i9 Casual use, getting hot?

[MBX]

Hi there

Now that this throttling issue seems to be fixed I'm curious if any of you who own the i9 2.9ghz top end CPU model are experiencing very hot chassis when using it casually for internet, YouTube, etc?

I'm assuming it's a bit hotter than a base model non-touchbar 13''?

And if in case the i9's do get a bit hotter is it possible to throttle it (lol) to below 2.9ghz base frequency?
I currently own a base model 2016 nTB 13'' and for casual usage it uses only about 1.4ghz-2ghz and for bigger tasks it goes up to almost 3ghz.

When I don't do any work and just for casual use a 6-core i9 is definitely overkill. So I'm wondering if it can be adjusted via some app.

 

[Ploki]

Yes you can throttle it:
http://volta.garymathews.com

You can also disable cores i believe via Xcode (at least you could)

 

[maflynn]

Now that this throttling issue seems to be fixed I'm curious if any of you who own the i9 2.9ghz top end CPU model are experiencing very hot chassis when using it casually for internet, YouTube, etc?

I'm seeing temps in the mid 30c range as I do some light work this morning. I'm on the battery and I'm very happy. I am using using the Volta app to limit the wattage to 30 watts, as I'm more concerned about heat then wanting the fastest possible machine

 

[Dovahkiing]

I'm seeing temps in the mid 30c range as I do some light work this morning. I'm on the battery and I'm very happy. I am using using the Volta app to limit the wattage to 30 watts, as I'm more concerned about heat then wanting the fastest possible machine

Not trying to flame you here, just curious: why spend $300ish for an i9 if you are going to limit it to 30W all the time?

I have i9 and plan to return it tomorrow. If I have to limit power just to keep it cool i'd rather save the cash

 

[Thysanoptera]

You may have some processes running in the background taxing the cpu, it shouldn’t be hot at all, i9 or not. Check the cpu utilization. Get iStat Menus and keep totall wattage displayed on menu bar, it should be in single digits just browsing the net.

 

[maflynn]

Not trying to flame you here, just curious: why spend $300ish for an i9 if you are going to limit it to 30W all the time?

I didn't buy an i9, I was just mentioning the Volta app and how you have a great deal of control over how to manage the temps

 

[dingobiatch]

Not trying to flame you here, just curious: why spend $300ish for an i9 if you are going to limit it to 30W all the time?

I have i9 and plan to return it tomorrow. If I have to limit power just to keep it cool i'd rather save the cash

I'm considering the 2018 MBP 2.6 or 2.9 (hesitating due to no non-touchbar model, and clicks-ness of keyboard), but I could see myself undervolting while doing emails/browsing/coding, but going full power when working in Logic Pro, as an example. Makes a lot of sense to me..

 

[macdudesir]

I wouldn't imagine it gets any hotter than any other MBP when doing casual things...It will run the CPU at a very low clock speed when speed isn't needed anyways...probably around 1GHz idle...No need to manually undervolt or disable cores or anything, just let the computer figure it out...