iMac Cooling Problems

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Level 2

271 points

iMac Cooling Problems

My Late 2006 iMac's GPU has been acting up lately. It freezes frequently unless I max out the fans, and even then it sometimes freezes if it's hot in the room. I'm in a fairly cool room that sometimes heats up to around 80˚F. I opened it up recently to try to fix the problem and used a vacuum cleaner to suck out the dust inside. There wasn't much dust, but my GPU hasn't overheated in the 24 hours so far I have used my iMac.

Is there some kind of known airflow issue in the 2006 iMac that causes GPU overheating?

iMac6,1 (Late 2006 iMac Intel), 3 GB RAM, 2.33 GHz Processor, 2 TB internal HD, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Minor GUI mods, a lot of stuff connected with FireWire or USB

Posted on Jul 12, 2011 9:37 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Ross

Level 6

11,807 points

Jul 12, 2011 11:06 AM in response to Mac OS 9000

If could be another hardware issue, try using Apple Hardware Test to check your system.

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Answer 2

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Jul 12, 2011 4:05 PM in response to Eric Ross

I did, and it said that there were no problems. I did extended check.

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Answer 3

Jul 12, 2011 7:15 PM in response to Mac OS 9000

Dust can cause the problem. If the heat problem went away, you've taken care of it. If it is still there, maxing out the fans is the wrong way to go unless there is something wrong with the fans. The fans are set so that the air velocity is sufficient to keep the computer from overheating. No adjustment of the fans RPM is necessary. Adjusting it is only a temporary solution to a more serious problem that needs a technician's help. I believe the Intel iMacs when they first came out had problems with the screen but I don't remember anything involving the fans.

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Answer 4

Mac OS 9000 Author

Level 2

271 points

Jul 13, 2011 12:13 AM in response to Edward Boghosian

The problem persists, although cleaning it out seems to have helped. I took it apart after it crashed 3 times in a row, and I got really upset and took it apart for cleaning. It doesn't crash as much anymore.

I am 100% sure that the fan revving helps, but I can only do it while I'm playing a game or something. Constantly firing the fans is bad for the computer...

I've heard that a failing graphics card can overheat really easily, so I probably have a failing card. Keeping the iMac cool helps a lot. We're working on fixing the air conditioning in my room so it doesn't get too hot.

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