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2006 Mac Pro (5150) Running HOT?

J

jsurpless

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 6, 2009
88
0
Hi everyone

I was wondering if anyone might have some insight into this...

I've got a 2006 Mac Pro (Xeon 5150 x2) - when I first bought the machine, I believe that the CPU Core temps would idle around 85F or so... under 100% load, they'd top out around 105F... a short time ago, I noticed that the CPU core temps were around 130F or so at idle; under 100%, they'd increase to maybe 140F or so...

I'm a bit concerned as to why the temperatures seem to have increased so drastically... can anyone tell me what this chip is supposed to idle at?

I cleaned out all the dust and had a shop re-apply the thermal compound to the CPU - no effect... if anything, the temps *increased* and ramping up the fans only takes it to 115F, whereas before it dropped to around 105F...

I should mention that I've installed additional memory and drives since '06 so that could account for the temperature increase but I restored the machine to its original config with no apparent change...

Any thoughts?

Many thanks!

-Justin
 
The cores themselves or the heatsinks?

I have a 2006 with two x5355 processors installed and the heatsinks idle at around 30c to 38c on summer days when the room is 28c to 32c or so.

In winter it's about 5c less meaning 25c to 32c.

At a complete 100% idle the cores will be about the same or maybe 5c higher. But cores change temperature extremely rapidly and just loading a webpage can send a core or two up to 50c from 40c almost instantly.

With all 8 cores at 100% for 30min. Apple's default fan setup should NEVER allow the cores to reach 80c. and the heatsinks at that point should be around 50c. When the cores hit 70c to 75c Apple says "too hot", and begins to ramp up the fans. 75c is actually too late so we should use smcFanControl.

Ambient should be about the same temperature as the room or the exhaust fans aren't doing their jobs. Hopefully never more than room temp + 2c at any rate.

Since I started writing this my CPUs have been 100% the whole time (about 16 min. 51 sec.) and here's what I got:

Room temperature 27.6c
28.0℃/82.4℉ Ambient Air
45.0℃/113.0℉ CPU A Heatsink
50.0℃/122.0℉ CPU B Heatsink
45.0℃/113.0℉ Expansion Slots
31.0℃/87.8℉ Hard Drive Bay 1
31.0℃/87.8℉ Hard Drive Bay 2
31.0℃/87.8℉ Hard Drive Bay 3
31.0℃/87.8℉ Hard Drive Bay 4
68.0℃/154.4℉ Memory Module A1
70.0℃/158.0℉ Memory Module A2
65.0℃/149.0℉ Memory Module B1
68.0℃/154.4℉ Memory Module B2
43.0℃/109.4℉ Memory Riser Card A Position 1
48.0℃/118.4℉ Memory Riser Card A Position 2
45.0℃/113.0℉ Memory Riser Card A Position 3
45.0℃/113.0℉ Memory Riser Card B Position 1
48.0℃/118.4℉ Memory Riser Card B Position 2
51.0℃/123.8℉ Memory Riser Card B Position 3
55.0℃/131.0℉ Power Supply Location 1
58.0℃/136.4℉ Power Supply Location 2
59.0℃/138.2℉ Northbridge Heat Sink
75.0℃/167.0℉ CPU Core 1
74.0℃/165.2℉ CPU Core 2
75.0℃/167.0℉ CPU Core 3
70.0℃/158.0℉ CPU Core 4
66.0℃/150.8℉ CPU Core 5
67.0℃/152.6℉ CPU Core 6
61.0℃/141.8℉ CPU Core 7
62.0℃/143.6℉ CPU Core 8
97 % Processor Load (average)
110 Number of Processes
100 % Processor Load A
97 % Processor Load B
100 % Processor Load C
97 % Processor Load D
97 % Processor Load E
97 % Processor Load F
97 % Processor Load G
94 % Processor Load H
1.2891 V CPU A
1.2852 V CPU B
64.61 A CPU A
69.29 A CPU B
83.3 W CPU A
89.1 W CPU B
11.7383 V Memory VRM Supply A
11.8008 V Memory VRM Supply B
2.87 A Memory VRM Supply A
3.03 A Memory VRM Supply B
33.7 W Memory VRM Supply A
35.7 W Memory VRM Supply B
12.1172 V Power Supply 1 Line 1
27.75 A Power Supply 1 Line 1
336.2 W Power Supply 1 Line 1
16.23 A Northbridge
1.4844 V Northbridge
24.1 W Northbridge
0 % Graphics Processor
64.0℃/147.2℉ Memory Module A3
55.0℃/131.0℉ Memory Module A4
67.0℃/152.6℉ Memory Module B3
67.0℃/152.6℉ Memory Module B4
2667 MHz CPU Clock Frequency
8019.5 MB Free Memory
34.0℃/93.2℉ SMART Disk WDC WD10EACS-00ZJB0 (WD-WCASJ0522351)
27.0℃/80.6℉ SMART Disk SAMSUNG HD154UI (S1XJJ1LS404071)
26.0℃/78.8℉ SMART Disk SAMSUNG HD154UI (S1XJJ1LS404074)
28.0℃/82.4℉ SMART Disk SAMSUNG HD154UI (S1XJJ1LS418992)
33.0℃/91.4℉ SMART Disk WDC WD2500JS-41SGB0 (WD-WCANY1534301)

1190 RPM Exhaust Fan
1188 RPM Fan CPU/Memory
1110 RPM Fan Expansion Slots
739 RPM Power Supply Fan


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three minutes after my CPUs went idle the dump looked like this:

Room temperature 27.4c
28.0℃/82.4℉ Ambient Air
33.0℃/91.4℉ CPU A Heatsink
34.0℃/93.2℉ CPU B Heatsink
34.0℃/93.2℉ Expansion Slots
31.0℃/87.8℉ Hard Drive Bay 1
30.0℃/86.0℉ Hard Drive Bay 2
30.0℃/86.0℉ Hard Drive Bay 3
30.0℃/86.0℉ Hard Drive Bay 4
52.0℃/125.6℉ Memory Module A1
52.0℃/125.6℉ Memory Module A2
49.0℃/120.2℉ Memory Module B1
49.0℃/120.2℉ Memory Module B2
33.0℃/91.4℉ Memory Riser Card A Position 1
36.0℃/96.8℉ Memory Riser Card A Position 2
36.0℃/96.8℉ Memory Riser Card A Position 3
34.0℃/93.2℉ Memory Riser Card B Position 1
37.0℃/98.6℉ Memory Riser Card B Position 2
39.0℃/102.2℉ Memory Riser Card B Position 3
51.0℃/123.8℉ Power Supply Location 1
47.0℃/116.6℉ Power Supply Location 2
47.0℃/116.6℉ Northbridge Heat Sink
48.0℃/118.4℉ CPU Core 1
46.0℃/114.8℉ CPU Core 2
47.0℃/116.6℉ CPU Core 3
45.0℃/113.0℉ CPU Core 4
42.0℃/107.6℉ CPU Core 5
40.0℃/104.0℉ CPU Core 6
35.0℃/95.0℉ CPU Core 7
37.0℃/98.6℉ CPU Core 8
2 % Processor Load (average)
102 Number of Processes
1 % Processor Load A
0 % Processor Load B
1 % Processor Load C
1 % Processor Load D
2 % Processor Load E
4 % Processor Load F
2 % Processor Load G
2 % Processor Load H
1.2031 V CPU A
1.1914 V CPU B
22.07 A CPU A
21.59 A CPU B
26.8 W CPU A
25.8 W CPU B
11.8008 V Memory VRM Supply A
11.8633 V Memory VRM Supply B
2.27 A Memory VRM Supply A
2.30 A Memory VRM Supply B
26.7 W Memory VRM Supply A
27.3 W Memory VRM Supply B
20.9 W Northbridge
14.10 A Northbridge
1.4844 V Northbridge
12.0703 V Power Supply 1 Line 1
17.09 A Power Supply 1 Line 1
206.3 W Power Supply 1 Line 1
0 % Graphics Processor
47.0℃/116.6℉ Memory Module A3
40.0℃/104.0℉ Memory Module A4
48.0℃/118.4℉ Memory Module B3
47.0℃/116.6℉ Memory Module B4
2667 MHz CPU Clock Frequency
8608.9 MB Free Memory
34.0℃/93.2℉ SMART Disk WDC WD10EACS-00ZJB0 (WD-WCASJ0522351)
26.0℃/78.8℉ SMART Disk SAMSUNG HD154UI (S1XJJ1LS404071)
25.0℃/77.0℉ SMART Disk SAMSUNG HD154UI (S1XJJ1LS404074)
27.0℃/80.6℉ SMART Disk SAMSUNG HD154UI (S1XJJ1LS418992)
32.0℃/89.6℉ SMART Disk WDC WD2500JS-41SGB0 (WD-WCANY1534301)

1120 RPM Exhaust Fan
1155 RPM Fan CPU/Memory
1109 RPM Fan Expansion Slots
711 RPM Power Supply Fan​

And that's about the gist of it. If you're in the lower hemisphere and it's winter there then just subtract about 5c from almost every sensor reading above. If you're getting much higher than this then you might need to clean out the system. Do the fan blades and the heatsink fins especially. If that don't help enough then install smcFanControl and set the fans to about 1500 RPM all around.
 
Hi

Thanks for the detailed reply back... to answer your questions...

I think in central Massachusetts and today the ambient of my office is ~78F/26C...

I just woke the machine from sleep (~9hrs) and the temps were as follows

CPU A Heatsink: ~90F
CPU B Heatsink: ~90F
CPU Core 1: ~115℉
CPU Core 2: ~115℉
CPU Core 3: ~115℉
CPU Core 4: ~115℉

After about 10 minutes of checking email, etc... they looked like this...

CPU A Heatsink: 98.6℉/37.0℃
CPU B Heatsink: 102.2℉/39.0℃
CPU Core 1: 127.4℉/53.0℃
CPU Core 2: 123.8℉/51.0℃
CPU Core 3: 127.4℉/53.0℃
CPU Core 4: 123.8℉/51.0℃
Northbridge Heat Sink: 152.6℉/67.0℃

I just used SystemLoad to generate a 100% CPU across the system and it resulted in only a relatively minor temp increase (140 from 127 on CPU3, for instance)

I'll have to check the heatsinks for dust build but as I mentioned, the service shop said they cleaned everything out and I have observed a 20F drop since they did so...

Something that it's interesting - my DIMM temps; they seem a good deal warmer than yours... and this is at idle, mind you...

Memory Module A1: 147.2℉/64.0℃
Memory Module A2: 152.6℉/67.0℃
Memory Module A3: 143.6℉/62.0℃
Memory Module A4: 136.4℉/58.0℃
Memory Module B1: 140.0℉/60.0℃
Memory Module B2: 152.6℉/67.0℃

In fact, my temps just seem to be higher than yours...

Any more thoughts?
 
Those temps look fine to me.

If you want them lower just install that smcFanControl and set the min. speed to between 1200 and 1500.
 
I don't 'want' to lower the temps - I'm mostly curious as to why they *used* to be so much lower, compared to today... that large delta is just a concern...
 
Pull all your upgrades out to see if the temps go back down. With more lines of code on the OS updates, that alone will require the cpu's to crunch more data. Check your processes to see if a program is running high all the time too.
 
jsurpless said:
I don't 'want' to lower the temps - I'm mostly curious as to why they *used* to be so much lower, compared to today... that large delta is just a concern...
Click to expand...
When you say "lower", what was the ambient?

As already mentioned by bearcatrp, any upgrades could explain it, but given the processors, it might need to have the CPU's paste replaced with fresh material (it does dry out over time, and 3yrs seems to be common).
 
What's with all these users thinking their computers run hot?

I can understand the notebooks and iMac but the Mac Pro is a cooling wonder. 50° C at full load is petty stuff.
 
Tesselator said:
Exactly. My guess would also be that you're noticing the seasonal differences. ;)
Click to expand...
I'm figuring summer and possibly no A/C to help keep it a little more comfortable (for the computer, forget the user :eek: :p), the ambient has climbed enough the OP's noticed a difference.

The TIM was changed, but I've no idea how long ago. So it's possible it's too thick or dryed out already (hot climate?). A more reasonable cause if there is an A/C system to keep the ambient reasonable (25C or a tad lower).
 
Hi everyone

I should have provided more information but to address your comments...

I first got the Mac Pro in Aug '06 so my thinking is that the ambient should be approx. the same... this was one of my initial thoughts but actually, I first noticed this issue in May of this year and we had a pretty cool spring in MA this year... so I'm thinking that the ambient's not a real factor - plus even if it were, we're not talking a 40F delta in ambient (which is what the MP is experiencing)

I've also restored the machine to its original configuration (2x512MB and two SATA) - no significant impact...

I also had a technician replace the thermal compound on the heatsinks earlier this week... he also cleaned out the CPU intake channel...

Regarding a process running, I've already checked the activity monitor - nothing other than a few blips to 3-4%...

Eidorian - as I mentioned, it's not so much that I feel that my machine is running warm - it's more that nothing has really changed regarding the ambient and the internals (user-supplied), yet there's a significant temperature increase on the CPU cores... still within the thermal spec but a concern (again, mostly due to the lack of an apparent reason) to me...

Thanks to all for your thoughts...

-Justin
 
jsurpless said:
Hi everyone

I should have provided more information but to address your comments...

I first got the Mac Pro in Aug '06 so my thinking is that the ambient should be approx. the same... this was one of my initial thoughts but actually, I first noticed this issue in May of this year and we had a pretty cool spring in MA this year... so I'm thinking that the ambient's not a real factor - plus even if it were, we're not talking a 40F delta in ambient (which is what the MP is experiencing)

I've also restored the machine to its original configuration (2x512MB and two SATA) - no significant impact...

I also had a technician replace the thermal compound on the heatsinks earlier this week... he also cleaned out the CPU intake channel...

Regarding a process running, I've already checked the activity monitor - nothing other than a few blips to 3-4%...

Eidorian - as I mentioned, it's not so much that I feel that my machine is running warm - it's more that nothing has really changed regarding the ambient and the internals (user-supplied), yet there's a significant temperature increase on the CPU cores... still within the thermal spec but a concern (again, mostly due to the lack of an apparent reason) to me...

Thanks to all for your thoughts...

-Justin
Click to expand...
You'd be surprised at how much the final temp is affected by a smaller ambient. And though you got it during a similar month, it could be different. Moved, maybe hotter this year vs. then,...

So what is the ambient temp?
Is there A/C?

I'm thinking the new paste is too thick (as that could explain a 20C jump for the same loading previously), but the answers to the above questions could help. :)
 
nanofrog said:
You'd be surprised at how much the final temp is affected by a smaller ambient. And though you got it during a similar month, it could be different. Moved, maybe hotter this year vs. then,...

So what is the ambient temp?
Is there A/C?

I'm thinking the new paste is too thick (as that could explain a 20C jump for the same loading previously), but the answers to the above questions could help. :)
Click to expand...
Ambient air is very important in the summer months.

I was getting very warm results until I put the window AC in my room. It's the exact opposite in winter though!
 
nanofrog said:
You'd be surprised at how much the final temp is affected by a smaller ambient. And though you got it during a similar month, it could be different. Moved, maybe hotter this year vs. then,...

So what is the ambient temp?
Is there A/C?

I'm thinking the new paste is too thick (as that could explain a 20C jump for the same loading previously), but the answers to the above questions could help. :)
Click to expand...

The ambient temp in my office yesterday was approx 78F or so... no A/C... I can't recall the exact conditions of when I first got the machine but given that it was a "typical" August in MA, I'd have to say the temp was approximately the same... any higher, and the A/C would have been on to about 76F...

Also, keep in mind what i mentioned about first noticing this issue back in May... MA had a very cool spring - it certainly wasn't above 70F...
 
jsurpless said:
The ambient temp in my office yesterday was approx 78F or so... no A/C... I can't recall the exact conditions of when I first got the machine but given that it was a "typical" August in MA, I'd have to say the temp was approximately the same... any higher, and the A/C would have been on to about 76F...

Also, keep in mind what i mentioned about first noticing this issue back in May... MA had a very cool spring - it certainly wasn't above 70F...
Click to expand...
I noticed my computer temperature gains in the spring (April-May) as well but the ambient air doesn't get much above 76/78 F like yours too.
 
When you said your replaced it back to its original setup, did that include putting tiger back on? When I upgraded to leopard, i did see a rise in the temps. Not real big, but did see a difference.
 
Yup, a 5c difference in Ambient can cause a 15c difference in component temps. It's not assured to but it can. But it is almost assured to be more than the ambient difference. For example if the ambient difference is 5c it's almost guaranteed to cause the CPU to run 7 to 8 c hotter.

Anyway I would say just forget about it. You can't remember what the ambient temperatures were before and the system is running at very normal temperatures now so just accept this as the standard for a 2006 Mac Pro reading in the month of August.

Also when you post temps you should use celsius c, as F is long dead and most people won't even know what you're talking about.
 
bearcatrp said:
When you said your replaced it back to its original setup, did that include putting tiger back on? When I upgraded to leopard, i did see a rise in the temps. Not real big, but did see a difference.
Click to expand...

No, I didn't restore it to Tiger... that'd be an interesting test to try...
 
Tesselator said:
Anyway I would say just forget about it. You can't remember what the ambient temperatures were before and the system is running at very normal temperatures now so just accept this as the standard for a 2006 Mac Pro reading in the month of August.
Click to expand...

Actually, I do have a general idea of where the temperature was... and as I mentioned, I've experienced a 10F (5C) delta in the last few months with negligible impact on the CPU temps...

Tesselator said:
Also when you post temps you should use celsius c, as F is long dead and most people won't even know what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

Alas, I would declare F dead if I could... being an engineer, I despise all things non-SI but living in the US, I am forced to deal... :)
 
jsurpless said:
Alas, I would declare F dead if I could... being an engineer, I despise all things non-SI but living in the US, I am forced to deal... :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know this one well myself. ;) :p

Thermal data's all metric from suppliers I like to use, and I have to convert everything. At least I can wait until the last second (final values). ;)
 
Well... I figured something out... well, only sort of because it raises some more questions...

Last night, I decided to re-install OS X Leopard and to start with a brand-new User directory... so I do that and when I install Hardware Monitor after this, I'm shocked to discover the CPU temperatures down in the mid-90s degF...

I'm like waaaaaaa?!? Did re-installing the OS have some sort of calibration effect not that everything's been cleaned, etc? Bit confused there for a moment until I remembered that I had taken a snapshot of my sensor readings just a few days before...

I opened that snap up and what do I discover in comparison? Under my old install, the CPUs were pulling around 25-30W each and some 25A each... under 10.5.0, they pull around 10W each and some 10A each... that would definitely result in some serious increase in heat output...

So I fire up SystemLoad and voila ! The system responds just as I had remembered, with a sharp increase in CPU diode temp on activity and then a drop shortly after the CPU idled...

I just re-installed 10.5.8 and the power usage is back up where it used to be...

What's going on here? Why are CPUs pulling more power in 10.5.8 than before?
 
jsurpless said:
Well... I figured something out... well, only sort of because it raises some more questions...

Last night, I decided to re-install OS X Leopard and to start with a brand-new User directory... so I do that and when I install Hardware Monitor after this, I'm shocked to discover the CPU temperatures down in the mid-90s degF...

I'm like waaaaaaa?!? Did re-installing the OS have some sort of calibration effect not that everything's been cleaned, etc? Bit confused there for a moment until I remembered that I had taken a snapshot of my sensor readings just a few days before...

I opened that snap up and what do I discover in comparison? Under my old install, the CPUs were pulling around 25-30W each and some 25A each... under 10.5.0, they pull around 10W each and some 10A each... that would definitely result in some serious increase in heat output...

So I fire up SystemLoad and voila ! The system responds just as I had remembered, with a sharp increase in CPU diode temp on activity and then a drop shortly after the CPU idled...

I just re-installed 10.5.8 and the power usage is back up where it used to be...

What's going on here? Why are CPUs pulling more power in 10.5.8 than before?
Click to expand...
:cool: You've discovered the cause.

Unfortunately, I can't say as to why. I'd think they either had to increase the power for some reason (solve some other issue), or they accidentally "broke" it (power management).

You might want to get into the power management settings, and take a look around. Something may have changed there, and you can adjust it back, and see how it works for you (experiment further). ;)
 
nanofrog said:
:cool: You've discovered the cause.

Unfortunately, I can't say as to why. I'd think they either had to increase the power for some reason (solve some other issue), or they accidentally "broke" it (power management).

You might want to get into the power management settings, and take a look around. Something may have changed there, and you can adjust it back, and see how it works for you (experiment further). ;)
Click to expand...

I would hope that it was accidentally broken...

When you say "power management" settings... are you referring to pmset?
 
jsurpless said:
I would hope that it was accidentally broken...

When you say "power management" settings... are you referring to pmset?
Click to expand...
AFAIK, pmset is the area you'd need to look into. I'm just not sure if it's going to cover what you need.
 
nanofrog said:
AFAIK, pmset is the area you'd need to look into. I'm just not sure if it's going to cover what you need.
Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for the suggestion but there doesn't seem to have much in there on the behavior of the CPU...

Thanks!
 
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