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Merkava_4

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 4, 2010
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California
How hot is too hot for the CPU temp? I've got smcFanControl installed on my MBP and watching YouTube videos in 720p really starts heating up the computer fast. And it's not always the 720p setting that's totally responsible for the temp. The better the camera, the hotter the MBP gets. Some channels I can't even watch in 720p because the camera used is too good and the picture is too clear. I start getting nervous when the CPU temp gets to 180 Fahrenheit (82 Celsius). At 93 Celcius, the fans start coming on strong in the 5000 rpm range. I usually stop the video at that point and change the video setting to 480p. I can't relax because I'm always worried about burning the computer up.
 
At 105'c the computer will automatically shut down to protect itself. If it goes over this temperature it is in danger of damaging the system, so if the system gets hotter than this then it was damaged to begin with in some way.

Don't know how old your computer is, but it shouldn't be getting that hot running 720p video if it's a fairly recent one. Try cleaning the fans, likely full of dust.
 
Thank You for your reply New_Mac_Smell. The MBP is a 2007 15 inch model. I keep the fan ports blown out fairly often. I noticed that after blowing out the ports, the cooling recovery time is much faster when either the fan speed is increased or the load on the CPU is lightened. I've never let it get so hot that it's had to shut down. I think the hottest I've ever had it up to was 212 Fahrenheit (100 Celsius).
 
This definitely sounds like an excessive buildup of foreign material (likely dust) somewhere in the interior of your MBP. I would recommend you open the machine up and clean whatever can be safely cleaned.

100C seems excessively hot for just watching 720p videos. The only time I've ever encountered such temps was while performing heavy duty graphics rendering (mostly games, in my experience) ... not on a Mac, but just saying ...

EDIT - I did a search online and people are saying that CPU temps around 100C are normal for Intel :confused:
 
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Guys 80-90 Celsius is no problem for a CPU and normal. The MBP controls itself, you don't need smcfancontrol.

The boiling point of water doesn't mean here anything as it is made of silicon;)

But a 11 year old machine should of course be cleaned inside. Other than that be happy End of life didn't hit it yet
 
maculateConception, Thank You for your reply. The machine has been opened up within the last year when I had to do a screen replacement. The fans were very dusty. How often would you recommend pulling the top case off for cleaning the machine and the fans?
 
Too hot for Intel CPUS is over 100 degrees. It shouldn't be even close to that though id the machine is not doing any useful work. If you operate the laptop in a dusty environment, I'd say open it up and clean it every few months.
 
Do you hear the fan(s) ramping up? Get a fan control app which allows you to manually ramp up the fans. iStat Menus is another good app that repors all the temperatures, CPU, GPU, etc.
 
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maflynn, Yes I hear the fans ramping up while watching YouTube. I can also see the rpm changes on the browser bar at the top of the screen while I have the smcFanControl app running. Do you think I should set the fans to high speed manually before watching a video? In addition to worrying about the GPU, I'm afraid of wearing out the fans too.
 
maflynn, Yes I hear the fans ramping up while watching YouTube. I can also see the rpm changes on the browser bar at the top of the screen while I have the smcFanControl app running. Do you think I should set the fans to high speed manually before watching a video? In addition to worrying about the GPU, I'm afraid of wearing out the fans too.

Which browser? Chrome has issues with Macs and generates a lot of heat. Safari does not have these issue. With that said I use Chrome more than Safari because I almost never watch videos on my laptop.
 
maflynn, Yes I hear the fans ramping up while watching YouTube. I can also see the rpm changes on the browser bar at the top of the screen while I have the smcFanControl app running. Do you think I should set the fans to high speed manually before watching a video? In addition to worrying about the GPU, I'm afraid of wearing out the fans too.
No you shouldn't as the temperature is in it's designed range. So u also don't have to worry about your fans.

Does your CPU already support H.264 hardware acceleration?

https://www.howtogeek.com/227940/wh...-your-laptop’s-battery-and-how-to-fix-it/amp/
 
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Thank You for your reply New_Mac_Smell. The MBP is a 2007 15 inch model. I keep the fan ports blown out fairly often. I noticed that after blowing out the ports, the cooling recovery time is much faster when either the fan speed is increased or the load on the CPU is lightened. I've never let it get so hot that it's had to shut down. I think the hottest I've ever had it up to was 212 Fahrenheit (100 Celsius).

Is this really a 2007 15" model?

Is so, a lot of things could be causing this. Dust as you mention, dried up thermal paste, so the heat transfer to the heat sinks is poor, or just too under-powered to handle modern videos. My 2009 Core 2 Mini struggles with a lot youTube these days.
 
This is an old Mac notebook they are and remain to be "burners" one this age certainly will benefit from cooling system being cleaned and likely the TIM being replaced. Elevating the rear a must, as is removing the likes of Flash & Chrome.

Gluttons for punishment, might want to consider the 15" 2011 MBP which under heavy loads will happily sit at three figures centigrade all day long :p well until it auto destructs o_O

One of the best and effective methods is to reduce the temperature and increase the volume of airflow. A cheap USB fan strategically placed can accomplish this as long as the rear of the notebook is elevated an inch or so :)

OP can search on relevant posts of mine on keeping these older Machines at least a little cooler and quieter :)

Q-6
 
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Which browser? Chrome has issues with Macs and generates a lot of heat. Safari does not have these issue. With that said I use Chrome more than Safari because I almost never watch videos on my laptop.

Yes I have learned that by reading the link that maerz001 provided. Thank You for your reply.

No you shouldn't as the temperature is in it's designed range. So u also don't have to worry about your fans.

Does your CPU already support H.264 hardware acceleration?

https://www.google.de/amp/s/www.how...-your-laptop’s-battery-and-how-to-fix-it/amp/

I have downloaded the Google extension in that link you provided. It helps the computer run a little bit cooler, but the most drastic difference is when viewing YouTube with Safari. The computer runs at least 20 degrees cooler with Safari. I will probably be switching all my YouTube bookmarks over to Safari in an effort to save the machine. I usually only use Safari for Forums because the architecture of Safari works better with large fonts such as size 18. I'm using Chrome right now because Macrumors is one of the few Forums that doesn't freak out when increasing the font size by using the Command + keys. Thank You very much for your reply maerz001.

If anybody else wants to download the h264ify browser extensions, look for this image in the link below:

https://www.howtogeek.com/227940/why-youtube-in-chrome-and-firefox-is-draining-your-laptop’s-battery-and-how-to-fix-it/amp/
 
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I had the first 11" Air with core2duo back in the days.

This one stuttered while watching streamed videos from the first beginning cos it was just too underpowered.

The i5 generation made a big performance increase
 
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