Macbook Pro- Ridiculously Hot (And yes, I've read the usual and googled first.)

[EnCroix]

mmk. So, my mid 2009 unibody Macbook Pro has been running really, really hot recently. Usually once the fans kick on, they're doing this because I've been running Photoshop CS4 or something similar. I close the program, the computer goes back to a normal idling temperature.

However, lately, my computer has just been hot. I installed an update that I think had to do with the airport that I had been putting off for ages (by the way, I'm still using 10.5) and suddenly, bam. Weird running temperatures.

Right now, I have smcFanControl going, and I kicked the fans all the way up to 6200 rpm. My CPU is still at 80 degrees Celsius. All I'm running is Firefox with about 5 open tabs (no youtube, etc), and AIM. Is this normal? This has never happened to me before and I didn't have a problem until I installed these updates...

The computer is running pretty smoothly, all things considered. It's just so hot, it's uncomfortable to use and the constant "whurrr" noise of the fans is really starting to grate on my nerves.

I did check activity monitor. Even with firefox closed this was still my idling temperature. Whatttt the crap is going on?

Should I upgrade to 10.6 right now? Would that fix it? What's going on here?

I'm having apple support call tomorrow, because I'm sure something could use a cleaning, my computer is 2 years old. But I don't know what they can do for it, or if I should even bother sending it in. Please help.

 

[palpatine]

i can't speak to the 2009, but my 2011 gets pretty toasty (see pic). right now adobe acrobat pro is gobbling up all my resources. i pretty much bought the machine for this reason (my netbook was begging for mercy), and it is performing as expected. when i am not running adobe, and just doing regular work, my temperatures are much lower and the fan usually doesn't come on at all.

i am wondering how you have 50% CPU usage and lots of free ram. it seems like something is wrong there.

 

[Macsavvytech]

mmk. So, my mid 2009 unibody Macbook Pro has been running really, really hot recently. Usually once the fans kick on, they're doing this because I've been running Photoshop CS4 or something similar. I close the program, the computer goes back to a normal idling temperature.

However, lately, my computer has just been hot. I installed an update that I think had to do with the airport that I had been putting off for ages (by the way, I'm still using 10.5) and suddenly, bam. Weird running temperatures.

Right now, I have smcFanControl going, and I kicked the fans all the way up to 6200 rpm. My CPU is still at 80 degrees Celsius. All I'm running is Firefox with about 5 open tabs (no youtube, etc), and AIM. Is this normal? This has never happened to me before and I didn't have a problem until I installed these updates...

The computer is running pretty smoothly, all things considered. It's just so hot, it's uncomfortable to use and the constant "whurrr" noise of the fans is really starting to grate on my nerves.

I did check activity monitor. Even with firefox closed this was still my idling temperature. Whatttt the crap is going on?

Should I upgrade to 10.6 right now? Would that fix it? What's going on here?

I'm having apple support call tomorrow, because I'm sure something could use a cleaning, my computer is 2 years old. But I don't know what they can do for it, or if I should even bother sending it in. Please help.

Probably some flash animation somewhere in those 5 tabs.
See if closing firefox fixes it.

 

[snaky69]

Looks like you have a runaway process somewhere(the 50% CPU usage tells me that), the computer is definitely not idle. And 78C isn't all that hot for a MBP, they can reach the upper 90's easily.

 

[bozz2006]

Looks like you have a runaway process somewhere(the 50% CPU usage tells me that), the computer is definitely not idle. And 78C isn't all that hot for a MBP, they can reach the upper 90's easily.

Another vote for this. 50% CPU means one of your cores is running full blast. Check activity monitor and report back on what process (make sure you select all processes from the dropdown menu) and report back.

 

[EnCroix]

Hoooly crap. My CPU thanks you from the bottom of it's heart. I have no idea why or how, but there was a PrintJobManager program that was taking a whopping 98% of my CPU usage at a time (when I also had Firefox and AIM open) and it was obviously saying that I was using about 57% of my CPU. After I made the program quit, everything was better and my CPU load is back down to normality with Firefox open.

I had only been looking at my processes rather than all processes. Thanks for the suggestions, I feel kind of stupid that I didn't think of it.

 

[soco]

I feel kind of stupid that I didn't think of it.

That's ok, I do too