My 7800's fan is really loud; is yours??

Yep - definitely seems to me the video card fan is still spinning while the monitor has been put to sleep - are you running a graphics intensive screensaver?

My new Quad with 7800 card is also pretty much as loud as my old AGP Powermac G4/350. A constant, non-variable fan noise. Also I seem to have gotten a Maxtor HD that is quite loud... Unfortunate. Listening to different 'zones' along the front of the G5 case, and the 'PCIe zone' seems to be much louder than the lower 'CPU zone'. That is when the HD isn't clicking away.
And that DVD drive has to be louder yet. When installing Xcode tools from the included DVD, it was so loud I thought it might almost be broken...if I hadn't heard my parent's 'lampshade' iMac's DVD-ROM drive before!

Unfortunately beyond aesthetic sound issues, I can't seem to get the Apple DVI to S-Video adaptor I purchased along with it to function. It won't recognize it at all. I'm going to call Apple support about it now. Maybe something will be busted with my 7800 and I'll get a 'quiet' replacement 😉 One can hope.

thats odd...mine is very quiet, i cannot even hear it...i would bring your machine in to an Apple Store and have them look at it

alex

It might have something to do with the 30" display. So far, all the quiet answers are for smaller display sizes. I use a 20" Cinema and a 19" CRT but the 7800 gt is quiet as can be. Normally, it's temp hovers in the 120 degree range but rises up to around 150 when playing games or other gpu intense things.

Thank god other people are having this problem...I'm currently using my new quadG5 with 7800 on my desk almost next to my head!!!
I too had heard that quads are pretty quiet, so was surprised when it clearly wasn't! opened up the side, and the majority of the noise is clearly coming from the 7800GT...
Admitedly I haven't used anything but Cinema4D since I bought the quad so it's been getting some hammer but please, I just want it to SHUT UP....

I'll keep my eye out when i start doing more menial tasks

I have just had a G5 Quad with 30" LCD and 7800 GPU delivered and can confirm that it is much louder than the G5 Quad with 6600 GPU that I sent back before the new year.

Cheers Daniel

Dual 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

I have a quad with 7800GT running a 30" Cinema Display built less than 2 weeks ago, only when i've run the Hardware Test or when the CPU is at full tilt as the noise ever become an issue for me, but obviously that's the CPU fans. I've tried stopping the GPU fan, and it is definately the loudest thing in there, but so far it's not bothered me, and it's sitting on the desk right next to me, then again i've never been around a Power Mac before so i can't compare.. the only thing i can compare with is my PC, which is also next to me under the desk.. it's in a Coolermaster Stacker case and i have a 7800GTX in there, which funnily enough is the quietest high end GPU around i think, and it is... for me it was worth upgrading from 2x 6800 Ultras, not only does it perform better, it's as quiet as a mouse, then again at most it only outputs to 2x standard 17" LCD screens, not the monster Cinema Display -- so maybe that is a factor. Anyway my pc is quieter than the G5, but my PC is VERY quiet as it is.

But i have found a solution for those finding the 7800GT too noisy. Does involve very basic DIY. and costs around $20-25. http://www.hardmac.com/articles/54/ -- i myself would do it, but unsure how it affects the warranty, but at the moment the noise isn't too much of an issue for me, i could see how it would be for those previously used to a very silent G5.

Hi,

I've got a G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD, with the display powered by a GeForce 6800 Ultra at 2560 x 1600.

I too find that my 6800 fan is really loud (eg: high rev) upon a cold start-up. I have actually verified that it is the 6800 by opening the mac and stopping its fan with my finger to be sure...and, yes, all was quiet when I stopped the high reving 6800 fan with my finger.

I also found (accidentally) that if I restarted my G5 after about 15 minutes...The 6800 fan rev dropped down to almost nothing!

I decided to dig a little deeper into the issue...

I purchased the "Hardware Monitor" utility ( http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html) which allows me to monitor fan revs and various temperatures. I was able to find that if I let the "Memory Controller Heatsink" reach a temperature of > 136 degrees (eg: waiting as it climbs from ~108 degrees at start-up to 136 degrees in ~15 minutes)...that a restart would result in the 6800 fan to be very low (normal); however, if I tried a restart prior to letting the "Memory Controller Heatsink" reach 136 degrees...the 6800 fan would stay at a high rev despite the restart.

Anyway, I haven't contacted an Apple rep yet, as it seems that this fan speed does not affect performance or stability in any way...just an annoyance.

Hope this additional info helps.

- Scott

G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD Mac OS X (10.4.4)

G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD Mac OS X (10.4.4)

G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD Mac OS X (10.4.4)

G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD Mac OS X (10.4.4)

G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Very loud... Quad G5 - 30" Display with 7800GT...

- stopped the fan, and the computer is otherwise "silent";
- tried restarting after the memory diode had heated up, but no change in noise;
- tried restarting with no monitor connected and no change in noise;
- run the GPU temp up to 70°C with no change in noise (51°-55° idle).

I guess it's possible that a Firmware fix may help a little, but I think I'll try the Zalman cooler in the next few weeks if I don't get used to the noise by then...

G4 Cube, PowerBook G4, PowerMac Quad G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

k2Director,

I have a 6800, not a 7800; however, I'd be curious if you experience a fan slow-down after letting your Mac run for ~15-20 minutes and then performing a restart?

I included my Jan 23rd post below...

- Scott

------------------------------------------
Posted: Jan 23, 2006 3:36 PM

Hi,

I've got a G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD, with the display powered by a GeForce 6800 Ultra at 2560 x 1600.

I too find that my 6800 fan is really loud (eg: high rev) upon a cold start-up. I have actually verified that it is the 6800 by opening the mac and stopping its fan with my finger to be sure...and, yes, all was quiet when I stopped the high reving 6800 fan with my finger.

I also found (accidentally) that if I restarted my G5 after about 15 minutes...The 6800 fan rev dropped down to almost nothing!

I decided to dig a little deeper into the issue...

I purchased the "Hardware Monitor" utility ( http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html) which allows me to monitor fan revs and various temperatures. I was able to find that if I let the "Memory Controller Heatsink" reach a temperature of > 136 degrees (eg: waiting as it climbs from ~108 degrees at start-up to 136 degrees in ~15 minutes)...that a restart would result in the 6800 fan to be very low (normal); however, if I tried a restart prior to letting the "Memory Controller Heatsink" reach 136 degrees...the 6800 fan would stay at a high rev despite the restart.

Anyway, I haven't contacted an Apple rep yet, as it seems that this fan speed does not affect performance or stability in any way...just an annoyance.

Hope this additional info helps.

- Scott

G5 Dual 2.5 GHz & 30" Cinema HD Mac OS X (10.4.4)

So is mine I have a Quad with the 7800GT and an older Dual 2.0 with an X800 XT and the Dual is dead silent, where as the Quad sounds like it's about ready to take off. I am about ready to order an Arctic Cooler VGA silencer and some Arctic silver to see how that works.

nVidia cards (in my experience) seem to just be very noisy, I have a PC with a 6600GT and the fan is just as loud as the 7800GT in the Quad, my roommate also has a PC with a 7800 and it's pretty noisy as well.

Hopefully there will be a firmware update ...

k2Director,

I have a 6800, not a 7800; however, I'd be curious if
you experience a fan slow-down after letting your Mac
run for ~15-20 minutes and then performing a
restart?

I included my Jan 23rd post below...

- Scott

This didn't work for my situation...

I am about ready to order an Arctic Cooler
VGA silencer and some Arctic silver to see how that
works.

Don't forget that according to the Macbidouille article the Arctic Cooler takes up two slots. The Zalman cooler only takes up one...

Hi
I too am suffering the fan noise on my Quads 7800..
Its running a 23" cinima hd plus a Mitsubushi DP 22" but disconecting the vga made no difference. The fan noise is constant with no apparent change when working hard in Final Cut or Photoshop and is very distracting.

The change of fans looks the answer but I'm too much a coward to start taking my new Mac apart!
Lets hope Apple can help with a firmware update sooner rather than later!

Cheers

Chris

G5 Quad Mac OS X (10.4.4) 4.5Gb, Cinema 23"

I did a lot of looking around and a thinking about this issue and these were my conclusions...

- The 7800 card is loud. This is that same for most PC variants except some of the more expensive versions which take up the next slot.

- It's loud because it works very hard and the cooler is designed to fit inside a small single slot space.

- Apple could have used a bigger cooler, but this would take up an extra slot and only leave the 6600 for those people who need all four slots. Making the 7800 single slot gave a good option for users who need all the slots.

- A firmware upgrade won't fix anything. All it could do is slow the fan down, but the GPU is already one of the hottest components, so you can't make the fan slower without risking over heating.

The noise of the 7800 in many environments would be fine. For me it was too loud (I work in a small room on my own with little or no other noise to block it out).

I opted for the Zalman cooler which works well and is much much quieter (I would estimate it has four times the surface area of the stock cooler, and is open the the air-flow from the slots fan). The GPU is now generally 10°C cooler than with the stock cooler and has not got above 64°C. It hovers around 49-53°C under general use, and around 57°C under heavier use.

This is not for everyone, as you will probably loose the warranty on the card, and risk damaging the card during the process. That said the stock cooler is easy to remove, anyone with any experience at this will finish the job in half an hour. You maybe able to find a service centre that will do the swap for you.