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SteelBlueTJ

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 2, 2012
445
67
USA
I just got a 2.8 refurbished Quad and it's not loud, but it definitely has some fan noise. Coming from a quiet iMac, its annoying. So I did some reading and installed SMC fan control. I bumped the intake and exhaust from 600 to 800 and it seems so much better and runs a lot cooler too. Will it cause any harm in the long run? What do you guys set your fans at? I'm a noob at the Mac Pro and want it to last many years. Thanks
 
I just got a 2.8 refurbished Quad and it's not loud, but it definitely has some fan noise. Coming from a quiet iMac, its annoying. So I did some reading and installed SMC fan control. I bumped the intake and exhaust from 600 to 800 and it seems so much better and runs a lot cooler too. Will it cause any harm in the long run? What do you guys set your fans at? I'm a noob at the Mac Pro and want it to last many years. Thanks

I'm running mine at 750, way cooler. I'm less worried about the Mac Pro fans than the MBP fans. If you have ever held one, the are pretty big and robust

Blowing the dust out of the tower out with air helps a lot too
 
I have 4 settings I use.

-Default: This is the default fan setting
-Chill: Everything bumped to 750-800
-Render: All fans at 1500-1750 while rendering. Temp is rock solid at 84 F.
-Evacuate!: This setting has all fans at max, to blow out dust, or to quickly cool a hot machine. Since there is no way to control them in Windows, if I forget to switch the settings and play Battlefield 3, and come back to OSX, I sometimes see temps listed at over 120 F. I place the system on Evacuate, and it takes less than 5 minutes to return to sub 85 F temps.
 
I have a custom Fan Control app that was posted in this Mac Pro section not long ago, and my settings are:

Intake & Exhaust Control (Combined)
Base Speed: 500 RPM
Lower Threshold: 108ºF
Upper Threshold: 140ºF

CPU A Fan Control
Base Speed: 600 RPM
Lower Threshold: 115ºF
Upper Threshold: 163ºF

This has kept my fans at very quiet, low speeds when I'm not working the computer hard, and quickly ramps up the fans when it does start working.
 
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