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by lmilcin 1564 days ago
> The M1 Ultra claims already look suspicious since the GPU graph tops out at ~120W & the CPU graph tops out at ~60W yet the M1 Studio is rated for 370W continuous power draw.

And that is expected, a lot has to be reserved for USB devices.
2 comments
Forgeties79 1564 days ago
Yeah can’t say I’ve ever seen a computer rated for the exact amount it’ll be drawn at. They have to leave room.
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jsjohnst 1564 days ago
SSD and those two large fans also use a fair amount of power too.
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kllrnohj 1563 days ago
Those fans are unlikely to break 5w combined.
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jsjohnst 1563 days ago
Guess we will see once one is available to be tested, but I doubt that’s the case. I was guessing 5-8W each, but I could be wrong of course.
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kllrnohj 1563 days ago
Most PC fans are 1-2w. Given the claims of "near silent", I think it's plenty safe to say these are not 5,000+ RPM rippers that are going to be in the 5-8W each range.
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jsjohnst 1563 days ago
Given the M1 Ultra has a 2lb heavier heat sink just to dissipate the extra heat, not sure that’s a safe bet. There are other ways to reduce noise than just using lower RPM fans.
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kllrnohj 1562 days ago
> There are other ways to reduce noise than just using lower RPM fans

No, not really. You can try adding sound dampening, like BeQuiet does, but it's not as effective as just having more lower RPM fans (although it does help with coil whine). But Apple has historically never used sound dampening, and this doesn't look like it changes that. With how "open" it is anyway (the entire back being just a bunch of holes), sound dampening wouldn't be all that effective.

I'm not really sure what you think the heavier heat sink has to do with either the fan RPM or the noise profile. The bigger heatsink is if anything evidence of larger, lower-RPM fans. They're using more surface area, so they can spread the air movement out over larger fan blades. Which means they don't need to use as high an RPM fan.

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lmilcin 1563 days ago
Massive (by weight) heatsink can be used as thermal mass. This delays the need to increase fan speed and allows spreading that increase over time. One thing that is more noticeable than fan speed is rapid fan speed changes -- avoiding those makes entire system seem quieter.
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