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Overheated iMac?

K

kumo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 24, 2008
3
0
I bought a 2.4/24" iMac a few months ago. I've already had to have the motherboard replaced (it just died). I've had it back from repair now for a few weeks. I always thought it ran a bit hot. CD/DVDs are really hot when you eject them. Now that the weather is getting warmer, it is running REAL hot! I found some posts where people were talking about the 2.8s running a little hot Since I have been monitoring my iMac, my temperatures are hotter than any other post I have come across.

Using iStat Pro, I get the following readings when the computer has been on about 30 minutes and is at idle. Room temp is about 75 degrees F. All measurements are Celcius:

CPU 55, GPU 64, ambient 31, memory controller 58, HD bay 53, power Supply 77.

I just rechecked after doing this post:
CPU 57, GPU 68, ambient 32, memory controller 59, HD bay 58, power Supply 81.

Should I just keep using it till it burns up? I,m afraid to use it much.

Suggestions?
 
They might be a "tad" high but considering your current ambient temp, I would expect values around what you have. My numbers are relatively close to yours considering the fact that it's 11 degrees cooler ambient where I am.
 
The real question if you push it very hard how high do those numbers climb? Those numbers won't cause damage, the question is how hot does it get when you push it hard.
 
Hmm...

It looks as if there's nothing to worry about based on the everyones comments. Guess I'm just a bit concerned after having to replace the mother board within a few months of purchase. Maybe I'm just looking for a cause. Since I purchased Apple care, at least it's covered for 3 years. If there are any heat related issues, they should play out by then.

Still, I would like to find some documentation on what temerature ranges should be considered "normal". I found the max temp for the HD is listed at 60 Deg C. The HD bay in my iMac will run up to 58 deg C while just performing simple tasks. Guess I should do some tests to see how hot I can really get everything to go, and if nothing happens, I can relax.

Thanks.
 
Makes my 53 degree hard drive seem cool. What is the actual HD temp? Not the bay. I'm very curious. Also, I was having a similar problem and just lost my hard drive. I recommend you back up everything just in case.

-Paul
 
What would you consider pushing it?

trainguy77 said:
The real question if you push it very hard how high do those numbers climb? Those numbers won't cause damage, the question is how hot does it get when you push it hard.
Click to expand...

What applications/processes would you run to test it? Video rendering, while copying large amounts of files from the Mac drive to an external while playing a DVD in a window ? Would that work? I ask you this seriously as I have similar numbers and I actually thought the thing is running pretty cool.
 
kumo said:
Still, I would like to find some documentation on what temerature
ranges should be considered "normal". I found the max temp for
the HD is listed at 60 Deg C. The HD bay in my iMac will run up to
58 deg C while just performing simple tasks.
Click to expand...

That's way too hot for an idling hard drive. Some examples
of "normal" heavy-load temperatures (during performance
benchmark testing) can be found on tomshardware.com:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html?modelx=33&model1=117&model2=676&chart=39

As you can see, 58C (or even 50C) is completely insane for
an idling HD -- most drives don't get nearly that hot even
during tomshardware's torture-tests. FWIW, my white 20"
C2D's "Drive Bay 1" typically idles at 36C-38C, and never
gets above the low-40C's even on multi-GB backups.

Here's a link to a study on the causes of hard drive failures.

http://209.85.163.132/papers/disk_failures.pdf

Notice the range of temps included in the study (figure 4),
and the conclusions re: the effect of "high temperatures"
(i.e., anything above about 45C) on drive longevity.

BTW, the 60C spec you mentioned is the maximum ambient
operating temp, and "Drive Bay 1" is the drive's ambient.

..or trust the fanbois and bury your head in the sand,

LK
 
With the summer months approaching, the average temperature in the room can be 10 deg F hotter than it is now. Since the iMac has Apple Care, I can get it replaced if I fry it. But, it's the issue of loosing some data (even though I am backing it up daily now), and being without a computer for a few weeks that's the big problem. I hear that the computer will shut down if the CPU gets to 100 deg C. But I'd probably loose the HD before that.

So, do heat issues seem to be a common problem with iMacs? What about the Mac Pro towers?
 
Mine gets hot especially the top of my 24" iMac but I guess that is normal. Haven't had any problems yet but mine is only a week old.
 
kumo said:
With the summer months approaching, the average temperature in the room can be 10 deg F hotter than it is now. Since the iMac has Apple Care, I can get it replaced if I fry it. But, it's the issue of loosing some data (even though I am backing it up daily now), and being without a computer for a few weeks that's the big problem. I hear that the computer will shut down if the CPU gets to 100 deg C. But I'd probably loose the HD before that.

So, do heat issues seem to be a common problem with iMacs? What about the Mac Pro towers?
Click to expand...

Wow, how disappointing. You are already prepared for a meltdown that isn't going to happen. Year after year discussions about the Macs overheating get so blown out of proportion and what ends up happening? Nothing. There has been zero evidence of a meltdown or a damaged motherboard due to heat on any of the Macs all these years that have passed.

This is the problem with people on MR, you don't spend any time enjoying the computer, you create problems before they even happen and you end up stressing yourself for nothing.

Enjoy your computer rather than searching for answers to how hot it should get or what problems should you expect and when? Allow something to happen and don't create what isn't even happening.
Yes, you had an issue before but if the dentist fills your cavity are you gonna keep searching the web for probabilities of the next one or will you just wait until the dentist tells you something's wrong?

My point is just enjoy your purchase, you will be much happier. For the record I've had the 2.8Ghz iMac since Sept 07 and yes it gets quite warm and it's works beautifully.
 
HLdan said:
Wow, how disappointing. You are already prepared for a meltdown that isn't going to happen. Year after year discussions about the Macs overheating get so blown out of proportion and what ends up happening? Nothing. There has been zero evidence of a meltdown or a damaged motherboard due to heat on any of the Macs all these years that have passed.

This is the problem with people on MR, you don't spend any time enjoying the computer, you create problems before they even happen and you end up stressing yourself for nothing.

Enjoy your computer rather than searching for answers to how hot it should get or what problems should you expect and when? Allow something to happen and don't create what isn't even happening.
Yes, you had an issue before but if the dentist fills your cavity are you gonna keep searching the web for probabilities of the next one or will you just wait until the dentist tells you something's wrong?

My point is just enjoy your purchase, you will be much happier. For the record I've had the 2.8Ghz iMac since Sept 07 and yes it gets quite warm and it's works beautifully.
Click to expand...

+1

Those temps you're getting are very low. My old iMac G5 (had it for 2.5 years) is idling at 70-72C on CPU and 58-60C on HD and guess what? Its still as good as new (aside from DVD drive sometimes not burning DVD-Rs, but thats because I was feeding it with low-quality media).
 
My iMac G5 did overheat.
The last few months, performance seemed slow - I put it down to Leopard being crud
Then it started randomly sleeping
Last week, I had the bright idea of opening Console to look for messages that might give a clue to the random sleeping - this came up with overheating as the cause
Got it booked for repair after speaking to someone via Applecare.

Then yesterday, I noticed the vent above the power socket was clogged with dust.

After cleaning it, the machine runs as new (and Leopard is no longer crud)
:)
 
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