Does iMac 27 i7 Run at 118 Degrees?

[yustas]

Hello,

I am thinking about getting my first iMac, so I went to the local Mac store to check it out. It looks great, but when I touched the back panel, I was shocked how hot it was. I mean, it was not just warm or very warm, it was very hot. Cnet's review seems to confirm that iMac runs at high temperatures:

"As with the 21.5-inch iMac, we noted that this 27-inch model was extremely hot on the back panel, especially after gaming. A handheld laser thermometer showed temperatures as high as 118 degrees over the area on the back panel we assume concealed the graphics card. Most other all-in-ones we've tested come in around 85 degrees. You'll want to be sure to keep the iMac in a place where it has plenty of ventilation to avoid it overheating."

So, is it true? Does i7 really run that hot? The salesperson at the store told me that the reason why iMacs at the store are that hot is because they are turned on 24/7, which makes sense, I guess, but they are not doing any heavy work, like video encoding or playing games, they are idling for the most time. Does the i7 iMac get to over 100 degrees just by idling?

For the most part, I will be using iMac for web design and web-related stuff, no games, some video photo/ video editing, and word processing. The reason I ask if it really runs this hot is not because I am concerned that it will break, but because I think it might be uncomfortable to seat all day near an object (especially during summer) that heats up to over 100 degrees.

Thanks.

 

[Hellhammer]

Celsius or Fahrenheit? The aluminum casing feels hot because it acts as a giant heat sink, most of the heat is dissipated through it. Other AIOs are mainly made of plastic which is the opposite of aluminum, it's an insulator so it does not get hot nor dissipate the heat. The outer temperature is meaningless, you should look at the innards. Generally, the heat level is normal.

 

[yustas]

Celsius or Fahrenheit?

The Cnet's review does not say, but it is probably 118 Fahrenheit, which is 48 degrees Celsius.

 

[BreadMaster]

I think they run fine up to a full 360 degrees, but are viewed best at less than 178 degrees.

In all seriousness though, keep in mind that Apple In Store models are on all-day, every day.

 

[TMRaven]

This is only about the 500th topic asking/fretting over how hot the case of the iMac gets.

The average temperature for the innards of the iMac are around 40c for the cpu and 50c for the gpu. When doing semi-intensive stuff(photoshop/hd video streaming), the average temperature for the cpu can get up to 50c and gpu get up to 60c. When doing intensive stuff such as video encodes or gaming for extended periods of time, the operating system's fan control won't let the cpu get above 70c or the gpu get above 80c.