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Temperature Rises with audio

Hi!

When you ear some music in your machine the temperature rises from 87F to 136F.

Some people refer this to iTunes but i tested with other audio software and is the same thing.

ex: Cog, VLC, etc...

Is this normal????? I know this processor can take high temperatures but in the past the Dual G5 burns up in two years of work and i don't want to buy another Mac Pro in two short years...

Gaming in BootCamp stresses a lot less the CPU temperature... odd don't you thing?

Regards

Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz 12 Gb 2 Discs 640Gb in RAID0, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 2 Monitors ACER 24"

Posted on Nov 9, 2009 4:56 PM

Reply
600 replies

Nov 10, 2009 12:32 AM in response to Pierre Cross

Hi Pierre,

Yes, this has been talked about to death,... with everyone waiting to see what the next OS upgrade is going to change, if anything. So far the temps reported have come close to the danger range but rarely reach or surpass it.
I understand your concern though, I had a 2.7 LCS and a Quad 2.5 LCS. The 2.7, and I know of many other cases, had heat issues that led to an early death.
I don't like it when my Macs run hot anymore.

Nor do I like Flash sites, (I found this site long ago because it revved my 2.7 to the max), that can apparently take +-390% of my CPUs output, as seen in Activity Monitor.
http://www.sheridanandco.com/

So there are at least two anomalies that Apple should be looking into, imho.
Waiting for 10.6.2 is making me blue... 😟

Nov 10, 2009 7:26 AM in response to abains

After 10.6.2, iTunes on my Mac seems to run cooler, but it's not a dramatic change. And for me the longer iTunes plays music, the higher the temps climb overall. Have to admit the scores overall are more consistent than I remember before. No core is reading very much out of line with the others. Before I remember the readings were all over the place.
I'd have to say that excessive heat with iTunes still seems to be an issue in 10.6.2. It's better, but too little a change to what I'd like to see. They still need a double digit drop if they are going to match CPU activity and reflect how little they are actually doing.
Other audio apps? Don't have them, but I wouldn't be surprised if they remained the same with 10.6.2. as well. I'd like to hear differently though.

Flash,... as far as I can see... not addressed at all.

Nov 10, 2009 1:00 PM in response to Pierre Cross

Hi!

Nope, the update don't change a think in terms of audio processing.

Try to run other audio app's to see what i'm talking about.

What software can i use to monitor/check the processes that put heavy load on the CPU? In detail, of course... not the iStat Pro or other software like that...

😉

This thing is a little to much for me; this Apple isn't the same anymore.

Keep losing faith, once more...

😟

Regards

Nov 13, 2009 5:48 PM in response to Pierre Cross

Hi!

Ok, let's start:

10.6.2

The temperature goes up to 118,4 with: Mail, Safari (8 pages open), Photoshop CS4 (2 images with 20 Mbits, editing contrast and some lens correction), Cog for audio listening (Pink Floyd - Dark Side 🙂 ), Transmission for some Peer Stuff, and Open Office Word stuff...

So, what's up?

This thing can burn up?

Do i need to rise fan speed?

Apple, Apple, Apple, what's up since the iPod, iTV and iPhone kind of thing?

Regards

p.s. - i'm not a bad guy, just want Apple's quality back... can you pass some stock's for the unsatisfied user? 2500 will be a good quote...

Nov 15, 2009 11:12 PM in response to Pierre Cross

Hi,

I am new here. I am experiencing the same issue with my Mac Pro 2.66 Quad (09). Temperature shoots up to 65 - 70 deg C when listening to audio or viewing Flash content. CPU activity is 99% idle. More heat means more electricity is being used else where is the heat coming from. A very annoying 'feature' of the Mac Pro.

More details: My ambient temp is 31 deg C. CPU under normal load (image processing and office work) besides audio work or browsing Flash content is 48 deg C.

Called AppleCare for technical support. Reset PRAM and whatnot did not fix the problem. I suspect they are unaware of the issue.

My current so called 'fix' is to turn off TWO cores and disable Hyperthreading via Processor Preference Panes. Once I did that, temperature maintains at 48 - 53 Deg C max.

I hope Apple solves this issue soon.

Nov 16, 2009 12:33 AM in response to Pierre Cross

Hi!

Listen Music / Word type of thing / More than 10 Web Pages with Flash, video and pop up windows /
MP3 Decoding and Video Convert...

Tested in BootCamp:

Windows 7 Ultimate

Normal temperature is 107,6F (less in OSX) :))))

Gaming goes from 118,4F to 132,8F

The graphic card, in this case ATI 4870, goes more cooler in W7 around 149F ... in OSX goes around 158F

If this explanation is correct, from macrumors forum:

...........

I asked someone I respect in the industry, whose apps I have used for a long time, including Hardware Monitor and others apps, what his opinion on this issue is. He's been my go-to man in the past for the final say or at least some really good insight. He is Dr. Marcel Bresink. http://www.bresink.com/info.html

He wrote,
"I would guess what you are experiencing is basically the combination of
Snow Leopard's advanced power saving techniques and Intel's Turbo Boost feature
which is present in all CPUs based on Core i7 technology.

If the total load on the system is low, Snow Leopard will first

* stop to schedule processes for the virtual Hyperthreading cores (cores 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16),
* stop to schedule processes for the secondary processor package (cores 9, 11, 13, 15),
* stop to schedule processes for the first processor package (cores 1, 3, 5, 7),

in this order.

When a processor core has nothing to do, the core, or the whole processor package,
respectively, will be powered down. A core without power will have a much lower
temperature than normal.

iTunes is an application which performs continuous real-time signal processing in
one thread of execution. If a system with Intel Core i7 processor detects the
situation "one core can be operated continuously, the other cores are idling",
it will activate Turbo Boost, which means it will overclock one core and
shut down the others. Overclocking will be done up to a degree where the
overall temperature of the processor package is still within acceptable limits.

The lower-than-average temperature readings during idle times, and the
higher-than-average readings during Turbo Boost result in the temperature
behavior you have observed when running iTunes on a system with low load.

The temperature readings themselves are uncritical. You bascially cannot overheat
an Intel procesor core, because it will automatically throttle its speed before
this could happen."

So I'm guessing that prior MPs to 09' were not Core i7, and Turbo Boost is not a feature prior to Nehalem either?

..............

What's up in OSX?

Windows take a lot cooler... don't you think?

Regards

Nov 16, 2009 2:03 AM in response to Pierre Cross

Actually, that wasn't originally from the macrumors forum. It was from here and I was the one who contacted Dr. Bresink.

There's more to it though it I think, the problem seems only to affect Nehalems, regardless of what Mac OS is used. That it's not a problem in Macs while running Windows is completely baffling to me. I've given up thinking about it, it's been so long now since this phenomena was first reported.
And heck, 10.6.2 didn't even address the much reported Flash-CPU issue, so who knows what is on Apples priority list.
I say use ones Mac the way it came and the way you want. If these things turn out to be a problem, we know who to blame. And to be fair to Apple, these things may not be as dire and Mac threatening as they sound. But,... I will not accept another G5 circumstance where the computers start to wear out after 3 years.

Nov 16, 2009 12:28 PM in response to Pierre Cross

Apple need to give some logical explanation. Don't you think?

I do. I also think that world peace is the way to go,... look how well that's coming along.

If Apple is coming out with new MPs soon and they don't have the same problems, I think that's about all we'll see from them regarding an explanation. Of course Apple will see from me and others a demand for our money back.

Nov 17, 2009 1:01 PM in response to Samsara

Hi!

My money back, if the machine fails between the hardware coverage... if not, your know, it's like your G5, by another, Apple will thank you.

😉

Regards

p.s. - my machine is in the Apple Support for them to find a solution for the ATI 4870 and temperature problems, tomorrow i will report the final statement from the genius Apple technician's

Nov 17, 2009 3:41 PM in response to Pierre Cross

You may be right, I don't know anymore.
But say you bought a 09 Ford Mustang,... and word got out that line had problems. Problems that could cause even more major problems "down the road". You've read in the press of them, you can even see what they are talking about using your own new car. But Ford denies any problems, or worse, stays completely silent about them.
So 2010 comes along, new 2010 Mustangs come out, and all of a sudden those problems don't exist in the new cars anymore. What would that say, and what would the reaction of 09 Mustang owners be?

Well, wait to worry, I think. I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt that they'll do the right thing. They don't want another G5 fiasco on their hands. If peoples very expensive new Macs keep shutting down like the gentleman's here did, just by playing a song in iTunes, they will be forced to address it and soon.

Post back with how you make out, Pierre

Temperature Rises with audio

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