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bibs213

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 30, 2012
29
0
I feel like my macbook [2012-non retina] maybe running 10-20°C too hot.

I'm just curious as to what CPU temperatures everyones machines are running at for the following tasks (and also fan speed):

1. Watching Youtube (1080p and 1080p 60fps) on Safari & Chrome. (HTML5 Mode)
2. Converting Videos Using Handbrake
3. Playing Games (CS:GO-Native & Bootcamp)

I feel as though the temps have been increasing for these tasks over time and I'm getting more common throttling whilst gaming.
 

bibs213

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 30, 2012
29
0
95°C+ watching Youtube 60fps on Chrome [2700rpm Fans]

60-76°C watching Youtube 60fps on Safari [2700rpm Fans]

95-100°C Handbrake [6200rpm Fans]

70-90°C CS:GO [Bootcamp] [6200rpm Fans] Low settings, 1400x900 Res (Was ok before but now I get constant fps dips below 50fps)
 
Last edited:

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,460
9,326
Those are all normal temps. If the machine was too hot it would shut down.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
95°C+ watching Youtube 60fps on Chrome [2700rpm Fans]
I think 95°C is a little too hot for watching YT on Chrome. While I don't have the same MBP model, I can safely say my MBP never got into the 70s while watching YT videos.

If the machine was too hot it would shut down.
It would and I think 100°C is pretty close to that threshold. I don't think those temperatures are normal, they're way too hot.
 

MRxROBOT

macrumors 6502a
Apr 14, 2016
779
806
01000011 01000001
95°C+ watching Youtube 60fps on Chrome [2700rpm Fans]
Chrome is your culprit here. Easy Solution, use Safari.

60-76°C watching Youtube 60fps on Safari [2700rpm Fans]
Temps are fine.

95-100°C Handbrake [6200rpm Fans]
Expected temperatures when taxing the CPU.

70-90°C CS:GO [Bootcamp] [6200rpm Fans] Low settings, 1400x900 Res (Was ok before but now I get constant fps dips below 50fps)
If you're taxing the MacBook under Boot Camp i.e. gaming then those temps are to be expected.
 
Last edited:
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Hellhammer

Moderator emeritus
Dec 10, 2008
22,164
582
Finland
My educated guess is that this could be due to dried thermal paste. When the paste dries, it loses its conductivity and can't transfer heat to the heat pipes and fans as efficiently. Unfortunately, there is no easy to way to check this, but the symptoms certainly support this. Replacing it isn't that hard, but it does involve taking apart pretty much the whole MBP, so if you're okay with that I would give it a try. The thermal paste Apple uses isn't very high quality anyway, so even if the paste was good replacing it with better one should lower the temps.
 
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bibs213

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 30, 2012
29
0
My educated guess is that this could be due to dried thermal paste. When the paste dries, it loses its conductivity and can't transfer heat to the heat pipes and fans as efficiently. Unfortunately, there is no easy to way to check this, but the symptoms certainly support this. Replacing it isn't that hard, but it does involve taking apart pretty much the whole MBP, so if you're okay with that I would give it a try. The thermal paste Apple uses isn't very high quality anyway, so even if the paste was good replacing it with better one should lower the temps.

I also feel that replacing thermal paste would do the job here but I'm not confident in taking the system apart to that level.

If people could post their own temperatures for these tasks, I can make a better informed decision.
 

bibs213

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 30, 2012
29
0
I followed some instructions that I found from a member ["Pootey Dang"] on the steam forums, which has massively improved the throttling and temperature situation whilst playing CSGO. I get more like 65-75°C and it's been pretty smooth :D.


'Hi guys,

Like most of you, I have had the fps drop/sound stuttering issue, and have tried EVERYTHING that I have read out there, but nothing worked for me (from LatencyMon, to a smorgasbord of launch options, to setting the priority of the csgo.exe process, BIOS and Driver updates, complete re). I've probaly spent more than 60 hours of tweaking and research in the last year to no avail... but finally... I sorted mine out... so I hope this works for one or 2 of you....

The problem with my system wasnt the GFX, even though it kinda seems that way... it was the realtime audio that uses the same IRQs and CPU, and cycles get queued, and blah blah.. jackity smackity....

Anyways... the solutiuon to mine was, to set the all the sound processes to realtime, and affinity (CPU to be used) to a seperate CPU than csgo.exe

For those of u who arent to familiar with how to set these, here follows...

1. Open up Task Manager, and click on the Services Tab...

2. Find the AudioSrv & AudioEndpointBuilder services and note their PIDs (should be 2 different ones)

3. Now got to the Processes tab, find the corresponding PIDs (both svchost.exe), right click, set priority to Realtime. right click them again, and Set Affinity to CPU 0 only.

4. Repeat step 3 for the audiog.exe process aswell.

5. Run CS:GO, back to task manager, and set csgo.exe Affinity all other CPUs except 0. (Leave the priority on normal)

Unfortanately, u need to do this everytime u run CS (Should be a way to make it perma, but I have no idea at the moment... maybe a MS Tech can help with that)

Now, when I play... I get minimal fps drop (never goes down to a stutter).. however, the stutter (less than before) now moved to when spectating.. (so not a problem while you're at the helm)

Not a perfect solution by any means, but a playable workaround for me..

Oh yeah... my launch options are "-novid -nojoy -processheap", but I do not know if this needs to be there to fix the problem, but they didnt work for me as a single solution.

As per all the existing solutions out there, this will probably work for a couple of people, and not for all. But if it doesnt work for you... good luck and happy hunting :)

Hope it helps someone..'
 

MacInTO

macrumors 65816
Apr 25, 2005
1,212
229
Canada, eh!
95°C+ watching Youtube 60fps on Chrome [2700rpm Fans]

60-76°C watching Youtube 60fps on Safari [2700rpm Fans]

95-100°C Handbrake [6200rpm Fans]

70-90°C CS:GO [Bootcamp] [6200rpm Fans] Low settings, 1400x900 Res (Was ok before but now I get constant fps dips below 50fps)
Sounds about right.

My normal CPU temp is about 40c. When I use Safari or Chrome with Flash it goes to about 80c.
 
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