CPU gets really hot?

[kyle1320]

Hey all, while playing Minecraft on my 2011 13" 2.3GHz MBP, the CPU gets to 78 degrees C in about 10 minutes of play, while the fan is at about 6000 RPM. Is this too hot? When I exit, the temp immediately goes down to about 60 degrees C and in 5-10 minutes is under 50 even though the fan goes back down to around 2000 rpm. Is it possible it's not being read right? Is that too hot for the i5? The bottom of my MBP doesn't seem too hot, so I'm not sure.

EDIT: The CPU usage is only about 25% total.

 

[GGJstudios]

Your Mac is not overheating. Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat (around 100C/212F). Your temps are well within the normal operating range, as searching the forum with Google will reveal:

Macbook Pro Heat Dissipation
2010 Macbook Pro 17" i7 heat question
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Macbook overheating?
My Macbook Pro reached 106 degrees !
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Etc., etc., etc.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Those temps are perfectly normal as GGJstudios* would say.
You play a CPU intensive game, and if the CPU is getting used, it needs more power, thus more heat is generated, thus more heat has to blow away by faster spinning fans.
Again, those temps are normal, the CPU can take up to 105°C or more, and it would shut down the Mac in case of overheating danger.

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Have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example

Further reading:

Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor
Making The Most of Activity Monitor​

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* the bastard

 

[snaky69]

Hey all, while playing Minecraft on my 2011 13" 2.3GHz MBP, the CPU gets to 78 degrees C in about 10 minutes of play, while the fan is at about 6000 RPM. Is this too hot? When I exit, the temp immediately goes down to about 60 degrees C and in 5-10 minutes is under 50 even though the fan goes back down to around 2000 rpm. Is it possible it's not being read right? Is that too hot for the i5? The bottom of my MBP doesn't seem too hot, so I'm not sure.

If you had bothered to use the search button, you would've found the gazillion threads asking the very same question regarding heat, and would've found the same answer I'm about to give you:

Yes your temperatures are normal, gaming requires more processing power from the CPU and GPU and more processing power = more heat. Your computer is not overheating, if it was, it would shut itself down to prevent damage. The chips are meant to handle 105C, you're perfectly fine.

Lastly, just use your machine as you want to, and don't worry about it.

 

[mrsir2009]

Hey all, while playing Minecraft on my 2011 13" 2.3GHz MBP, the CPU gets to 78 degrees C in about 10 minutes of play, while the fan is at about 6000 RPM. Is this too hot? When I exit, the temp immediately goes down to about 60 degrees C and in 5-10 minutes is under 50 even though the fan goes back down to around 2000 rpm. Is it possible it's not being read right? Is that too hot for the i5? The bottom of my MBP doesn't seem too hot, so I'm not sure.

EDIT: The CPU usage is only about 25% total.

You think thats hot? I've got a 13" Core2Duo MBP and it gets up to 90-100C when I'm playing Minecraft. Since the ix generally run hotter than Core2Duo (I think) the heat is fine.

BTW: Everything you need to know about Macs and heat.