MBP running hot but not overheating

[jdheeter]

I assume it's not normal for a 17" 2011 MBP to be running at 95C while under 22% load. I'm thinking about taking it apart to reapply the thermal paste but wanted a second opinion.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Clean it out if you haven't already, then go down the route of thermal paste. Usually a good air dusting does the trick on older machines, thermal paste can help but it's a little fiddly and high potential to mess something up; I'd only do as a last resort.

 

[jdheeter]

I did take it apart and it's very clean, no visible dust in the heatsink fins. The fans also seem to be operating correctly, no weird sounds from them. I noticed the fan was running very often when I was just doing light tasks, so that's why I started looking into CPU usage and temperatures. Is there anything else to check before I go the thermal paste route?

 

[leman]

It’s clearly trying to boost abs it’s power consumption is rather high too. Are you sure there is nothing intensive running in the background?

 

[jdheeter]

I checked and it's mostly just chrome or macos processes. 20% load is a little high, but I generally have 5 -10 tabs open and a few other applications.

 

[Schranke]

Have you changed the thermal paste on it before?
If not I would try it out as 6-7 years is a long time for any paste and its effect on cooling should be worn out

 

[Kingcr]

I’d recommend new thermal paste with those temps. Just changed mine on my 13” mid 2012 last week. Was idling at about 65 C (!) and throttling at 105 C when under load. Now idles at about 48 C (which still sounds a bit warm, but this is mostly due to the fan profile I think, it’s completely silent at idle) and hits about 91 C full load. Full load fan speed also dropped from 6000 rpm to about 4200 rpm so it’s much quieter now. Definitely worth it, just a bit fiddly to do.