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Fan running at 6204rpm

AppleFanatic10

AppleFanatic10

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2010
2,847
343
Hawthorne, CA
So I was watching a couple videos online and when I finished, I noticed that my fans were kind of loud. I then checked iStat Pro on my dashboard and it said that the fans were running at 6204rpm. Is that normal after watching videos? I just rec'd this MacBook 2 weeks ago, and I've never heard the fan until now. Also, my MacBook isn't hot (not sure if it matters or not). Thanks!
 
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Yes, especially if you watched videos embedded in Flash (YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, ...), as Flash is CPU intensive, thus the CPU needs more power, thus the CPU radiates more heat, thus the fan spins faster.

You either could try ClickToFlash (for Safari) or try the YouTube HTML 5 beta.
 
alust2013 said:
Thats perfectly normal, as most online videos use Flash, which uses a lot of CPU, making the fans kick up.
Click to expand...

spinnerlys said:
Yes, especially if you watched videos embedded in Flash (YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, ...), as Flash is CPU intensive, thus the CPU needs more power, thus the CPU radiates more heat, thus the fan spins faster.

You either could try ClickToFlash (for Safari) or try the YouTube HTML 5 beta.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys. I was only watching two videos which were at least 22mins long each. I was getting kind of worried. :eek:
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
Thanks guys. I was only watching two videos which were at least 22mins long each. I was getting kind of worried. :eek:
Click to expand...

No need to worry, the fan is there to cool the CPU and logic board in general, and it was doing its job. Just know, that the fan can go up to 6,000 RPM, thus it gets louder, but it normally idles at 2,000 RPM.

Ah, I see you changed your thread title from 2,xyz RPM to 6,204 RPM.
 
spinnerlys said:
No need to worry, the fan is there to cool the CPU and logic board in general, and it was doing its job. Just know, that the fan can go up to 6,000 RPM, thus it gets louder, but it normally idles at 2,000 RPM.

Ah, I see you changed your thread title from 2,xyz RPM to 6,204 RPM.
Click to expand...

Lol yea I go the 6 and the 2 mixed up the first time.
 
Lower fan speed

Alright so yesterday the fan eventually stopped and now I'm not doing anything but writing this post and the fan is at 6192RPM and it keeps on going back to 6204RPM. The temp is in the high 90s (computer). I'm not watching any videos just typing. Is there anyway to lower the fan speed?
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
Alright so yesterday the fan eventually stopped and now I'm not doing anything but writing this post and the fan is at 6192RPM and it keeps on going back to 6204RPM. The temp is in the high 90s (computer). I'm not watching any videos just typing. Is there anyway to lower the fan speed?
Click to expand...

Either do a clean reinstall or get an app called SmcFancontrol. It allows you to turn fan speed up or down at will.
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
Alright so yesterday the fan eventually stopped and now I'm not doing anything but writing this post and the fan is at 6192RPM and it keeps on going back to 6204RPM. The temp is in the high 90s (computer). I'm not watching any videos just typing. Is there anyway to lower the fan speed?
Click to expand...

As mentioned, smc Fan Control.

Have a look at Activity Monitor ( Applications / Utilities / *) and select All Processes*and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be, as the fan just doesn't spin that high without the CPU being hot.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example
4745264042_9c23afdbc9_b.jpg
 
spinnerlys said:
As mentioned, smc Fan Control.

Have a look at Activity Monitor ( Applications / Utilities / *) and select All Processes*and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be, as the fan just doesn't spin that high without the CPU being hot.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example
4745264042_9c23afdbc9_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Alright, I did what you guys said and RIGHT NOW the fan is running because I'm doing a time machine backup, but before it was running for no reason. So, I guess I'm going to do a clean install of SL maybe that'll help the fan from running so fast. I also did a hard reboot on my computer, that stopped the fan from running fast for about 30mins then it started up again. I then did a SMC reset; as you can see that didn't help either. Oh yea, I don't know I put a pic up but I already have SMC Fan Control. Downloaded that as soon as I got my laptop. I have no idea what MDS is :confused:
 

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A clean installation will probably not fix the issue, as "mds" is responsible for indexing the HDD/SSD, to have fast search results in Spotlight. Sometimes the process runs a bit havoc. If the "problem" stays for the next day or two, you might try a Clean Install of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, or just use System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy to exclude some folders from Spotlight. Often high activity folders (ones that are constantly written to) create such high "mds" activity.


Why does MDS run wild in Mac OS X 10.6?
found via "mac os x mds"
 
I do not recommend doing this unless you are good at taking things apart and putting them back together. Oh, and the matter of the (possibly) voided warranty. I reapplied thermal paste on my 2010 2.4 MacBook, and the fans don't get any higher than 3000rpm while watching flash videos, at about 150ºF CPU temp. And, 90-101ºF CPU temps at idle.
 
My MacBook White's fans started getting very loud after a couple of years of heavy use. Things like flash videos start them up and they never seem to stop! It can be really aggravating when you're used to it being silent. I had my fans replaced and the whole thing overhauled by the apple shop. New ram, new hard drive.. still does it. I guess its normal, but annoying!
Ive got a 2.8GHz i7 Pro now... always silent :)
 
AppleFanatic10 said:
Alright, I did what you guys said and RIGHT NOW the fan is running because I'm doing a time machine backup, but before it was running for no reason.
...
I have no idea what MDS is :confused:
Click to expand...
Ignore mds - whatever was causing the "problem" finished a minute or two ago. The CPU graph shows that the CPU was running at near 100% usage and that ended a short time ago.

When you took the grab, usage was minimal. Of course, heat takes time to dissipate.

Keep the Activity Monitor open. Whenever the fans start speeding up, check what is using the CPU at exactly that time.

However note that the fans speeding up is completely normal to cope with higher temperatures, and higher temperatures are completely normal with higher CPU use, which in turn may be completely normal for whatever you are doing with the computer.
 
raggamac said:
My MacBook White's fans started getting very loud after a couple of years of heavy use. Things like flash videos start them up and they never seem to stop! It can be really aggravating when you're used to it being silent. I had my fans replaced and the whole thing overhauled by the apple shop. New ram, new hard drive.. still does it. I guess its normal, but annoying!
Ive got a 2.8GHz i7 Pro now... always silent :)
Click to expand...

Yours took a couple years, mine took 2 weeks lol! I barely watch videos on my computer, and the one time I do; the fans decide to go out of control. Majority of the time they're going really fast and only stop a few seconds (when I first open the lid and when I close the lid). I've never heard of a fan going crazy like this. Is there no way to stop it?
 
I'm using HandBreak Video Formatting while writing this.. My MB is currently running at 198F. I am using SmcFancontrol and have the fans cranked to 6,200rpm. Are these temps pretty dangerous? Is this something that potentially threatens my MB?:confused:
 
OCTOPUS666 said:
I'm using HandBreak Video Formatting while writing this.. My MB is currently running at 198F. I am using SmcFancontrol and have the fans cranked to 6,200rpm. Are these temps pretty dangerous? Is this something that potentially threatens my MB?:confused:
Click to expand...

Not really. The Mac would shut down anyway, if the temperature reaches critical levels.

Btw, it is Handbrake, not Handbreak, is it puts a brake on the CPU, but doesn't break your hand. Like "Municipal waist".
 
OCTOPUS666 said:
I'm using HandBreak Video Formatting while writing this.. My MB is currently running at 198F. I am using SmcFancontrol and have the fans cranked to 6,200rpm. Are these temps pretty dangerous? Is this something that potentially threatens my MB?:confused:
Click to expand...

No, your actually doing something that requires a lot of CPU & your using the cd drive. So I'm guessing that the temperature is alright since your doing formatting a video. My situation is completely different frm yours.
 
Anyways... the fans stopped going crazy and now my MacBook is quiet again. Its been like this all day... Kinda weird lol. Thanks for all the suggestions and help!
 
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