How noisy/quiet is new 5K iMac compared to the standard display versions? I returned three 27" iMacs (3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7) back in May because they were too noisy for me. Is this 5K machine any different?
full SSD here as well. check the forums (e.g. macrumors, battle.net) for many people with the same issue or just transcode a movie with handbrake and measure the fan speed with any free app and you'll notice a hot cpu and fan speeds of 2700 rpm.
It is not loud at all. The fan does run at 1200 RPMs all the time, but you can't hear it.
The temperature on the GPU does get hot, but it never shuts down or causes any usability problems. I never notice the fan. When I am not pushing it hard, the fan is quiet, and when I encode a video or play a game the fan speeds up. In the case of a game, the volume of the game is always louder than the fan. I videoed it with my iPhone so you can see the temp and here the fan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-C--WGBELg
I have had the Retina iMac 5k for a few weeks (oct 21) and I love it so far. I use it for video editing, apps and gaming. Mine does have the i7 with m295x video card. For an all in one that takes up a small spot on my desk and no space by my feet, its perfect.
Okay now I get it. What people actually mean when they say they "can't hear the fan" is that they're not bothered by the sound of the fan.
The fan noise in your video is unacceptable to me in a state of the art computer. My 2008 iMac was quieter than that.
It ***** watching a film, for instance, and hearing the computer over the quiet parts of the film but the worst thing about the noise of these iMacs is when they're idol. You can't just leave them idol in a quiet bedroom because they dominate the ambient sound level.
and that's the reason I've just returned mine. can't stand less than perfection from apple, especially for 4000 dollars
My iamc 5k arrived two days ago and the fan seems to be running full speed all the time. And thats in a room thats 65F and with no heavy lifting. I'm not very technical but I can tell you I find it disturbing. It seems that fan noise is true for some but not for others? Did I make a mistake getting the i7? 3TB Hard drive? thanks
I can echo the same sad news. My fully loaded 5K i7 / 3TB fusion drive is noisy. I work at home and compare to my late 2012 iMac, I can certainly hear its presence. Its faint, but there. However when launching game like Bioshock, Diablo, thats when things really go bad. It takes only 2-3 minutes when the fans kick and there is no way my wife can work on her computer in the same room. Its just annoying for both of us. Obviously on higher tasks like Episode exports this happens as well. I am still deciding what to do. We have pretty cold days in Autumn, so I am just worried what this piece of machinery will do in summer. I will probably ship this machine back as I do expect only the best from Apple and this is not it. Top of the line machine should not compromise its usability. Got 10 days to decide or hear from Apple that firmware will take care of this. If you go to MacRoumors forums, there is a lot of discussions on this topic (heat, noise, screen bleeding and tint issues)
I wouldn't expect a firmware update. This problem already existed with the standard display version.
Looking at all these noise & heating issues, hope Apple could quickly settle these issues ASAP as i wanna buy it. Love the 5K resolution display!
Don't count on it. This problem already existed with the current standard display iiMacs.
What problems on the previous 2012-2013 iMac are you talking? I have one next to the new full spec i7/4Ghz retina iMac and I can assure you, that the machine is whisper quite in any games, while retina does come on with airplane-like fans going off in 2-3min in the game - and I am only at the menu screen. Not a heavy gamer, but I certainly do not expect newer system be more noisier then previous gen. This issue is also worrying in the long term. Anyway, I made my mind and unfortunately returning this iMac back to Apple. The screen is absolute stunner, but not worth taking the risk, I rather wait regardless how tempting this is. Its very expansive machine and as someone said before - I expect nothing but the best from apple, and this is - after having more then 25 mac in my 25 years of history with Apple - not there yet.
I also found, that on my machine the screen is nor properly fitted in the bottom where it meets the aluminium with Apple logo. It's kind of wave and looks like its not glued correctly. Still comparing my with my previous iMac from 2012 and the screen is perfectly fitted in the bottom. You see only slight aluminium edge, on the retina it disappears under the bulge of the screen on few spots.
I would recommend anyone to check macroumors for thread about throttling and heat issues before pulling the plug. I am not happy about it, because I was waiting for this machine for a long time, but I would recommend to do DD before pulling the cash out of the pocket.
Oh thanks.
Thanks.
The machine I had a problem with was the 3.5 GHz Quad-core i7 iMac. Same top end standard display iMac still on sale now.
If you get a full SSD one, will you get this fan noise problem too?
Mine was a 3 TB Fusion Drive but I very much doubt ordering a SSD-only machine will make any difference. The issue here is the processor and the fan cooling the processor.
How noisy/quiet is new iMac with Retina 5K display?
