Noise emission

tomboden · tomboden #1 (**permalink**)

10-28-2011, 08:52 AM

Does a solid state drive powered imac differ from a regular hard drive with regards to operating noise?

How does the i7 compare to the i5?

Guiding question is: Which imac runs most quietly?

THX

BrianLachoreVPI · BrianLachoreVPI #2 (**permalink**)

10-28-2011, 09:02 AM

SSDs have no moving parts - so they really don't make any noise whatsoever - at least none that you'll be able to hear. You'll still have the CPU fans running in either machine.

tomboden · tomboden #3 (**permalink**)

10-28-2011, 09:13 AM

Thanks. Well, I'm aware that the SSDs don't have any moving part but what about cooling them? Isn't the cooling what generates the most noise in the end?

BrianLachoreVPI · BrianLachoreVPI #4 (**permalink**)

10-28-2011, 09:15 AM

Cooling generates noise in other places - most notably the processors, but there's no additional cooling installed with an SSD. The only trade off is the noise of the spinning platters vs the zero noise of the SSD.

tomboden · tomboden #5 (**permalink**)

10-28-2011, 10:07 AM

I see. Thanks!

zacster · zacster #6 (**permalink**)

10-28-2011, 05:54 PM

I put an SSD into my older iMac and it is now dead silent.

tomboden · tomboden #7 (**permalink**)

10-29-2011, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zacster

I put an SSD into my older iMac and it is now dead silent.

What you mean by dead silent? No cooling noise what so ever?

bobtomay · bobtomay #8 (**permalink**)

10-29-2011, 09:07 AM

"Dead Silent" is going to be relative to what you're currently doing on the computer, amount of background noise in the area and possibly dependent on how many years you've been listening to rock and roll playing at 120db.

The fans are going to start ramping up while watching flash, playing games, doing any sort of encoding, etc., count on it.

tomboden · tomboden #9 (**permalink**)

10-29-2011, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobtomay

"Dead Silent" is going to be relative to what you're currently doing on the computer, amount of background noise in the area and possibly dependent on how many years you've been listening to rock and roll playing at 120db.

The fans are going to start ramping up while watching flash, playing games, doing any sort of encoding, etc., count on it.

haha, no heavy tinitus so far...

Okay here is the thing: I want to use the mac for a home recording studio. I just have one room, so it is going to be in the recording room! Therefore I wonder which configuration will produce the least noise (when recording something while running logic pro).

zacster · zacster #10 (**permalink**)

10-29-2011, 11:34 AM

Go with SSD. My comment to my wife after I installed it was that it would make a good HTPC. Not that it was loud with the original hard drive, but now you just don't hear it. The fans are pretty quiet in this to begin with. The thing about fans vs. hard drive noise is that fans are a steady whirring, where hard drives tend to make a chattering noise.

It drives me crazy that my cable box has a hard drive in it that is chattering away all day and night, and that's right between my floor-standing speakers and tube stereo gear.

BrianLachoreVPI #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 24, 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,742 Mac Specs: March 2011 15" MBP 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core 8GB Ram \| Mid 2011 27" iMac 3.4 GHz i7 16 GB RAM 2 TB HDD	10-28-2011, 09:02 AM SSDs have no moving parts - so they really don't make any noise whatsoever - at least none that you'll be able to hear. You'll still have the CPU fans running in either machine. Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

BrianLachoreVPI #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 24, 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,742 Mac Specs: March 2011 15" MBP 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core 8GB Ram \| Mid 2011 27" iMac 3.4 GHz i7 16 GB RAM 2 TB HDD	10-28-2011, 09:15 AM Cooling generates noise in other places - most notably the processors, but there's no additional cooling installed with an SSD. The only trade off is the noise of the spinning platters vs the zero noise of the SSD. Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

bobtomay #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 22, 2006 Location: Texas, where else? Posts: 21,826 Mac Specs: 15" MBP 2.33 C2D 256 4GB, MBA 13" i7 1.8, MB 2.0 2GB, Nano 4th, 3GS, iPad 1	10-29-2011, 09:07 AM "Dead Silent" is going to be relative to what you're currently doing on the computer, amount of background noise in the area and possibly dependent on how many years you've been listening to rock and roll playing at 120db. The fans are going to start ramping up while watching flash, playing games, doing any sort of encoding, etc., count on it. I cannot be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth. In the Windows world, most everything folks don't understand is called a virus. Place your vote for our Member of the Month
	QUOTE Thanks

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tomboden #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 26, 2011 Posts: 6	10-28-2011, 08:52 AM Does a solid state drive powered imac differ from a regular hard drive with regards to operating noise? How does the i7 compare to the i5? Guiding question is: Which imac runs most quietly? THX
	QUOTE Thanks

tomboden #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 26, 2011 Posts: 6	10-28-2011, 10:07 AM I see. Thanks!
	QUOTE Thanks

zacster #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 07, 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 274 Mac Specs: Intel iMac 20" Core Duo 256mb VRam 115gb SSD 2gb Ram Finally!!!	10-28-2011, 05:54 PM I put an SSD into my older iMac and it is now dead silent.
	QUOTE Thanks

zacster #10 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 07, 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 274 Mac Specs: Intel iMac 20" Core Duo 256mb VRam 115gb SSD 2gb Ram Finally!!!	10-29-2011, 11:34 AM Go with SSD. My comment to my wife after I installed it was that it would make a good HTPC. Not that it was loud with the original hard drive, but now you just don't hear it. The fans are pretty quiet in this to begin with. The thing about fans vs. hard drive noise is that fans are a steady whirring, where hard drives tend to make a chattering noise. It drives me crazy that my cable box has a hard drive in it that is chattering away all day and night, and that's right between my floor-standing speakers and tube stereo gear.
	QUOTE Thanks

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