My MBA rev:B is too HOT!!!!

[King t.]

hi,

is this normal? my MBA rev:B really gets hot fast, my fans don't stop spinning and all I'm doing is browsing with firefox, imail, azureus and oh yeah skype is on. My fans are doing 6000+ rpm's. i already have a headache cause my room sounds like there's a jet in it :(

the other day i used Isquint and my temp. went up to 88 degrees :eek:

is that normal or should i call Apple support?

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/775/picture1vnn.th.png (http://img518.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture1vnn.png)

[Manix]

Sorry which prog are you using to meassure the temp?

[aristobrat]

Depending on your CPU usage, that may be normal. A lot of CPU activity generates a lot of heat which triggers the fans.

What does iStat Pro say your CPU idle % is when your fans are revving?

[aaquib]

Use the attached file to limit your fan speed to 4000RPM. Big difference in terms of noise.

[Scottsdale]

If your fans are blowing all of the time, that is abnormal. I never had anything like that going on. I rarely ever could hear my fans.

Some report after reapplication of thermal paste their MBAs CPU drops up to 10 degrees Celsius. You could try reapplying thermal paste.

At the same time, I rarely hear of these problems on a rev B MBA.

I think first stop should be Apple for warranty. If they say there is nothing wrong, you could try reapplying thermal paste. Perhaps one of the fans is broken and the other is doing the work for two.

Good luck whatever you do. I hope you get it fixed. Using the MBA should be fun, and it shouldn't have fans blowing at 6200 rpms. That would really bother me.

[aristobrat]

If your fans are blowing all of the time, that is abnormal.
So long as the CPU isn't running at near 100% all of the time, right?

[netdog]

If you are getting a lot of flash craplets on the pages, that can happen.

I also find that Firefox hammers on the processors. That's one of the reasons that I use Safari.

[King t.]

my cpu idle is always between 86-97%, right now it's by 89% and i'm only surfin with firefox, imail, and skype are also running.

i just switched to firefox, before i was using safari beta 4, but the fans were even louder there :(

it's really annoying, if u come into my room it's like being on an airfield :mad:

[stoconnell]

my cpu idle is always between 86-97%, right now it's by 89% and i'm only surfin with firefox, imail, and skype are also running.

i just switched to firefox, before i was using safari beta 4, but the fans were even louder there :(

it's really annoying, if u come into my room it's like being on an airfield :mad:

Those cpu percentages don't sound too bad. I did have issues with flash banner ads pegging safari cpu utilization before I installed safari ad block. Others have praised the clicktoflash plugin for safari. Here is the thread: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=695803.

CPU idle means you are only using 14 - 3 % of your CPU. This could mean you have an application in I/O wait. Do your fans ever spin down.

[jessica.]

You have a headache because your MB Air's fans are running all of the time? First, that is not normal (the headache and the fans) but frankly the fans aren't that loud. Try 11 months with the fans in a Mac Pro running at full speed all day long. ;)

[King t.]

yeah, clicktoflash sounds ok, but shouldn't the MBA rev:B handle flash without a proble since it has the nvidia on board? damn my fans have been doing 6200rpm's for hours now, they only went down for a coupe of minutes and then they go back up to 6200rpm's :(

i already tried restarting the machine and i also ran disk utility, to check and everything is fine :confused:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4149/picture1btd.th.png (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture1btd.png)

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3707/picture2lhs.th.png (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture2lhs.png)

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9213/picture3zvp.th.png (http://img517.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture3zvp.png)

P.S. i just installed adblock on firefox, but still did not help, i think that i'll be calling apple later :(

[Scottsdale]

So long as the CPU isn't running at near 100% all of the time, right?

True, I guess I don't know enough about those apps. I ran apps like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, VLC, Plex, Word, Excel, Keynote, Pages, Safari, Firefox, and etc... and those apps didn't ever tax the CPU enough to make the fans go crazy. I guess it does depend, if those apps the OP is using are working the CPU, the fans are a good thing to save the CPU from overheating.

[Scottsdale]

yeah, clicktoflash sounds ok, but shouldn't the MBA rev:B handle flash without a proble since it has the nvidia on board? damn my fans have been doing 6200rpm's for hours now, they only went down for a coupe of minutes and then they go back up to 6200rpm's :(

i already tried restarting the machine and i also ran disk utility, to check and everything is fine :confused:

What is your CPU temp? What is heat sink temp? Please check and see your CPU usage also and report back.

[stoconnell]

yeah, clicktoflash sounds ok, but shouldn't the MBA rev:B handle flash without a proble since it has the nvidia on board? damn my fans have been doing 6200rpm's for hours now, they only went down for a coupe of minutes and then they go back up to 6200rpm's :(

i already tried restarting the machine and i also ran disk utility, to check and everything is fine :confused:

Well, it's really a OSX and (or should that be versus) flash issue. flash is a real resource hog on OSX and it shows. I'd recommend giving one or both of the options a go and see how things are. Both work well with Safari 4, and there are firefox analogs for both, iirc

[Scottsdale]

yeah, clicktoflash sounds ok, but shouldn't the MBA rev:B handle flash without a proble since it has the nvidia on board?

Flash is unfortunately a problem for OS X. It doesn't run well. It's crappy software that taxes the system - primarily CPU.

Flash is also a problem for the iPhone. Not the same thing as a rev B MBA, but shows that Flash is a problem for Apple. The MBA's CPU is getting hit with Flash. It is more the CPU than the GPU with Flash. The Nvidia GPU is really nice actually. Flash supposedly works better on Windows. That is sad really.

[King t.]

What is your CPU temp? What is heat sink temp? Please check and see your CPU usage also and report back.

my cpu usage is by 92%, cpu temp is by 56 degrees, but the damn fans are constantly spinning almost at 6200rpm's :mad:

[stoconnell]

my cpu usage is by 92%, cpu temp is by 56 degrees, but the damn fans are constantly spinning almost at 6200rpm's :mad:

Might be useful to look at the processes in Activity Monitor. People have reported issues with runaway print monitors and the like burning through CPU cycles.

[Scottsdale]

my cpu usage is by 92%, cpu temp is by 56 degrees, but the damn fans are constantly spinning almost at 6200rpm's :mad:

What programs are you running right now. Look and see in Activity Monitor what is using the CPU. You can select CPU, Memory, and etc at the bottom of it.

That is a lot of CPU usage. You can determine what is hitting the CPU so hard, and kill that app.

[King t.]

i just installed adblock for safari 4, i checked the activity monitor firefox was using a lot of cpu power. so i killed it and thought it would go down, but look what happened the cpu idle went up to 97%. in istat pro it shows that the windows server uses almost 25%.

here are some new pics:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/192/picture4bpf.th.png (http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture4bpf.png)

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2945/picture5prj.th.png (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture5prj.png)

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4377/picture6hgc.th.png (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture6hgc.png)

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7240/picture7ipn.th.png (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture7ipn.png)

[stoconnell]

i just installed adblock for safari 4, i checked the activity monitor firefox was using a lot of cpu power. so i killed it and thought it would go down, but look what happened the cpu idle went up to 97%. in istat pro it shows that the windows server uses almost 25%.


It looks like your fan speeds were coming down from the 6200 RPM to about 4500 in the last picture .. I usually see a slow ramp down in fan speed after ceasing an activity which was driving up the temps. Note that the MBAs ability to cool itself is at least somewhat dependent on the ambient temperature (room temp), so if you are in a warm place, the fan is more likely to kick up and stay running longer for a given cpu load. It could also be that you have a problem (either bad thermal paste job between the CPU and/or GPU and their heat sinks or the mobo is reporting temps wrong).

Does your fan kick in as soon as you boot the machine? What happens if you shut it down and let it sit a bit? Also, are you using the machine in your lap? If so, be careful to not completely cover the vent on the bottom (esp. just left of center where the fan is).

[Scottsdale]

i just installed adblock for safari 4, i checked the activity monitor firefox was using a lot of cpu power. so i killed it and thought it would go down, but look what happened the cpu idle went up to 97%. in istat pro it shows that the windows server uses almost 25%.

here are some new pics:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/192/picture4bpf.th.png (http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture4bpf.png)

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2945/picture5prj.th.png (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture5prj.png)

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4377/picture6hgc.th.png (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture6hgc.png)

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7240/picture7ipn.th.png (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture7ipn.png)

Windows SERVER? What is that? Surely would show up as Parallels or Fusion if you were running a virtual server. Obviously at 25% that is taking a lot of resources. Are you running Windows Server or is that something else??? I have never seen that, and I don't remember what shows when running a virtual OS app.

[stoconnell]

Windows SERVER? What is that? Surely would show up as Parallels or Fusion if you were running a virtual server. Obviously at 25% that is taking a lot of resources. Are you running Windows Server or is that something else??? I have never seen that, and I don't remember what shows when running a virtual OS app.

This is part of the OS X UI.

ps -ef |grep -i [w]indows
88 55 1 0 76:50.67 ?? 186:54.14 /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Resources/WindowServer -daemon

[tigres]

Windows SERVER? What is that? Surely would show up as Parallels or Fusion if you were running a virtual server. Obviously at 25% that is taking a lot of resources. Are you running Windows Server or is that something else??? I have never seen that, and I don't remember what shows when running a virtual OS app.


I have that on mine too, however when I leave istat on for about 10 sec, it drops to about 2.5% resources.

[tigres]

You have a headache because your MB Air's fans are running all of the time? First, that is not normal (the headache and the fans) but frankly the fans aren't that loud. Try 11 months with the fans in a Mac Pro running at full speed all day long. ;)

Another helpful post.:rolleyes:

[Scottsdale]

I have that on mine too, however when I leave istat on for about 10 sec, it drops to about 2.5% resources.

I didn't see it on my uMB just now. Weird. What is that doing? Why is it using so much CPU??

[tigres]

I didn't see it on my uMB just now. Weird. What is that doing? Why is it using so much CPU??

That is a very good question. When I open istat it's about 27% then it drops.

I have no idea what that is, however I do have entourage running currently; I am shutting it down, will report back.

EDIT

Well here you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz_Compositor

[Scottsdale]

That is a very good question. When I open istat it's about 27% then it drops.

I have no idea what that is, however I do have entourage running currently; I am shutting it down, will report back.

EDIT

Well here you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz_Compositor

Interesting. According to what I read about Quartz Compositor, it looks like should be GPU not CPU being hit. What am I missing??? How is that related to the CPU process working???

[King t.]

update:

after installing adblock for safari 4 beta the fan speed have gone back to normal. i stopped using firefox 3. but as soon as i watch a youtube video the fans kick in again and go up to 6000+rpm's, is that normal? i thought they solved that problem in the new MBA rev:B's? my cpu idle is still between 87-98% and i have no idea why, all i'm running right now is: imail, safari 4 beta with 3 tabs open and skype.

i hope someone has an answer for that :confused:
do u guys think, i should call apple support?

[pufftissue]

So are the rev B's quieter than the Rev A models? That's the only reason I would get a rev B right now.

Does limiting the fan rpm to 4000 via that app do damage to the computer long-term?

[dudeitsjay]

No limiting it to 4000rpm doesn't. Limiting it to 4000 and then allowing your cpu temps to hit 95C+ does though.

My normal temperatures are between 35-78C. It can get burning hot. But this is with coolbook and thermal paste reapp. This is normal. Sometimes I get up to 88C but thats because I've covered the vents as I'm watching movies in bed, etc.

I played around with firefox for a bit after a fresh reformat and install and I realized that flash greatly induced lag when scrolling or browsing. However, the same exact setup on the same exact site on safari worked flawlessly. I decided to stick to safari from then on. Kind of a bummer since I love firefox plugins.

Regarding op's high cpu load, I'd check my activity monitor to see what's causing all the fuss. Using iStats you can see whats taking up all the load. Check back on that and tell us the %s of each process thats adding up to all of it. I had an issue like that for a week a month ago, and it turned out to be my printer panel sucking up 75% of the cpu (REALLY weird). I didn't close it properly or I disconnected the printer without the print completion or something weird and it bugged out like that and lagged my computer all week. Even turning off and on the laptop, the problem persisted.

[Scottsdale]

So are the rev B's quieter than the Rev A models? That's the only reason I would get a rev B right now.

Does limiting the fan rpm to 4000 via that app do damage to the computer long-term?

Yes, obviously the rev B is ten times the Mac that the original was. Look at the component makeup to determine that.

This is another issue. It is about piss poor crappy software and OS X which don't go together.