SMC Fan Control Question

Discussion in 'iMac' started by mewanyk, Jul 12, 2012.

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  1. mewanyk, Jul 12, 2012

    mewanyk macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2012
    #1
    Hi all,

    So recently I have gotten a new iMac. Here are the specs:

    Quad-Core Intel Core i5
    8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
    500GB Serial ATA Drive
    AMD RadeonHD 6750M 512MB GDDR5

    Now I tend to game from time to time, mostly playing Starcraft2. Not the most demanding game by any means.

    Previously I have been playing Starcraft2 on an old 2008 Core 2 Duo Mac Book Pro. Running SMC Fan Control on this machine was essential to keeping temperatures at a decent level, gaming wise that is.

    I know that this AMD GPU runs fairly cool as far as GPUs are concerned so I'm not sure if i need to throttle maxed fans the same way I did on my old MBP. I also haven't really tested temperatures yet so I'm not sure how high they get while gaming.

    So my questions are:

    1. Should I be using SMC to do the same thing on this new iMac?

    2. What is an acceptable temp range for gaming on this computer?

    3. Should I be overly concerned with temperatures getting to high while gaming?

    I should probably also add that I play games through OSX and not bootcamp.

    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
     
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  2. Intell, Jul 12, 2012

    Intell macrumors P6

    Intell

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2010
    Location:
    Inside
    #2
    SMCFanControl is not needed on any iMac.

    iMacs get hot. This is normal. The CPU alone will reach 105C at times. This is normal and within Intell's limits.

    There is no need to be concerned about an iMac's temperatures.


    Aluminum Intell iMacs have a very well designed and over engineered cooling system. This is evident by their three fans rarely spinning up when the machine is under load. The iMac's aluminum body will be warm/hot to the touch, this is normal and by design. The body acts as a big passive heatsink to remove heat from the inside.
     
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  3. ThatGreekMacGuy, Jul 12, 2012

    ThatGreekMacGuy macrumors member

    ThatGreekMacGuy

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2012
    Location:
    Sparta, Greece
    #3
    You are the one to judge if you need SMC or not. Well, I know all iMac's get hot at some point and that is how they're built. However, I don't like it when my 27inch iMac gerts got, so I have SMCFanControl running on Medium settings (which make the fans run in a bit higher rpm than default) and use some High settings for when I play games :)
     
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