Macbook CPU full load, 99 degrees celsius

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Level 1

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Macbook CPU full load, 99 degrees celsius

On my late 2008 13" Macbook 2.4ghz when I run 2 instances of "yes > /dev/null" for 10 minutes to stress the CPU, the CPU temperature is at 99 degrees celsius even with the fans going at the maximum 6200 rpms and while using a cheap cooling pad. I took the computer to an Apple store "genius" and he thought this was normal. Is anyone else seeing temperatures like this using this stress test method? I looked at the website http://www.intelmactemp.com/ and highest full load temperature I see for this computer is 84 degrees celsius. I have noticed problems running intensive 3d games where the system slows down from high temperatures and more so under Windows XP.

This computer is 4 months out of warranty but until recently I never ran intensive programs and so never noticed the problem. What can I do about this, I feel Apple should be responsible for this.

Macbook (aluminum), Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Feb 16, 2010 6:30 PM

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Answer 1

JasonFear

Level 5

4,965 points

Feb 17, 2010 12:22 PM in response to MindBrain

Hi MindBrain,

Saw your post last night but didn't have immediate access to 13" MacBook (Aluminum). So I've got a 2.4GHz unit with 4GB of RAM and ran two instances of the same command in Terminal.

All information is reported via iStat Pro:

CPU Temp before test - 76 (fans at 1998 RPM)
CPU Temp @ 5 minutes into test - 96 (fans at 2001 RPM)
CPU Temp @ 10 minutes into test - 97 (fans at 3100 RPM)
CPU Temp @ 15 minutes into test - 103 (fans at 5800 RPM)
CPU Temp @ 20 minutes into test - 106 (fans at 6200 RPM)
CPU Temp @ 25 minutes into test - 108 (fans at 6200 RPM)

For thoroughness, I also opted to run the test on a brand new 13" MacBook Pro, a 2 year old white MacBook 2.2GHz and another MacBook Aluminum. It's convenience I have when surrounded by 5600+ Macs across campus. All of the other machines also reported similar numbers, breaking the 100 degree threshold between 12-13 minutes into the test.

While I do not wish to discredit that URL, in all honesty I've probably had three times the number of entries on that website (611 as of this post) come across my desk in the past year for various reasons. So I really can't see that as being a valid resource to support an argument.

Not to mention it was your decision to not purchase AppleCare on your computer within the one year window, it was also your decision to not properly ensure adequate function of your machine prior to conclusion of the one year limited warranty. There was no responsibility on behalf of Apple to obligate you to stress test the machine 4 months after the one year warranty expired.

Lastly, is the sluggishness only in Windows XP or is it occurring on the Mac side as well?

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