macbook CPU gets really hot, record is 85 celsius!

[fishmoose]

Hello!

I have a strange problem my macbook gets really hot, the cpu once went up to 80 celsius and i only had Safari one, i also had finder one and was copying some files to an usb memory.

When i do some video conversion it goes to 85 celsius instantly!

Anyone knows what's can be wrong i only had it for 6 months, i can also recall that this problems began after i did a restore with the leopard discs can this be the reason or is it just a convenience?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[MacHappytjg]

well on video conversion mine gets hot and has the fans running, but didnt know the temp since i wasnt near it, but was the usual running condition 50 - 54 before it started going messey, did u change any of the settings? Because i think i might have done that without knowing, and had to reinstall tiger (leopard wasnt out) and fixed the fan problem and heat problem all up..

[misterredman]

Hello!

I have a strange problem my macbook gets really hot, the cpu once went up to 80 celsius and i only had Safari one, i also had finder one and was copying some files to an usb memory.

When i do some video conversion it goes to 85 celsius instantly!

Anyone knows what's can be wrong i only had it for 6 months, i can also recall that this problems began after i did a restore with the leopard discs can this be the reason or is it just a convenience?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

What exactly is the problem? Does the Macbook shutdown or does it work fine? Are you able to finish the video conversions?

I wouldn't worry too much about the temperature, if everything is working correctly and the fans spin up after a while to full speed.

About the first issue when running only safary try opening the Activity Monitor and look at which process is using all the cpu.

[fishmoose]

The computer dosent shutdown and i can finish everything im just worried that the macbook will die, and i cant remember changing any settings.

Maybe i shouldn't worry but it's a little strange thou

[MacHappytjg]

nah it shouldnt die but yea i would be freakin out too, i actually was when i accidently changed a setting and somehow made it hotter causing the fans to go on. Maybe if u dont have much stuff on your mb back it up and maybe reinstall leopard and wipe the hd, when mine did that i wiped it and it fixed it. and actually that i reinstalled leopard the flicker in my scren stopped :confused:

[fishmoose]

nah it shouldnt die but yea i would be freakin out too, i actually was when i accidently changed a setting and somehow made it hotter causing the fans to go on. Maybe if u dont have much stuff on your mb back it up and maybe reinstall leopard and wipe the hd, when mine did that i wiped it and it fixed it. and actually that i reinstalled leopard the flicker in my scren stopped :confused:

yeah i guess i could do that i think i will phone apple support to maybe they have some advices but backing everything up and reinstall it shouldn't be a problem.

[sabregreen]

That is pretty common. Mine gets to 85-86 when I encode video. I notice this across multiple macbooks. They still work fine, no shutdown, no nothing. The bottom case on the SR macbooks do not get as hot as the previous models(Napa, etc). One of the macbooks I manage I have seen get to 96 deg Celsius. It still works just fine, no falters or anything. It has to do with poor thermal paste application mostly.

[fishmoose]

That is pretty common. Mine gets to 85-86 when I encode video. I notice this across multiple macbooks. They still work fine, no shutdown, no nothing. The bottom case on the SR macbooks do not get as hot as the previous models(Napa, etc). One of the macbooks I manage I have seen get to 96 deg Celsius. It still works just fine, no falters or anything. It has to do with poor thermal paste application mostly.

okay so i should be fine? I'm thinking of buying a laptop cooler thou.

Maybe i should give Apple a call anyway?

[mckyvlle]

Yea, that is pretty normal. My MacBook hovers around 47c when I'm just browsing and chatting. Shoots up to around 85c once I start something CPU intensive like 3D games.

[dukebound85]

ive hit low 90's on mine

avg temp is low mid 60's for my day to day usage

celcius of course

[sabregreen]

okay so i should be fine? I'm thinking of buying a laptop cooler thou.

Maybe i should give Apple a call anyway?

Its pretty hot for the processors, but still within thermal limits. I wouldn't worry about it unless your machine is shutting itself down or locking up. The best solution would be to reapply the thermal grease, but its very tricky and time consuming to get to on the macbook.

[*Sandy*]

Mine never leaves the 40's you need it looked at.

[Drumjim85]

Mine never leaves the 40's you need it looked at.

"never"? ... you mean in the 2 days you've had it??

[nick9191]

Those temperatures are 100% normal.

[*Sandy*]

"never"? ... you mean in the 2 days you've had it?? I had all the gens of macbook, 5 in all this being my 6th, but thanks for your concern :cool:

[Eidorian]

2 weeks of Handbrake encoding at 80° C never worried me. :rolleyes:

[*Sandy*]

I never do much just surf, they never seem to get hot like my MBP, now that boys and girls was Hot!

[econoline06]

***ALL TEMPS REPORTED ARE IN FAHRENHEIT***

Use smcFanControl and set it to "higher RPM". Instead of the standard 1800 RPM exhaust on the MacBook, the fan will kick up to around 3500 RPM, cooling things down about 10 degrees. You can barely hear the fan in a quiet room. I do the same thing with my iMac, except I've got the CPU fan set at 2500 RPM all the time versus the 'standard' 1200 RPM which is next to useless, especially when playing games.

The intel Mac's run hot bottom line, so I would suggest kicking all the fans up 1000 to 1500 RPM across the board. Also, computers are sensitive machines! You should not have them in a room that is 80 degrees...most people don't seem to understand that they should be in a room that is at most 75 degrees. My room is in a basement, so the temps are far lower than what most people see. It has been HOT here lately (90 degrees) and the ambient as reported by iStat pro on my iMac says 76 degrees. Currently my CPU temp is 95 degrees. I rarely see 120 degrees, unless I have been playing a game. My Macbook definitely heats up faster than the iMac, but hovers around the same 95 degree temp if I'm doing the same things with them (e.g.; web browsing, IM, word).

Don't worry about wearing the fans out...seriously. Most of the fans max out at around 6,000 RPM, and in the case of the MacBook, I've seen them run at 8,000 RPM! So, a steady 3500 rpm is not going to wear anything out.

***ALL TEMPS REPORTED ARE IN FAHRENHEIT***

[SpaceMagic]

Living in Italy, my fans are constantly on full whack. Each sensor is reporting AT LEAST 120F/48C.

My poor MacBook can't wait to get back to the UK...

[fishmoose]

Its pretty hot for the processors, but still within thermal limits. I wouldn't worry about it unless your machine is shutting itself down or locking up. The best solution would be to reapply the thermal grease, but its very tricky and time consuming to get to on the macbook.

Well the laptop is only 7 months old so if the thermal grease needs to be reapplied then i rather have Apple do it then me i've only done it on a tower, and i have very little experience with taking laptops apart only changed ram in an HP and and Asus ee pc.

***ALL TEMPS REPORTED ARE IN FAHRENHEIT***

Use smcFanControl and set it to "higher RPM". Instead of the standard 1800 RPM exhaust on the MacBook, the fan will kick up to around 3500 RPM, cooling things down about 10 degrees. You can barely hear the fan in a quiet room. I do the same thing with my iMac, except I've got the CPU fan set at 2500 RPM all the time versus the 'standard' 1200 RPM which is next to useless, especially when playing games.

The intel Mac's run hot bottom line, so I would suggest kicking all the fans up 1000 to 1500 RPM across the board. Also, computers are sensitive machines! You should not have them in a room that is 80 degrees...most people don't seem to understand that they should be in a room that is at most 75 degrees. My room is in a basement, so the temps are far lower than what most people see. It has been HOT here lately (90 degrees) and the ambient as reported by iStat pro on my iMac says 76 degrees. Currently my CPU temp is 95 degrees. I rarely see 120 degrees, unless I have been playing a game. My Macbook definitely heats up faster than the iMac, but hovers around the same 95 degree temp if I'm doing the same things with them (e.g.; web browsing, IM, word).

Don't worry about wearing the fans out...seriously. Most of the fans max out at around 6,000 RPM, and in the case of the MacBook, I've seen them run at 8,000 RPM! So, a steady 3500 rpm is not going to wear anything out.

***ALL TEMPS REPORTED ARE IN FAHRENHEIT***

I've have read about smcFanControl and the thing with my problem is that the fan does kick in at a higher RPM then normal but it dosen't help the temperatures to drop. But i could always try smcFanControl.

[one1]

Here's where I am hovering at on temps.

[*Sandy*]

Heres mine

[mosx]

The problem is not the thermal paste being misapplied.

The problem is Apple's cooling design. The only fan is an output fan. There is no in-take and there is no way to circulate air. Plus everything is so tight inside of the case that there isn't much room to "breathe".

My MacBook has the 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo (Merom processor, Napa platform). It gets up to 88c while encoding video.

My HP (with a thicker case, proper ventilation in the case, and a fan that sucks air in and blows it out the back) peaks at 61c under full load.

[jjahshik32]

Well on my 2.4ghz macbook, I have it on my lap for a few hours and it feels a bit warm but it feels just fine and I'm doing things like safar, mail, downloading 100gb worth of files, running vmware fusion for vista using a couple of programs in windows, 4 spaces used up, watching a 720p mkv file, using visualhub to encode a 9gb file while the fan goes full tilt at 6300 rpm.

[tsice19]

For normal usage, mine is usually about 40 degrees Celsius running at 2500 RPM.

[MacHappytjg]

Mine never leaves the 40's you need it looked at.

u must live somewhere cold or ur house is cold cause mine is always in the low to mid 50's

[dinjin201]

Hello!

I have a strange problem my macbook gets really hot, the cpu once went up to 80 celsius and i only had Safari one, i also had finder one and was copying some files to an usb memory.

When i do some video conversion it goes to 85 celsius instantly!

Anyone knows what's can be wrong i only had it for 6 months, i can also recall that this problems began after i did a restore with the leopard discs can this be the reason or is it just a convenience?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Nope - 95C is where you have to start worrying... cuz if it evaporates water in the air and that water turns to steam, it can play havoc with your logic board... we know the boiling point is 100C - but 95 is the REDLINE - after all, why take chances??

as long as you're under that, you're good.

but DO download SMC FanControl and use it to cool off ur MB.

[fishmoose]

Nope - 95C is where you have to start worrying... cuz if it evaporates water in the air and that water turns to steam, it can play havoc with your logic board... we know the boiling point is 100C - but 95 is the REDLINE - after all, why take chances??

as long as you're under that, you're good.

but DO download SMC FanControl and use it to cool off ur MB.

So you think i will be all-right? I'm not to sure about smcfancontrol is it safe to use it, it can't hurt the computer in anyway?

[mckyvlle]

So you think i will be all-right? I'm not to sure about smcfancontrol is it safe to use it, it can't hurt the computer in anyway?

It is safe. I have smcFanControl running since I got my MacBook, and have it set to 3600rpm.

The program sets the fan to run at a higher speed than the factory settings. When the CPU temperature rises above the threshold for a given fan speed, then the fan controller will spin the fan faster than the speed you have set. So it's impossible to set the fan speed to low and overheat your Mac.

[econoline06]

The problem is not the thermal paste being misapplied.

The problem is Apple's cooling design. The only fan is an output fan. There is no in-take and there is no way to circulate air. Plus everything is so tight inside of the case that there isn't much room to "breathe".

My MacBook has the 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo (Merom processor, Napa platform). It gets up to 88c while encoding video.

My HP (with a thicker case, proper ventilation in the case, and a fan that sucks air in and blows it out the back) peaks at 61c under full load.

You don't suppose that Apple wants us to purchase a Mac Pro for "serious computing" do you? (No sarcasm).

[econoline06]

It is safe. I have smcFanControl running since I got my MacBook, and have it set to 3600rpm.

The program sets the fan to run at a higher speed than the factory settings. When the CPU temperature rises above the threshold for a given fan speed, then the fan controller will spin the fan faster than the speed you have set. So it's impossible to set the fan speed to low and overheat your Mac.

Yep, same as me...seems to work great.

[econoline06]

Nope - 95C is where you have to start worrying... cuz if it evaporates water in the air and that water turns to steam, it can play havoc with your logic board... we know the boiling point is 100C - but 95 is the REDLINE - after all, why take chances??

as long as you're under that, you're good.

but DO download SMC FanControl and use it to cool off ur MB.

You know, I have had plenty of folks literally get angry at me for telling them to use smcFanControl. They claim Apple wouldn't value quietness over cooling...Ohhh really? My iMac is not whisper quiet anymore since I upped the CPU fan to 2500 RPM, but it keeps the darned thing from getting "surface of the sun" hot after playing UT3 ;). It hovers around 88-93 degrees F while word processing/surfing, before I upped the RPM it was at least 10 degree warmer.

[Beric]

For my Macbook's FanControl, I've got my lower threshold at 115 F, my upper at 160 F, and my base speed at 3200 RPM. Is that OK?

[chainprayer]

i'm on a macbook and smcFanControl says its not supported on launch, but the readme says it is. anyone else getting this?

[MacHappytjg]

i'm on a macbook and smcFanControl says its not supported on launch, but the readme says it is. anyone else getting this?

Well if ur saying it doesnt go up at launch then yes.

[mike12806]

Not to hijack this thread.....but my imac power supply get's REALLY WARM, yet my AL imac's fans never increase speed....they stay at a constant 1200 rpm for HDD and CPU, and 800 RPM for the Optical drive. Is this normal behavior??

[danimal99]

These CPU temps that you guys are saying are normal, are actually quite crazy and way too high. I have a white MacBook 2.1Ghz on the way, and I have to say I'm not happy to be reading this. How involved is it to apply new thermal paste like ArticSilver to a MacBook CPU, and does it invalidate your warranty?

I had been planning to buy a MacBook for work and school, and finally decided last week that for the hardware that you get, it just isn't worth the price (as cool as OSX is.) I ended up buying an Acer instead, with better hardware specs other than a slightly slower AMD dual core, for less than half the price. It runs 41C on low power stuff and barely into the 60s under a load -- which is what I would expect. High 80s and 90s is WAY to high for a CPU to be running. Yes, it can handle it for a time, but it shouldn't have to.

So the day after I bought my Acer laptop, work told me they were thinking about buying me a MacBook to do some stuff on, and last night my boss said he ordered it. They're gonna load some software on it and then ship it to me. So now I'm kind of torn, and reading this about the CPU temps sure doesn't help.

BTW, I also have a Mini (that I'm VNC-ing into from this Acer) and an 8G Touch, so don't think I'm knocking Macs. :)

[fishmoose]

Yeah the temperatures are high i'm going to call Apple about it, it can't hurt to know what they say.

[hogfaninga]

These CPU temps that you guys are saying are normal, are actually quite crazy and way too high. I have a white MacBook 2.1Ghz on the way, and I have to say I'm not happy to be reading this. How involved is it to apply new thermal paste like ArticSilver to a MacBook CPU, and does it invalidate your warranty?

I had been planning to buy a MacBook for work and school, and finally decided last week that for the hardware that you get, it just isn't worth the price (as cool as OSX is.) I ended up buying an Acer instead, with better hardware specs other than a slightly slower AMD dual core, for less than half the price. It runs 41C on low power stuff and barely into the 60s under a load -- which is what I would expect. High 80s and 90s is WAY to high for a CPU to be running. Yes, it can handle it for a time, but it shouldn't have to.

So the day after I bought my Acer laptop, work told me they were thinking about buying me a MacBook to do some stuff on, and last night my boss said he ordered it. They're gonna load some software on it and then ship it to me. So now I'm kind of torn, and reading this about the CPU temps sure doesn't help.

BTW, I also have a Mini (that I'm VNC-ing into from this Acer) and an 8G Touch, so don't think I'm knocking Macs. :)

1. I think it does invalidate your warranty. Hopefully others will chime in.

2. The temps are normal depending on what they are doing at that time and the Mac can easily take it. I talked to a tech at Apple and they said it was normal depending on what apps you are doing and how many you are doing at the same time.

3. I think the price is well worth it. I would like for it to be cheaper, but I would like everything to be cheaper. If you want the best you pay a premium. Acer is.......well. Enjoy it.

[logana]

Changing the thermal paste to Arctic will certainly invalidate the warranty and you won't see much of an improvement (like 2 or 3C). Most of the thermal paste that is applied on the MacBook processor in the factory is squeezed out by the clamping of the heatsink. What little paste that is left between the processor and the heatsink is probably slightly too thick for efficient cooling but does not explain cpu temps that are 80 and 90 degrees C.

I have a 2.4 Penryn and have seen 96 degrees C (205F) on iStat with the fans running flat out. General opinion is that Penryn's run cooler than earlier MacBooks !!

[FireArse]

...these are:


The unit has shutdown AND a quick look on the console reports something regarding overheating (i.e. the CPU or MLB have shut down the machine to protect it)
You are beginning to see video artifacts on the display of a Mac while you are completing something computationally exhaustive


Don't waste your time worrying about temps (they're an arbitrary figure to people like you and I). Only Intel know how high these can work safely, that figure will be over 105C.

F

[danimal99]

Mmmm, all I know is the temps on this Acer laptop with the AthlonX2 range from 36C to 44C and my fan only comes on every once in a while for about 10 seconds. Otherwise it's silent except for the keys I'm typing.

And on my desktop I take care to keep my temps no higher than about 65C on a full load, running some 3D game like Team Fortress 2. I've had plenty of lockups and sudden reboots when my temps got much higher, like in the high 70s and 80s, before I put arctic silver on the CPU and GPU.

There is just no way anyone should be happy with temps that are literally close to the boiling point of water. Especially not for some device that will be typically sitting on your lap.

[logana]

There is just no way anyone should be happy with temps that are literally close to the boiling point of water.

interesting info on silicon

It's listed melting point is 1683K 1410°C 2570°F

It's listed boiling point is 2628K 2355°C 4271°F

Should I start to worry when iStat reports cpu temperatures over 1000°C !!!

How accurate are iStat temperatures anyway - on a 2.0Ghz Core Duo MacBook mine used to report Heatsink A at 20°C and seconds later it was 102°C then suddenly back to 2°C. I think I even saw -2°C a few times....