Intel iMac 20-inch 2.66GHz Overheating

Hello ren

It's normal for the aluminum case to feel hotter on the outside than the earlier white plastic iMac models for example. What does the iStat Pro widget say your internal temperatures are for the GPU, CPU, HD and at what speeds are you running the fans with smcFan Control?

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html

Apple Discussions is a user to user forum so we can't help you get a replacement iMac, you'll need to contact Apple at.

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/

Also note: Apple systems are covered under warranty for 1 year and 3 years with Apple Care, so if and when it Explodes just take it in to be repaired!

Dennis

I feel your discontent, at 3400 rpm those fans must be pretty annoying. Again use the iStatpro widget to see how hot each area of the iMac is! It's not uncommon for the GPU to run at as much as 70C, but you do want to keep your CPU and HD in the 50C range!

Your welcome!

Most of us here are only running our fan speeds up only 2 to 3 hundred rpm over default, 1400 to 1600 rpm with great results.

My 24 inch aluminum iMac also seems very warm, especially on the upper left hand corner. The iStat pro indicates that the GPU diode which runs hotter than any other temperature, usually operates in the 130° F range but it always lowers a few degrees when it gets close to 140. The GPU diode can get up into the high 150° F area when the computer is working very hard over a long period of time but again, when it gets that warm, it cools down. The thermostat regulating the temperature seems to be doing what it's supposed to. I called Apple Care and they said those "extremely hot" temperatures were in normal limits and if the temps exceeded those limits, the computer would shut down. Mine has never shut down. By the way, I do not use the smc Fan Control. My CPU and hard drive fans run at close to 1200 rpm.

I was told when I bought this iMac that it will seem very hot while it's running and that's to be expected. My big "mistake" has been to constantly refer to the temperatures indicated in the iStat pro. When I first noticed that the temperatures seemed quite high, it drove me kind of crazy. But now that I realize that the computer is operating within normal ranges, it doesn't bother me any longer. If you feel that your aluminum iMac is running too hot and if Apple replaces it, don't be surprised if your new one runs just as hot. It's just the nature of this particular computer. In my opinion, 50° C doesn't sound too bad and compared to the temperatures mine runs, it seems quite cool.

try putting in more ram it looks like you are running a'lot of big programs

hi ren
iStat Pro is great but I like to also use Temperature Monitor (link below) as it gives me a lot more temps including the hottest spot, Power Supply Position 1. It also gives displays the ambient temp. My 20" gets hot too and my fans are:

2004 ODD
2219 HDD
2205 CPU

I like to keep my temps under 50-60ºC or 122-140ºF.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994

That's NOTHING!! I just bought a 24" iMac @ 3.06ghz with 4gb ram and a 1TB HDD, and it hasn't even been 2 weeks yet and smcFanController showed that my temperature was 88.3 degrees celcius (about 190 Fahrenheit!!!!). I was scared outta my mind when i heard the fans whirl that loud!! All i was doing was running imovie on its own and it was just importing some thumbnails from iphoto or something like that. Im a mac switcher and to think this is what i was bragging about moving over to Apple about is not cool! ill give it some more time and if its persistant ill contact Apple.

Hi, "running hot" iMac users. I agree with running the 3rd party Apps etc. But if you are unhappy with the heat generation -> Apple (Apple Help or Genius Bar) do not leave it too long, otherwise many other components might be heat affected. Who know's Apple might replace something and the heat may have affected the "next to" component..then that is the weak link.."getIt-Done"
Sadly, I hope never brings a solution....L

You need to install iStat Pro and find out what all of your temperatures are because the SMCFC itself only displays one temperature.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/27037

George