Fan starts to make loud noise when watching youtube videos

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Level 1

5 points

Fan starts to make loud noise when watching youtube videos

Hello there, I have been having a problem with my Macbook Pro for a while and I hope I can find some help here. My Macbook Pro has the problem that when I am watching youtube videos and I have the fullscreen option on, if the video is lasts, say more then 4 min or so, then after a while the fans start to kick in and they keep getting louder and louder for no reason.

It also does this sometimes when I open the spotlight to search for something, although that hasnt happened as much lately. But this is really getting annoying, I mean, why would a simple video from youtube, make the mac go all crazy as if I was rendering or exporting video, its nuts. I have all the updates installed too.

I also went to an Apple store, and of course when I try to show the person the issue I have, the macbook pro works just fine! Its somewhat random. I told the guy that I have Applecare and if they could just hold onto the machine and test it out themselfs and the guy tells me, that I have to pay THEM for this service if they dont find anything. What the? Is it my fault if the issue doesnt come up during their suposed testing time? What if they just dont do anything to it, and then say they dont find anything, and im suposed to pay for this even though I have Applecare? There must be something wrong.

Anyway, I really appreciate any help and guidance I can get on this issue. Btw, my Macbook Pro is the second generation one, the one with Intel Duo Core 2, 2.33 ghz, 2 GB ram and the ATI video card. I also recently ran Disc Utility from the install disc and I repaired some issues on the HD, but its still the same.

Thank you for reading and (hopefully) responding to this topic. 🙂

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 30, 2007 4:37 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 30, 2007 4:48 AM in response to V-R

The speed of the fans is controlled by the temperature of the cpu. When my cpu reaches 75 degrees C the fans start ramping up and quickly bring the temperature back down to 70 degrees C. Use the Activity Monitor to determine the load that is placed on your cpu by the Youtube video.

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Answer 2

Jul 30, 2007 4:50 AM in response to V-R

Welcome to the Forums!

after a while the fans start to kick in and they keep getting louder and louder for no reason

Well, actually there is a very good reason. When your MBP's processor is working hard (e.g. gaming, full-screen video, using the iTunes visualizer, etc.) it gets hot. The fans are there to cool it down. If the video is short, the CPU heats up then cools right back down, and the fans don't speed up. Longer video means longer time at high processor load, more heat, and thus more need for cooling.

You can use the iStat widget to view your fan speeds. If you have a C2D MBP the 'idle' fan speeds are ~2000 rpm, for a CD MBP they idle at ~1000 rpm. They top out at 6000 rpm - and you'll definitely hear that!

As long as the fans sound like fans (whirring noise and air moving) your MBP is doing exactly what it should. If there's a clicking or grinding, that's a different story, but otherwise, relax and enjoy your videos.

Hope this helps...

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Answer 3

V-R Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 30, 2007 5:27 AM in response to neuroanatomist

Thank you for the replies. 🙂 I have just downloaded the iStat Widget and I noticed that the fans were at about 2800-2900 rpm and the sound wasnt noticable, I then played a youtube video that lasts for 5 min, although already on the 1 min mark the fans were getting louder when running in full-screen mode. I then checked iStat and it peaked at around 5994 rpm. I then stopped the full screen viewing and it went back to 3000 rpm after a while, and now it seems to be locked at 2400 rpm.

What I dont get is, why is it that when I play videos from my hard drive and watch movies, even in full screen mode, it doesnt get near 5990 rpm at any point, at least I dont notice any loud fan sounds. Although that has happened when I watched a HD video from my desktop that lasted about 6 min, but the fans didnt go as loud as right now.

Also, a few days ago, I was playing a small flash game on the net, and I got the same problem with the fans as with the youtube videos. I read that youtube uses flash, is this right? Could there be something on this? I have downloaded the latest flash player version though, so I dont know whats going on.

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Answer 4

Jul 30, 2007 5:49 AM in response to V-R

Different video formats use different types of compression, and thus require different amounts of CPU power to decode and play. Flash video has a high overhead. Also, different players have different overhead (e.g. VLC uses less processor power than QTplayer to play the same .mpg file).

But, as I posted above this is all normal operation, so it seems your problem is solved...

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Answer 5

Jul 30, 2007 6:01 AM in response to V-R

My pleasure. Thanks for the stars! One more tip (won't help in full-screen mode, though) is the freeware MenuMeters, which puts a CPU activity meter in your menu bar. I find this helpful to be able to see at a glance if my CPUs are running hard, as this sometimes happens when they shouldn't be (usually due to the AirTrafficControl widget, but it doesn't happen frequently enough for me to trash the widget). Before MenuMeters, the first clue I had was the fans spinning up to high speed - now I catch it before the CPU heats up. (But, to be clear, it's still not a problem - the fans are there to keep things cool!)

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Answer 6

Jul 30, 2007 6:03 AM in response to V-R

My pleasure. Thanks for the stars! One more tip (won't help in full-screen mode, though) is the freeware MenuMeters, which puts a CPU activity meter in your menu bar. I find this helpful to be able to see at a glance if my CPUs are running hard, as this sometimes happens when they shouldn't be (usually due to the AirTrafficControl widget, but it doesn't happen frequently enough for me to trash the widget). Before MenuMeters, the first clue I had was the fans spinning up to high speed - now I catch it before the CPU heats up. (But, to be clear, it's still not a problem - the fans are there to keep things cool!)

Happy computing!

EDIT: Hmmmm - got a "can't post more frequently than once every 30 seconds" but apparently the post went through anyway - twice!

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Answer 7

V-R Author

Level 1

5 points

Jul 30, 2007 5:54 AM in response to neuroanatomist

I see, guess thats that then, thanks alot for taking the time to reply to this topic though, or else I would still be wondering if its normal or not, hehe. 🙂

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