I am getting sick of listening to the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT in my Mac Pro. Should the fan on this thing be running constantly at the same speed? Some quick research suggests that it might be because of a firmware update a couple of months ago, though I didn't notice any increase in noise at the time.

To anyone who has upgraded to the 8800GT, is it any quieter than the 2600 XT?

I had the X1900 XT, and changed over to the 8800GT. It's a fair bit quieter.

Have you checked the card to make sure the heatsink/fan hasn't been blocked with dust?

I noticed with my X1900 XT that all of a sudden, the video card fan would spin up when doing even the simplest of tasks (opening dashboard)... turned out the heatsink in front of the fan inlet had a fine layer of dust over it. I sucked the dust out, and it went back to how it was before.

I gather this is on a 2008 Mac Pro. Right?

Can't answer about the 8800GT being quieter but the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT firmware update is the definite cause. A bad decision by me also installing this update. Doesn't seem to be any way to roll back either.

Doesn't worry me that much as the Mac sits under the desk. Would be really annoying if it was sitting next to me though.

Might be worth a call to Apple before replacing though.

From personal experience. The 8800 GT i have in the PC isn't too noisy tbh. Not that i have a Mac Pro, the pc i have uses a Li-Lian PC-V1000B case.

The 8800GT on my MP is virtually silent - I've never noticed the fan, even when playing 3D games.

The fan is somewhat noisy at full tilt - it cranks up when you wake up or turn on the MP for about a second. It's never actually cranked up during normal operation though.

Thanks for the info. I'll call Apple and see what they have to say about it. I don't really want to get the 8800 as I don't play games on my Mac Pro, but if it will be significantly quieter then it might be worth it.

i have the 8800 in my iMac and it is super silent. I could even sleep next to this computer.....

I'm yet to hear the fan on the 8800gt on my '08 Mac Pro

Can you let us know how you go. Good luck.

If you don't play games then the 8800GT may be slower than the HD2600 at Core Image and other things.

You could always replace the fan on the card itself instead.

I was thinking about that but I really wouldn't know where to start.

It's not that hard to change the fan/heatsink on videocards but if you're not confident I would imagine it would be a bit heart in mouth to be fiddling with such an expensive part.

Have you investigated other options for making it quieter? Keeping the Mac pro under a desk?

i would never do that if
a) the product is covered under warranty
b) expensive such as a $350 piece hardware
c) the product is new
d) dont no 100% what your doing and are not 100% confident

i have made a custom heatsink fan for a motherboard on a windows x64 athlon ... but boy has that machine had problems.... more hardware problems in 3 years than necessary but i did thrash it with high end processing gaming for 9 hours a day . Partially why i switched over to mac and lives been smooth sailing so far.

A quick question and or high jack, one would think that the macpro hardware is of the highest quality at that price and considering what they are designed and made for. Is that the case ?

im looking to buy after i get my tax return

It was on the floor under the desk but it was still quite audible, more than it should be I think. Plus, when I opened it up to switch the Superdrive it was pretty dusty which can't be great in the long term. On the desk is cleaner and more practical, provided I can sort out this issue.

So I talked to Apple technical support this evening and they suggested that I reset the PMU. I did this and the noise level is still the same.

Is there any way to disable the GPU fan to check that it is what is making the noise?