Resolved Why didn't my MBP shut down (high temps)?

[Astroboy907]

I was starting up a processor intensive game on my macbook pro, with a few other processes running. It was taking up around 150-180% CPU. I had SMC Fan Control running and according to it, my temps hit 230˚F, (110C!!), and were stable around 210F before I quit another app to bring them down to 184-196˚F (84-91C).

So- I've read that the Intel Core 2 Duo in the computer is supposed to force a shutdown if it's temperature exceeds 212F - so why did my computer not shut down?? It has done this a few times before, and not shut down.
My guess is that the 212F thing is either wrong (I can't remember where I read it) or a different sensor further away from the heat.

Another thing, I experienced a couple graphic distortions running at 195F (or around there), just a flicker here and there (maybe 3 times) over an hour. Should I be worried about that? It's not an 8600 graphics card so I don't think I would experience graphics failure...

 

[Ichabod.]

Maybe you should reset the SMC. I have had shutdowns when at 100C but have never reached anywhere near 110C. They probably have a cushion between the 'hard shut off' temp and actual damage, but I would be very careful with that.

Have you ever cleaned out the computer's fan areas? They can collect a lot of dust, inhibiting cooling.

iStat Menus is a pretty good overall program ($16) for monitoring temperatures etc, but I have never had its reading differ from my SMC Fan Control by more than 1°C.

If you're adventurous (and don't mind potentially voiding parts of your warranty), you can replace the thermal compound on your CPU/GPU heatsink, which can give some significant temperature improvements. (I got about ~10°C improvements during idle and load when I did it recently.)

 

[Vanilla35]

my temps hit 230˚F, (110C!!)

Holy **** man, that's some crazy game.

Que the "Oh your application must have read those temperatures completely wrong, because apple would never let it's machine melt itself" comments.

 

[Astroboy907]

Holy **** man, that's some crazy game.

Que the "Oh your application must have read those temperatures completely wrong, because apple would never let it's machine melt itself" comments.

Haha I know, right? It was pretty dang hot though... And honestly, the game wasn't even that crazy- it was Rollercoaster Tycoon 3! Pretty pathetic (but perhaps mathematically intensive..). I've never run it on my mac (windows partition until this week, bought the mac version), maybe its a bug or just me. Kind of hoping so!

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Maybe you should reset the SMC. I have had shutdowns when at 100C but have never reached anywhere near 110C. They probably have a cushion between the 'hard shut off' temp and actual damage, but I would be very careful with that.

Have you ever cleaned out the computer's fan areas? They can collect a lot of dust, inhibiting cooling.

iStat Menus is a pretty good overall program ($16) for monitoring temperatures etc, but I have never had its reading differ from my SMC Fan Control by more than 1°C.

If you're adventurous (and don't mind potentially voiding parts of your warranty), you can replace the thermal compound on your CPU/GPU heatsink, which can give some significant temperature improvements. (I got about ~10°C improvements during idle and load when I did it recently.)

Will do on the SMC and see if it helps.. I clean out the fans every so often- last time was maybe 3 months ago? So it's probably time to do that again...

I've actually thought about doing paste for a while now. I took out the logic board when I first got it to replace a fuse and I remember it running hotter after that. Maybe I banged the heatsink around enough for it to not contact a lot. What paste do you suggest- I hear all the time about Arctic Silver 4/5 paste.

Until I get paste though, I wonder, is there a program I can use to throttle my CPU usage so it won't get that hot?

 

[fatlardo]

I had the same but I hit 105C and it didnt shut down. This was watching 4-5 youtube vids in 4k while surfing. But it only stayed at 105C for like a minute then the fans went full blast and it eventually settled under 100.

 

[Vanilla35]

Haha I know, right? It was pretty dang hot though... And honestly, the game wasn't even that crazy- it was Rollercoaster Tycoon 3! Pretty pathetic (but perhaps mathematically intensive..). I've never run it on my mac (windows partition until this week, bought the mac version), maybe its a bug or just me. Kind of hoping so!?

That does seem crazy cus those temperatures are ridiculous but I know that games like that do cause a lot stress on graphics. Games like sims are also actually quite hard to run. Definitely can't run that on high with the 650M or other mid-level cards. If you're running it in windows that could be a reason why it's crazy (if you have the mac version, why aren't you running it on OS X? Try that. If not, cleaning the fans and re-mucking the paste will help a bit. But that's for overall longevity, not gonna help your crazy temps with that game much haha

 

[Astroboy907]

That does seem crazy cus those temperatures are ridiculous but I know that games like that do cause a lot stress on graphics. Games like sims are also actually quite hard to run. Definitely can't run that on high with the 650M or other mid-level cards. If you're running it in windows that could be a reason why it's crazy (if you have the mac version, why aren't you running it on OS X? Try that. If not, cleaning the fans and re-mucking the paste will help a bit. But that's for overall longevity, not gonna help your crazy temps with that game much haha

I was running the mac version (up until the past week I only had the windows version). Well if it wont run well on a 650M, think of what it is doing running on a 9600M 512mb....

Just bought new thermal paste (Prolimatech PK3), and plan to reapply when I get it. Honestly, I think what I did was when I last took it apart, I dinged the heatsink out of place and it is contacting a lot less. So hopefully reapplying will give me a significant decrease in temps. If not, I'll take what I can get!

 

[Yahooligan]

Que the "Oh your application must have read those temperatures completely wrong, because apple would never let it's machine melt itself" comments.

Actually, SMCFanControl's temps DO NOT match those of either iStat Pro or "Hardware Monitor" so without at least one other app confirming the temp data the only assumption I'm left with is that SMCFanControl is not reporting the correct temperature.

Intel, not Apple, sets the shutdown temperature of the CPU. If the app is reading >105C then the app is wrong. Not sure that it needs to be any more complicated than that, IMO.

 

[Astroboy907]

Actually, SMCFanControl's temps DO NOT match those of either iStat Pro or "Hardware Monitor" so without at least one other app confirming the temp data the only assumption I'm left with is that SMCFanControl is not reporting the correct temperature.

Intel, not Apple, sets the shutdown temperature of the CPU. If the app is reading >105C then the app is wrong. Not sure that it needs to be any more complicated than that, IMO.

I think I have the trial of iStat somewhere.. I'll see if I can find it and see if it reports significantly differently. Either way, still getting new thermal paste

 

[Astroboy907]

Ok, really hoping that new paste and an overall clean up helps a lot. I've been looking at my temps a lot since this and I hit the 190° mark daily, and normal use (web browsing, email) is anywhere from 140° to 160° (all temps in Fahrenheit, sorry rest of the world but I'm American). Paste should get here monday. I'll keep you all posted! Have kept myself from doing anything super processor intensive lately to keep from frying my computer...

 

[sofianito]

Total cost of rMBP = $2000+ + cost of thermal paste + worries when changing the thermal paste (priceless)...

As you are hacking, this computer is not anymore genuine but Hackintosh...

 

[Astroboy907]

Total cost of rMBP = $2000+ + cost of thermal paste + worries when changing the thermal paste (priceless)...

As you are hacking, this computer is not anymore genuine but Hackintosh...

Ummm... what? I don't own an rMBP, its a Late 2008 15" MacBook pro! It's only worth around $400. Plus, I didn't worry so much about the overall cost of the paste more than if I were to get a fake/old tube on eBay. I'm perfectly fine paying more for the paste if I need it, but if I could save a few $ why wouldn't I? Plus, there are much cheaper pastes than the one I got. I also don't worry about applying the thermal paste, I am very comfortable disassembling my computer and have even done component level repairs on it.

As for the computer, with the mods and repairs I have done to it, it's pretty Hackintosh, yeah

 

[sofianito]

Ummm... what? I don't own an rMBP, its a Late 2008 15" MacBook pro! It's only worth around $400. Plus, I didn't worry so much about the overall cost of the paste more than if I were to get a fake/old tube on eBay. I'm perfectly fine paying more for the paste if I need it, but if I could save a few $ why wouldn't I? Plus, there are much cheaper pastes than the one I got. I also don't worry about applying the thermal paste, I am very comfortable disassembling my computer and have even done component level repairs on it.

As for the computer, with the mods and repairs I have done to it, it's pretty Hackintosh, yeah

The prolimatech is a very good thermal paste. I posted a good link that explains the best ways to apply thermal paste: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1533456/

 

[Astroboy907]

The prolimatech is a very good thermal paste. I posted a good link that explains the best ways to apply thermal paste: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1533456/

Oh, lol. I was just wondering why you posted about a retina MBP thanks for the link!

 

[sofianito]

Oh, lol. I was just wondering why you posted about a retina MBP thanks for the link!

Sorry, I am posting from my Nexus 16. Didn't see your signature...

 

[Astroboy907]

Sorry, I am posting from my Nexus 16. Didn't see your signature...

Haha, yeah I don't like the mobile site as much, can't see signatures, or upvote...
Off topic- how do you like the nexus? I've heard from a lot of Mac people (at least around here) that they don't like it. It's weird to see people here sometimes using non apple stuff, apple people seen to hate android. I personally don't mind it, and quite want a galaxy as my next phone if apple doesn't do some radical upgrading with its phones in the next couple years...

 

[sofianito]

Haha, yeah I don't like the mobile site as much, can't see signatures, or upvote...
Off topic- how do you like the nexus? I've heard from a lot of Mac people (at least around here) that they don't like it. It's weird to see people here sometimes using non apple stuff, apple people seen to hate android. I personally don't mind it, and quite want a galaxy as my next phone if apple doesn't do some radical upgrading with its phones in the next couple years...

To be honest, the only good things are the screen real estate compared to my wife's iPhone 4S, free apps, firmware upgrade, and the price. The pictures' quality is pretty bad compared to the iPhone 4S. The user experience is a bit unstable especially when manipulating text. It is so horrible sometimes when I want to cut and paste text.... I just upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.3, and sometimes when I push the spacebar, the last word I typed is duplicated... Weird...

I heard the Galaxy 4 is much better and has nifty features... The only drawback is since it is customized, it takes time to get latests firmware updates...

If the iPhone 5S or 5C comes with a 4.8" screen, I would likely buy it...

 

[Astroboy907]

So replaced the thermal paste yesterday (replaced my dented and breaking top case too). My 2 hour estimated repair ended up being 10 hours long because my bluetooth needed reconnected, and my LDVS cable was not connecting well to the LCD, and some cable in the new top case was broken and the SMC wouldn't let me boot. Apart from that, got to the heatsink and replaced the paste, put around a BB sized drop on the dies after cleaning with 90% isopropyl alcohol several times. Let the pressure of the heatsink spread it rather than doing the credit card method. Not looking great right now, my temps are still about 150-160°F with normal use (fans are a bit slower, 3000 rpm). Temps settle at a nice 190°F with 140% or so CPU usage. Will test out gaming tonight and see if it did anything significant, but right now I think its about 10°F better. I have pics of the application if anybody wants to critique me.

 

[Yahooligan]

Those temps are in line with what's considered "normal" depending on which app you're looking at. I don't know what you were expecting in terms of numbers, but I don't see your numbers as being out of line.

 

[cammykool]

Haha, yeah I don't like the mobile site as much, can't see signatures, or upvote...
Off topic- how do you like the nexus? I've heard from a lot of Mac people (at least around here) that they don't like it. It's weird to see people here sometimes using non apple stuff, apple people seen to hate android. I personally don't mind it, and quite want a galaxy as my next phone if apple doesn't do some radical upgrading with its phones in the next couple years...

I'm posting this from my Galaxy S3 running android 4.3

 

[Astroboy907]

I don't know what you were expecting in terms of numbers, but I don't see your numbers as being out of line.

I was expecting a 50c drop at LEAST!

Tried gaming on it last night, got to around 130% CPU usage with spotify, etc running and a few background processes. Temps were stable at 185-190°F, and maxed out at 200°F even for a few seconds at a time. Have yet to see what happens when the CPU reaches 150% or greater, but I think it is pretty stable now. I guess the paste I used works better at the higher end of temps? IDK. Anyways, putting a resolved on the thread. Oh, one other thing. Everything was going fine with fans on max and temps at 190°F until I tried to do something in the game and the entire computer locked up and froze completely. Ended up doing a forced shutdown. I'm hoping it was a one time thing though.

 

[revalationist]

I was expecting a 50c drop at LEAST!

Tried gaming on it last night, got to around 130% CPU usage with spotify, etc running and a few background processes. Temps were stable at 185-190°F, and maxed out at 200°F even for a few seconds at a time. Have yet to see what happens when the CPU reaches 150% or greater, but I think it is pretty stable now. I guess the paste I used works better at the higher end of temps? IDK. Anyways, putting a resolved on the thread. Oh, one other thing. Everything was going fine with fans on max and temps at 190°F until I tried to do something in the game and the entire computer locked up and froze completely. Ended up doing a forced shutdown. I'm hoping it was a one time thing though.

Where did you get RCT3 from; I have a torrented version (I bought the game first; but I will never shell out to a company that isn't even related to Atari for a mac version that doesnt run very well) and I only hit temps of 70-90 centigrade, lower the graphics settings.

 

[Astroboy907]

Where did you get RCT3 from; I have a torrented version (I bought the game first; but I will never shell out to a company that isn't even related to Atari for a mac version that doesnt run very well) and I only hit temps of 70-90 centigrade, lower the graphics settings.

StackSocial had it for sale for $4.99 (the Steam version). I'll try lowering the graphics but it seemed pretty decent between balanced and quality. I'm not a high FPS person, I can stand the FPS being in the 20's or so...

 

[revalationist]

StackSocial had it for sale for $4.99 (the Steam version). I'll try lowering the graphics but it seemed pretty decent between balanced and quality. I'm not a high FPS person, I can stand the FPS being in the 20's or so...

I know, but if at min settings it's running at high temps then we can establish whether it's normal and it's the game taxing your components, or there's something wrong.

Actually, mine isn't on steam, it's a standalone program. Maybe that's the differentiating factor?

 

[Astroboy907]

I know, but if at min settings it's running at high temps then we can establish whether it's normal and it's the game taxing your components, or there's something wrong.

Actually, mine isn't on steam, it's a standalone program. Maybe that's the differentiating factor?

After a whole bunch of problems, and taking it apart again and again I'm left without a screen on it (just a keyboard and body). Reapplied the paste one last time when I was mucking around. Still hits the 190's but stabilizes in the 170's with the fan full speed and CPU usage 100-120%. Have not gotten a chance to test with the game but I suspect it will perform better by just a bit. Guessing part of it was my application

Edit: I should perhaps try to find another version of it and try playing around with it to see if it is just steam? I have upgraded from Lion to Mavericks so that might help part of the problem if it's just a wacky driver issue or something.