Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro 6 core noise

@ lbeck

I sent you a private message...

@ ahavriluk

Wether or not you should take your Mac Pro in is up to you. As I stated in other posts a rattle or noise is completely subjective to each individual. I am not sure what you mean by rattle. Can you expand on it some more?
 
Desmo1098 said:
@ lbeck

I sent you a private message...

@ ahavriluk

Wether or not you should take your Mac Pro in is up to you. As I stated in other posts a rattle or noise is completely subjective to each individual. I am not sure what you mean by rattle. Can you expand on it some more?
Click to expand...

It sounds like the fan is rattling... The fan makes noise, which doesn't sound like normal operation. I don't know how else I can explain. I wasn't like that when I brought it home. It just started making that noise lately. I had a similar problem in my macbook pro after 3 years, had to replace a fan. My Mac is about a month old. I was just wondering if Apple would fix it.
 
Hi Everyone,

I ended up removing my 1TB internal drive yesterday to see if that was the cuplrit and it WAS making the noise I was hearing. I removed the drive and my MP was as quiet as a sleeping baby all day. I put the drive back in and as soon as the OS booted and my desktop was showing, the "percolating" noise returned. Its quiet but noticeable. I've never had a drive that makes a constant random noise, even when data is not being accessed for a long time. Strange but happy its not the fan.
 
lbeck said:
I ended up removing my 1TB internal drive yesterday to see if that was the cuplrit and it WAS making the noise I was hearing. I removed the drive and my MP was as quiet as a sleeping baby all day. I put the drive back in and as soon as the OS booted and my desktop was showing, the "percolating" noise returned. Its quiet but noticeable. I've never had a drive that makes a constant random noise, even when data is not being accessed for a long time. Strange but happy its not the fan.
Click to expand...

Quite normal behaviour for a WD Black (stock MP 1TB drive). I used to have two of them in my Mac Pro and replaced them with WD Green models because the noise was driving my crazy.
 
Transporteur said:
Quite normal behaviour for a WD Black (stock MP 1TB drive). I used to have two of them in my Mac Pro and replaced them with WD Green models because the noise was driving my crazy.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was unaware of that for the WD drives. It was driving me crazy but now that I know its perfectly fine and there is nothing wrong with my MP, its music to my ears. Ok, maybe not music to my ears but you get the point. I'm planning on putting four 2TB drives in by the end of the year so problem will be eliminated.

Do the 2TB WD Black's have the same issue? I hope not, four of them would be overpowering.
 
These recordings are much better, they were taken inside my Mac Pro with the cover open, right in front of the heatsink fan, that is where I believe the sound is coming from, NOT the front instake fan, but the heatsink CPU BOOSTA fan built-in to the heatsink....listen here:

http://www.wardcurry.com/rattle3.mp3

http://www.wardcurry.com/rattle4.mp3

You can hear the sound much louder and more pronounced here. I have ordered a replacement heatsink from applecomponents.com as well as a 3mm 9" hex driver and thermal paste to do the heatsink replacement myself. I hope to have all the parts in later this week to do the surgery on my Mac Pro.

Again, this sound is really "come and go." I can't hear it at all right now, actually, it comes and goes as it wants. When it's making the sound, it will do it about every 5 or 10 seconds in a cycle, keep making the rattle sound...but hopefully once I get the new heatsink on it will be permanently fixed.

Also, mine is a 2009 model 4-core Nehalem, not a 2010 6-core.

Let's hope this solves the problem.
 
Finally took my Mac Pro into Apple for repair...

Okay, I took the advice of one of the posters and finally took my Mac Pro in to the Apple Store today. I explained the issue I am having (I have now determined that it is not the Heatsink fan but the front intake processor cage fan that is making the rattle noise)

I let him hear my recording, and he has ordered the 3 following parts:

922-8884 Fan, PCIe
922-8885 Fan, Processor Cage, Front
922-8886 Fan, Processor Cage, Rear

Here is what my Genius Bar Work Authorization Page says:

------------------------
Issue: Customer states the fan (intake) is making a rattling noise

Steps to Reproduce: Ran MRI; no thermal or fan errors. Customer has recording of sound: http://www.wardcurry.com/rattle3.mp3

Proposed Resolution: Run ASD to determine which fan is erroring. Replace necessary components and test - I am ordering all fans but only replace necessary component

Cosmetic Condition: Good.
------------------------

So, they are ordering all of the fans and they are going to run tests on it and only replace the fan(s) that they find problems in. It says my turnaround time is 3-5 days, Today is Thursday, so I should see my Mac Pro back by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. All I can do now is hope for the best.

Let's hope they can repair it, and I sure hope this fixes it!!!
 
I took mine in on Wednesday because of noise/vibration, a buzzing PSU and audio issues. I just hope they won't scratch it :/
 
The Apple Genius ran the preliminary tests on mine and it reported no fan or thermal problems. He said he would only replace the fans if he found there was an issue. I have been hearing this noise since I bought the machine in July. I have made 3 recordings of this noise and I let the Apple Genius hear one of them on his headphones. He could clearly hear the noise in the recording, and he made a note of the audio file URL on the Work Authorization sheet. I damn well hope they replace the fan. If they don't, and the problem comes up again, I will continue to take my Mac Pro back to Apple until they get it right. I am not giving up on this.

I hope they can fix it. This sound has been bugging me nuts!! Plus, it kills the value of the machine (who is going to buy a Used Mac Pro with a fan problem). If I sold it on eBay with the rattling fan, they would instantly return it and demand a refund if they found out it had issues. I'm not only doing this for my conscious to allay my nerves on the sound problem, I'm trying to save the value of the machine if I ever decide to sell this Mac Pro on eBay and get a newer one in the future. It's been a day and half now, Apple will have my machine over the weekend. I hope to get it back early next week.

I damn well hope they can fix the rattling fan. Then I will have a mighty fine issue-free Mac Pro.
 
ahavriluk said:
Rattling fan is the issue. Genius...
Click to expand...

He said he will have to be able to replicate the problem or detect a problem with his ASD tests in order to replace the fan. Looks like the tests are picking up NOTHING and I am pissed. I clearly let him hear the noise it was making. The problem is the sound is come and go, it will appear and then be gone for a few days, come back and rattle for a few hours off and on, and then go away again. It's very intermittent. Even if he has the machine for 2 or 3 days and he's able to listen to it for 30 minutes nonstop, he may never hear a fan rattle, and his tests may never pick up on it.

That's what's got me worried.
 
I went today to Apple Store with my fan problem. The guy didn't even powered the machine up to verify the problem. He ordered a replacement fan and they will call me when the part is in the store.
 
ahavriluk said:
I went today to Apple Store with my fan problem. The guy didn't even powered the machine up to verify the problem. He ordered a replacement fan and they will call me when the part is in the store.
Click to expand...

Same here, but then I got called a week later saying they didn't find a fault and that no repairs have been done :mad:
-> the fact that they order parts when you explain the problem means nothing :(

I got it back now with no change..
 
2contagious said:
Same here, but then I got called a week later saying they didn't find a fault and that no repairs have been done :mad:
-> the fact that they order parts when you explain the problem means nothing :(

I got it back now with no change..
Click to expand...

I didn't leave my computer there. They will call me to come over and replace it.

I think, you should insist.
 
ahavriluk said:
Just received a call from them. They received a fan and I will go tomorrow to replace it.

Apple store in downtown of Portland, OR.
Click to expand...

I guess UK rules are different. It's not possible to order parts in and just quickly get it replaced. They have to test the computer and find the fault, otherwise it goes back to the customer as "repair declined" ...

The 'genius' told me he'd write to Apple's Engineer group about my buzzing PSU (all the Mac Pros in store were buzzing, too.. so he wants to find out if this is by design or something Apple should fix)
 
I got my Mac Pro back on Wednesday from the Apple Store. They told me that they replaced two fans (the front and rear processor cage fan). I took my Mac Pro home, and powered it on, and everything seemed great.

Later that night, I started to hear the rattling again. IT IS BACK! And it more frequent and more pronounced than ever. The same rattling sound. I am really doubtful that they actually replaced any of the fans in my Mac Pro because this fan is still making the rattling noise. It's bad. I think I am just going to move my Mac Pro to the floor and call it a day. It's really pissing me off. It only happens after the Mac Pro has been on for a few hours and all the fans are on idle. Intake fan is at 598rpm and it's making the rattle noise. It's very very annoying. I really don't know what to do now. I am still under warranty but I can't afford to take my Mac Pro to Apple and let them have it for yet another week. This just decreases the resale value of my machine. Nobody will want to buy a machine with a noisy fan. And now I feel like I have this POS crappy ass Mac Pro that makes puttering noises every few seconds.

I'll try to make a recording of the fan noises now, they are a bit different, so maybe this fan they installed is a faulty fan too. Perhaps I should keep taking it back until they get it right....but I don't know how long I can keep doing this. Apple kept my machine for 6 days while they ordered parts and ran tests, which said nothing was wrong with it. They said they went ahead and replaced those two fans anyways because I had given them a recording of the noise. Right now, I'd just like to sell this Mac Pro and get an iMac because this is so noisy. I am really in a rut here, and I feel horrible about this. Maybe I'll just do some investigating and try to determine exactly what the problem is, if it's not either one of the fans they replaced it's got to be something else. Maybe something is loose inside the machine. I will keep you updated.
 
WardC said:
I got my Mac Pro back on Wednesday from the Apple Store. They told me that they replaced two fans (the front and rear processor cage fan). I took my Mac Pro home, and powered it on, and everything seemed great.

Later that night, I started to hear the rattling again. IT IS BACK! And it more frequent and more pronounced than ever. The same rattling sound. I am really doubtful that they actually replaced any of the fans in my Mac Pro because this fan is still making the rattling noise. It's bad. I think I am just going to move my Mac Pro to the floor and call it a day. It's really pissing me off. It only happens after the Mac Pro has been on for a few hours and all the fans are on idle. Intake fan is at 598rpm and it's making the rattle noise. It's very very annoying. I really don't know what to do now. I am still under warranty but I can't afford to take my Mac Pro to Apple and let them have it for yet another week. This just decreases the resale value of my machine. Nobody will want to buy a machine with a noisy fan. And now I feel like I have this POS crappy ass Mac Pro that makes puttering noises every few seconds.

I'll try to make a recording of the fan noises now, they are a bit different, so maybe this fan they installed is a faulty fan too. Perhaps I should keep taking it back until they get it right....but I don't know how long I can keep doing this. Apple kept my machine for 6 days while they ordered parts and ran tests, which said nothing was wrong with it. They said they went ahead and replaced those two fans anyways because I had given them a recording of the noise. Right now, I'd just like to sell this Mac Pro and get an iMac because this is so noisy. I am really in a rut here, and I feel horrible about this. Maybe I'll just do some investigating and try to determine exactly what the problem is, if it's not either one of the fans they replaced it's got to be something else. Maybe something is loose inside the machine. I will keep you updated.
Click to expand...

You should be able to locate the miscreant fan with the cover off. Good luck!!
JohnG
 
johnnymg said:
You should be able to locate the miscreant fan with the cover off. Good luck!!
JohnG
Click to expand...

I have tried and tried and I am still trying. I just had the cover off for 20 minutes trying to locate the sound. It is definitely coming from either the Intake fan (front processor cage fan) or the CPU Heatsink fan. It is the same kind of rattle that I heard before. I have tried pressing in different places when it rattles but I cannot get it to stop. Apparently the problem is in the fan, not some loose plastic, aluminum, or other part in the machine. It sounds more like it's the front intake fan though, and since they replaced it (I just inspected it and there is no dust on it, so I know they DID replace it), I have a doubt that I would get a 2nd rattling fan on a new part. So that leads me to think the sound is coming from somewhere else. It's hard to tell because I can't take the processor card out and run the machine without the processor card in, and there is about a five-inch space between the heatsink fan and the front intake fan. I keep putting my ear in there to listen when it rattles, but I can't tell exactly which fan it's coming from. THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!
 
Same Problem...

I have the same thing, but it's intermittent... meaning maybe once or twice a month, not every few minutes.

It's a very low sound, very much like a coffee percolator. And this time around, it's been going constantly since about this time yesterday (which seems longer than I remember... 24+ hours seems a lot).

At some point it will go away and "out of earshot, out of mind". So it doesn't get attended to. This is the first time I've checked into it. I wish there was an answer short of "take it to an Apple Store"

... oh well.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

OK... A little more investigation and I found this link, which solved the issue:
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
 
Last edited:
If you are out of AppleCare, you could just order the replacement fan assembly from a Mac Pro parts seller.

Some folks have had success fitting PC fans but the Fan Controller then runs them at full speed since non-Apple fans send a false positive fault to the fan controller. This then makes them run at full speed (and noise) although sometimes it can be worth it if you get a low noise fan. Be aware the fan will then be drawing full current all the time.

When was the last time you gave your Mac Pro a complete and thorough strip down and air-dust?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back