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Macbook 13" i5 really hot while playing simple games

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Pannytjuh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 20, 2011
5
0
I've had my macbook pro for nearly two weeks now, and so far it had been great. Normal temperatures (36-47 C idle, 73C while playing a 1080p video on external screen). Everything seemed fine. But just now I decided to try out some App Store games, and while I was playing A Monster Ate My Homework I noticed the fans started going crazy and temps reached nearly 90 degrees. Even while playing a very simple game like Bubble Explode for about 5 minutes, temps went up to 83 degrees with the fans running at 4100rpm!

Now I understand these new MacBooks run a bit hotter than the older ones because of the CPU and GPU being located in one place. I would imagine getting temps like these while playing games like WoW, Spore etc, both CPU and GPU intensive games. But I was only playing very simple games, games that even my 2nd gen iPod touch can handle..

The macbook pro I own is an early 2011 13inch i5 with a 265gb ssd and 8gb ram.

Below I posted some iStat screenshots while playing these games. As you can see the CPU is not even doing that much, so it must be the GPU making it so hot.

Is this normal? Maybe someone else can download either of these games(both are free) and post their results?

temp1.png


temp2.png
 
Are they Flash based games? If so, that will easily account for the temps and fans. Plus you want to make sure there is adequate ventilation around your MacBook too.
 
Well I don't know if they are flash based. They're games from the app store, so I don't know how to check. The macbook is sitting on my desk, so there should be enough room for ventilation.
 
Hi,
I have the same model and same "issue".
Fact is, im not sure what you expected.
Its not a gaming machine, since the gpu and cpu are the same, it will ofcourse spin up alot. Just loading the Star Craft 2 menu, made it go 83 c. But again, Mac is a tool, not a toy. For gaming, buy a stationary Windows-based PC.
You get alot more for you money... Factor 1000!
 
Hi
I know it's not a gaming machine, and I'm not planning to play any real games on it either. Have my xbox360 for that. But I figured it should be able to handle these mini games easily as they are not CPU intensive at all. I'm not even playing full screen, just a 640x480px window. Wasn't expecting this really. So it should be normal then?
 
mehanika said:
Hi,
I have the same model and same "issue".
Fact is, im not sure what you expected.
Its not a gaming machine, since the gpu and cpu are the same, it will ofcourse spin up alot. Just loading the Star Craft 2 menu, made it go 83 c. But again, Mac is a tool, not a toy. For gaming, buy a stationary Windows-based PC.
You get alot more for you money... Factor 1000!
Click to expand...

So why Apple's website performances pages are full of games screen captures and tells about 3D games ? And btw, why buy a Mac ? Any Windows laptop able to run games will run any other tasks...

It seems to be common temperature running games or heavy duty for MBP 13” 2011.
 
Run a flash video in flash and html5 using youtubes new beta program and look at the temp differences
 
Exana said:
So why Apple's website performances pages are full of games screen captures and tells about 3D games ? And btw, why buy a Mac ? Any Windows laptop able to run games will run any other tasks...

It seems to be common temperature running games or heavy duty for MBP 13” 2011.
Click to expand...

Haha, you are funny.. :)
 
It's getting that hot because the fan is programmed by default to reduce noise, and the passive cooling available inside such a confined space is very limited. The fan will only begin to ramp up considerably if there's a rapid sustained temperature increase in the CPU core, or if the CPU itself is nearing Tjunction (which begins around 75-85C; Tjunction is 100C).

You can download a program to manually adjust the fan speed, and crank it up before you start running those games. You should see a marked difference in internal temperatures, at the expense of noise.

Really, though, you should just accept the fact that laptops run hot or run noisy, and often both (under load). Simple physics...
 
The 13" Sandy Bridge MBP was a rush and "gotta do" because Apple needed to get out of C2D land. No design changes, no removal of the ODD for better cooling components and no discrete GPU are all evidence of this.

And all you 13MBP lemmings jumped off the cliff.

2012+Ivy Bridge will bring us the 13MBP we really want.
 
Al Coholic said:
The 13" Sandy Bridge MBP was a rush and "gotta do" because Apple needed to get out of C2D land. No design changes, no removal of the ODD for better cooling components and no discrete GPU are all evidence of this.

And all you 13MBP lemmings jumped off the cliff.

2012+Ivy Bridge will bring us the 13MBP we really want.
Click to expand...

Wow, are you going to be dissapointed.. :)
What you are looking for will never be found in first class computer technology. Look up Ivy Bridge, read the factsheet, compare it to Sandy Bridge - and stop that untruthful whining.
 
I realize this thing is supposed to get hot under load but that's the whole point. While playing those mini games, the macbook is not under load at all, its idle for 90% yet still the temperature rises very fast. So I was wondering, is it really normal for the GPU to create this much heat while playing a simple game in a 640x480px window?
 
mehanika said:
Wow, are you going to be dissapointed.. :)
What you are looking for will never be found in first class computer technology. Look up Ivy Bridge, read the factsheet, compare it to Sandy Bridge - and stop that untruthful whining.
Click to expand...

What the hell are you going on about again?

It's not just Ivy bridge that will make the difference. It's the design of the MBP13 that will finally be made to handle it. (Like it should be)
 
Pannytjuh said:
I realize this thing is supposed to get hot under load but that's the whole point. While playing those mini games, the macbook is not under load at all, its idle for 90% yet still the temperature rises very fast. So I was wondering, is it really normal for the GPU to create this much heat while playing a simple game in a 640x480px window?
Click to expand...

To me it sounds like the developer just did a crappy job optimizing.
 
Al Coholic said:
The 13" Sandy Bridge MBP was a rush and "gotta do" because Apple needed to get out of C2D land. No design changes, no removal of the ODD for better cooling components and no discrete GPU are all evidence of this.

And all you 13MBP lemmings jumped off the cliff.

2012+Ivy Bridge will bring us the 13MBP we really want.
Click to expand...
The design wasn't changed because it hasn't been that long since the last design refresh. The ODD wasn't removed because – surprise! – a lot of people still use it. The 13" has never had a discrete GPU, and for many computer users, they don't need it.

Digital download services aren't to the point where they can fully replace physical media, and even with Ivy Bridge you'll still get people complaining that their machine is too hot, that they want this, that, or the other addition, and all sorts of other things. Plus, Ivy Bridge will still use integrated graphics, and I'm willing to bet Apple will keep using IGP in the 13" MBP.
 
Al Coholic said:
What the hell are you going on about again?

It's not just Ivy bridge that will make the difference. It's the design of the MBP13 that will finally be made to handle it. (Like it should be)
Click to expand...

You are missing the point again. Just because you redesign the interior, will not help on the heat itself. The heat produced in a Apple computer, cannot be fixed by replacing parts. There are two ways to "fix" this.

1. Make space = Less battery eg, bigger casing, bigger fan / watercooling

2. Reduce heat = Low end CPU / GPU

What did you expect Apple to do? Underclock the CPU?
I have no trouble discussing upgrades to computers, but your attitude about "nah, next version will be a lot better" is irrational and without any trace of logic. I would like to you to state exacly what makes you think, that 2012-version will bring, that can "fix" this.
 
As a comparison, doing some light photoshop work brings the temperature up to over 80 C! Disabling openGL didn't help.

temp3.png
 
There is NOTHING wrong with those temps. Yet another temp thread that needs wastelanded.

No offense OP but if your computers not shutting off you don't have a "temperature issue" just like the 100 other posts with the same thing that will be posted today.

Games are CPU/GPU intensive, even small ones. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know how to make games.
 
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