Mac Pro loud fan noise after 2-3 hours

Have you cleaned out any dust that may have accumulated? I had this problem at one point and it was dust and lint stuck in the front and backs.

And you don't have the X1900, which just gets clogged with dust bunnies every couple months and you will hear fans and hot hot air out the back.

Most people use smcfancontrol 2.1.2 to keep the fans running 800-900 rpm, just a small boost, and keeps things cooled.

When my system wakes up, in summer, it sometimes hits 2000-2500 for 20 seconds, to expel built-up heat. It is to protect the system.

If it still happens, you might want to find powermanagement.plist or even try installing on another partition and see if that is different.

I have the exact same problem, my computer will sit there and the fan speed will rise and fall like a revving engine for a few hours whilst I am working then suddenly, it will kick into full on vacuum cleaner style noise....not exactly much fun if you are working in a recording studio (which I am)

My machine is out of warranty by 32 days, I am totally disgusted at the quality, this machine costs me £4000 gbp.

the computer is showing these speeds on Idle;

CPU MEM - 499 rpm
I O - 599 rpm
EXHAUST - 499 rpm
PSU - 1999 rpm

Does anyone know of any solutions for my problem? I have done a SMC reset, both normal and hard, also and command option p r reset as well....

yours annoyed..

please help!

I guess it's my own fault for not selecting apple care. But come on Apple, its your flagship machine.

just side tracking, pardon me.
Apple's flagship machine(s) -> iPods and now probably iPhones

Helpful;


Anyway so I have done a Hardware Test and it came back with this error code;

4MOT/40000004 :Exhaust

I am guessing that its the exhaust fan. what I don't know is does the exhaust fan have a sensor built into it?

thanks.

I have the same issue. I did a Extended Hardware test and it came up with nothing. Mac Pros, from what I hear are supposed to run their fans fast on start up, but then slow down to run silently. My fans run loud 24/7 and never slow down.
Also, I'm not sure if anyone else has this issue, but when I start my machine, I will start it, my fans will run, I will hear the boot-up chime, but my screen will stay black. I will have to hit the power button to turn the machine off then back on again atleast one more time until it boots up. Disk Utility has come up with no Software issues and the Hardware test has come up with nothing...
Any suggestions?

I SOLVED my fan Problem. I decided to clean my computer on the inside. While doing so, I decided to look up how to take out the front cooling fan on the internet, and I stumbled upon this article http://macsaregreat.com/?p=63

My fan problem was caused by a solid layer of dust built up on the heat sink of my ATI Radeon X1900 Graphics Card. If you go to the article linked above, you can see a picture of how it looks.

If you aren't looking for it, you will easily miss it because it will be a solid layer of dust covering the heat sink (plus its not the best viewing angle to see).

I cleaned the heat sink to my card, booted my computer, fans ran loud for 5 seconds and then slowed down and started running quietly!

I can't vouch for other video cards, but this totally fixed my problem, even the booting up twice problem!

I cleaned my ATI Fans Filter. It was pretty much packed on with dust. I haven't cleaned it since I bought it and I can see a substantial difference immediately. I have just done it and I am getting NO NOISE where I was getting the "vacuum" style noise. This is not my Exhaust fan but it was the Graphics card fan. I was only getting a few minutes of use out of it before it went all crazy so hopefully this works!!! It is also safe to clean this. Just use your finger to get it out but don't bend the aluminum by rubbing it off to hard. Do not use a cue tip or anything that can clog it up. Your finger should be fine.

Thanks,
Justin

ub5 is absolutely right::: If you boot up with the side panel off and pay attention to where the noise is coming from, it is most likely from the ATI Graphics card fan::: I had to remove it in order to thoroughly clean... and ahhhhh what a relief!

OMG omg omg. This problem has been annoying the **** out of me. Recently I had to reboot my mac 6-10 times for the screen to go on and always sounded like a jet plane. I called apple and no one could find a solution but THIS IS IT. I'm sure tons of mac pro users are going to have this same problem. I created an account here just to say omg it works and thanks a ton for posting this.

oh yeah, also wouldn't hurt to spritz a little canned air on the heat sink after you've cleaned it too... i read about using vacuums on it but that can cause the card to generate electricity (fan spinning the opposite direction)...

It works... I was hours away from buying a new graphics card... I still want a new one... that ATI card is a little out dated. But I guess this one will have to do for now.

Thanks!

I have been dealing with a Mac Pro for the past 6 months in my sound studio having a constant vacuum from the fan. I assumed this was normal and a purchasing oversight I made. It was far from silent, infact it was so loud it sounded (on recordings) like a car was constantly in the room idling. Very annoying.

I took apart the mac pro thinking there would be maybe dust (as people suggested) in my video card - as that appeared to be where the sound was coming from. I removed the card, and there wasn't really a build up of dust.

I did however put the card back into a slot (it was on the bottom slot closest to the ram - maybe it couldn't breath?) and turned it back on and for the first time since October 08 I have the computer I paid for and not an oversized noise box.

So there is obviously something dodgy about this ATI card Apple. Its actually really quite annoying and dealing with a nuscense noise for 6 months on a computer you drop thousands and thousands for is just ********.

The noise is back.

Time to walk back into the Apple store and talk loud and let everybody who's thinking of getting that new iPod or the new Macbook how expectations do not meet reality.

I hope the noise I make helps to stop a few sales just as dealing with this noise in my machine stops me from thinking I am not working in a manufacturing plant with power tools.

Mac Pro, looks great in the shop... sounds like a power tool and will even wake you from your sleep.