Fan noise on iMac 2020

[thiskiwicanfly]

I'm wanting to buy a new iMac 2020 but I work in a quiet office environment and am currently using my MacBook Pro Retina 13" Early 2015 which is dead silent 99% of the time. I'm concerned about the fan noise of the fully spec'd iMac (3.6GHz 10-core i9 CPU with 5700XT graphics). Some owners say it’s quiet, others say it’s too loud, while others say you can continously hear the fans even during idle.

I want good gaming performance, but don't want fan noise to be distracting when doing non-intensive tasks such as emailing and web browsing. Someone mentioned to me that the fans at idle on the fully spec'd iMac sounds like someone breathing with their mouth open!? That could annoy me! So I'm wondering if the 3.8Ghz 8-core i7 CPU and 5700 graphics instead will produce a quieter experience during idle/non-intensive tasks without too much of a trade-off in performance.

I’ve created a poll to gauge what owners think of the fan noise of the new iMac 2020 when idle, based on the 3.8GHz 8-core i7 cpu vs the 3.6GHz 10-core i9 cpu.

 

[AlbertVila]

I had the i7 with the default GPU. It made 2 noises: the air flow (quite noticeable) + the high-pitched fluttery (extremely horrible). I returned it.

 

[AlbertVila]

I'm thinking of getting a refurbished one but they are expensive comparatively, since they didn't have SSD by default.

 

[scotttnz]

I'm wanting to buy a new iMac 2020 but I work in a quiet office environment and am currently using my MacBook Pro Retina 13" Early 2015 which is dead silent 99% of the time. I'm concerned about the fan noise of the fully spec'd iMac (3.6GHz 10-core i9 CPU with 5700XT graphics). Some owners say it’s quiet, others say it’s too loud, while others say you can continously hear the fans even during idle.

I want good gaming performance, but don't want fan noise to be distracting when doing non-intensive tasks such as emailing and web browsing. Someone mentioned to me that the fans at idle on the fully spec'd iMac sounds like someone breathing with their mouth open!? That could annoy me! So I'm wondering if the 3.8Ghz 8-core i7 CPU and 5700 graphics instead will produce a quieter experience during idle/non-intensive tasks without too much of a trade-off in performance.

I’ve created a poll to gauge what owners think of the fan noise of the new iMac 2020 when idle, based on the 3.8GHz 8-core i7 cpu vs the 3.6GHz 10-core i9 cpu.

Now that it has finished the indexing etc that a Mac does when it is new, I have to try hard to hear my i7/5700 when idle. What I mean is that I have to put my ear right up to it to hear anything. The fan does spin up when the machine is pushed, even moderately, but I wouldn’t call it obtrusive. Of course everyone’s tolerance for these things is different, and it certainly isn’t silent.

I have no experience with the i9/5700XT so cant compare.

 

[thiskiwicanfly]

I had the i7 with the default GPU. It made 2 noises: the air flow (quite noticeable) + the high-pitched fluttery (extremely horrible). I returned it.

I’m curious what was causing the high-pitched fluttery noise? Sorry which GPU was it?

 

[thiskiwicanfly]

Now that it has finished the indexing etc that a Mac does when it is new, I have to try hard to hear my i7/5700 when idle. What I mean is that I have to put my ear right up to it to hear anything. The fan does spin up when the machine is pushed, even moderately, but I wouldn’t call it obtrusive. Of course everyone’s tolerance for these things is different, and it certainly isn’t silent.

I have no experience with the i9/5700XT so cant compare.

Wow I never thought of the indexing - maybe that’s why some people immediately think it’s loud out of the box!? I’m considering the i7/5700 because I suspect the i9/5700XT is louder with little performance gain.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

2020 27" iMac w/ 5700XT here. Haven't heard the fan at all. Dead silent from day one.

 

[dsc888]

In my situation, I bought 3 new 2020 iMacs, all with i7s and one being BTO with the 5700XT, and got machines with 3 different sound signatures.

First was loud with the fluttery, clicking fan. That one was immediately returned.

Second was the BTO with the 5700XT upgrade. That was just loud but no fluttery, clicking noise from the fan.

3rd was the same config as my first (store Tier 3 base) and the fan was significantly QUIETER than the first 2 right out of the box with NO fluttery, clicking fan noise!

I have very good hearing and am sensitive to noise of all types. Also, I have my computers in a very quiet home office. So it looks like there is some fan noise "lottery" to be played. But if you are in a noisier room or have less than ideal hearing or wear headphones, it may not be an issue at all. But for me, the first unit was an absolute no go.

 

[minimaxir]

The fan also can be loud when setting up a new computer due to the initial iCloud Drive sync from an old computer.

No issues with the fan w/ 5700XT when idle once that was done. Only really hear the fan when the CPU or GPU is above 50% utilization.

 

[shywizard]

In my situation, I bought 3 new 2020 iMacs, all with i7s and one being BTO with the 5700XT, and got machines with 3 different sound signatures.

First was loud with the fluttery, clicking fan. That one was immediately returned.

Second was the BTO with the 5700XT upgrade. That was just loud but no fluttery, clicking noise from the fan.

3rd was the same config as my first (store Tier 3 base) and the fan was significantly QUIETER than the first 2 right out of the box with NO fluttery, clicking fan noise!

I have very good hearing and am sensitive to noise of all types. Also, I have my computers in a very quiet home office. So it looks like there is some fan noise "lottery" to be played. But if you are in a noisier room or have less than ideal hearing or wear headphones, it may not be an issue at all. But for me, the first unit was an absolute no go.

DSC888, do all 3 of your iMac's have the white horizontal line glitch that many of us have been posting about?

 

[CheesePuff]

In my situation, I bought 3 new 2020 iMacs, all with i7s and one being BTO with the 5700XT, and got machines with 3 different sound signatures.

First was loud with the fluttery, clicking fan. That one was immediately returned.

Second was the BTO with the 5700XT upgrade. That was just loud but no fluttery, clicking noise from the fan.

3rd was the same config as my first (store Tier 3 base) and the fan was significantly QUIETER than the first 2 right out of the box with NO fluttery, clicking fan noise!

I have very good hearing and am sensitive to noise of all types. Also, I have my computers in a very quiet home office. So it looks like there is some fan noise "lottery" to be played. But if you are in a noisier room or have less than ideal hearing or wear headphones, it may not be an issue at all. But for me, the first unit was an absolute no go.

I figured that had to be the case because in another thread I was talking to a user with the exact same machine I have and they said they can very clearly hear the fan on their’s were with mine in a dead silent room I could not hear it even with my face up to the front of the screen

 

[dsc888]

DSC888, do all 3 of your iMac's have the white horizontal line glitch that many of us have been posting about?

My BTO with the 5700XT does. The other 2 with the 5500XT does NOT. It is definitely an issue, software or otherwise, with the highest tier GPU only.

 

[dsc888]

I figured that had to be the case because in another thread I was talking to a user with the exact same machine I have and they said they can very clearly hear the fan on their’s were with mine in a dead silent room I could not hear it even with my face up to the front of the screen

This is just so frustrating. I don't really need both iMacs and I'm tempted to not keep my BTO anymore because of the fan noise. It's not even close in terms of noise. Neither is as quiet as my 2017, which is near silent. Both of my units with the 5500XT GPU were from the same factory based on the first 3 letters of the serial numbers. My BTO was made by Quanta in Shanghai. Based on when I purchased my units, it appears that the latest model seems to have the less annoying fans. The fluttery fan noise I had on my first unit was not a good sign as it seems to indicate a fan that isn't sitting quite right in the housing or the fan blades aren't balanced. It may also be bad bearings but I wasn't willing to gamble. None of my other iMacs I have ever owned had that clicking/flutter noise.

 

[SmallDane]

The fan does spin up when the machine is pushed, even moderately, but I wouldn’t call it obtrusive.

This worries me a lot. Can you be more specific about how much it takes to spin up the fan? I can accept fan noise when doing heavy tasks because I don't do those often. But if the fan goes above the default 1200 rpm often while doing ordinary things like watching videos, this machine is not for me.

How about playing a high resolution video on youtube in Chrome? Does that spin up the fan? Try this one for example:

 

[wilberforce]

This worries me a lot. Can you be more specific about how much it takes to spin up the fan? I can accept fan noise when doing heavy tasks because I don't do those often. But if the fan goes above the default 1200 rpm often while doing ordinary things like watching videos, this machine is not for me.

How about playing a high resolution video on youtube in Chrome? Does that spin up the fan? Try this one for example:

For me, with an i7 and 5500XT:

The link you provided only provides a 4k video on Youtube in Chrome, for me, with no 8k option. The 4k video plays fine, full screen, and fan stays at 1200 rpm.

If I download an 8k 24fps video using quicktime such as:

https://images-assets.nasa.gov/video/First-8K-Video-from-Space/First-8K-Video-from-Space~orig.mp4

it also plays fine, fan stays at 1200 rpm.

However if I try to play an 8k 60fps movie through youtube on Chrome, such as:

it really struggles, playback is choppy, CPU (not GPU) is maxed out, and fan spins up to max 2700 rpm

Hope this helps

 

[SmallDane]

it really struggles, playback is choppy, CPU (not GPU) is maxed out, and fan spins up to max 2700 rpm

Thanks for testing. The choppy playback is probably the network speed on youtube's end. The same happens for me.

 

[wilberforce]

Thanks for testing. The choppy playback is probably the network speed on youtube's end. The same happens for me.

Its not the network speed. Even if I let it buffer, the CPU cannot decode fast enough. All cores are maxed out on activity monitor, if it is on 8K 60fps:



But running the same video in 4k 60fps resolution is fine, fan stays at 1200 rpm. 4k makes more sense than 8k anyway, for a 5k monitor. This is same video at 4K 60fps (see the fan speed at top of screenshot). For some reason the GPU has more load for the 4K version:

 

[thiskiwicanfly]

I have very good hearing and am sensitive to noise of all types. Also, I have my computers in a very quiet home office. So it looks like there is some fan noise "lottery" to be played. But if you are in a noisier room or have less than ideal hearing or wear headphones, it may not be an issue at all. But for me, the first unit was an absolute no go.

That’s a bit concerning. It seems ludicrous that fan noise is a “lottery” when we’re spending that amount of money on an iMac.

 

[BuCkDoG]

I have the i7 5700XT and can’t hear a thing. My 2017 was silent at idle however would spin up the fans a lot more often and faster compared to my new 2020. A lot of these folks on here just love to cry about anything so honestly I would not take some of the feedback seriously. IMHO you will only hear the fan if you slam the CPU 100%. The noise that’s created even when the CPU is at 75% isn’t that obtrusive at all. The hardware is so good compared to years ago that it’s going to require less and less power to get the jobs done. If you are really that concerned about the fan noise and you are dead set on purchasing an iMac, you can always just disable turbo boost and you won’t ever hear the fan ever again. Yes you will lose performance in some areas, but again if fan noise is a big deal for you, this will solve your issue 100%.

 

[dsc888]

That’s a bit concerning. It seems ludicrous that fan noise is a “lottery” when we’re spending that amount of money on an iMac.

It's been like this with Apple for many years. Remember back in the iPad 3 days when folks had to swap out multiple units due to yellow screens that could not be calibrated out. Also, this was a big issue with the initial run of the updated retina iMac screens back in 2015 where screen uniformity was a big issue. Apple keeps multiple suppliers for all their parts and it does seem that each one has a different manufacturing tolerance.

 

[dsc888]

I have the i7 5700XT and can’t hear a thing. My 2017 was silent at idle however would spin up the fans a lot more often and faster compared to my new 2020. A lot of these folks on here just love to cry about anything so honestly I would not take some of the feedback seriously. IMHO you will only hear the fan if you slam the CPU 100%. The noise that’s created even when the CPU is at 75% isn’t that obtrusive at all. The hardware is so good compared to years ago that it’s going to require less and less power to get the jobs done. If you are really that concerned about the fan noise and you are dead set on purchasing an iMac, you can always just disable turbo boost and you won’t ever hear the fan ever again. Yes you will lose performance in some areas, but again if fan noise is a big deal for you, this will solve your issue 100%.

It's funny you mentioned this. I had a BTO 2017 i7 that had the same fan ramp up issue you described and I was very bothered by it. So I swapped it out for a BTO with the i5 3.8 CPU instead and never looked back. It was nearly silent both at idle and even when stressed and I never heard the fans ramp up. Back in the day, that was the advice that was given to folks who complained about the i7 upgrade.

 

[Whiteman007]

wheres the i have headphones on 100% of the time so i never hear the fan even at 2700 RPM option

 

[shhh2020]

Starting the iMac the fans spin up, then slow down again to the default 1200 rpm. Short airflow/clickety/rattle, but feels like regular behavior. Doesn't bother me though as much as the fan-noise/airflow-noise through the air vents on the back which is constantly there at 1200 rpm. Hardly there, yet very audible. Shouldn't the iMac be as silent as e.g. a MacBook Pro which actually isn't audible at all while simply browsing the web, etc…

 

[jinnyman]

Doing normal stuffs, I can't hear it.
However, when I push, and RPM goes above 1500, I can definitely hear it.

 

[BuCkDoG]

It's funny you mentioned this. I had a BTO 2017 i7 that had the same fan ramp up issue you described and I was very bothered by it. So I swapped it out for a BTO with the i5 3.8 CPU instead and never looked back. It was nearly silent both at idle and even when stressed and I never heard the fans ramp up. Back in the day, that was the advice that was given to folks who complained about the i7 upgrade.

Yup the i5 in the 2017 model just was much better on thermals due to much less power draw thus less heat. I didn’t pull the trigger on the 2019 model since I didn’t feel it was a worthy upgrade in terms of performance so here we are in 2020 and I’m loving this 2020 i7 5700XT iMac even if I can hear the fans sometimes during workloads. I mean we are talking about cooling an 8 core CPU and a beefy GPU with 1 single fan and some of the folks on here are shocked that the fan comes on. Imagine that. This is an iMac people, it’s not built around making sure the fan never comes on. It’s going to come on and make noise during heavy loads.