iMac mid 2011 21.5" starts to get hot when playing games

[macrhys26]

Hi guys,
I've had my iMac for about 4 years now (but it's the mid 2011) and I've always played counter strike global offensive on it. I've noticed that my iMac gets really hot after a while and causes me to have mouse input lag. I know its a heating problem as when I play counterstrike when my iMac is first turned on, theres no input lag. When I play a few matches after I start the game, I can feel the back of my iMac getting really hot and the mouse input delay starts. I would just like to know if anyone can help with the heating issues. I don't like the idea of speeding up fans, as people on the discussions apple website say that it causes fans to burn out quicker which is not good as the mac is already 4 years old.

Thanks for the help,
Rhys

 

[maflynn]

The fans will speed up automatically as the hear rises, there are apps to force the fans to go as fast as you want. From the sounds of the your post, its possible that you're getting into thermal throttling where the computer is getting too hot.

On normal computers, I'd recommend opening it up and see if the fans could use a good cleaning given that the computer is 4 years old, but iMacs are not a normal computer and opening them up can be tricky.

I don't like the idea of speeding up fans, as people on the discussions apple website say that it causes fans to burn out quicker which is not good as the mac is already 4 years old.

I'd rather do that, then risk over-heating the components too much and risk damaging them - just my $.02 on that.