Is my new iMac G5 abnormally loud?

[sparkleytone]

Hey everybody. My father purchased my mom a new iMac a couple weeks ago and I ended up doing all of the setup. I have noticed that it is much louder than I expected it to be. The noise it makes is quieter than the PC she had before, but its still a bit more annoying than I ever expected it to be. It sounds as if maybe one of the fans isn't completely clear of obstruction, giving it a whiney sound. Am I crazy or should we call Apple?

Recording (3.5MB)

This is about 4 minutes long. The majority of the noise is when the iMac isn't really doing anything. If you choose to listen, you can easily tell when the iMac is being asked to do anything that requires the slightest bit of CPU time. Maybe I expect too much for it to be quieter?

 

[aussie_geek]

Doesn't sound noisy to me - I can only hear the recording when I put my ears right on the speaker grill of my PowerBook.


aussie_geek

 

[Eidorian]

I had my iMac's speakers to maximum and I still had to put my ear next to them to hear it. I sounds just fine to me. The fans will run lightly constantly even if you're not doing any intensive processing.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Doesn't sound noisy to me - I can only hear the recording when I put my ears right on the speaker grill of my PowerBook.


aussie_geek

maybe my hearing is going bad but I couldn't hear it at all ?!?!? I hope he isn't pulling a joke on us

 

[runninmac]

I heard it but only when i tuned my speakers up really loud (like 3xs the normal level for games). If the mouse clicks are actually that loud then the fan isn't bad at all IMO.

 

[Daveway]

80% of the imacs do this, rev A and B. Apple offers real fix and calls it normal.

 

[Runaway]

Take a look at the Apple support discussion forums for the iMac and you'll see countless people complaining of their loud, noisy, "747" iMacs. You are not alone. In many cases, the problem is so bad that Apple has begrudgingly replaced people's machines. I would call Applecare.