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New iBook Running Hot??

tsk

tsk

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 14, 2004
642
0
Wisconsin
Anyone else having a problem with a new iBook running hot?

I have a 12" 1.33GHz model and it seems to be running very hot. Anytime I plug the thing in, it seems to be running very hot (~160-170) and the fan is almost continuously running. I noticed last night that getting up in the middle of the night (the thing had been idling for hours), the fan was churning away. I'm not running anything on my system that should be using the CPU.

I did a test here. I had the iBook asleep all night. At 10:00 I opened it up and monitored the CPU temp. I did not do anything on the computer except occasionally move the mouse to kill the screen saver. It took 45 minutes to creep up to 155 degrees and go into continous fan mode.

Here's a chart of the temperature from openning it up, to fan kicking in:

10:00 80F 10:10 131F 10:20 144F 10:40 154F 10:45 155 & Fan


Does this seem normal?
 
While playing AOE: Rise of Nations last night I noticed my brand new (Arrived yesterday) 12" 1.33 iBook also runs hot. Perhaps its just the new overclocked G4 CPU? ;)
 
Open up activity monitor and find out what process(es) are using the CPU.
Sort the list by % CPU
Activity Monitor might use 4-8% but everything else should be at or near zero if nothing is running.

Check that and report back
 
cardiac dave said:
Open up activity monitor and find out what process(es) are using the CPU.
Sort the list by % CPU
Activity Monitor might use 4-8% but everything else should be at or near zero if nothing is running.

Check that and report back
Click to expand...

When I first looked there was some mapquest widget taking up a bit (maybe 15%). I killed that just to be sure.

Now, I have the activity monitor around 4%, a few widgets taking up less than 4% (total) and the temperature has been steadily rising from 125F to 152F right as I type this.
 
DeSnousa said:
Set the processor to automatic and see if that cools it down, if not try reduced. If that still does not work you can be sure its faulty ;)
Click to expand...

Well, so what is the default on plugged in? I currently have it at automatic. I set it to highest originally, but since I've been having these problems, I changed that to automatic.

I did some more playing around, and I think I have a phantom process messing things up.

Originally, when I checked the activity monitor, I looked at the list of processes, and they were adding up to something like 10%. However, the graph was showing me a something like 50% user, 50% system and nothing idle. I assumed that was normal behavior.

I just rebooted now, and the list of CPU processes is all the same, but now the graph is showing that the system is mostly idle. The system is also not running up to 155F.

I don't know what the process is, and it's wierd that it wasn't showing up in the activity monitor or top. I'm going to keep an eye out and see if I can figure out what's making things go haywire....

Edit: D'oh, I see the activity monitor has a filter and defaulted to just my processes. I ought to be able to track this now by looking at all the processes.
 
my new 1.33 12" definitly runs hotter than my old ibook g4 12" 800mhz
 
Another day with my new iBook and I agree, it runs way hotter than any other iBook i've handled. It reaches PC laptop temperatures. It's fine if its got ventilation, but resting on my Sofa's sides causes it to overheat and fans come on. Keeping iBook on table or desk keeps it really cool.
 
Something's defentily playing up, sounds like it might just be a processor task being run in the background. Unfortuently i can't help you any further. Can you take an image of activity monitor with it listing the most processor intensive task on top and going to the least. Maybe somone will be able to help you with seeing what is being run :)
 
So it's not doing it right now. I think I'll have to wait till it gets into this constant fan mode and then attack the problem. I'm wondering if one of my kids logging on is doing something... I'm fairly certain I can at least find the problem once it happens again.
 
tsk said:
So it's not doing it right now. I think I'll have to wait till it gets into this constant fan mode and then attack the problem. I'm wondering if one of my kids logging on is doing something... I'm fairly certain I can at least find the problem once it happens again.
Click to expand...
I'd have a look at those 'phantom' processes. I'm working off the last gen iBook, and honestly the fan has never come on except when running the hardware test CD.

If you're running something that's processor intensive I'd expect the fan to come on, but definitely not at idle.

Did you run the software uppdates and everything?
 
If the activity monitor is showing normal (low) CPU useage at idle, then it's definitely not right that the fan is running, even in a hot climate. Apple customer service all the way. Might not be DOA, but definitely something to be worried about.
 
I have to agree something is not right you should take it to your local apple store and ask for there opinion or call up apple and speak to there customer care,

ShadOW
 
I'm doing the same test now tsk. Started at 10 and its now 10:30 and I'm up to 115F. My iBook is currently charging and i've only got iTunes and Safari open.
 
eeek! my powerbook keeps running hot (it's a G4, with a 1.5Ghz CPU and 2Gb of memory).
I looked at the Activity monitor and it seems that certain applications are sucking up all the processor power. Unfortunately this includes Mac help (which was just using 85%of the processor), so i don't know how to set the processor to automatic - can anyone help me out? also how do i monitor the CPU temp? AND is there a program on there to set the PB to run everything so it's not sucking so much off the processor?
Thanks!
 
Heatsink could also be not seated properly on the CPU which would give you your mad increase in heat.
 
Let's be realistic here...

When plugged in, the iBook will default to high-performance for the CPU as it's not trying to save power.

Does your iBook heat up this much when running off battery?

Here's an idea of what I call normal (on Battery only, in a 70 degree ambient environment, only applications running are Activity Monitor, and CPU temp widget) Processor bobbing between zero and 15%, Energy Saver set to 'better battery life'.

1 minute after boot - 85 degrees
5 minutes after boot - 88 degrees
10 mintues after boot - seems to settle at ~91 degrees
test: run iTunes with visualizer (windowed) for 1 minute - 103 degrees
test: run iTunes with visualizer (full screen) for 1 minute - 105 degrees
shut off iTunes - temp drops back to 95 fairly quickly

The fan never comes on - ever.

Running plugged in will be different altogether. (I'll run that test when I get home tonight) The computer has all the power it needs to run at 100% and stay cool without wasting battery power. The hard drive can spin all it wants (front left corner = hot), the battery is charging (front right corner = hot), the processor can run as fast as it needs to... I'll admit that when plugged in my iBook gets a little toasty, but that's nothing compared to the power adapter that feels as if it's on fire.

At idle, the screensaver will use 100% of the CPU if you have one of the cool graphical ones turned on - change that to a blank screen. iTunes will use 6 to 18% of the CPU whether it's playing music or not. I started up Mail, iTunes, Safari and Quicktime, and after they settled, the CPU is still bouncing between 10 and 50 percent - so don't assume your computer is idle just because you aren't doing anything.

scubabeano said that machelp is running at almost 100% - Find out why, or click on it in activity monitor and quit the process - see if that helps.

Anyone else... post your temps when you're sure that nothing is running in the background.
 
Plugged-in Results (power saver set to performance)
Idle temps approx 10 degrees higher
iTunes temps approx 15 degrees higher.

120 degrees max... still no fan = good
 
cardiac dave said:
When plugged in, the iBook will default to high-performance for the CPU as it's not trying to save power.
Click to expand...

Just FWIW.... the input you gave was really good, but this was a change between Panther and Tiger. In Tiger, the default setting is Automatic on wall power, and not Highest, unless you change it yourself.
 
mkrishnan said:
Just FWIW.... the input you gave was really good, but this was a change between Panther and Tiger. In Tiger, the default setting is Automatic on wall power, and not Highest, unless you change it yourself.
Click to expand...

Good point, I didn't know tigers default as it had already carried over my preferences from Panther when I upgraded.
 
Well I have a G4 1.42 iBook and the fan(s?) rarely come on.

As i do have the Dashboard CPU heat monitor, it's always been around 45 degrees celsius to 52 degrees celseus(sp?)

Hope that helps :)

Maybe it's only for the 12 inchers?
 
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