13" MBP (2009) Hot CPU

My CPU is reporting temps between 57c - 66c (135f -150f) at 10% CPU Usage. I'm using Istat Pro to monitor. I live in Singapore of course so i'm sure the climate contributes to this. But I get those temps even when I have the aircon on.

Is there something wrong with my unit?

Cheers

 

may be the climate but be sure to check the processes active coz the more background applications are run, the hotter the laptop(CPU) will get.

 

it's at 10% CPU usage when i get those temps... i have Safari and YM open... that's it...

 

All you have is a web browser and a messenger open and its taking 10% CPU and running so hot. Wow! That's bad.

 

yeah... that's why i posted this thread... should i send it for repair?

 

by the way... how many fans am i supposed to have? i only see 1 called Exhaust... is this correct?

do high temp readings warrant repair?

 

you should have one... set higher fan RPM

 

yes, install smc fan control and then crank the fan settings to the max.

 

Depends on what you're doing with the messenger. When I have a video conversation doing in iChat, temps will reach 158F or so and the fan will kick up to say 6000rpm, once the video chat ends, the temps cool back down to to the mid 120 (gauging temp by CPU temp).

 

I have a new 13" MBP. I live in India, so outside temps are pretty much worse than Singapore.

My CPU stays around low 50s when its idle and on load, I've seen it even go upto about 80C (although it came down to about 70C pretty fast).

Usually its at around 60C. My Dell actually stays around 50C, so I guess its ok.

The problem is with the design. All laptops have a proper exhaust outlet to circulate the air. This one only has a small exhaust near the hinges and the way the CPU fans are positions (I saw them when I opened it up), they don't have a good way to push it properly.
So I expect it to be hotter than similar laptops.

However, I only notice my CPU to be hot. The enclosures or HDD aren't hot at all. Even if I touch the base, it feels warm, not hot.

 

macs always tend to get hot due to their metallic enclosure.

 

I was at the Apple Store today and a girl brought up a macbook pro to the genius bar and said it had over heated...? I'm not exactly sure what model is was. I'm interest in the 13 unit so I'm checking up on it here.

 

Those temps don't sound bad. Depends - are you on a desk or in your lap? For a warm room, on your lap, those temps sound right. If it's on a desk in a cool room, those temps sound a little high.

 

They get hot as hell, one of the prices for having an all metal compact shell I suspect. Mine has never overheated though, and I live in a hot climate and do the odd bit of video work.

 

Those are pretty normal temps, don't worry.

 

The rule of thumb that I usually follow is that don't let your laptop get over 80C. No matter if this is in a cool climate environment or a hot climate.

Ramp up your fans, get a notebook cooler, move to a cooler room, prop up your laptop.

 

Not a good rule of thumb by my estimations. I have my laptop elevated, and it's not unusual for the CPU to hit 90C+ under extreme load.

 

Cpus should never go above 90, not only are you severely shortening its lifespan, but its not comfortable to have a hot laptop. Although your temps are normal for a macbook, as the fans don't really speed up until about 75-80 to keep it quiet. Once they do kick in then, it should be enouph to keep it below 90, if at load its 95/100+ then you have a problem.

 

Are you insane? lol, that is bad advice!

90C+ Is not normal.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=263039

"Danger zone (high) temperatures are pretty standard due to manufactures low-level specifications of usage. Danger temps are set to downclock the component such as the CPU or GPU in order to cool the component down enough to prevent overheating

CPU danger temperature is around 75-85C (check the CPU's tech specs)

These temperatures are the most dangerous to a system, in which permanent hardware damage can be incurred if the user does not remedy the heat issue during which time the user is experiencing temperatures within the danger zone.

CPU threshold temperature is around 90-100C (and above)"

- X2P, notebookreview forums

The CPU in your macbook is the same exact part as the cpu in a Dell, HP, or Sony Laptop. Apple doesn't have some kind of wizardry to make their CPU's more resistant to heat.

Do not let your macbook go over 80C if you plan on keeping it for a while.

 

The macbook runs idle hot because no fans are going, to keep it quiet. But under load the fans kick in and it really doesn't go above 90. Yes that's really hot and will reduce its lifespan, but people only own macs for 1-3 years before upgrading so the reduced lifespan doesn't matter.

 

I have a C2D T8300 in my ThinkPad (I know, it's not a MBP, but I'm planning to buy one and I'm also interested in the temps) and when I render HD video, the temps are between 85-90C (rendering can sometimes last 3-4 hours, maybe more). Also when I play Sims 3 (1920x1200 resolution), CPU and GPU (nVidia Quadro NVS 140m) are around 80-85C (but during these days, it's pretty hot in my room). So these high temps are normal for my ThinkPad and I bought it cca 2 years ago. (At this time, I'm listenining to music, Opera, Miranda nad TPfancontrol are running, CPU usage is under 10% and the temps are: 58C for the CPU, 61C for the GPU)

Btw, max temperature for T8300 is 105C ( http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_2/Intel-Core 2 Duo Mobile T8300 EC80577GG0563M.html)

 

Ok, the temps I posted earlier seem a bit high now.

I have been constantly monitoring my CPU temp now and it idles around 48C and doesn't go up over 60C. It was only on the initial day that it went upto 70-75C. After that, I've pretty much never seen it go above 60C.

As mentioned, the macbook doesn't have any external facing fans. It has two fans attached to the motherboard, but they do not have a direct external outlet. So it will get a little hotter (the CPU) but the body of the MBP usually remains pretty cool.

 

it does have holes-look behind the black part of screen.

and temps blow 105 are OK.(actually,up to 125,but intel limits it to 14,so your computer will shut down @ 105)

 

The vents are at the back. and it sure gets hot because of the thin enclosure and the metal structure

 

MY Idle temps are 45 so 50ish is not bad considering the ambient temperature.

 

My uMBP would get to 90 and 95 even seen it hit 110 before it shut down. Sent it in to Apple they told me it was fixed. Repalced fans and logic board and so on. Got it back and it did the same thing. Sent it off to Apple a second time same turn around time(Excellent customer service) and it would do the same. Did a fresh reinstall of OS x and reset my PRAM. System has been running much cooler now. Average with 10-20% CPU load it will range between 45ish to 65ish. Reset teh PRAM also that may fix alot of your issues.

Really funny thing is when I run Snow Leopard it runs cooler. CPU temp will drop to high 30 to low 40s.

 

Bought my gf a uMB 13" 2 months ago, the temp goes to 85+ when go on facebook at restaurant city. 85+ when using skype.
These are tested few minutes after fresh out of the box. No additional software other than SMCcontrol and istat.
So, I returned that because I think it's not normal to have that high temp without even doing anything intensive.

2 weeks ago, my gf got the new uMBP 13".
Out of the box, 90+ for restaurant city in facebook.
85+ for skype ONLY.
So, I got a popular program to dynamic adjust the fan to under 75. Needlessly to say, the fan goes to max within second of restaurant city and skype.

You guys really think it's normal?? the CPU was only at 70% max and it's already that hot. What if I run something intensive?

 

I have been using this fan control software for a week and it`s great , you can set it to automatically ramp up the fans at certain temperatures, and it also sets it self to run at startup.

Mine is set at 2000rpm , 50c , 70c going downwards.

Macbook Pro only i think though.

http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/

 

those temperatures are fine, and are average for a CPU of this type in a notebook of this size

 

if the cpus at 70% that means that the cpu will be clocked at the full speed. as the cpus in laptops generally adjust there clock speed depending on the cpu load

 

That comment is incorrect. The 13" Alum MB/MBP have the fan constantly running at idle @ 2000rpm, and then ramp up steadily depending on cpu temp and load. At 2K rpm, the fan is near/at silent dB - I can't hear mine until it passes 2700-3000.

 

You are incorrect. Download one of the iStat apps. Your fans are always on. Usually idle at 1800 or 2000 rpm. They're just super quiet that's why you can't hear them. As temperature goes up, so do the rpm's and so does the noise.

 

You are partly correct.

The rpm of the fan stays at 2000 rpm even with cpu at 90 degree, unless we use third party programs to change that.

Back to the topic, I still think the CPU is running at abnormal temperature, but it might be within the design of Apple. I should have run a stress test to see if it can crash it. If it can, then it's either a lemon or apple's design flaw.

I have seen people reporting lower temperature than my experience though.

 

Do you even own a mac? Please stop spreading false information. The RPM will change and go up to 6000 as your temperature increases. The only reason your fan will stay at 2000 rpm at 90 degrees is if you have SMCFancontrol installed and then forget to change the rpm when you are doing something that will heat up your macbook. SMCFancontrol will override the default apple fan control so if you set the fan rpm to 2000 in SMC and then leave it while you play a game the fans will stay at 2000 no matter what. Whereas if you did not have SMC installed your fans would kick in as the temperature started to increase.

 

I have another brand new fresh out of the box uMBP 13" beside me NOW.
Got the istat to read temperature this time, no SMCFAN Control, download CPU stress test program.
Running 2 instances of the test in the program, the uMBP went up to 101 C in like 30 seconds before the fan start to speed up. Yup, 101 C degree. Then it stays between 98 and 100 C through out the test. The program didn't report any errors though. I wonder if the CPU automatic throttle down though.
Ran that for 3 minutes and play around with the settings of the stress program, and run again. This time, the fan speeds up at around 85+ C instead of 101 C. So, i suspect the OS has some kind of adaptive algorithm for the fan speed. Either way, I think it's too hot to wait until above 85C to have the fan to go faster than 2000 rpm. So, I download the fan control, again, just like the last 2 13" that I returned, to force the fan to run faster earlier.

And no, I always test without SMC fan control install first. You should try it by booting up and go to facebook's restaurant city. See if the fan actually speed up before 85 degree. My 3 13 inchers didn't, but they might function differently after more usage though(due to possible adaptive control). All 3 notebooks are tested for less than 2 weeks. First MB were tested for 10 days, second MBP was tested for 12 days, and I just opened the third one today.

I know fanbois get offended even by reading my true honest experience, but I still want to share and discuss it, because this might help others in the same situation. Just fanbois cannot accept other ppl's negative experience, which can be different than theirs.

 

Then you have a defective laptop or something because when my MBP hits 70 degrees the fans keep on going up.
Hell my mbp in BOOTCAMP gets cooler than yours while im gaming.

 

My MBP can get very hot but it's not a problem for me. I can still touch the bottom.

I don't care for monitoring the temperatures because all it would do is make me worry/concerned, like so many people in this thread.

I figure Apple knows what they're doing with max. temps. If not I have warranty.

I'm not going to install software to crank up the fans. I love silence.