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what's the normal temperature reading for new imac 24 inch computers?

andychris02 said:
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.
Click to expand...

Thanks dude! That's very helpful! I'm aiming for the same type of usage - Win XP for gaming and Mac for everything else.

p.s. Has anyone (math genius' out there) worked out the actual life expectancy of the fans running 24/7 at higher rpm's (eg. like the above mentioned)?
 
The fans should be able to last years and years anyway. I don't think bumping them up slightly will cause any problems.

They should last longer in a tighter case anyway - dust tends to break fans way before their natural life expectancy.
 
I just installed smcFanControl2 on my iMac 3.06 ghz and the default settings are at:

ODD = 700 RPM
HDD = 1200 RPM
CPU = 1200 RPM

Is that good numbers?
 
Furtim said:
I just installed smcFanControl2 on my iMac 3.06 ghz and the default settings are at:

ODD = 700 RPM
HDD = 1200 RPM
CPU = 1200 RPM

Is that good numbers?
Click to expand...

Of course they are good. They are what Apple thinks is optimal for your hardware. Better not change them.
 
AlexisV said:
The fans should be able to last years and years anyway. I don't think bumping them up slightly will cause any problems.

They should last longer in a tighter case anyway - dust tends to break fans way before their natural life expectancy.
Click to expand...

So if i use smc fancontrol in Mac OS and then switch to Windows, do the fancontrol settings automatically transfer when using windows or do they go back to Mac's default settings?
 
I am surprised at how many people blindly trust Apple to make products without problems. Yes, engineers do make mistakes, and so do all of those factories in China that make most of the parts. Apple's hardware is not, nor has it ever been without faults.

I really love my Al iMac...BUT...when taxing the graphics card, if I don't crank up the fans a little with smcFanControl, my PSU, GPU and HD all climb to temps well out of the norm. And the screen begins to get weird artifacts all over the place, totallyl unusable. As long as I control the fans, everything is way "cool".

So there is either a design problem or a manufacturing problem. The choice is to either control the fans myself, or take the time to take it back to the Apple store for a replacement. I don't see how it can be denied that some of these machines are having problems. Search this forum and you'll see. Other posts have indicated a lot of PSUs being replaced by Apple. Maybe that's it.
 
Furtim said:
I just installed smcFanControl2 on my iMac 3.06 ghz and the default settings are at:

ODD = 700 RPM
HDD = 1200 RPM
CPU = 1200 RPM

Is that good numbers?
Click to expand...

Those numbers are the default ones. They should rise when your CPU etc, gets hotter, like over 50c. I would recommend to up your speed couple hundred rpm's. You can find the sweetspot of noise/cooling effects by testing. My modified speeds are cpu= 1500, hdd = 1800, odd = 700.

I would be most worried about the HDD temp. You should not want it to exceed over 50C. Its not good in the long term. Cooler the better. My runs now 43-49
 
rworne said:
Heat on the outside of the case means the thermal control is working.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, I have added an external fan behind my iMac (Alum 20 in early 2008) directed on the hottest spot under the heat vent. I have compared readings of up to 8-9 degrees C lowering after 5 or 10 minutes of external fan running. The fan I added is all-metal and is very efficient for it's low price (10$) and adds alitle noise but during summer I am not worried. Personnaly I prefer this little inconvenient a a longer life of my computer.

I am also concerned with fan control. Does anyone know the meaning of upper and lower threshold values ? (what it implies)

JB - Happy Mac user since the Mac 512.
 
Here is mine, runs fine but seems hot after reading this thread.
 

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Peace said:
whats your power supply temp get to ?

I've used handbrake to encode a couple of videos and every time the power supply goes up to 70 degrees and the CPU temp goes to 80-90.

Celsius.
Click to expand...

During normal everyday (for me) task's such as Aperture, iTunes, Mail, and Safari I'm at 74 degrees Celsius.
 
onsecalme said:
On the other hand, I have added an external fan behind my iMac (Alum 20 in early 2008) directed on the hottest spot under the heat vent. I have compared readings of up to 8-9 degrees C lowering after 5 or 10 minutes of external fan running.
Click to expand...

This afternoon I made another test:

before starting my external fan: (4:10 PM)
CPU A - 50C
Power Supply - 45C
Ambient - 23

after 1:30 of the fan running, while downloading torrents and burning a DVD
CPU A - 45C
Power Supply - 37C
Ambient - 21

No too bad I guess...
 
Okay

Okay..

I've just been reading this thread and my temps are:

HD - 50C
CPU A - 38C
CPU A Heat Stink - 41C
Airport Card - 41C
Ambient - 27C
GPU, GPU Diode and GPU Heat Stink all at 49C

Is that normal?
I just have a feeling my hard drive is a bit too hot, when only using safari.

It was a hot day today, temperature has been around 29 - 31C and my room does get a bit hot.

Can anyone let me know if thats too hot?

Cheers
 
I just bought my imac last week and downloaded istat. For the most part it's all pretty cool except when using the cam which brings up the heat. I've noticed the airport card is usually the highest temp of everything else at around 56 almost all the time. Is that normal? And the ODD is oddly set to 1000 while most ive read on this board is at 700.
So

Airport Card: 56
ODD: 1000
 
I have just been trialling this over the last few days, and can say I'm a very happy bunny. It was developed for the Macbook pro, and adapted by another developer for the iMac, and we thank them muchly.


http://www.derman.com/Download/Special/iMacFanControl.html

iMacFanControlC.png


iMacFanControlF.png


It effectively does for you what you would achieve by watching Temp Monitor like a hawk and actively adjusting SMCfancontrol continuously.

I've found that the preset minimum temps with minimum fan speeds caused too much fan noise, but hedging them in to 40degC min and 80degC max, causes a quiet system on web-browsing, with temps in the region of 40degC (HDD 45) and when using graphics and cpu loading, the temps barely rise, but the fans do rise to the occasion!

At last the temp response system apple should have delivered.

Now I can rest easy.

All we wait for is Apple to wake up and include this in 10.5.6 or something.
 
I am surprised at how many people blindly trust Apple to make products without problems. Yes, engineers do make mistakes, and so do all of those factories in China that make most of the parts. Apple's hardware is not, nor has it ever been without faults.

I really love my Al iMac...BUT...when taxing the graphics card, if I don't crank up the fans a little with smcFanControl, my PSU, GPU and HD all climb to temps well out of the norm. And the screen begins to get weird artifacts all over the place, totallyl unusable. As long as I control the fans, everything is way "cool".

So there is either a design problem or a manufacturing problem. The choice is to either control the fans myself, or take the time to take it back to the Apple store for a replacement. I don't see how it can be denied that some of these machines are having problems. Search this forum and you'll see. Other posts have indicated a lot of PSUs being replaced by Apple. Maybe that's it.
Click to expand...

It's ironic that the only person saying there could be a problem seems to have a problem themselves but won't get it replaced! I'd take it back. It should be able to cope with a lot of heat for extended periods with no problems - mine does.

Artifacts and freezes are symptoms of overheating. As soon as they appear, sod SMC and take the thing back.
 
I'd like to point out that my iMac has never played up even at the hottest performance, and the only reason I really want better control over the temps, is to keep the HDD to sensible levels, a la the manufacturer's specs for the drive, and really hate having to touch a 80degC PSU position on the case if I do medium duty operations!
I see this whole activity as a safeguard to long and happy use of my investment in an otherwise excellent machine.
 
It's ironic that the only person saying there could be a problem seems to have a problem themselves but won't get it replaced! I'd take it back. It should be able to cope with a lot of heat for extended periods with no problems - mine does.

Artifacts and freezes are symptoms of overheating. As soon as they appear, sod SMC and take the thing back.
Click to expand...

I agree with you Alexis. The irony is not lost on me at all. The problems are intermittent and controllable for now. As soon as I can spare my iMac for a few days, I'll take it in. My main point is that there is a problem.
 
i downloaded the imac fan control on my new imac 24 but i cant figure how to get it to open.

I am brand new to macs and am stumbling around this OS.

I dont want any probs with heat though so I am learning.
 
Temperatures

Im Just running through a few video encodes in final cut on the 2.8ghz 24' Imac and my temps are:

CPU : 86
HD : 46 <--- Lower as writing to a NAS device
GPU: 79
Ambient : 29

Im not worried though to be honest as my mac mini which i used to leave overnight usedto get up to temperatures of around 130 on the cpu and that still runs fine, power consumption cant have been good though.

Hopefully this will put away some of your fears of your cores over heating at 40.

There is a adapted mac pro at my work place withoverclocked cores which needs liquid cooling to keep it to 2 figures:p
 
you can have heatsinks at over 100 since thats what they are designed to do, get how and have as much surface area to dissipate the heat from whatever its connected to. hard drives, although run best at lower temperatures (obviously) will still be fine at 60 , more than 65/70 and its a bit weird but never the less they can run fine. and CPU's, well after overclocking my old dell PC and got a 3.00ghz single core cpu upto 4.2 or something crazy it got toasty, about 120 but even after leaving it on for ages it was still fine (although wouldnt recommend it).

apple will have pushed all the products to their limits and will have tested them from everything from below zero upto 50 (not really any point going higher since no human would last, although it doesnt mean they havent tested it even higher). their operating temps are their to make sure you dont decide to use your computer as an out door computer in winter :p.

but if you imac is just doing real basic operations such as browsing the internet or music, nearly everything should be below 52. the only that is normally a lot hotter on all computers (in my opinion) is the power supply unit.

hope that helped
 
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