EPTThanks,
--WGCS
2008 MacBook Overheating?
| Forum Index > Tech Support |
|
wgcs
United States59 Posts
Thanks, --WGCS | ||
|
skyR
Canada13817 Posts
| ||
|
Geniuszerg
Canada454 Posts
| ||
|
Jaso
United States2147 Posts
If it's 80C that's pretty hot; try downloading smcfancontrol if you're on Mac or Lubbo's Fan Control if you're on BootCamp. They'll let you set the fan speeds, which should help. If you're under warranty I suggest you bring it into an Apple store. | ||
|
wgcs
United States59 Posts
| ||
|
Caethy
Netherlands45 Posts
80°C is fine for a computer. No, it's not cool, but it's well within the limits the hardware can take. Don't worry, you Macbook is fine. | ||
|
iloveav
Poland1482 Posts
| ||
|
JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
| ||
|
Herper
501 Posts
| ||
|
android_245
Australia103 Posts
The atmospheric temperature where you are using your laptop will have a large effect on CPU temperature so you may need to check that. The default settings for the fan control for OS X has been set so the fan speed will never increase until it really has to, in order to minimize the noise from the fan. So the fan speeds probably still won't increase at around 80C, but obviously that's not good for the hardware. Its best for you to get smcfancontrol or iStats 3 and manually adjust your fanspeed or set its minimum speed to a higher one. This will result in loud fans and you have to deal with it. If you're listening to music from iTunes, you won't be using too much of the CPU so it shouldn't heat up. Maybe you should update to the newest version of iTunes as I have seen an improvement in performance-optimization in the latest update. As for watching streams, its normal for your CPU usage to spike up really high. One of the main reason is that Adobe Flash runs horribly on OS X, OS X generally just has bad support for Flash for some time now. This goes the same if you watch videos on Youtube, play flash games or anything else that involves Flash. Personally, I have found Safari and Chrome to be better at handling Flash on OS X than other browsers namely Firefox. Also, I have an advice for you if you plan on running Starcraft II or any other heavy games/application. Before you launch the game, you have to manually set the fan speed to maximum (6200RPM). The reason for this is because Starcraft II uses almost 100% of the CPU and will generate a lot of heat in a short amount of time. If you are on the default settings, there will be an instance where you will be running at default fan speeds (2000) when your CPU usage is at 100%. The default settings also causes the fan speed to slowly increase to maximum, rather than instantaneously (using smcfancontrol). So if you're running on default settings, I have observed that the temperature of the CPU can actually hit up to 90C~95C! However, the chances of your Macbook actually overheating and doing immediate damage to the hardware is rare. But if you use the default settings, the hardware of your laptop may degrade over time. | ||
|
writer22816
United States5775 Posts
| ||
|
JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
On April 29 2011 20:36 android_245 wrote: Laptop coolers don't work on Macbooks, they don't have any slits at the bottom for the air intake. The Macbook draws air from the gaps on the keyboard. Interesting, didn't know about the air thing, but it's actually partially irrelevant, depending on the surface he's working on. Airflow underneath the laptop will still help improve the temperatures if he's using it on the wrong kind of surface, like a bed or pillow. That's why I mentioned surface as well. | ||
|
android_245
Australia103 Posts
On April 29 2011 20:49 JingleHell wrote: Interesting, didn't know about the air thing, but it's actually partially irrelevant, depending on the surface he's working on. Airflow underneath the laptop will still help improve the temperatures if he's using it on the wrong kind of surface, like a bed or pillow. That's why I mentioned surface as well. No, the reason if you are using the Macbook on the surface like the bed or pillow is because the soft surafce will mould around the bottom of the Macbook and will block off the exhaust for the hot air at the hinges. That will cause overheating. The airflow beneath at the bottom will barely affect the temperatures because the plastic case does not even conduct the heat away well. | ||
|
Caethy
Netherlands45 Posts
Laptop coolers don't work on Macbooks, they don't have any slits at the bottom for the air intake. The Macbook draws air from the gaps on the keyboard. The vent is behind the screen hinge. Laptop coolers do have an effect on Macbooks, although much less so on the plastic ones than on the aluminium ones. It never hurts to put a laptop on a proper (raised) surface. But again, 80°C is not enough to really cause concern. It's a bit too much for normal usage, but nothing to be alarmed about. Your laptop will shut itself down before it fries itself anyway. Be sure to update your flash to the newest version. The last few versions greatly decrease CPU usage (Flash is still horrible, but at least it's less horrible than earlier versions). | ||
|
android_245
Australia103 Posts
On April 29 2011 21:24 Caethy wrote: The vent is behind the screen hinge. Laptop coolers do have an effect on Macbooks, although much less so on the plastic ones than on the aluminium ones. It never hurts to put a laptop on a proper (raised) surface. But again, 80°C is not enough to really cause concern. It's a bit too much for normal usage, but nothing to be alarmed about. Your laptop will shut itself down before it fries itself anyway. Be sure to update your flash to the newest version. The last few versions greatly decrease CPU usage (Flash is still horrible, but at least it's less horrible than earlier versions). That's the exhaust vent, not the air intake vent. The air intake is at the keyboard. | ||
|
Caethy
Netherlands45 Posts
That's the exhaust vent, not the air intake vent. The air intake is at the keyboard. This is a false rumour. You can either look at Macbook teardowns (And see that there is a plastic sheet between the keyboard and the rest of the computer, preventing any air from flowing through it.) Or you can look at reports by people using keyboard covers (And finding absolutely no significant rise in temperature or fan speed.) While any laptop will dissipate a small amount of heat through holes in the construction, Macbooks are NOT designed for the keyboard to serve as an air intake. The only vent is behind the hinge. | ||
|
android_245
Australia103 Posts
However, my argument about laptop coolers not working still stands. The laptop cooler will only remove heat from the bottom external part of the laptop (plastic case), but it won't improve the air flow and improve CPU cooling significantly. Therefore a standard laptop cooler would be inefficient. A cooler that would work is if the fan is angled and blows air directly into the vent, but I'm not sure if anything like that exists. | ||
|
leFak
United Kingdom28 Posts
CPU heat usually hit ~90 when watching stream , and SC2 its about 82 - 87 C. Just install Fan control and thats all  , now i have ~60C when sc2 is running and my hands dont need to sweat all the time  | ||
|
RoosterSamurai
Japan2108 Posts
On April 29 2011 08:08 skyR wrote: Are you referring to 180F or 180C? 180F translate to ~80C which is sort of high but still reasonable load temps for a notebook. It says United States next to his name. Do you really need to ask that? | ||
|
JingleHell
United States11308 Posts
On April 29 2011 22:36 RoosterSamurai wrote: It says United States next to his name. Do you really need to ask that? I didn't need to look to know, 180C is nearly hot enough to light paper on fire, well past the boiling point of water, and ignoring that no computer would continue to function long at that temp, you wouldn't be physically able to touch the laptop to use it without burning yourself, and that's if the cheaper plastic parts hadn't melted. | ||
| ||
