Super-Loud Fan

My fan is loud when I use GarageBand or other video- or music-editing software for an extended period of time, but recently my MacBook's fan is loud all the time. Recently I have been using GarageBand and Audacity a lot, but even after I have closed them and only opened my computer hours after, the fan is still loud. Is there any apparent reason for this? What can I do?

It's normal for the fan to be running while running those applications, but it should definitely slow down within a few minutes.
Open up Activity Monitor in Applications>Utilities, then sort the processes by CPU. Make sure "All Processes" are being shown--this option is in the upper-right corner.
See anything using a high amount of CPU? If so, make a note of it, then quit the process.
~Lyssa

Similar Messages

Help with a super loud fan noise?

I bought this macbook pro from a friend late summer of last year and I belive it is a 2009 macbook pro. It has been working perfectly since I got it from him and I have had it in a case and had keyboard cover on it at all times. Since about a week ago, it has been making this really loud noise, which I am assuming is the fan. It sounds like a light drill and vibates the whole laptop. Using iStatPro, it shows that the RPM is rougly 2000 and the temps are at 50 degrees at their highest. Any clues as to what is wrong and if there is anything that I can do to fix it?

allstar670 wrote:
Yup, thats what it's looking like. Thanks anyways for the help....
You're Welcome.
allstar670 wrote:
... I'll post back after I get it looked at so people may see it later and know what it is.
That would be good.

Ati & vaio = overheat &loud fan

since a few months I was very annoyed with the loud fan and overheated laptop (70-90º). reboot to windows and all normally. i try everything.. believeme..
yesterday, while moving teamviewer's wine window with Mod4key (windows' super key) and mouse (dwm's way) fan speed came slow and temperature went down. i really don't know what's happening here...
any clue?
catalyst hd5650 sony vpceb x86_64
tried oss driver, same

Same behaviour for me.
If you keep a key pressed and simultaneously a finger on the touchpad it will further decrease the fan speed. Oddly this also occurs on Windows. The same trick almost stops the fan!

New C20's Are super loud! Over 65db! Is this normal?

We just recieved two new C20's. However, they are super loud. I've measured the sound at around 65db. I've set the fan mode to "quiet" in the bios, but that made no difference.
Is this normal?
Thanks!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thank you for being patient with my clumsy entrance into this forum. Please be aware that I am first a database manager and second a PC tech. My network and hardware manager has thrown up his arms on this and only my tenacity, some PC maintenance experience and a brain qualify me to get to the bottom of this issue. I am having to look a lot of stuff up that you might consider common knowledge for someone taking on this task. This is also our first Windows 7 machine.
That said, here is what I have in response:
1) The heat sink fan assembly (per the user guide identification) is plugged into the "brown" board header
2) The rear fan assemblies(2) (per the user guide identification) are plugged into a white board header in their vicinity. They are the noise makers.
3) BIOS Version/Date   LENOVO 61KT43AUS, 8/31/2010 The current version is 61KT45A so I downloaded the files per instructions on the website. However, it is much easier to say, "Have you tried flashing to the latest level..." than it is to do it. WINPHLASH failed on what the error message says is a permissions issue but is not. I will have to risk turning my brand new machine into a brick the old fashioned way, with a bootable CD. Since for me that will take an hour or more for research and execution, I will let you know how it goes.
4) The "driver" I mentioned is
LENOVO Fan Speed Control Driver for Windows           version 1.0.1.9, 07/31/2009
================================================================================
Operating Systems supported
Windows(R) XP/2000/2003/Vista/Win 7 Driver. 64bit.
Process provider supported
AMD(R)    OOPS! Not applicable to my machine's processor, so I have uninstalled it.

UCS 6248 Fabric Interconnect loud fan RPM noise

Hello,
Our currently installed 6248 Fabric Interconnect pair are generating a loud FAN noise.
Is there any way to reduce theirs RPM? So then can be quieter? The server room have proper air conditioning.
Some logs as bellow:
FABRIC-A(nxos)# show environment fan detail
Fan:
Module Fan Airflow        Speed(%) Speed(RPM)
             Direction
1       1    Front-to-Back 60        15428
1       2    Front-to-Back 60        11065
1       3    Front-to-Back 60        14835
1       4    Front-to-Back 60        10997
2       1    Front-to-Back 60        15000
2       2    Front-to-Back 60        11134
2       3    Front-to-Back 60        14835
2       4    Front-to-Back 60        11065
Power Supply:
Module Airflow        Configured
        Direction      Speed (%)
1       Front-to-Back 60
2       Front-to-Back 60
FABRIC-A(nxos)#
FABRIC-A(nxos)#
FABRIC-A(nxos)# show environment
Fan:
Fan             Model                Hw         Status
Chassis-1       UCS-FAN-6248UP       --         ok
Chassis-2       UCS-FAN-6248UP       --         ok
PS-1            UCS-PSU-6248UP-AC    --         ok
PS-2            UCS-PSU-6248UP-AC    --         ok
Temperature
Module   Sensor     MajorThresh   MinorThres   CurTemp     Status
                    (Celsius)     (Celsius)    (Celsius)
1        Outlet     67            58           35          ok
Power Supply:
Voltage: 12 Volts
PS Model                Input Power       Power     Status
                         Type (Watts)     (Amp)
1   UCS-PSU-6248UP-AC    AC     780.00     65.00     ok
2   UCS-PSU-6248UP-AC    AC     780.00     65.00     ok
Mod Model                   Power     Power       Power     Power       Status
                            Requested Requested   Allocated Allocated
                            (Watts)   (Amp)       (Watts)   (Amp)
1    UCS-FI-6248UP-SUP      492.00    41.00       492.00    41.00       powered-up
3    UCS-FI-DL2             24.00     2.00        24.00     2.00        powered-up
Power Usage Summary:
Power Supply redundancy mode:                 Redundant
Power Supply redundancy operational mode:     Redundant
Total Power Capacity                             1560.00 W
Power reserved for Supervisor(s)                  492.00 W
Power currently used by Modules                    24.00 W
Total Power Available                            1044.00 W
FABRIC-A(nxos)#

UPDATE
I opened a TAC, then after several reviews of the LOGs and huge sh tech files, we concluded that all was normal. This loud noise is normal   and within in normal operational ranges.
However as the server room is not fully acoustics proof and located near production work desks, we managed to get a RMA for the fan modules for the version 2 modules which are MUCH quieter than V1 due new design.
I have upload both pictures for comparison of the designs.
Thank You!

Black screen and loud fan noise-- With Log Info

I am running 10.5.8 on a second gen iMac and am having problems with the fans running super loud, the screen goes black and it cannot be woken up. I have cleaned it out (no dust or dirt) and checked the caps (visually anyway) and they look fine. I am guessing that my power supply is going, but want to check the log (as recommended on the iMac forums) but cannot figure out how to get there. Below is from my log files from the past week.
May 14 16:01:57 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 14 16:02:00 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
May 14 19:18:47 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 14 19:18:48 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
May 14 19:18:58 localhost mds[38]: (/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/DB63D5B5-5269-4FAD-BFB2-674902BB3D6D)(Error) IndexCI in ContentIndexOpenBulk:Unclean shutdown of /.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/DB63D5B5-5269-4FAD-BFB2-674902BB3D6D/live.2.; needs recovery
May 14 22:48:26 Macintosh shutdown[413]: halt by Hermitts:
May 14 22:48:26 Macintosh com.apple.loginwindow[39]: Shutdown NOW!
May 14 22:48:26 Macintosh com.apple.loginwindow[39]: System shutdown time has arrived^G^G
May 14 22:48:26 Macintosh shutdown[413]: SHUTDOWN_TIME: 1273891706 794211
May 15 06:54:27 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = 1
May 15 09:32:21 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 15 09:32:22 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
May 17 08:14:49 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 17 08:14:53 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
May 17 08:15:08 Macintosh mds[38]: (/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/DB63D5B5-5269-4FAD-BFB2-674902BB3D6D)(Error) IndexCI in ContentIndexOpenBulk:Unclean shutdown of /.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/DB63D5B5-5269-4FAD-BFB2-674902BB3D6D/live.2.; needs recovery
May 17 17:59:53 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 17 17:59:54 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = 3
May 17 20:48:47 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 17 20:48:51 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
May 18 17:51:03 localhost DirectoryService[12]: Improper shutdown detected
May 18 17:51:04 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
May 18 17:51:18 localhost mds[41]: (/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/DB63D5B5-5269-4FAD-BFB2-674902BB3D6D)(Error) IndexCI in ContentIndexOpenBulk:Unclean shutdown of /.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/DB63D5B5-5269-4FAD-BFB2-674902BB3D6D/live.0.; needs recovery
May 19 09:10:19 localhost DirectoryService[11]: Improper shutdown detected
May 19 09:10:20 localhost kernel[0]: AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110

Shutdown cause 110 is always a thermal problem, which means that your power supply has bitten the dust. It needs replacing, and hopefully, that will be all you need. If you are handy, go to [http://www.jimwarholic.com/2008/07/how-to-repair-apple-imac-g5.php] for instructions on replacing it.
Message was edited by: MGW

Loud Fan Low Temps

My netbook fan is getting super loud even though temps aren't that high. Anyone know what the problem could be?

flipper T wrote:
and the noise started after this ?
might be worthwhile reopening & double checking them screws
it was a little louder than normal last night which got me worried. temp is only 43 right now and it's really quiet after reboot. hopefully it stays that way. but if not i'll let you guys know btw this replacement hd went in about a week ago and this is the first i've noticed the fan noise excessively.
Last edited by mamamia88 (2012-11-05 20:06:00)

Extra loud fans, SMC reset didn't fix it. Almost gave me a heart attack.

So my imac (2011) seemed to have started to get extra hot lately, assuming due to a game I was playing. As a result, the fans have been super loud and going at full power, even though I stopped playing the game out of concern for my Mac. They go like that even if it's sleeping now.
After some investigation I saw that it was suggested to do an SMC reset. I did that, and then the Mac didn't power on at all after that. OH NO. Pushed the button and nothing happened. I tried a few things, including trying the SMC procedure a couple more times just incase I was doing something wrong and it just didn't turn on.
The good news is that I left it unplugged over night and this morning plugged it back in and pushed the button and it came on. THANK GOODNESS. Although the fans are still loud and now I'm concerned there could be a greater issue at hand because I have no clue why it wasn't turning on last night.
Any thoughts on this? Does it sound like there is just some hardware issues I need apple to take a look at or is this something I could potentially remedy? Should I be concerned about the issue of my Mac not turning on last night after the SMC reset?
I appreciate your time and feedback! Thank you!

That may be it. I need to take it to apple. The Mac was fine but just this morning my power went out and when the power came back on and I tried to turn my Mac on the same thing happened. It just wouldn't turn on. I'm really really hoping leaving it unplugged for some time it will come back on again like last time. I don't see why it wouldn't but you never know.

IMac 27" (Late 2012) Loud Fan and Overheating Issues, causing Hard Drive Failure

Hi all,
I'm having some serious overheating issues with my new iMac. Any help to help me solve this problem would be gladly appreciated since it's really beginning to bug me. Here's what's has happened:
I noticed in the first few hours of switching the iMac on that there was a short burst of very loud fan noise. This has been happening about once every two days since and every time I haven't been doing any heavy processing with the system. I've noticed that the main fan will spin, on average, at 1200rpm. Is that normal? The iMac is very well ventilated and sits right next to a window...
I have also boot camped the iMac with a copy of Windows 8 so I could run some fairly power-hungry games. I intentionally purchased a high end iMac (27" display, Intel Core i7 3.4GHz, Nvidia GeForce 680MX Graphics, 1TB Fusion drive) and expected the iMac to run games flawlessly. However, after a few days, I noticed that the CPU and GPU had shot up to a worrying 80°C whenever I ran power-hungry games, with a very loud hissing noise from the fan. After running games for about 10 minutes, the fan will stop hissing, causing the GPU and CPU to increase to 100°C. The iMac then fails and switches off unexpectedly without any warning. After analysing the Windows event logs, I received an event ID 41: The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
As this occurred about six times whilst I was testing my iMac's performance, I think my hard drive has now begun to fail - sometimes I will hear the hard drive make a click noise, about once every 5 seconds. Sometimes, the clicking noise causes OS X and Windows to run very slowly (even though minimal RAM is being used and nothing too intensive (Safari, Mail etc.) is being processed). Running Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions under OS X's recovery mode as well as a repair in chkdsk in Windows suggests that there were no problems with the hard drive. All I can do is wait a while for the clicking noise to stop, and then performance will increase. I have backed up everything externally.
I have also performed a reset of the SMC as well as the PRAM, which hasn't really helped.
Any help will be appreciated. I will gladly provide any extra logs etc. if they're needed.
Thanks so much,
Alex.

Alex Cummaudo wrote:
I've noticed that the main fan will spin, on average, at 1200rpm. Is that normal? The iMac is very well ventilated and sits right next to a window...
That's the default fan speed on iMacs, so there isn't any problem with this.
Alex Cummaudo wrote:
I have also boot camped the iMac with a copy of Windows 8 so I could run some fairly power-hungry games. I intentionally purchased a high end iMac (27" display, Intel Core i7 3.4GHz, Nvidia GeForce 680MX Graphics, 1TB Fusion drive) and expected the iMac to run games flawlessly. However, after a few days, I noticed that the CPU and GPU had shot up to a worrying 80°C whenever I ran power-hungry games, with a very loud hissing noise from the fan. After running games for about 10 minutes, the fan will stop hissing, causing the GPU and CPU to increase to 100°C. The iMac then fails and switches off unexpectedly without any warning. After analysing the Windows event logs, I received an event ID 41: The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
You must know that Boot Camp isn't compatible with Windows 8 and that Apple hasn't released drivers for Windows 8, so it can fail. Install Windows 7 inmediately until Apple launches updated drivers.
As it looks like the hard disk is damaged, I would take the Mac to an Apple Store. It's in warranty, so it should be repaired for free or you should receive a new one

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

Mac Mini - Flashing Folder Icon / No boot / Loud fans

I recently got my Mac Mini back after 8 months of it being 'elsewhere' (someone had it, tried to gain access, failed because I have filevault).
When I first got it back yesterday I turned it on, booted and then logged in, noticed no sound, and system was saying there was no sound card. The computer wasn't lagging or freezing whatsoever, so I reset it and still no sound.
I open it up and what do you know, someones opened it (I assume to get to the HDD) and had unclipped the sound card ribbon. Reseated that and put it back together, turn it on and finally a chime, but then nothing, White screen, and fans turn on full blast. I reset it, same thing. Reset it about 10 times, only thing I noticed was half the time my mouse cursor would show and let me move the cursor around.
So I take it apart again, check all connections, restart, same symptoms.
Pull it apart again and try installing 1 RAM chip at a time, same symptoms.
I tried booting it with resetting PRAM, NVRAM, I tried starting holding option, pressing c, everything, and nothing happens! Same symptoms. I tried holding down power for 10 seconds, hear a long beep, then chime, same symptoms!
So I take it apart again, take out hard drive, check connections (all ok), put it back in, same symptoms.
Anyway I got angry so i turned it on and left it doing it's White screen business. Come back 45 minutes later, flashing folder icon with '?'
I reboot, wait 15 again, same folder icon, loud fan, nothing else.
This doesn't make sense, HDD was fine 5 minutes before, no noises at all, no lag, no errors. I didn't touch the hard drive previously to the problem, and now nothing is helping. I've had the hard drive replaced 2 years ago due to near failure, but saved all data by cloning the disk, the HDD isn't old!
I just bought an external HDD enclosure, should arrive soon, and a new HDD, issue is this disk is filevaulted, I'm scared my data is going to be lost for good.
What can I do? I've lost my OS X disc, but judging by the computer being unresponsive to other commands at boot I doubt it would boot a CD anyway.
Please help.
Thanks

Whew, what a bad ride.
Does it also have Firmware password protection in Mac OS X ...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
It would block usage of all the startup keys, like C, N, T, D, CMD+s, CMD+Option+p+r, CMD +v, Option, and Shift, as well as booting from anything but the Hard Drive.
Force Removing Password Protection
1) Add or remove DIMMs to change the total amount of RAM in the computer.
2) Then, the PRAM must be reset 3 times. (Command + Option + P + R).
http://www.securemac.com/openfirmwarepasswordprotection.php
Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...
/sbin/fsck -fy
Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.
(Space between fsck AND -fy important).
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Loud fan and metal cracking noise on Macbook Pro 13''?

I have the late 2011 model Macbook Pro 13''. The problem started out with just a loud fan, the computer started to operate really slowly and just yesterday I started to hear loud metal rattling on the inside. At first it was just when I turned the computer but now it will do it periodically while it's sitting completely still while running. It also is heating up a lot. I've already gone to Activity Monitor and killed all activities using too much CPU and the fan doesn't stop.

I have the same model and accidentally dropped mine off my bed today.
I looked around for a while to see what the noise could have been and found this
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935?viewlocale=en_US which seems to explain the problem, even if you haven't dropped yours. My fan has also been loud lately but it seems unrelated.
I'd suggest you try turning off the SMS and then back on.
I did that with mine and it hasn't made any more noise since. If that doesn't help, it's never a bad idea to go to the apple store to have it looked at. Especially for how expensive the computer is.

My 2008 Macbook Pro makes a loud fan noise.

Hello -
I bought my 15" macbook pro back in October 2008. I was very happy with my purchase due to the machine's performance. But over the past year I have noticed an increase in the fan noise. It almost sounds like it's hitting against something at a very high speed, hense this irregular fan noise. The noise also increases drastically when I am working on Photoshop or InDesign. I also partitioned my hard-drive to hold windows so I can work on AutoCad.....noise increases also as I work on my machine.
Why is this happening? Could this loud fan noise damage any internal component to the machine? Should I bring it in to Apple immediately?
Thank you!

Some of the applications that you mention are somewhat CPU intensive which creates heat and results in fan speed increase and hence additional noise (to state the obvious). However if you are experiencing excessive noise when CPU loads are modest it could be that your fans are failing as all mechanical devices eventually will or you may have 'schmutz' inside that is the cause of the unwanted noise.
I suggest you open the MBP and see if there is any dust in the fans that may very well be affecting their performance. After 4 years, this is not an uncommon situation and it could be the solution to the problem.
If not, then you may consider getting replacements from iFixit or Powerbook Medic and replace them your self. It is not rocket science in this instance. If you suffer from chronic fingerfumbilitis, then have the Apple store do it for you.
Ciao.

My macbook pro i7 (2011 version) has a loud fan and high cpu % when I have Skype on or when I am on Safari. Help please!

My macbook pro i7 (2011 version) has a loud fan and a high cpu % when I have Skype on or when I am on Safari. My laptop would sometimes freeze for a while and it is usually hot. Has anyone else encounter this problem and know how to fix it? Thanks!

Skype is a very resource intensive activity...it has been reported on here users are seeing cpu temperatures on the order of 80-85 °C, within the limits of the cpu, but still hot to the touch.
Make sure nothing else is running so you keep the thermal load down.

Macbook pro retina start to make loud fan noise and work slow

I bought macbook pro retina display less than one years ago. For some reason my macbook pro has been making loud fan noise for about five mounth. Whenever macbook pro makes the noise, all the programs start to run slow. Typing, opening safari, and etc takes forever. It takes 20min to 40min for the noise to stop. At first, the macbook pro made noise once or twice in a day, but now it's making the noise frequently; It happens every 2-3 hours. It got to the point where it start to annoying me. Is there a way for me to fix this issue? If not, can I use one year warrenty to fix this problem? Thank you.

If your Mac works slowly when fans turn on, it's quite possible that there's a process which is eating the CPU and/or RAM.
Open Activity Monitor (in /Applications/Utilities), select "All Processes" above "Show" (in the toolbar) and then, order the processes by CPU usage. Do you see any process which is consuming more CPU or RAM? If so, tell us the name.
Additionally, you can reset the SMC > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Super-Loud Fan

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