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Audio Decoding KILLS MacPro (2009) green factor
- Thread starter handheldgames
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You don't even have to listen to music. Just plug in the external Firewire/USB Audio soundcard.
I don't know in the Mac Pro, but in the MBP this is definitely not the case, since I've seen CPU's core as high as 100 degrees C, showed by iStat Pro, while the computer was working fine
Based on what?
And what cpu's temperature do you reach, only connecting the external soundcard? If I remember correctly you are below 55-60' C, so annoying but absolutely safe
Yes CPU A around 55 , and CPU B around 45. But it does not increase while listening to music. The same on my MBP.
I've performed a little testing on the only one 09 MP we have (others Are mostly 08 and 06 MPs) and the simple act of using an external FW hard drive (my Freeagent Mac 1tb) raise cpu's temperature not more than 5-6' C. Nothing to be' worried about since you are well below 55'C.70C isn't a dangerous level though (that's really just the limit, and the +3C isn't that big a deal, as there's enough safety margin). It's those running over 81C (top temp in the short term profile IIRC) that have a right to be concerned though, particularly those that have seen 88C.
Also keep in mind, it's not just with audio, but FW devices such as external HDD's have caused similar behavior too (presumably USB would as well). So it's more wide spread than originally thought.
Long term use at high temps is actually possible, especially in the cases where the user has either an FW or USB audio device, and runs it for hours to get work done. It could also be possible with external drives, though for that much data (to run for hours and hours, say over 8hr/day in backups), I'd think an eSATA card + PM enclosure would make more sense, and avoid this issue by happenstance (PCIe isn't a causality in this mess
Playing an iTunes loop for about 20 minutes raise cpu's temperature a little bit more, but again it's well below 65'C.
wow! This is absolutely too high. So yes, you definitely have a problem to be worried about. But this seem not to be the same problem for all of us.
BTW my testing was on a quad 09
What ?!? Connecting a FW hard drive on your MBP raise cpu's temperature? Not in my Macbook Pro ...
In order to appreciate the full rise when using a FW hard drive, you need to be constantly writing to it. I think you'll find a constant large write has the exact same effect as playing audio.
Re, your 20min iTunes loop being below 65C, that is about what I see if my room is very cool (closer to 70C when my room is not cooled), however, that temp is measured on the heatsink. I have been referring to core temps which iStat is not even capable of monitoring. If your not already doing it, try using Temperature Monitor.
Also, I think you already agree with this, but regardless of whether the temps are safe or not, they are still unnecessary. I have noticed that the most critical machine seems to be the quad 2.93. The Octos are sharing the pain, and the lower clocked quads run a few degrees cooler throughout.
If you are serious about getting an understanding of this issue (and I'm not convinced you are) then you really owe it to yourself and everyone else to take the time to read through this thread. Many people, including myself have gone from skeptic to convinced and a lot of good testing and data has been collected.
If you don't read anything else, I suggest you at least look at page 13 (or post 306)... https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/795966/
You do at least know that we've isolated this issue to the 2009 Mac Pro's right?
No. Im speaking of the audio interface souncard.there are many many postings about cpu heat with osx itself
and macpro 09 earlier in this thread..
I think its IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT:
THE HIGHER TEMPERATURES AND THUS POWER USAGE ARE A RESULT OF THE QPI/CPU BEING LOADED FOR SOME REASON.
To *really* test you need to run something highly CPU intensive with the HD/sound card disconnected, then same test with it connected.
To recap, THE TEMPS ARE A SIDE EFFECT OF THE MAIN PROBLEM.
Sorry for the caps, just to make sure its noticed
THE HIGHER TEMPERATURES AND THUS POWER USAGE ARE A RESULT OF THE QPI/CPU BEING LOADED FOR SOME REASON.
To *really* test you need to run something highly CPU intensive with the HD/sound card disconnected, then same test with it connected.
To recap, THE TEMPS ARE A SIDE EFFECT OF THE MAIN PROBLEM.
Sorry for the caps, just to make sure its noticed
Well, yesterday I got nothing to do and I went to my local AASP, explaining them the problem and asked them to perform the "test" with audio playback on 2 of their Mac Pro machines which were on display in the store. Both of them had our "issue" with temperatures rising and the store staff guys were somewhat surprised that this is so easy to reproduce - but ONLY on the 2009 Mac Pros... on no other system they had. I even brought my cheapo USB soundcard to the store (this one), told them to plug it in and voila - temperatures rose by 27°C within 5 minutes... at the end I showed them links to this thread and to the one at the official Apple discussion boards.
They told me that this shouldn't be normal and offered me an Apple Care PP (which I already have) - also, they promised me to file a bug report and a service query (?) to Apple, calling me when they get an answer.
Anyway, just wanted to tell you that.
They told me that this shouldn't be normal and offered me an Apple Care PP (which I already have
) - also, they promised me to file a bug report and a service query (?) to Apple, calling me when they get an answer.Anyway, just wanted to tell you that.
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Well, yesterday I got nothing to do and I went to my local AASP, explaining them the problem and asked them to perform the "test" with audio playback on 2 of their Mac Pro machines which were on display in the store. Both of them had our "issue" with temperatures rising and the store staff guys were somewhat surprised that this is so easy to reproduce - but ONLY on the 2009 Mac Pros... on no other system they had. I even brought my cheapo USB soundcard to the store (this one), told them to plug it in and voila - temperatures rose by 27°C within 5 minutes... at the end I showed them links to this thread and to the one at the official Apple discussion boards.
They told me that this shouldn't be normal and offered me an Apple Care PP (which I already have
Anyway, just wanted to tell you that.
I don't mean to discourage you, but that sounds exactly like what I have been through a few times. In the end, what came back from "Apple Product Engineering" ranged from "You should purchase your music on the iTunes store to avoid this problem", to "please remove all of your 3rd party hard disks, and reinstall OSX and it should be fixed". And that is after showing staff on the floor in an Apple retail store how easily replicable this problem is. Don't get your hopes up...
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
read properly boy! read the thread title!
Read carefully. He wrote:
So HE was speaking ALSO of his MBP, dude
I used both: temperature reads on iStat Pro and Temperature Monitor are almost the same
Just a question for you: why do you think that iStat Pro and Temperature Monitor read from different sources? Do you have any link to documents reporting this?
absolutely unnecessary I agree, but not dangerous in most cases
I read all the thread very carefully
I know but I don't understand why he wrote "the same on my MBP", so I asked for a clarification
Your still either misunderstanding me, or misreading your temps. It is theoretically impossible for your Core temps to be equal to your iStat measured heat sink temp. Think about that for a minute..
I'm still wondering where to get the core temps?
According to Intels design sheets, the core temp is provided by the DTS, but I couldn't figure out how to read out it's values.
Most tools read out the Tcase (heatspreader) temps, don't they?
According to Intels design sheets, the core temp is provided by the DTS, but I couldn't figure out how to read out it's values.
Most tools read out the Tcase (heatspreader) temps, don't they?
I know that there is a difference between the two temperatures, but how can you say that iStat and Temperature Monitor read from different sources ?
The FW drives are for high writes, as mentioned previously.
The other important factor, is the ambient temp. That's the reason for before and after screen shots with each test. Ambient will have a significant effect on the reported temps. Think about it. someone with an ambient of 15 - 17C will have cooler reported temps than someone at 25C. Quite a bit actually, and more than the difference in ambient between the two systems (if you graph out the entire range <variable ambient for an identical process = static load>, the curves are not linear).
There's 2x sensors. One is a K-type thermocouple in the heatsink (Tcase), and the other is a diode in the CPU die itself (Tcore). The accuracy of a K-type is +/- 1C, and the diode +/- 3C typically (manufacturer's data).
You said that the simple fact of CONNECTING an usb o fw peripheral cause a raise in cpu temperature.
I did, and the temperature increase was very limited. I don't know about audio peripheral because I have none.
in my office ambient temperature is about 23-25° C
I know, and in iStat Pro you have two reads: Cpu Heatsink and CPU.
The first one is the K-type and the second one is che cpu diode.
So why you (actually not you, but smacman
) are keep saying that iStat readout is inaccurate ? It's the same of Temperature Monitor ... You can check both CPU diode and CPU heatsink
I don't know why you insist so much on this: in iStat Pro you have CPU diode and CPU heatsink, non only the heatsink