has been removed. I also noticed that a number of the temp diodes are reporting increases in temp. Most noticeably the graphics card and cpu diodes. All 9 fans remain the same speed. The graphics card is now at the same temp as the memory controller at 49 C.
Perhaps there is another fan that hardware monitor does not report, that keeps the expansion slots cool, and perhaps this fan stops when the plastic is removed, and perhaps it is the cause of all the extra noise. According to HW Monitor the Expansion Slots Intake fan is still turning at 1560rpm as before? Or perhaps the plastic causes the existing fans to make more noise?
Can anybody else confirm my results and add some insight to this. My quad is much quieter with this plastic removed? Is this a defect, or are we expected to live with this pump sounding noise?
Cheers

OK. When removing the clear plastic (which has a reflective surface at the bottom right corner - acting as a switch) a mysterious fan slows down. When putting it back, the fan speeds up. This fan is not reported by HW monitor, or hardware monitor is not reporting the fan speeds correctly. Removing the clear plastic results in significant heat increases for the graphics cards and cpus. This may be a function of the mysterious fan, or the air channeling affect of the plastic.
But I can assure you the quad is much louder when the plastic is in place, and the fan is spinning fast. And I need to find out how to get the quad running at the level of noise experienced when the plastic is removed.
Do you all experience this change in noise levels? Or do I have a defect?
Regards