Fans rev / revving on my Mac pro...

My MacPro has always been very quite... even when doing massive render tasks with Cinema4D/Vray.
but recently the fans have started revving... like a boy racer at the lights... its doing it now... and the MP is under no load... only Safari is running...
Nothing obvious shows up in Activity Monitor... the only think that has happened is that I have moved the MP from the front room into the back room at my house....
Anyone got any idea's on what I can do to get my quite Mac back?

well, i'm having a similar problem but this isn't my first time. one question to answer is what graphics card are you using. the first time i had this problem, ie, my mac pro was nearly quiet from day 1 and then one day 3 years later the fan started getting louder and louder and even running the fans faster didn't help. then finally small graphics lines and squares started popping up.
the problem was the graphics card which after some time on the phone with Apple they admitted was a known problem and they shipped me a new (free) graphics card. The grate in front of the card fills with dust, the airflow is reduced, heat builds up and spreads to surrounding components, the fans start coming on to cool those components but the source of the heat doesn't stop. So you might want to check to see if your graphics card has a grate in the front and whether or not its got dust fluff stuck in the grate. I'm familiar with this happening with ATI Radeon 1900 XT cards. So I'd check that.

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Power Supply Fan Always Runs Full Throttle - Mac Pro (Early 2008)

My Mac Pro has been almost flawless since I purchased it new in February 2008. I did not purchase the AppleCare because I rather naively assumed at the time that my shiny new Mac Pro was an invincible machine. (I was seduced by Apple after all!) Well, that was when I was younger (about 2.5 years ago) and before I knew about the actual cost of things like Logic Boards and Apple Power Supplies... Now the $250 AppleCare lifeline seems like a bargain!
The Problem:
1 week after installing Windows 7 64-bit to a separate internal hard drive using boot camp 3.1, my Mac Pro was playing music from the local iTunes library in Snow Leopard when the power supply fan revved up to 2760 rpm! I immediately tried rebooting the machine, resetting the PRAM and SMC several times, but the fans continue to throttle up to almost 2800 rpm within seconds of powering on the Mac.
I have run the Apple Hardware Test several times and every time it generates the same error code within 1 loop of either the extended or regular test:
4SNS/1/40000001: lp0C-0.000
An Apple Support technician was kind enough to "sneak" me a little bit of information about the error code. He told me the message is Logic Board Sensor related and could be caused by a faulty Logic Board, Sensor Board (Ambient Board?), Power Supply or possibly a faulty sensor that might be repairable.
Emotion:
Other than my 6 month old daughter eyeing the Mac Pro with the same suspicion she reserves for the Dyson vacuum cleaner, the computer still works fine--it hasn’t crashed in either Windows 7 64-bit or Snow Leopard and I haven’t noticed any unusual behavior. I had one other problem with this computer about 1 year ago when I installed Vista using boot camp. About a week after the Vista install, the OEM ATI HD 2600 XT completely died and I replaced it with a GTX 285.
I have grown a little suspicious about the efficiency of boot camp in the Windows environment, but perhaps the 2 separate boot camp installs and subsequent hardware failures are coincidence or related to the hardware issue I am yet to resolve...?
Hopefully, someone in the Apple community will offer guidance to a swift and economical solution!
Thank you in advance for your time.
Some Data:
iStat Pro Info
CPU
User: 0%
Nice: 0%
Sys: 0%
Idle: 100%
TEMPs (in Fahrenheit) - There was no entry for Power Supply Temp in iStat!
HD1: 90
HD2: 90
HD3: 92
HD4: 92
CPUA: 88
CPUA: 86
CPUB: 88
CPUB: 86
Ambient: 76
Expansion Slots: 94
HD Bay1: 83
HD Bay2: 83
HD Bay3: 83
Hd Bay4: 81
Mem Bank A1: 106
Mem Bank A2: 99
Mem Bank A3: 99
Mem Bank B1: 92
Mem Bank B2: 92
Mem Bank B3: 94
Mem Module A1: 130
Mem Module A2: 126
Northbridge: 106
FAN SPEED (rpm)
Power Supply: 2760
Exhaust: 600
CPU Fan: 500
HD/Expansion: 800
Hardware Overview
Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version (system): 1.25f4

I had the same problem. The solution was replacing the Power Supply.
Because i had Apple Care there where no costs.

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 ?

Extremely Loud Fan Noise Brand new mac pro 12 core 2.93

The fans of my brand new mac pro start making a sound like a wind tunnel several times a day, and won't stop till I shut off the mac.
Fan stats are like this when it makes that sound:
PCI 799rpm
BOOSTA 5048rpm
BOOSTB 5188rpm
Exhaust 2709rpm
Power sup.. 599rpm
INTAKE 2697rpm
Anybody any idea what could be wrong?

Hi, I had the same problems. I had to have replaced the fan that was broken.

Fans running fast on mac pro

This quesiton has been brought up many times before, and I've tried the suggestions everyone has offered in resloving the problem of fans running fast on a Mac Pro. In my case they started running fast after Sleep, Restart or after Startup. I have a 2007 Mac Pro and have reset the PRAM and SMC in the past and these, along with updates from Apple, seem to have resovled the problem. Recently, however, I began to have this trouble again and went throught the motions of resetting PRAM and SMC. I even reinstalled my OS Lion to see if that would resolve the issue, but to no avail. So this is why I am writing. In an effort to give someone else a heads up to a new problem I incurred that hasn't been brought up in any discussions on the subject to this point; that I can find, anyway.
About 8 months ago I had one stick of Ram blow on me. I sent it back to OWC and it was replaced no problem. Then I noticed a month ago that all the RAM on my lower riser, except the replacement stick, had blown. Again, all were replaced and this is when the fan issue arose. I tested the RAM on the Upper Riser in the lower slot and they worked. I put the Ram from the Upper Riser on the Lower Riser Board to make sure it worked, and they did. I did this, however, after thinking I had blown the Lower Riser Board and ordered a replacement...glad I did. I now had 8 sticks of Ram in the Upper and Lower Riser all working well, but had a computer that sounded like a 744 just before take off. After numerous attemptst to fix the problem and searching long on the internet I decided to try the New Riser Board I had bought. It workded. That Lower Riser Board, for what ever reason, must be foul somewhere/somehow. I now longer have the problem.
So, I suggest you follow all the advice of those who have written before me because their suggestions worked initially. However, if you've had blown RAM recently, or maybe are about to and this is an indicator you have a Riser Board problem, you just may want to check your Riser's one at a time in both slots to see if the fans run fast while Board is in and the other is not.

I would - in today's world with SQL-injection hitting everything from "mom and pop" to govt and university sites and everyone in-between, to look at how well Vista handles malware.
I feel much more secure with Firefox 3 with the NoScript extension and disabling javascript on most sites.
There are a few new (last week) security vulnerabilities in Safari for Windows still.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-programs-to-keep-your-computer-secure/

Sacarán un nuevo mac pro? lo necesito!

Trabajo en una empresa de producción de tarjetas, y necesito cambiar los macs. Me he dado cuenta que a partir del 1 de marzo, no va a ser posible comprarlo, asi que me gustaria saber si me tengo que buscar otras opciones o esperar a que saquen uno nuevo
Gracias de anticpado

Working on a card production company, and need to change the Macs. I've noticed that from March 1, it will not be possible to buy it, so I wonder if I have to look for other options or wait to take out a new one
Thanks in advance
new EU regulations requiring fan-guards caused the current Mac Pro model to be removed from the stores.
Apple has said a new Mac Pro will be coming in 2013.

Should I run the Mac Pro while it is open?

I think that the loud fan noise coming from my Mac Pro is the GPU. It's a loud humming fan noise. I want to try holding the fan down on it while the computer is running to see if it stops making the noise, but I'm afraid to open the Mac while it's running. Is it OK to open it while it's running?
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but this is the first Mac Pro I've used, and I'm afraid that I will break my $1000 computer.

Thanks for the recommendation. Hardware Monitor reported the same temperatures as iStat Menus, but it's more feature-robust. I like that guy's note on how it's not an App Store App
I actually opened my Mac while it was running and held down the GPU fan, and the weird lawnmower noise was coming from it. Some blasting from a compressed air can seemed to fix it, but the main fan is still a bit noisy. I think it's just worn down (since this is a used PC that I bought) and could use some lube.
The hatter wrote:
We have heard and found lately even and over time that Hardware Monitor is most accurate and thorough for monitoring senors readings.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/HardwareMonitor.html

Mac Pro Processor heating and will not boot

Hi All
I have a 2009 Mac Pro with dual processors, this has been a great system until recently it started to shut itself down after around 20 minutes of use, I tracked this to a processsor getting too hot and shutting down. I air dusted the unit and replaced increased the fan speeds. Now the mac pro will not boot. As soon as I insert the power the motherboard flashes red and will not power up the system. Is there something I can do myself? Can I clear the mac bios? Any thoughts or advice would be appreaciated.
Cheers

thanks Hatter, I appreciate your advice.
The system is running 10.6.2, or was running.
I tried the SMC reset:
SMC Reset using "unplug, hold power for 5, release, plug in
SMC Reset using "unplug, hold power button, plug in, release
No change either way.
What happens is, watching with the case open, when I plug the power cord in and two red lights flash on the motherboard "CPU A" and CPU B". And nothing happens from there, no fans, nothing.
I wil try to remove the heatsink if I can find the right tool.
Do you have any other thoughts?

How loud is the Mac Pro?

I need a very quiet PC. I know the Mac Pro is quieter than its G5 predecessor, but I have never owned a Power Mac, so the comparison doesn't mean much to me. I'm most concerned about fan noise. Is the Mac Pro audible from a few feet away? Does it get louder under load?
P.S. I plan to get the fanless 7300 video card, and I will replace the stock hard drive with one I have specifically chosen for nearly silent operation.

I need a very quiet PC. I know the Mac Pro is
quieter than its G5 predecessor, but I have never
owned a Power Mac, so the comparison doesn't mean
much to me. I'm most concerned about fan noise. Is
the Mac Pro audible from a few feet away? Does it
get louder under load?
P.S. I plan to get the fanless 7300 video card, and I
will replace the stock hard drive with one I have
specifically chosen for nearly silent operation.
VERY QUIET!
William

Mac Pro will not boot, revs fans at full speed

Hi,
I had my Mac Pro (2006 3.0 quad core) asleep, it woke itself up and didn't display video, instead revved the fans at full speed and did nothing, so I shut it down using the power button. When I turned it on, it did/does the same thing, no chime, no video to the displays, and I cant boot in safe mode or any other way, it wont even eject the DVD drive if I hold the mouse down.
has anyone encountered this before?
Any ideas?

Give the SMC button a kick, hold it in for 5-10 seconds. Hard to see, but hidden by drive #4.
Or try zapping PRAM/NVRAM first and see if that helps.
http://www.apple.com/support/macpro/
http://www.geocities.com/texas_macman/pram.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304123

Mac Pro fans revving after waking from sleep....

Anyone else experience this? Seemed to start after I installed the latest firmware update. After wakign from sleep, my Mac Pro's fans start to rev, but they eventually die down.

Happens all the time. Check out the long thread on "SMC Firmware" for the issues and problems some ran into.

Mac Pro Server fans rev when wake from sleep

I have a former Mac Pro 2010 (5,1) server that I am using as a desktop. Ever since I got it, if allowed to sleep, when woken the fans go to full blast and stay there until the machine is restarted. I have reset the power manager and PRAM with no change. I have just lived with it never sleeping. now I have a 2013 6 core on the way and this machine will hit the eBay listings soon so I wondered if anyone had any ides about this. I hate to tell a prospective buyer s/he can't sleep the machine. The firmware is also up to date.
Thanks in advance,
Ted

I don't rermember exact numbers but the temps were low normal, this first happend in my air conditioned office, which I lke cold. I don't think it's a sensor problem because when it's working hard the temps rise to consideable levels and I usually up the fan speed myself before the fan speed increases on it's own. Also it will happen if I sleep it for 5 seconds and wake it. I originally thought that a server might have different firmware and being unattended this might be a failsafe if one were to accidently be put to sleep but the firmware seems the same as a desktop machine. Has happene over three boot drives and two operating systems so it's not some software weirdness. The machine is immaculate inside, no dust anywhere. I'ts got me beat. I suppose I force the rise again and check the log oon Console, see if anything shows up.
Ted

Mac pro fan speed

Hello. I've brought my 2010 Mac Pro (purchased new in 2012) to my local apple store twice now. The last time they kept my computer for over a week running tests, wiping my hard drive, and replacing 2 fans in the enclosure. My Mac Pro still has a fan that revs up to maximum speed almost every time I use it, even when I'm not running any cpu intensive programs, and my temps are all low. I have no idea why this keeps happening. I've reinstalled the OS (so did the Apple Store), reset PRAM and SMC, uninstalled software that might have been the issue, and tested my ram. Nothing is keeping this from happening. It revs up to maximum rpm. I'm a composer, and this fan noise prohibits me from working on my music due to the loud fan (which actually emits an F# tone).
I don't know what else I can do besides ask for a brand new Mac Pro. I'm not bringing it to the Apple Store again because they haven't helped.
I'm running Mac OSX 10.7.4
2 x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon
32 Gigs ram
One 3 TB Western Digital HDD
One 128 GB OWC SSD, Two 480 GB OWC SSD
Anyone have a solution to this, besides having to get a new Mac Pro sent to me? Again, it was last at the Genius Bar less than a month ago, and after a week of testing and replacing parts, the problem persists. Thanks for your time.

Fan speed is a function of measured temperature. You may have a bad internal sensor.
The hatter recommends the advanced log-term capabilities of Temperature Monitor in this thread:
Re: Internal operating temperature for my MacPro

Mac Pro 2x2,8 Ghz - Fan Noise - Please help evaluate

Hi Guys,
Since yesterday, I'm the proud owner of a Mac Pro 2x2,8 - Really happy - really nice machine.
However I'm slightly irritated by the posts I've read all over the internet, saying that you can't hear the fans of this machine at all in idle.
As you may have guessed, my box is not silent at all - it is quite quiet compared to other noisy PCs, yes, but no match for the previous iMac 24" which it replaced. You could hardly hear the iMac versus now the Mac Pro... you notice it's there... sitting under the desk - audible.
I realize that fan noise is highly subjective, and I'm using the Mac in a completely silent environment. No AC, no nothing. I've tried the following: removing the hard drive and silencing the graphics card... Upon bootup the Mac would quickly "turbo" it's fans and then go to it's normal state. The loudest fan (which is drowning out all other noise) is the one at the bottom front (CPU?).
Looking at istat, it's in normal parameters (500rpm or so) and doesn't move up or down...
Comparing it to other devices, it would sound like a PS3 when having played 1 hour (fan speed at level 2-3) or an (quiet) xbox in idle mode (dvd not spinning). I know... geeky comparisons
Now, again - not close to my interpretations of "whisper quiet" "can't hear it at all"... "only hear it when I put my ear to the grill" "sounds like it's cooled passively"
Which makes me think that either
a) people out there are deaf /
or
b) my Mac needs a closer look by a genius
Would really appreciate your opinions.
Thanks,
Tom

hey tom,
you might have the same problem i have. I have the 2.8 octo 2008 mac pro. and it used to be whisper quiet. I was amazed. But recently as in the last few weeks the graphics card fan has become audible. I put in an e sata adapter last week and while inside the mac pro I took a look at the fan to see if it was dusty or visibly distressed. Nope. Couldn't find anything wrong with it. So now i'm just dealing with the noise. Which is too bad cause I really really really don't like fan noise. But the air conditioners on most of the time now so I really can't complain about a little fan noise compared to the ac's grumbling.
but i'd like to know if others are having this problem
thanks,
jayson
www.oldchildprojects.com
Message was edited by: woodybrando

When I power up my 2008 Mac Pro I get the "welcome", chime, fan goes on, a light goes on on my Apple monitor and then nothing - black screen. Whats going on?

When I power up my 2008 Mac Pro I get the "welcome chime", fan comes on, a light comes on on my Apple moniter and then nothing - black screen. What,s going on?

what you describe as the "welcome chime" is the indicator that your Mac has passed the Power-On Self test, and if a suitable source of software can be found, booting is likely.
If the screen stays dark, the most likely explanation is a graphics card failure. But it could also be caused by a backlight failure in the LCD, so be sure you try shining a bright light at the screen to be check whether the picture is there, but just not illuminated.
Graphics card failure will end the boot-up process in some cases, and not have an impact in others. Two external indications you can use when your display is not working are: The Caps Lock key, which is under the control of Mac OS X, and the Control-Eject dialog box shown below. Note that the default is Shutdown, so a Mac that shuts down in response to Control-Eject followed by Return is working fine.

Fans rev / revving on my Mac pro...

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