Fans at 3500 RPMs constantly, how bad is that?

[CartoonHeroII]

My parents have an older 20-inch white Intel iMac that has run great through the years. But about a week ago it just started spinning the CPU fans up to 3500-4000 RPMs and it won't bring them back down. Istat shows that the CPU temp is around 90 degrees and the computer remains cool to the touch. So it isn't overheating. My parents keep it off most of the time because they don't want to ruin it, but they're planning on using it in their business they're trying to start up. We've done some web searches and nothing seems to fix it. Any suggestions here?

 

[fohawk17]

2 options:

1. Get it repaired at an apple store or retailer

or

2. try the program smcFanControl here

http://homepage.mac.com/holtmann/eidac/software/page5/page5.html

 

[cawesjmu]

iStat is showing the CPU around 90 degrees C? That's quite hot. The iMac may have dust somewhere preventing it from moving air effectively, thus not allowing it to cool off. SMC fan control software is nice if you want to up the fans, but I don't think it'll let you set the fans lower than what the Mac says is the safe minimum. Meaning you can set SMC to 3000 default, but if it heats up to where the Mac says the fans should run at 4000, it will spin at 4000. Check this article to see if it'll fix your problem.

 

[gamer2502]

iStat is showing the CPU around 90 degrees C? That's quite hot. The iMac may have dust somewhere preventing it from moving air effectively, thus not allowing it to cool off. SMC fan control software is nice if you want to up the fans, but I don't think it'll let you set the fans lower than what the Mac says is the safe minimum. Meaning you can set SMC to 3000 default, but if it heats up to where the Mac says the fans should run at 4000, it will spin at 4000. Check this article to see if it'll fix your problem.

i'm pretty sure he means 90 degrees farenhieght

 

[gamer2502]

have you tried using the fan setting in the system preferences

 

[CartoonHeroII]

Sorry, the temp is around 90 degrees fahrenheit. And I've tried smcFanControl, but it only allows you to set the minimum, not the max. I did the instruction in that article and it hasn't fixed the problem. Which System Preference controls the fan? I don't seem to be able to find it. How damaging to the fans is it to run at those speeds all the time? Not that that is a good long-term solution, but the computer needs to be used....
And about how much would it cost to repair? Thanks for all the replies.

 

[sam10685]

It's running at 90F, is cool to the touch and the fan only spins at ~400RPM? Don't worry about it man... mine sometimes goes over 6500 RPM. Your computer is doing what it should do.

 

[gamer2502]

i don't think it is a problem because i have my macbook to set the fans to run at 3500rpm all the time so it stays nice and cool usually under 110 degrees Fahrenheit do no i don't think it will hurt it