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what's the normal temperature reading for new imac 24 inch computers?
- Thread starter kryszrich
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Leon Kowalski
macrumors 6502a
"Overall our experiments can confirm previously reported temperature
effects only for the high end of our temperature range ...."
So, didya happen to notice that the extreme high end of their range
is LOWER than the temps reported for many ALU iMacs -- at idle?
...but believe what you wish, it ain't my drive,
LK
True, they didn't show anything higher than 50C in Fig 4 and they only specified >45C in Fig 5. However, judging from Fig 5, the AFR for >45C is 15% in the third year. Even if only 15% of the G5 iMac suffers failed HD, that's thousands and thousands of pissed off customers so where are they? If anything, failed logic boards seem to be a far more common problem with these machines.
AlexisV
macrumors 68000
Hard drives are far more likely to fail within the first couple of days of use than years down the line.
You've got three choices:
Don't buy an iMac out of fear of it failing in a few years.
Do buy a iMac and spend your entire time worrying.
Do buy an iMac, get over the fact it may or may not fail in 3 or 4 years as with anything in life, but be safe in the knowledge you'll have a great time using it and the fact you'll probably have sold it in 3 years anyway to upgrade to the latest iMac.
You've got three choices:
Don't buy an iMac out of fear of it failing in a few years.
Do buy a iMac and spend your entire time worrying.
Do buy an iMac, get over the fact it may or may not fail in 3 or 4 years as with anything in life, but be safe in the knowledge you'll have a great time using it and the fact you'll probably have sold it in 3 years anyway to upgrade to the latest iMac.
Leon Kowalski
macrumors 6502a
Your iMac came with three fans, but Apple's firmware is too
brain-dead to make reasonable use of them.
Install smcFanControl and use your brain (not included with iMac).
LK
Hot iMac declared DOA
I think it is a bit silly to install a fan control program to your Mac. How many car owners who feel their car is running too hot would try to make adjustments to the car's computer to speed up its radiator system? We're Mac owners, not PC hot-rodders who overclock their systems.
If car were heating up such that it warmed the driver compartment and you had to run the air conditioning or open the windows just to try your car even in fair weather, wouldn't you take it to a shop?
Perhaps one reason why there is no "patch" is that people are posting about here and then trying to "treat" it on their own rather than taking it in and bringing it to Apple's attention.
I just got a 24" iMac that is running so hot, with the power supply once reaching 83 C (181 F) at idle, that I can feel the heat on my face. I called tech support and they told me to bring it in. The shop agreed that it was hot. Tech support cannot fix it or even explain it (e.g, the fans are certainly working they way Apple intended), so Apple declared it DOA and is giving me a refund.
Incidentally, running smcFanControl probably couldn't help with a problem where you physically feel the heat since it would just move the heat into the surrounding air from another direction. The screen was averaging around 39.4 C [103 F]).
I think it is a bit silly to install a fan control program to your Mac. How many car owners who feel their car is running too hot would try to make adjustments to the car's computer to speed up its radiator system? We're Mac owners, not PC hot-rodders who overclock their systems.
If car were heating up such that it warmed the driver compartment and you had to run the air conditioning or open the windows just to try your car even in fair weather, wouldn't you take it to a shop?
Perhaps one reason why there is no "patch" is that people are posting about here and then trying to "treat" it on their own rather than taking it in and bringing it to Apple's attention.
I just got a 24" iMac that is running so hot, with the power supply once reaching 83 C (181 F) at idle, that I can feel the heat on my face. I called tech support and they told me to bring it in. The shop agreed that it was hot. Tech support cannot fix it or even explain it (e.g, the fans are certainly working they way Apple intended), so Apple declared it DOA and is giving me a refund.
Incidentally, running smcFanControl probably couldn't help with a problem where you physically feel the heat since it would just move the heat into the surrounding air from another direction. The screen was averaging around 39.4 C [103 F]).
I have to say, after reading about all the possible issues (gradient, bleeding backlight, overheating, etc) I am getting a little nervous about my new iMac coming tomorrow. 😕
I am assuming that most of the time people don't have issues and that I am just seeing the negative because people without problems don't post as much.
I am assuming that most of the time people don't have issues and that I am just seeing the negative because people without problems don't post as much.
rworne
macrumors 6502a
This might help somewhat:
My 1st 24" AL iMac had a gradient, where the screen went from neutral to yellowish as you went left-to-right. Otherwise, it was rock-solid and had no issues aside from running hot (it was a C2D Extreme). The replacement was perfect. It also runs alarmingly hot for my tastes, but it has been stress-tested running BOINC for 3 months straight with no issues. In fact, this machine (and its predecessor) had no kenel panics or lockups of any kind.
The wife just got one of the latest iMacs. It's a 24", 2.8 GHz, fresh from the local Apple Store. No issues with it at all (this one runs pretty warm too).
I use smcfancontrol on both to keep the interior cooler - modest bumps in fan speed for the HD and processor.
dont worry too much... before I got my imac (while it was being delivered) i kept reading tons of threads on all the problems too and it was making me nervous. but so far mine is fine...
but even before I seriously considered buying the imac, i wondered "how come it doesn't overheat?"
and i'm still wondering about it... cuz the case does get pretty hot sometimes... still wondering if i should get that fan control program or not
eXan
macrumors 601
I installed SMC Fan Control on my 2.8-GHz 24-inch iMac, and the installer told me the utility wasn't tested on my model.
Worse, adjusting the fan speed settings had no effect whatsoever on the actual fan speeds.
Any advice on how to get SMC Fan Control to do what everyone says it's doing for them?
Thanks!
nickf
macrumors regular
There's no reason to fiddle around with Apple's default fan settings tbh.
I wouldn't bother with SMC Fan Control if I were you.
Well, I may be overly sensitive, but heat killed two hard drives in my Fujitsu laptop and recently made the laptop so undependable that I finally dumped it for a new iMac.
So I was concerned that iStat was reporting temperatures well in excess of 100˚, including 117˚ on the hard drive!
After uninstalling and reinstalling smcFanControl, I've moved the fan speed settings to about 45% of the ranges it offers, and now iStat reports the temperatures as noticeably lower.
Call me a coward, but cooler just seems better.
higher rpm result in shorter lifespan for internal fans
If the internal fans are bumped up 500rpm, at least, would that not shorten the lifespan of the fan? Would it not be better to just have an external fan directed at the back of the iMac where the vents are?
If the internal fans are bumped up 500rpm, at least, would that not shorten the lifespan of the fan? Would it not be better to just have an external fan directed at the back of the iMac where the vents are?
too hot to touch
I'm a bit worried coz my 24" 2.8 ghz imac is running hotter than what anyone has reported here.
HD: 57
cpu A: 47
Ambient: 32
GPU: 53
Power supply 66
I haven't been doing anything taxing, only have Thunderbird and Firefox open.
I couldn't get smcfancontrol to run because it says my system is unsupported (?)
I'm a bit worried coz my 24" 2.8 ghz imac is running hotter than what anyone has reported here.
HD: 57
cpu A: 47
Ambient: 32
GPU: 53
Power supply 66
I haven't been doing anything taxing, only have Thunderbird and Firefox open.
I couldn't get smcfancontrol to run because it says my system is unsupported (?)
eXan
macrumors 601
optimum smc fancontrol settings
So what would be the best settings on smc fancontrol for heavy multimedia usage, gaming, etc?
So what would be the best settings on smc fancontrol for heavy multimedia usage, gaming, etc?
What I do not understand is why people do not let the iMac decide the temp it would like to run at?
I mean I was playing a game the other day and the Fans auto-magically went from the standard to about 1000 rpm higher. The temp was being controlled to not go over 72 degrees from what I could see.
I live in Spain so I was worried about temps, however I trust the Os X to do the fan controlling for me.
Maybe Im totally off the plot but thats my way of thinking.
Had the iMac for nearly a Month now. ( first one ) Boy do I love this thing.
I mean I was playing a game the other day and the Fans auto-magically went from the standard to about 1000 rpm higher. The temp was being controlled to not go over 72 degrees from what I could see.
I live in Spain so I was worried about temps, however I trust the Os X to do the fan controlling for me.
Maybe Im totally off the plot but thats my way of thinking.
Had the iMac for nearly a Month now. ( first one ) Boy do I love this thing.
eXan
macrumors 601
I have my SMC set to- ODD 2200 / HDD 3000 / CPU 2100 for Gaming under XP, the Mac seems to get alot warmer, alot quicker when using Windows.
When using Photoshop CS3 and the like under OsX I have the fans set at my 'default' setting - 1450 / 2100 / 1650.
These temps seem to work for me and my Mac seems to keep nice and cool, the HDD stays pretty much under 50 / 51ºC when gaming (Crysis / A.Creed / CoD4, etc) in Windows. I started the Mac up in Windows the other day without starting up in OsX so the fans were at default speeds (the ones set by Apple) and after about 2 hours of doing normal stuff (internet mainly) the HDD was at 57ºC, and that was without any hard labour on the drive.
When working under OsX the HDD stays pretty much under 50º, mainly between 47 - 49ºC, the fans run slower but OsX doesn't seem to labour the Mac as much.
Hope that helps.
Why does everyone think you need to change the fan speeds. Don't you think Apple would know how to program fans to an appropriate speed? 😕
You will probably just wear out your fans this way. They made the Aluminum mac out of Aluminum because it conducts heat very well. If I run Folding at Home and do casual use(iTunes, iChat, Safari) OS X automatically bumped my CPU fan speed close to 2000 rpm. If you are really worried about your computer, get applecare. That way, if anything heat related does go wrong just bring it in. Or, you could get applecare and run your fans as fast as you want until they fall apart and then bring your computer in to get it fixed. If you use your computer, it will begin to degrade. I am sure apple has done a TON of testing on their computers and know the limits. If you think you know better, install a fan controlling program but be prepared for your fans to wear out much faster. 😛