Was wondering if anyone else is experiencing this same problem. Very noisy iMac - assuming Fan, but could be Hard Drive. Have tried SMC reset (not sure it worked since I have a wireless keyboard?). Are there any suggestions on a corrective action. Much appreciated.
Thanks,
There are two moving parts in your iMac: 1) fan, and 2) rotational hard drive (including Fusion drive). You reset the SMC on the iMac by just unplugging it, waiting 10 - 15 seconds, and then reconnect to power. Keyboard is unnecessary for that step.
Otherwise, unless you were into heavy game playing, or CPU/GPU activity that generated alot of heat, you probably have some hardware component failing — nothing that we (your fellow users) can fix. When the Apple Store/Apple Certified Service Provider facilities reopen, schedule a service appointment.
Run fewer concurrent applications and determine if the noise problem is reduced or eliminated. Does the noise exist if you have no applications launched, and just the operating system running?
If the noise continues, copy and paste the following command into the Terminal application. It will prompt for your adminstrator password, which will not echo when typed:
sudo powermetrics -n 1 --samplers smc | egrep -i "fan|temperature"
This will output your fan speed and cpu/gpu die temperatures.
Right now, my Late-2013 iMac 27inch has Firefox 76 open with two text content tabs, and a Terminal window. Fan is 1199 rpm, and bot CPU/GPU temps are 20 degrees cooler than what you show.
I still believe that a future appointment to have the iMac hardware checked out by Apple, or Apple Certified Service Center might be beneficial.
Thank you Sir.
Do absolutely NO gaming. Just regular use with quite a number of apps running. Although the thought of carting my large iMac to the Apple store is extremely daunting, I might not have another option. I ran the 'Hardware Diagnostic' test (pressed 'D" on startup). No fault detected.
Wonder if there is something I can at home rather than take the machine in....??
Hi,
Thanks again for the prompt response. To answer;
Also, ran the Terminal Command and have the following results;
Fan: 1197 rpm
CPU die temperature: 54.75 C
GPU die temperature: 56.25 C
I can't tell if it's the fan or hard drive...
Thanks so much for your help.
Noted. Thanks for all your advice.
Best regards and stay safe !!
Extremely Noisy Fan (or Hard Drive) - iMac (Retina 5K, 27 Inch, Late 2014)