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Rectified^

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2011
22
0
Everyone's been saying that Ivy Bridge/Kepler should be running cooler -- however, my temps are stuck at 65C just idling with a display plugged in (on discrete GPU). If I go integrated GPU, I get around 55-60C idling. My 2010 MBP idled around 50C.

Even with the fans maxed at 6200 using smcFanControl, using an external display and CPU under 5% utilization, my temps are 57C.

Perhaps these Ivy Bridge MBPs have an overdosing of thermal paste? I'm a bit hesitant to dig it apart to find out, even though I have a fair amount of experience building and tinkering with desktops.
 

skitzogreg

macrumors 6502
Oct 31, 2007
311
5
Arkansas
Everyone's been saying that Ivy Bridge/Kepler should be running cooler -- however, my temps are stuck at 65C just idling with a display plugged in (on discrete GPU). If I go integrated GPU, I get around 55-60C idling. My 2010 MBP idled around 50C.

Even with the fans maxed at 6200 using smcFanControl, using an external display and CPU under 5% utilization, my temps are 57C.

Perhaps these Ivy Bridge MBPs have an overdosing of thermal paste? I'm a bit hesitant to dig it apart to find out, even though I have a fair amount of experience building and tinkering with desktops.

These temps are well within normal operating ranges.

Look, compressed in a solid brick of aluminum, that's pretty damn good.
 

ugp

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2008
1,223
4
Inverness, Florida
When encoding a video with Handbrake the CPU maxes out at 100C for me and drops to 95-98C once the fans are running full blast. The fans are not noisy at all.

When idle I will go anywhere between 45C and 55C.
 

canadianrider

macrumors newbie
Jun 21, 2012
14
0
are you allowing from proper venting? do you have something running in the background that's using up a lot of CPU power? if I'm idling or even doing light web browsing on the 2012 cMBP my temps are always below 50C. If i use smcfancontrol and bump the fans up to 2400 they're below 40C.

your temps are what I get when bootcamped in win8 but definitely not osx
 

ljx718

macrumors 6502
Dec 13, 2008
428
2
When encoding a video with Handbrake the CPU maxes out at 100C for me and drops to 95-98C once the fans are running full blast. The fans are not noisy at all.

When idle I will go anywhere between 45C and 55C.

My rmbp is avg low to mid 30's while in use. Pretty crazy
 

koyoot

macrumors 603
Jun 5, 2012
5,939
1,853
Normal temps. But in Fact they could be much, much lower. Changing the thermal paste would be nice idea.


I'm wondering if changing Thermal Paste on Retina Macbook Pro would make a difference...
 

VFC

macrumors 6502a
Feb 6, 2012
514
10
SE PA.

ugp

macrumors 65816
Jan 7, 2008
1,223
4
Inverness, Florida
Here are my idle temps for reference.

Added a picture after letting Minecraft run for 10 minutes or so maxed out.
 

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Last edited:

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,956
2,253
IB has been confirmed to be running hotter than SB temp wise in desktops as the die is much smaller which results in a much smaller surface area to give off heat. However, the TOTAL heat output is less. A match may be hotter than a oil room heater, but the room heater will heat up the room faster.
 

Rectified^

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2011
22
0
IB has been confirmed to be running hotter than SB temp wise in desktops as the die is much smaller which results in a much smaller surface area to give off heat. However, the TOTAL heat output is less. A match may be hotter than a oil room heater, but the room heater will heat up the room faster.

This is actually a pretty good point. That would make sense -- power consumption is down on Ivy Bridge, but so is area and thus power density could go up, making the chip hotter.

Hmm. Still, though, 65C idle seems insane. God forbid I max my CPU. I do have it in clamshell mode, but in the past that would only raise temps 5C or so.
 

dusk007

macrumors 68040
Dec 5, 2009
3,411
104
IB has been confirmed to be running hotter than SB temp wise in desktops as the die is much smaller which results in a much smaller surface area to give off heat. However, the TOTAL heat output is less. A match may be hotter than a oil room heater, but the room heater will heat up the room faster.
With the desktop it has also been confirmed that the TLP Intel put between the chip and the heat spreader is really poor.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1258439/ivy-bridge-3770k-heat-spreader-thermal-grease-testing
Just by switching that paste that guy managed to drop the temps from 83 to 63 C using the same cooler.

Given that mobile CPUs don't have a heat spreader and Apple is responsible for the TLP and they most likely use the same they always did, mobile Ivy Bridge shouldn't have any of the heat issues the desktop chips are plagued with.
Smaller die area may have some effect but in the past the decrease in power consumption more than offset that. A 45nm chip was much cooler than 65nm. Those chips run almost the same clocks and have little to no architecture difference.
It think it is just that the closer they get to those too small process nodes; they will just get consistently worse. 22nm just isn't that great even with TriGate Transistors. I wonder how they would turn out without those. I don't think it is just the size of the die.
 

pandamonia

macrumors 6502a
Nov 15, 2009
585
0
With the desktop it has also been confirmed that the TLP Intel put between the chip and the heat spreader is really poor.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1258439/ivy-bridge-3770k-heat-spreader-thermal-grease-testing
Just by switching that paste that guy managed to drop the temps from 83 to 63 C using the same cooler.

Given that mobile CPUs don't have a heat spreader and Apple is responsible for the TLP and they most likely use the same they always did, mobile Ivy Bridge shouldn't have any of the heat issues the desktop chips are plagued with.
Smaller die area may have some effect but in the past the decrease in power consumption more than offset that. A 45nm chip was much cooler than 65nm. Those chips run almost the same clocks and have little to no architecture difference.
It think it is just that the closer they get to those too small process nodes; they will just get consistently worse. 22nm just isn't that great even with TriGate Transistors. I wonder how they would turn out without those. I don't think it is just the size of the die.

The new process isnt mature. they are leaking electrons everywhere which means you have to increase voltage which increases heat. Wait till mid cycle and they will have a new stepping which improves on the current process and then the full benefits of 22nm will be shown.

Extensive testing on Xtremesystems shows this to be the case. Sandy was a very successful CPU but Ivy still has a few kinks
 

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,956
2,253
The new process isnt mature. they are leaking electrons everywhere which means you have to increase voltage which increases heat. Wait till mid cycle and they will have a new stepping which improves on the current process and then the full benefits of 22nm will be shown.

Extensive testing on Xtremesystems shows this to be the case. Sandy was a very successful CPU but Ivy still has a few kinks

Yeah, IB kinda reminds me of a mini-Prescott. Nowhere near as bad, but similar in that the newer process ran hotter than the previous Northwood P4 cpus.
 

Exana

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2011
219
0
Ambiant temps : 23°C
Ambiant noise level : 32 dBA

Open terminal then 4x : yes > /dev/null &
iStat Pro after 1 hour :

MacBook Pro Core i7 2.6 GHz 2012 :
CPU : - °C
CPU Heatsink : 52°C to 50°C
Enclosure base : 32°C to 28°C
Enclosure base 2 : 32°C to 28°C
Enclosure base 3 : 31°C to 28°C
GPU : 60°C to 61°C
Heatsink B : 57°C to 57°C

Right fan : 4889 to 5350 rpm
Left fan : 4885 to 5350 rpm

Noise level at ~50 cm from screen (head position) : 37.2 à 38.6 dB(A)


MacBook Pro Core i7 2.2 GHz early 2011 :
CPU : 86°C
CPU Heatsink : 55°C
Enclosure base : 27°C
Enclosure base 2 : 27°C
Enclosure base 3 : 27°C
GPU : 61°C
Heatsink B : 57°C

Right fan : 6064 rpm
Left fan : 6079 rpm

Noise level at ~50 cm from screen (head position) : 41.7~41.9 dB(A)


MacBook Pro Core i5 2.53 GHz 2010 :
CPU : 86°C
CPU Heatsink : 56°C
Enclosure base : 34°C
Enclosure base 2 : 34°C
Enclosure base 3 : 30°C
GPU : 61°C
Heatsink B : 56°C

Right fan : 3800 rpm
Left fan : 3800 rpm

Noise level at ~50 cm from screen (head position) : 33.8~33.9 dB(A)

Ivy Bridge did not heat much more than earlier Sandy Bridge and fans are running slower.
 

ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
Damn You Apple!

What's a "cMBP" ?

OK, I'll admit I know :)

Just pointing out the stupid way Apple names the new machine.

Is it a:

rMBP
r_MBP
RMBP
R_MBP
Retina MBP
Non-Retina MBP
MBPr
MBPR
MBP_r
MBP_R

Or ???

Flippin Apple :D
 

pandamonia

macrumors 6502a
Nov 15, 2009
585
0
Yeah, IB kinda reminds me of a mini-Prescott. Nowhere near as bad, but similar in that the newer process ran hotter than the previous Northwood P4 cpus.

It doesnt run any hotter it just doesnt run any cooler at the minute.
 

pacman7331

macrumors regular
Apr 5, 2006
177
0
Yea i waz hoping the Ivy Bridges were gonna run cooler and is why I initially decided to wait since last janurary for the update. I think Apple was expecting this as well which is why they designed the RMBP the way it is, perhaps they wanted it to be a "laptop" instead of a "portable" for once since the G4s?

Or not...

Oddly Intel used glue instead of solder on the 3770s and IB desktop chips, which increases their heat output running hotter than sandy bridges (at least when overclocked). It appears the same issue is applicable to the mobile processors. So RMBP runs at similar max temps as the cMBP dispite its slimmer form.

Im just gonna get a laptop cooling pad.
 
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