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Worrying temps

S

slowboat

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2009
7
0
Hello. I have some worrying temps on my 27-inch C2D. I've checked this and other forums but can't seem to find a definitive answer as to what constitutes an emergency temperature-wise.

Without doing anything except surfing the net and watching video podcasts on iTunes, iStat Pro is showing my HD at 57°C and my Northbridge at 75°C. I am really alarmed at these temperatures. Should I be? Does anyone have any idea why these would be running so hot? My CPU activity is minimal.

I am wary about using FanControl because it seems like that would just mask the original problem. The temps should be lower with this kind of minimal activity, so there must be a root problem that needs to be addressed first.

Can anyone offer any suggestions, please? Thanks....
 
that heat will kill your HD early. Anything north of 55 is asking for trouble.

Reason? Badly designed and badly made piece of hardware.


try install a fan control program and turning it up.
 
archipellago said:
that heat will kill your HD early. Anything north of 55 is asking for trouble.

Reason? Badly designed and badly made piece of hardware.


try install a fan control program and turning it up.
Click to expand...


There needs to be some clarification on this.

I've heard numerous owners install a temp monitor and reconfigure the temp parameters, conforming or operating outside of what Apple has programmed as default.

Are these fan monitors really necessary?

Is it proven that high temps (in an iMac 27") will shorten the life of HW, or is this just another old wives tale.

I would think Apple is cognizant of this fact and that their factory settings are operating according to their engineers, which should leave little to no worry concerning overheating HW. If this were not the case, wouldn't Apple have long ago updated the SW to reflect a broader necessity to achieve optimal cooling?
 
iMacs run hot in comparison to the typical computer. It is the price we pay for the clean "look" of a iMac.

Most the parts can do the extra temp without a problem! The hard drive is the exception and will not live as long under these conditions yet will, in most cases, live long enough for most.

I for one would sacrifice an extra vent or two in the back of the case for cooling things off!:eek:
 
archipellago said:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/12/hard-drive-temperatures-be-afraid.html

Hard drives are only rated to 55C in most cases. Although there's still a lot of ongoing discussion on what exactly a "safe" temperature is for a hard drive, the general consensus is that high temperatures are much more risky for the hard drive than any other component inside your computer.
Click to expand...

Is it unreasonable to expect an iMac to last 4 years on its orginal HD without this fan monitor? I've had HDs for at least this long without issues in a conventional desktop. Does anyone feel that the iMac HDD won't last 4 yrs without tweaking the RPM settings?
 
Just a different iMac , same worries.

I had an iMac DV400 , came out in `99.

It came with a 5400 rpm HD that failed after 2.5 years.

Was replaced ( by Comp-USA ) with a 7200 rpm WD-HD , lasted about 2 years.

After that failed I decided to learn how to do the job myself , so I bought a Maxtor HD , failed about 2 years later , then about 2 years after that I had to replace it again.

After that I sold it and bought a Mini , and in a few weeks it will be 3 years old.

Heat matters !!!

I was frying the HD`s in my old gumball , even though it was green tinted , I could still see some burnt insulation on some of the wires and cables.

If I would have know that 7200 rpm HD`s heat up so much , I would never have used them , live and learn , hey !!

Just something to mention about heat , HD`s and inclosed spaces ;) .

Later :D

Gary 

PS:

Mini still hanging on ( I whisper and bang on a large piece of wood !! ).
 
IndustrialSpace said:
Is it unreasonable to expect an iMac to last 4 years on its orginal HD without this fan monitor? I've had HDs for at least this long without issues in a conventional desktop. Does anyone feel that the iMac HDD won't last 4 yrs without tweaking the RPM settings?
Click to expand...

doesn't really matter... with newer iMacs the logic board or some other major part will fail well before the 4 year point anyway.

2 years is lucky...
 
Thanks for your replies guys. What I still can't understand is why temps on my unit are running higher than temps on comparable units (from what people have posted online). Why would others have an HD going at 43°C on average while mine is north of 55°C, even when mine is barely doing any work?
 
Whats the best app to download for fan control and temp regulation as i was running windows via bootcamp and my imac 27 got so hot i couldn't touch it could smell burning,
 
mdoyle said:
Whats the best app to download for fan control and temp regulation as i was running windows via bootcamp and my imac 27 got so hot i couldn't touch it could smell burning,
Click to expand...

dont worry about touch, the smell isn't good though. Probably dust but still.

I use smcfancontrol. You set fan speeds in OSX and then reboot into windows, and the fan settings stay. It works well enough.

Search in the forums here for more info, there are a million threads on heat control.
 
archipellago said:
doesn't really matter... with newer iMacs the logic board or some other major part will fail well before the 4 year point anyway.

2 years is lucky...
Click to expand...

Typical winblows fanboy spending all his time on a mac forum because he secretly wishes he had a Mac. Instead of being bitter why not sell some of your foodstamps every week until you have enough money to buy a real computer.
 
AppleRules said:
Typical winblows fanboy spending all his time on a mac forum because he secretly wishes he had a Mac. Instead of being bitter why not sell some of your foodstamps every week until you have enough money to buy a real computer.
Click to expand...

lol, whatever Mr Clueless..
 
The reason those temperature sensors are there are not so YOU can monitor the temperature but so OS X can. It will do whatever it needs to make sure no damage is done. If that means run the fans quicker it'll do it. If that doesn't help and things get out of control your mac will simply shut down. Come back when it does this, because until then everything is normal.
 
Thank you Rhalliwell1! That is comforting advice, well written. I will let OSX do the worrying for me!
 
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