Keeping iMac CPU healthy

[Keretto]

Hi,

I just got my iMac (mid 2010) fixed, the graphics Card was broken, there were vertical lines on the screen. It happened while I was playing a game (a game that uses a lot of the iMac's processing power). I still want to play games but I don't want to break the computer again. So I have a few questions:

1. Can I make sure i'm not forcing the computer by looking at the Activity Monitor CPU? And how

2. I have a program called smcFanControl. Should I increase the CPU fan speed?

3. What other methods are there?

4. What type of games should I not play? (Graphical-wise)

Thank You!

 

[06tb06]

1.) You are trying to play games on a machine that's nearly a decade old.

2.) Graphical-wise, you shouldn't play any games on a Mac. They're not designed for gaming.

 

[J.Gallardo]

My “late2009” also broke gpu because of heat. The tearing comes from changes in temp, wich tend to break some micro soldering. I wasn’t playing when my mac went black.
A computer can make the work you throw at it (if it can handle it). Don’t let anybody tell you what kind of programs you should run on it. It’s just a machine. Making a loooong rendering is much more stressing than gaming.
- CPU & GPU have their own safety mechanisms, but it’s a GOOD idea to use fan control (I didn’ use it; I didn’t know about this till mac broke) & give some more rpm. I think is the only way to keep your mac a little bit cooler.
- Clean air intakes.
- When a game was too new for my system, choosing a lower resolution was the most effective way to get decent frames/s.
(Relax, play, and assume time goes by for electronics too)

 

[Keretto]

My “late2009” also broke gpu because of heat. The tearing comes from changes in temp, wich tend to break some micro soldering. I wasn’t playing when my mac went black.
A computer can make the work you throw at it (if it can handle it). Don’t let anybody tell you what kind of programs you should run on it. It’s just a machine. Making a loooong rendering is much more stressing than gaming.
- CPU & GPU have their own safety mechanisms, but it’s a GOOD idea to use fan control (I didn’ use it; I didn’t know about this till mac broke) & give some more rpm. I think is the only way to keep your mac a little bit cooler.
- Clean air intakes.
- When a game was too new for my system, choosing a lower resolution was the most effective way to get decent frames/s.
(Relax, play, and assume time goes by for electronics too)

Thanks!

The guy who fixed it said the same thing too! The iMac heats up and cools down heats up and cools down... and breaks the gpu! (The guy who fixed it told me not to play any games, that's why i'm here asking these questions.) So do I give the CPU more rpm? How much? Will that prevent the CPU from breaking? (Sorry, I'm just a little paranoid about this, thanks!)

 

[J.Gallardo]

More revolutions per minute for fans. I haven't used SMC FanControl... but I think the idea is to trigger-on the fans before default system orders (so, I suppose you set a lower Temp as marker to ramp fans up). I think you could also increase rpm with same temp triggers. I guess the idea is to combine both strategies.
I've heard of people using an external cooler or fan pointing to the back of iMac.
I've seen a guy who made holes in the mac's aluminium back!
... I think it's to much worries about something I suspect is a base level engineering thing: robotic soldering & mass production give us products that can't avoid harm made in 7-8 years heating-cooling stress...

 

[Samuelsan2001]

More revolutions per minute for fans. I haven't used SMC FanControl... but I think the idea is to trigger-on the fans before default system orders (so, I suppose you set a lower Temp as marker to ramp fans up). I think you could also increase rpm with same temp triggers. I guess the idea is to combine both strategies.
I've heard of people using an external cooler or fan pointing to the back of iMac.
I've seen a guy who made holes in the mac's aluminium back!
... I think it's to much worries about something I suspect is a base level engineering thing: robotic soldering & mass production give us products that can't avoid harm made in 7-8 years heating-cooling stress...

All electronics go through heating cooling cycles, all electronics are damaged by this, all electronics ultimately fail because of this it’s a result of physics and is unavoidable it's the nature of the beast. Increasingly small manufacturing processes make the performance per watt better with time more modern chips will probably last longer.
7-8 years is a good innings for any all in one computer and computer owners should plan to change their hardware every 5-7 years for essentially non-upgradable laptops and all in ones. That’s due to the exponentially increasing chance of failure in many of the components not to mention the LCD slowly dying and the demands of software gets more intensive with time.
The specific gpu issues from around this time seem to stem from changes in solder technology to avoid lead and hit both Nvidia and amd from 2008 to 2012.

 

[J.Gallardo]

All electronics go through heating cooling cycles, all electronics are damaged by this, all electronics ultimately fail because of this it’s a result of physics and is unavoidable it's the nature of the beast. Increasingly small manufacturing processes make the performance per watt better with time more modern chips will probably last longer.
7-8 years is a good innings for any all in one computer and computer owners should plan to change their hardware every 5-7 years for essentially non-upgradable laptops and all in ones. That’s due to the exponentially increasing chance of failure in many of the components not to mention the LCD slowly dying and the demands of software gets more intensive with time.
The specific gpu issues from around this time seem to stem from changes in solder technology to avoid lead and hit both Nvidia and amd from 2008 to 2012.

Totally agree... But not true it's "unavoidable it's the nature of the beast".
MarsRover "Opportunity" is working since 2004 on Mars, experiencing much more radical heating/cooling cycles!
As you point, we users suffered a shorter life-span in favor of going "greener" until manufacturers found a solution.
And perhaps making popular computers not so robust has a logical explanation, as keeping a Mac for 15 years would made it obsolete and non-functional. I keep a G5 iMac in its box, in the garage; it's in perfect fit (it was, when got buried...)

 

[haruhiko]

Totally agree... But not true it's "unavoidable it's the nature of the beast".
MarsRover "Opportunity" is working since 2004 on Mars, experiencing much more radical heating/cooling cycles!
As you point, we users suffered a shorter life-span in favor of going "greener" until manufacturers found a solution.
And perhaps making popular computers not so robust has a logical explanation, as keeping a Mac for 15 years would made it obsolete and non-functional. I keep a G5 iMac in its box, in the garage; it's in perfect fit (it was, when got buried...)

It doesn't just happen to Apple. My Lexus suffered from melting dashboard due to the use of so-called 'eco-friendly' plastic, which decomposed in just a few years under sunlight (UV)! Lexus finally offered free replacement for all the internal plastic + leather, which costed them a lot. Obviously, this time the plastic is not so eco-friendly under sunlight.

 

[Fishrrman]

I wonder how many of these "graphics failures" due to poor solder have to do with the introduction of "environmentally-friendly" lead-free solder?

 

[derohan]

I'm just patiently waiting for the REAL planned obsolescence lawsuits to start with Apple in the EU/US and abroad; including the Pb-free solder as a main point for sure ^^

Now that all is soldered or held back beneath by torx, pentalobe etc - how the f*ck can you save devices in case of spills?

Scrambled around my parent's place for aforementioned tools (10mins) while a MB air 13" with a whole beer in it sat there in need of drastic measures.. thanks for the easy battery access Johnny Ive, how is a normal person to disconnect a battery to save themselves from data failure or general health & safety concerns regarding electrical equipment?
Luckily ran it all under a warm shower ASAP but man that was grimy, had to touch it up later with Alcohol haha! all fine.

Same thing with a iPhone 4 pentalobe in turkey a few years back, tumbled with some gear through some sand tunnels, exploded a coke in my bag with camera equipment & phone; result was a dead iPhone after days of heating and LED on etc while I had no tools in some of the most ghetto parts near Syria, cool! managed to pry it open though so it didn't burn out.

Waterproof Macbooks/iTrashcan/Mac Pro I don't think so..
Really miss aspects of the older Apple designs 2012 Mac Pro pleaaaase