ATI 2600 Fan Noise

My new Mac Pro is fantastic, and pretty silent, however working away last night, I noticed an occasional irritating whiney woosh coming from an internal fan. On inspection it turned out to be the fan on the Radeon 2600. It spins normally, but every 10-20 secs accelerates sharply, giving a whooshing sound.
The machine has 16GB RAM filling all 8 slots, 4 HDs in the normal bays, and a MaxConnect kit with 2 further HDs in the lower optical drive bay.
I'm wondering whether the machine is running a bit hot because I've maxed it out, but then none of the main fans are speeding up, apart from the Radeon fan it's almost silent.
Any ideas?

I have no idea.
In the past, you could look up "utility" fans for a computer cabinet from the part number sticker on the fan itself. This often gave you a link to industrial fans available ONLY in the handy 1000-pack. If they managed to blurt out the air moved in Cubic Feet per Minute, you could use that to find replacement fans of the same size, prefereably with same of lower sound generated in deci Bells.
Because of custom housings, Graphics card fans may be a specially-built item rather than a standard commodity part, so replacements (if any) may only be available from the manufacturer.

Similar Messages

ATI 3870 fan noise; Blu-ray movie playback works with 3870.

Is there a better fan/heatsink for 3870? I just replaced my stock 7300GT with 3870 but fan noise is annoying and is louder than my Mac Pro system fans. Thanks.
I just like to share to everybody that 3870 works with Buffalo external USB Blu-ray(tested with Vista). My stock 7300GT will not playback Blu-ray movies because it's not HDCP compliant.
Nathan

I just removed the fan off my x1900 and it's a joy to listen to now. Dead silent.
Here are some photos of how easy it was. Take off memory heat syncs, take off electric heat syncs, and then the fan off the chip. Wipe it with a tissue. Then take an eraser and rub until all residue is gone. Then just stick and peel the heat syncs where they fit.
The only trick was getting the clips to fit on the board. I had to take off the long metal piece that ran the length of the board so the clips could fit around it.
Anyway hope this helps someone out there.
http://www.redvent.com/images/card/1.jpg
http://www.redvent.com/images/card/2.jpg
http://www.redvent.com/images/card/3.jpg
http://www.redvent.com/images/card/4.jpg
http://www.redvent.com/images/card/5.jpg

Radeon 2600 Fan Noise

Hello
I had an issue with my new Mac Pro, where the Radeon 2600 Fan was running eratically, even without any load on the card. It sounded like an engine reving up. It then settled running at max speed, which was very noisy.
With the help of Tech Support the problem was resolved, however the fan is still too noisy for my liking, and I was thinking of using a passive cooling solution.
Has anyone done this, and what passive unit will do the job.
Thanks

Get the card replaced would be first thing to look into. There were problems with the firmware update process; and problems with many of the retail 3870's which seem to be okay now. Manufacturing problem.
There are some kits but you should not need one on a 2600.
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/Graphics/8800GTAcceleroS1/8800GTAcceleroS1R2.html
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=147

ATI X850 fan noise on Dual G5

Hi All,
I have a dual G5 with the ATI X850 card. The fan has gotten disturbingly loud (I have confirmed that it is that particular fan).
I do have AppleCare, but before I spend a considerable amount of time on the phone, I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and how or if AppleCare took care of it.
Thanks in advance,
Alan

EtherDesigner-
You should be able to get Apple to replace that card for you. They do have a way of deciding that too loud for you is not too loud for them. If AppleCare won't help, ask for Customer Service and complain that you are losing productivity blah blah blah.
Generally if you are firm but polite and professional they will take care of it.
Of course, if the card just, um, stopped working they would, um, definitely have to replace it (;>)
Luck-
-DaddyPaycheck

ATI fan noise

Hi everyone,
I've just bought I ATI 9800 Pro 256MB Mac Special Edition, and the fan noise is extremely irritating.
I've been to xlr8yourmac.com and have seen a couple articles on replacing the fan with an Arctic Cooling VGA silencer and the Verax G03. Both operations seem a little hairy to me. A visit to the Arctic Cooling web site reveals newer products such as the ATI silencer 1 and 2.
Has anyone had any luck installing these types of products onto an ATI card and what was the result? Also, how difficult was the operation?
Thanks very much,
Christian

Hmm - it's all coming back now.
Verax instructions were not good - but xlr8 covers it pretty well.
Verax recommend using the power available at the optical drive, rather than connecting direct to the socket on the card, like the ATI fan.
Verax, unfortunately, supplied a single, direct Molex-type power connector with the G03, but their excellent support quickly sent the correct Y-connector, as shown on xlr8.
Twisting the ATI fan off the GPU takes guts - but may be made easier by warming the area to soften the thermal paste.
I don't know whether cleaning the old paste off to a mirror-finish is vital, but with nail-varnish remover(all I could find...) and cotton buds it takes a while and needs care to keep it off the surrounding PCB. Final clean with methylated spirits(denatured alcohol) as there are other ingredients in nail-varnish remover.
I used the thermal paste supplied by Verax - but used more than xlr8 suggest, as the GPU heat-sink was lower compared to the surrounding bits than in their photos, and it was the only way to get a good even contact.
Made sure I was grounded/earthed throughout - just in case.
Time taken...? Depends how thorough the cleaning, I suppose.
Not much more than an hour as I recall. Maybe two hours. More time spent reading and re-reading the instructions than actually doing the job!

Solution to ati x800 xt related fan noise

i am so happy, that i need to share this with everybody else:
a few weeks ago i decided to upgrade my gpu to tht ati x800 xt. i won't bore you with the fact, that it is a great card, fast and - truely - silent. the problem was that the due to the heat of the card the pci slot fan, just beneath the superdrive, started spinning at over 43% (i am using the hardware monitor tool for measurements http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html).
i looked everywhere for a solution to my problem, which i thought was either
a) replacing the pci slot fan
b) replacing the x800 xt fan
c) lowering the speed of the pci slot fan
d) replacing the gpu
it took me a week, until i bumped into the following page:
http://www.barefeats.com/radx800.html
if you read further down you we will notice that some of the tests were done with an overclocked ati x800 xt. greedy as i am, i forgot about the noise and decided to hunt for even more gpu speed. and there i went to http://thomas.perrier.name/software/ATIcceleratorII.html and downloaded the aticcelarator tool. and there it struck me:
as soon as i increased the speed by increasing the card's clock speed, well, the pci slot fan went to 46%. yes, you read me. if you do the exact opposite, you will lower the fan speed.
and here is the solution that works for me:
to reduce pci slot fan noise, underclock the card to
core 475 -> 445 (-5%)
memory 499 -> 472 (-5%)
and since my powermac g5 2.0 ghz has reached a pci slot fan speed of 41%. just slow enough to be under my annoyance level. you will need to play around with the parameters, since (ati clock speed =) ati heat + mac heat + ambient heat will impact the pci slot fan.
cheers
philip

Hi Tangier,
did you install the necessary drivers? ATI DISPLAYS 4.5.7.
Works perfectly on both my G5/Dual 2.5 and G5/Dual 2.7. If it still does not work try to reinstall the latest Combo update, presently Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update (PPC)
If this answered your question please consider granting some stars: Why reward points?

ATI Radeon 4770 Fan Noise - Any bright ideas?

Hi,
I've an ATI Radeon 4770 graphics board installed on my Mac Pro (Early 2009, 16 gigs of RAM, OS 10.6.8). The board works fine but the fan is noisy and goes on full tilt from a cold boot. If I restart the Mac Pro then the fan will slow down and stop. This is my current workaround. Other than fan noise problem, everything else is working.
Here's what I've done to troubleshoot so far: Reset the SMC, zapped PRAM several times. Updated OS to 10.6.8 from 10.6.7. Verified HD and disk permissions. Extended Hardware Test has been passed.
Anyone any other bright ideas?
Thanks,
Midi.

Brand new?
Then you should be talking to the Vendor about why the card they sold you does not work correctly.

Choosing iMac model. Nvidia 8800 hotter than ATI 2600 ?

I'm just about to buy a 2.8GHz 24" iMac and am trying to decide whether to upgrade to the NVidia 8800 Graphics card or not.
I'm mainly trying to make it as future-proof as I can by putting in a higher spec card now, and also I guess Snow Leopard (with OpenCL) should be able to make much better use of the NVIDIA card than the ATI one.
I'm happy with the cost involved, but I'm concerned that the 8800 (being a more powerful card) may run hotter in normal (i.e. non-gaming) use compared to the 2600.
Could anyone offer an opinion on this? Do you think I'm likely to experience more fan noise with an 8800 fitted compared to a 2600?
Thanks
Steve

It does run hotter, fans are still inaudible unless right next to it (ear pressed where it will feel the heat).... now here's the thing: The fan speed won't increase noticeably even under extreme load.
To answer your question, if I focus on it, I can hear the fans (right now). If I reach up and touch the top (around top left) it's warm to the touch, and I can barely feel a warm breeze coming out
If i were to fire up Second Life (game) for about 10-20 minutes - it gets uncomfortably warm to the touch along the top edge (quick), and I could feel but barely hear more air being pushed out.
Me and a friend launched Second Life from openGL profiler - she (ATI 2600, 2.8/4m) was hitting around 40-50 FPS, I was hitting 120-180 (these were on a private estate (somewhat controlled environmentals), both set to level 3 quality - kinda apples to apples as best as we could).
I can't really comment on the openCL enhancements to come, It's a severely crippled 8800 (GS) - so I'd not put a lot of weight behind the OpenCL acceleration. It's not a Quadro.
I was under no illusions that it was a gaming machine or a production 3D/graphics workstation tho - it's good enough for casual gaming/semi-pro use with some decent capabilities, don't expect too much from it tho.
There is one of the mac fan sites that tracks the average days of refresh - roughly when to expect the next big "refresh" from Apple - maybe someone else can remember where it is... (something like mid jan/late spring roughly - with some exceptions).
Last thing I'd want is to have ordered the 8800 as a CTO (not refundable) to find out 5 days later a 9800 with 1 gig on a slick nvidia chipset was replacing it. And that they had replaced the mighty mouse.
The iMac 8800/3.06 is the quietest machine I've worked with, power wise - even when it is cranked to the hilt, and it gets hot, uncomfortably hot (that makes me jittery - which is why I'm glad I've got AppleCare). I could run SMC fan control or something to keep it cooler, but I'd prefer to see if Apple's got it right.
Anyhow... Good luck with it all. I plan on selling mine - maybe not tho, it would make a cool fishtank. (I'm learning I'm just not an Apple person, tho I'm still trying).

Fan noise unbearable ; Mac Pro 3.2 GHz 8-core, purchased in March...

Hi,
The noise from the top rear fan has steadily become unbearable. There is a constant rattle that I can even hear from an adjacent room.
This is not a tick tick tick of the fan hitting a ribbon cable - or the sound of a jet enginethat occurs when the fans get stuck in top gear. It is a constant and irritating rattle like a badly oiled or misaligned wheel. Or a cheap fan.
I am a film composer and can not work with this noise in my room! I certainly can no longer record acoustic instruments anywhere near my MacPro.
Do I get the machine replaced? The fan is sealed and looks nearly inaccessible. I have removed the drives from bay 3 and 4 to see if that made a difference. It didn't.
Help!
Thanks

Hi Matthias,
Thanks for your reply.
I've sinced been looking at other forums on the web and found this thread here at Apple discussions:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1511831&start=30&tstart=0
The sound my Mac is making is also like a noisy fridge... Does that sound like a power supply issue?
I also have the dreaded ATI 2600 card. And a WD drive...
The noise really seems to be coming from that sealed enclosure above drives 3 and 4. What else is in there apart from the power supply? Do you know?
Cheers.

T530: Unbearable fan noise

Probably similar to this thread, the T530 I recently received has fan noise issues. I've invested considerable time in solving this, but found that a solution can be achieved with reasonable effort only by Lenovo:
Introduction:
Most ThinkPad models do not provide the operating system (or the user) the ability to set the fan speed directly (e.g. in rounds per minute) or in a fine-grained way (e.g. as a percentage of maximum speed). Instead, there are "fan speed levels", usually 9 levels (level 0 through level 7 as well as the level "disengaged"). For each level, a particular fan speed is defined and the Embedded Controller tries to achieve this particular fan speed by measuring the fan speed and adjusting the electrical properties of the fan (e.g. voltage or pulse length or something like this).
The fan noise problem:
Every time the internal temperature sensor reaches 50 °C or so, the fan starts with about 1900 rounds/minute and then quickly goes to about 2737 rounds/minute, where it is loud. Then it takes about 20 seconds, the temperature drops to 45 °C, then the fan is switched off. Then, after maybe other 30 seconds, the cycle repeats and the fan is switched on again, ...
There are major problems with this behaviour, because:
The fan is not running continously, but pulsating.
The fan is running at level 1 at a much higher speed than needed, creating unnecessary noise.
I have measured the individual fan speeds for individual fan speed levels:
The fan speeds at different levels are as follows:
Level 0: 0 rounds/minute
Level 1: 2737 rounds/minute
Level 2: 2944 rounds/minute
Level 3: 3033 rounds/minute
Level 4: 3074 rounds/minute
Level 5: 3597 rounds/minute
Level 6: 3773 rounds/minute
Level 7: 3773 rounds/minute
Level disengaged: 4754 rounds/minute
Solution draft:
A minimum solution to the problem above would be introducing another fan speed level between 0 rounds/minute and 2737 rounds/minute, with about 1900 rounds/minute. The reason this makes a difference is that there is a fundamental difference between laminar flow and turbulent flow, where the laminar flow makes nearly no noise and the turbulent flow makes a lot of noise. (Whether an airflow is laminar or turbulent is easiest influencable by affecting its speed.)
As you can see on the observed mapping from fan speed level to fan speed, level 6 and level 7 map to the same speed.
Thus, no particular fan speed would be lost if the mapping would be changed to the following:
Level 0: 0 rounds/minute
Level 1: 1900 rounds/minute
Level 2: 2737 rounds/minute
Level 3: 2944 rounds/minute
Level 4: 3033 rounds/minute
Level 5: 3074 rounds/minute
Level 6: 3597 rounds/minute
Level 7: 3773 rounds/minute
Level disengaged: 4754 rounds/minute
Solution implementation by user is impossible:
The problem, however, is that, while a user can decide which fan speed level should be active at a particular time, the user cannot decide which fan speed should actually be achieved for a particular level. Thus, the user can either decide to have 0 rounds/minute (which is not particularly sustainable, because the equipment becomes hotter and hotter) or to have 2737 rounds/minute (which is not particularly sustainable either, because both the user and other people arund the user's Lenovo computer are distracted from work).
The mapping from fan speed level to fan speed is actually stored in the Embedded Controller Programm ("ECP"). This Embedded Controller Programm is freely changeable or configurable by the user. Only Lenovo has the source code to this Embedded Controller Programm, and actually only Lenovo may know how to disassemble such a binary Embedded Controller Program in case the user wanted to change it. Thus, even advanced users cannot fix this problem by fixing it where it should be fixed.
It should be noted that, because fan speed is a long lasting issue at Lenovo, a third party has been even developed an after-market hardware solution: TPFC. However, this solution probably voids the warranty, and it work arounds the problem at the wrong place, and it costs time and money and effort to actually install it.
Only Lenovo can fix this problem:
How Lenovo should fix the problem
Thus, this is my call to Lenovo to fix this problem (at least for the T530 series, but probably W530, T430 are also affected). Ideally, the solution should be as follows:
Change the Embdedded Controller Program such that the mapping from fan speed level to fan speed is as follows:
Level 0: 0 rounds/minute (no noise level)
Level 1: 1500 rounds/minute (low noise level, sweet spot)
Level 2: 1700 rounds/minute (low noise level, sweet spot)
Level 3: 1900 rounds/minute (low noise level, sweet spot)
Level 4: 2100 rounds/minute (some noise level)
Level 5: 2600 rounds/minute (high noise level)
Level 6: 3100 rounds/minute (high noise level)
Level 7: 3773 rounds/minute (high noise level)
Level disengaged: 4754 rounds/minute (high noise level)
The reasons for this fan speed design are as follows:
The "sweet spot" where both the fan will run most of the time and where the user would not complain is between 1500 rounds/minute and 2100 rounds/minute. If the fan needs to be faster to keep the system cooled, then the user is likely to run the system with considerable load to CPU or GPU. In this case, there is no option to reduce the fan speed, but also in this case, the user probably accepts the fan noise for the computing power delivered.
The "sweet spot" in terms of CPU load is where the users do not accept fan noise while actually generating only minute CPU load (e.g. during web browsing or writing documents, where the CPU and the GPU is mostly idle). For many users, this is their normal working state (e.g. working in a quiet office, a very quiet library, a quiet bedroom, a quiet boardroom, ...). These scenarios are where Lenovo ThinkPads currently fail to deliver, unnecessarily
The "sweet spot" needs higher resolution (more fan levels allocated to these fan speeds), because slightly different load patterns may make it necessary to go from one level to the next higher level, but then the next level still should be bearable. Conversely, the higher levels (e.g. from 2600 rounds/minute on) do not need such a high resolution, because for most of the users, these levels will be only attained rarely anyway, and then they are accepting the noise.
Currently, there is no fan speed level at the sweet spot. With the proposed fix, there would be 3 fan speed levels at the sweet spot, with a neighbouring fan speed level (2100 rounds/minute) still being bearable when considering the performance delivered.
There is no fan speed level below 1500 rounds/minute. This is ok, because the fan is nearly inaudible at this speed anyway, and below a certain speed, there is a risk (depending on the fan) for the fan to actually not rotate at all (e.g. due to friction).
How much time and effort would Lenovo need for fixing the problem:
The Lenovo engineer responsible for the Embedded Controller Program of the T530 should need less than one day to change the source code of the Embedded Controller Program and to recompile it. The engineer may need one additional day to test this program (e.g. for different types of fans), and there may be a need for an additional day to release the update to the BIOS and ECP. All in all, Lenovo should not need more than 3 engineer-days (maybe worth 1800 USD) to fix the problem.
Why Lenovo should fix the problem:
Probably the whole current T series (T530,T520,T430,T420) as well as the current W series (W530,W520) fails the users in any of these scenarios (among others):
User working in a quiet office.
User working in a quiet library.
User working in a quiet bedroom.
User working in a quiet boardroom.
Thus, the Lenovo T series is currently not usable for many business users and almost all students. This problem should cost millions of USD of revenue, while fixing it would cost it maybe 1800 USD.
Incidental remark: Lenovo subsidiary can do better:
Lenovo has bought the majority of the Germany consumer electronics company Medion. Medion currently offers a consumer level notebook "E7222" for 499€ including German VAT. Despite of this low price, this notebook delivers very good fan control (that is: the notebook is nearly silent when the CPU is near-idle). (However, being consumer-grade, it does not offer a docking-station or a FullHD screen or WWAN.)
What will I personally do:
Some weeks ago, I had a powerful W530. I returned it due to fan noise for cash refund. Now I have the T530 (Serial number: R9RRF26) which has exactly the same problem. The deadline until I can legally request a cash refund runs until 2012-09-07. I hereby ask Lenovo:
To fix the problem and release an ECP or BIOS update until 2012-09-06 (it is doable, see above) or
if the problem cannot be fixed in this time (e.g. due to bureaucracy): provide me with a written statement (e.g. e-mail or forum post is sufficient) that my legal cash refund deadline (German law: §355 BGB) will be voluntarily extended by Lenovo (to some date Lenovo thinks it needs to fix the problem).
If none of the above happens, I will have to return the T530 as well. This is the 2nd chance Lenovo has gotten from me, there will be no 3rd chance. I would have to turn to Fujitsu (they do have business-class machines with big batteries, FullHD, WWAN) and they probably have better fan control.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

kaawee,
Thank you for the considerable thought that you put into your summation / analysis and proposal for a change.
I don't agree that you are wasting your time as we did make EC changes on the X220 and T420s to change fan behavior (along with several other systems). However, not all customers agree that the changes made the system behave the way they wanted and were completely satisfied (hence some of the dissenting opinions expressed here).
We are interested in feedback on T530, W530, T430 fan concerns and we are investigating. It is possible that a future change might be made, but I cannot say for certain that it will, nor can we commit to making this change within 4 days (2 now remaining) from your original posting.
Best regards,
Mark
ThinkPads: S30, T43, X60t, X1, W700ds, IdeaPad Y710, IdeaCentre: A300, IdeaPad K1
Mark Hopkins
Program Manager, Lenovo Social Media (Services)
twitter @lenovoforums
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Mac Pro will not boot, constant loud fan noise and nothing else

hello,
earlier tonight,i put my mac pro on sleep, then later on, when i wanted to take it off sleep and use it, it made the loud fan noise, which it always does but goes away, but this time it the fan wount slow down and the loud noise stays and i dont see anything on the screen. im guessing the fan noise is the ATI x1900 card...
any help please..i just bought it 2 months ago...

Hi, here are the steps I would go through. I would unplug the Mac Pro completely from everything and look at the video card's fan intake to make sure it isn't plugged and just make sure everything "looks" correct. I would then plug the machine back into one monitor/keyboard/mouse (leave all the other peripherals disconnected. Once that is done push the power button. Does anything happen? If not then if you have another mac and an external hard drive, make a copy of the OS on the drive and see if you can get the Mac Pro to boot off that drive. If the video card doesn't work then it will not show anything when booting off an external drive. If the external boot does work then I would suspect that you have a bad hard drive (or it crashed). At that point I hope you have a back up of all your data and such.
Mind you these are steps I would go through. What a nightmare. One other thing to check, make sure your monitor didn't die.
Message was edited by: jlseattle74

No video, high fan noise on startup, for the THIRD TIME

For the third time in slightly less than three years, I have encountered the same crippling problem with my iBook G4 (1 GHz, June 2004 vintage). In essence, the screen will abruptly go black while in use (not screensaver) and no amount of keyboard/mouse activity will reactivate the display. If I power off by holding down the power button then restart, the screen stays black and the fans come on full speed.
Despite a bit of confusion on the details, this sounds like the problem described on the webpages below. In essence the Danish government has issued a finding that there is a design flaw which allows excessive logic board flexing, which in turn causes logic board failure.
This is, as I said above, the third time I have encountered this failure in less than three years. Worse, they seem to be coming closer together. The first was after about 1.5 years, the second 9 months later, and now seven months after the second repair. Since I didn't get Apple Care, paying for a third repair out of pocket would bring my repair bill up to the cost of a new iBook.
I do not abuse my iBook, and since the second repair I have been very careful with my iBook. Does anyone have any suggestions on getting Apple to acknowlege the problem or who I can appeal to? Apple's website doesn't seem to offer any e-mail tech support options and I'd rather not sit on hold for an age (again) if it can be avoided. While I don't want to abandon my iBook or Apple, I may be forced to if I can't rely on the hardware.
Thanks
Mark
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/03/danishconsumer_complaints_board_claim_ibookdefect/
http://www.forbrug.dk/presse/nyheder/pressekit/ibookg4/ibook-g4-english/
http://www.coreyarnold.org/ibook/
iBook G4 1GHz (early 2004) Mac OS X (10.3.9) blank screen, high fan noise on start

Well it doesn't sound like the Danish power problem since it will start up.
The ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 4x AGP graphics processor chips in these iBooks have been problematic. Usually it's the reball problem and it can be reballed for ~ $78. I've done 4 this year and they work just great. A cheap way to get nice laptops. If they respond to the "shim fix" then reballing will work.
A more troubling problem is with the 9200 chip itself. My reballer says that this chip is in itself the cause of some of these problems. He knows it since it's also used in IBMs, Compaqs and many other laptops and he's seen a lot of failures. My only failed reball was a 9200. I have a line on a replacement board or finding the chip in a broken PC.
Richard

Loud fan noise on mountain lion, Mac Pro early 2008

Hi there,
I've recently installed mountain lion 10.8.5 lon my Mac Pro , early 2008, 2,8 GHz, 24 gb ram, 2x ATI Radeon 2800 XT.
To give it a clean shot i clean installed it on a sep. Partition, no upgrade from my previous Snow Leopard.
The Machine usually works quiet, i've measured via Isat Menu:
exhaust fan: 681 rpm
HD/expansion: 1100 rpm
After running Mointain Lion, latest update version, i get a much louder fan noise than in snow leopard:
exhaust fan: 845-950 rpm
HD/expansion: 1500 - 1800 rpm
The activity monitor shows no significant CPU usage, only the kernal has over 90 threads constantly running.
I've heard that this is a known issue but it's never been resolved. SMC and PRAM reset did not work at all.
when i go back to snow leopard everything gets back to normal. Yosemite is even harder on fan noise than mountain lion
so i've rolled back to mountain lion.
Any idea ?
dezzo

no one here with the same problem on an early 2008 Mac Pro ?

Do MacPRo mid 2010 models run with level fan noises or uneven whine?

Apple is replacing my mid-2010 mainly because of a disturbing modulating, up and down, fan noise problem. Not sure of the source. At first thought it was 5870 graphic card, but haven't been able to nail down exactly why.
They claim that these machines run with a very even level noise, and that this breathing or modulating noise is not the norm.
I have read that these machines, relative to earlier models, are quiet hummers, at least relatively.. Do most people with this year's model have machines running at a constant noise level or do the fan noises, even at idle, modulate and whine up and down, even with light usage...or on idle. I don't want a replaced machine with the same issue. I do work in a quiet environment, and don't mind the fan noise, but the modulations of up and down sound like a tunnel and I need to turn off the computer at times. Model is 3.2 ghz quad core, with ati 5870 graphic card.
thanks

I am very much interested in comparison here too. Unfortunately our local reseller doesn't have any Mac pros to compare (they deliver only when you make an order:(). So I have no other machines to compare...
So I've read a lot of forums and generally there's no simple answer anywhere. People say that their hdd/optical is making more noise than fans. That's true to my case. Hdd/optical indeed sound louder than fans. From the other hand, I work in very quiet environment (no street noise, no ventilation noises in the room or whatever) and my new Mac Pro sounds... well loud! Once again - relatively it is QUIET, I can hear older PC from the other room (and the 'other room' connects through a corridor so...). Still, a lot of people mention that they literally don't hear ANYTHING from their mac pros except for hdd/optical operation sounds. I do hear fan noise...
So i was wondering is my room too quiet/ear too sharp;) or is there some kind of a problem with the mac pro and I should bother contacting retailers?
Anybody here who can compare their mac pro's with say mac book pros? I clearly hear fans of my mac book pro (even being idle) in the main working room and mac pro is like 2-3 (may be 4) times louder than mac book pro. This might be OK for tower, but definitely it is not 'dead silent'...
So far I've even tried some iPhone decibel measurement apps (yeah it's not even close to 'pro' measurements but no other means are available to me at the moment). They doesn't notice mac book (most noise measurement devices as far as I've read don't count noises beneath 40 dB for good), but mac pro is about 42-43 dB while idle at some 10 inch from the machine and some 45-46 if I bring the mic like 3-4 inches to the case. Is it like OK or what? Unfortunately all Mac pros I've heard before where in environments where even my 42-46 dB would be completely lost, so i cannot judge if it is OK. It is still one of the quietest towers I've heard/owned but those posts about 'dead silent' and 'only hdd/optical' make me a bit uncomfortable...
Oh, and the modulation. Indeed idle operation has some modulation. As far as I can tell it comes not from varying speed of the fans but rather from how frequencies of the fans inside of the case are different and modulate when added to each other (like those FM/AM in the synthesizers). More to say, there are angles in a room where other frequencies are heard (probably reflections produce some additional modulations)...

T410 Fan Noise

Does anyone know a way to reduce the fan noise? The fan is constantly running and compare to the T400, it's not quieter nor cooler. I hope Lenovo fix this issue soon through Power Manager.

What we are trying to determine is if the fan is being run at an unusally high speed (a glitch in the bios or possibly a heat sensor) or if the fan is just making an unusally loud sound. If the fan is making an unusually loud sound then it would need to be replaced. Most likely there is just an issue with the bios tables for fan control which are making it run at a higher speed then normal.. that being said, my T500 has a very quiet fan even when run at 100%.
Thinkpad T500-2081 CTO | T9400 2.53GHz | 8 GB RAM | ATI HD3650 + Intel GM45 | 15.4" LED WXGA+ | Windows 8 | ATI Catalyst 13.1 (non-switchable)
Thinkpad 390x | PII 333 | 256mb ram | NeoMagic 256AV | SVGA LCD | OS/2 v4.52

ATI 2600 Fan Noise

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