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hvgotcodes

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 2, 2011
98
6
I just noticed that my rMBP was noticeably warm to hot on the upper left part, by the esc key.

istats reports a cpu2 temp of 70-80 degrees C. Activity monitor is reporting normal cpu usage as 10% or lower (with occasional spikes)

Not worried, just asking if this is what others observe...
 

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http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

Download, set min to 3000 when plugged in (or whatever you prefer, 3000 keeps it cool and is quiet), my MBP is currently 38C and I'm running a few things.

I use SMC control and have two settings, default and a highRPM setting for when i use games, video rendering, etc, that will spike the CPU. That way I can not run the fans hard all day, but keep the heat spikes down when driving it hard.
 
I use SMC control and have two settings, default and a highRPM setting for when i use games, video rendering, etc, that will spike the CPU. That way I can not run the fans hard all day, but keep the heat spikes down when driving it hard.

Went out for a few hours, left the fans running at 3k. Coming back my temp is 67. Not sure its worth the strain on the fans for this modest temperature reduction...
 
I just noticed that my rMBP was noticeably warm to hot on the upper left part, by the esc key.

istats reports a cpu2 temp of 70-80 degrees C. Activity monitor is reporting normal cpu usage as 10% or lower (with occasional spikes)

Not worried, just asking if this is what others observe...

!!!!!

At ~28C, my idle temp is ~35C. That's fantastic.

At ~20C, my idle temp is 24C. Sweeeeeeeeeeet...

Under moderate use (e.g. writing Java code, Dreamweaver, or basic Photoshop stuff) it hovers in the 40s~50s. Under more use (VM w light usage, heavy Photoshop) it gets to the 60s and sometimes the 70s.

Under 3D rendering, RAM stress testing, etc, upper-80s~low 90C are observed. And I ramp up the fans to 5000RPM at that point. I usually let the fans run at 2000 or 2500 RPM, but not when doing anything heavy.

In no way should such low CPU usage result in 70~80C. Not ever. Get it serviced; the heatsink is probably not covering the CPU properly, and/or there's an improper amount of thermal grease (too little or waaaaaaay too much...)

----------

Or constantly running the fan at 3000rpm can decrease the life of your fan but ok...

One can always do something like this:

http://my2011macbookpro.com/replacing-thermal-paste-on-the-cpu-and-gpu-results/

:eek:

You know, since it wasn't done right the first time... (I've not done it, but I probably should -- on Apple's forum, somebody said he got the boffins at the Genius bar to do it under warranty...)
 
!!!!!

At ~28C, my idle temp is ~35C. That's fantastic.

At ~20C, my idle temp is 24C. Sweeeeeeeeeeet...

Under moderate use (e.g. writing Java code, Dreamweaver, or basic Photoshop stuff) it hovers in the 40s~50s. Under more use (VM w light usage, heavy Photoshop) it gets to the 60s and sometimes the 70s.

Under 3D rendering, RAM stress testing, etc, upper-80s~low 90C are observed. And I ramp up the fans to 5000RPM at that point. I usually let the fans run at 2000 or 2500 RPM, but not when doing anything heavy.

In no way should such low CPU usage result in 70~80C. Not ever. Get it serviced; the heatsink is probably not covering the CPU properly, and/or there's an improper amount of thermal grease (too little or waaaaaaay too much...)

One thing to consider is: is this istats pro giving a correct reading? It only has 'cpu2' as an options; this machine has 4 physical cores. Also note that 'cpu proximity' indicates low-mid 50s.

"At ~28C, my idle temp is ~35C. That's fantastic."

What does that mean...at 28C my temp is 35C? Seems to make no sense to me...
 
One thing to consider is: is this istats pro giving a correct reading? It only has 'cpu2' as an options; this machine has 4 physical cores. Also note that 'cpu proximity' indicates low-mid 50s.

"proximity sensor" is located near the CPU... I always go by the higher temperature, since the proximity sensor is located farther away than the actual diodes on the CPU... if all 4 cores' readouts are similar, are under load, and don't read "-100C", then chances are good they are reasonably accurate... :) Under idle the sensors are probably more lax, but on an overclocking forum most people said the most accurate readings come from when the CPU is under load.

"At ~28C, my idle temp is ~35C. That's fantastic."

What does that mean...at 28C my temp is 35C? Seems to make no sense to me...

Ambient room temperature was ~28C. Sorry about the omission... "~" also indicates "roughly", but I saw the values this morning and was quite jubilant... and annoyed, as I forgot to turn off the air conditioner overnight... oops... :(
 
"proximity sensor" is located near the CPU... I always go by the higher temperature, since the proximity sensor is located farther away than the actual diodes on the CPU... if all 4 cores' readouts are similar, are under load, and don't read "-100C", then chances are good they are reasonably accurate... :) Under idle the sensors are probably more lax, but on an overclocking forum most people said the most accurate readings come from when the CPU is under load.



Ambient room temperature was ~28C. Sorry about the omission... "~" also indicates "roughly", but I saw the values this morning and was quite jubilant... and annoyed, as I forgot to turn off the air conditioner overnight... oops... :(


ok that makes sense. Sheet. Now Im considering reapplying the thermal paste. Or opening this joint up and at least seeing if something looks wrong.

I just installed another temp monitor, and it pretty much agrees with istats.
 

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Went out for a few hours, left the fans running at 3k. Coming back my temp is 67. Not sure its worth the strain on the fans for this modest temperature reduction...

I don't think 3k is that hard on fans, they start out at 1800 rpm. But your point taken, you shouldn't need to do that all day, and as down the thread I see concerns about your thermal paste which has been talked about as an issue. Are you under applecare/warrantee?

The other thing I do is use my MBP on an aluminium Rain Design stand, that factors into cooling the computer by exposing all that bottom case to airflow.
 
I don't think 3k is that hard on fans, they start out at 1800 rpm. But your point taken, you shouldn't need to do that all day, and as down the thread I see concerns about your thermal paste which has been talked about as an issue. Are you under applecare/warrantee?

The other thing I do is use my MBP on an aluminium Rain Design stand, that factors into cooling the computer by exposing all that bottom case to airflow.

I have the same stand.

So, I never mentioned that I have 2 external displays (1 thunderbolt, 1 cinema), and unplugging them, the temp drops to a more reasonable 60. Still not as good as the other posters results, but not as bad as 70+. Plus, playing diablo3, the temp goes to mid 80s max. So im wondering if the baseline of my rmbp is higher, but under strain, 80s doesn't seem that bad....

Yes I am still under warranty; everyone with a rmbp is ;)
 
Or constantly running the fan at 3000rpm can decrease the life of your fan but ok...

Considering that they're still running at half speed I wouldn't say it's decreasing the life of your fan too much.

That's like saying that running photoshop, final cut pro and playing games a lot decreases the life of your fan because it has to run at approx 5000-6000rpm constantly whilst such programs are in use.

The fan is built to withstand such use, and if running it at 3000rpm substantially decreases the fan's life, then that says something about the poor build quality, rather than your use of your mac.
 
I just noticed that my rMBP was noticeably warm to hot on the upper left part, by the esc key.

istats reports a cpu2 temp of 70-80 degrees C. Activity monitor is reporting normal cpu usage as 10% or lower (with occasional spikes)

Not worried, just asking if this is what others observe...

Around my esc key it is luke warm. Almost cool.

I did notice earlier that my magsafe connector was quite warm during charging, but now it is cool
 
Right now my computer is at around 55ºC; fans are at minimum. No idea what my room temperature is.

I'm not doing much except on the web with Safari, have Mail open, and catching up on my TV shows with VLC.
 
This might be a more useful temp app, as its up to date for the hardware....

http://www.bresink.de/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

are you up to date on software?

check these threads, the gist is you should be fine with those temps...


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4066786?start=0&tstart=0

check the apple discussions, it seems they are known to run hot but not to the point of being a problem. This is why i'm letting others beta test the new design for me before I give up my 17"

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=retina+macbook+pro+normal+temperature&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
 
I get worried when I'm gaming and my temps reach 167F on the GPU Diode. But this is normal. I also think it's stupid to manually control the fans when the system already does that by itself. I'm on an external monitor when I game because the keys become too hot to touch. Temperatures have always worried me with this machine but every time I ask, everyone assures me that it's within the hardware temp limits. So, I wouldn't worry about it. This is my first laptop and I think it gets hot but other people who have had laptops over the years say this one isn't all that bad.

tl;dr, it's not too hot.
 
This might be a more useful temp app, as its up to date for the hardware....

http://www.bresink.de/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

are you up to date on software?

check these threads, the gist is you should be fine with those temps...


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4066786?start=0&tstart=0

check the apple discussions, it seems they are known to run hot but not to the point of being a problem. This is why i'm letting others beta test the new design for me before I give up my 17"

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=retina+macbook+pro+normal+temperature&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

That's the other temp software I installed to sanity check the istat's readings. The forums are down, but Ill check them later.
 
Considering that they're still running at half speed I wouldn't say it's decreasing the life of your fan too much.

That's like saying that running photoshop, final cut pro and playing games a lot decreases the life of your fan because it has to run at approx 5000-6000rpm constantly whilst such programs are in use.

The fan is built to withstand such use, and if running it at 3000rpm substantially decreases the fan's life, then that says something about the poor build quality, rather than your use of your mac.

The original speed should be around 1900~2100rpm.
Constantly running at 3000rpm is doing mild work all the time, which can decrease fan life.
 
The original speed should be around 1900~2100rpm.
Constantly running at 3000rpm is doing mild work all the time, which can decrease fan life.

Decrease fan life, maybe, but increases your cpu's life, that's a trade I'll make.
 
I ran my Core 2 Duo Unibody at 3200 all the time. Still running with no fan issues. 4+ years so far.
 
OP this looks a bit hotter than I would expect. Nothing to worry if you're not getting throttling due to high usage causing high temperatures.
 
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