MacBook Pro heats up crazy while playing games

Have you considered that your radioactive nickname/screenname could be the cause of this heating up...? 😁

All puns set aside, have you checked what graphics card is active during your intense gaming periods? Go to System Preferences, then do as suggested here: http://www.lancelhoff.com/switching-video-cards-macbook-pro/

You can also install a small utility called gfxCardStatus from this website; it'll let you toggle which graphics card you should use, depending on the use you're making of your computer.

What you are experiencing is not unusual. Games stress a MBPs resources and will even start draining the battery even when it is plugged with the power adapter in order to supply enough electrical power. The good news is that there are heat sensors that will shut down the MBP before it self destructs.

What you might do is download from the Internet iStat pro and install it. This will enable you to monitor the internal temperatures of various components and fan speeds of your MBP. Understand that the reason for the aluminum case is to dissipate heat in situations such as you are describing

Ciao.

Without factual information about the temperatures your CPU and GPU are reaching during gaming, we have no idea whether or not you actually have a problem. Note that the machine will shut down for its own protection before it reaches a temperature than could cause it damage.

Download and install iStat Pro and give us some objective data to talk about:

http://islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

"Normal" (harmless) operating temperatures range from about 40°C to 100°C, and fan speeds range from 2000 to 6000 or 6200 RPM (top speed depends on model). Both parameters depend entirely on what you're doing with the machine. During extended gaming, expect temps of 75°C to 95°C and fan speeds greater than 4500RPM. I recommend that you quit all other applications before gaming.

u235pu239 wrote:

OGELTHORPE & eww I'll download the iStat Pro. Can you guys tell me what is the amount heat and fan speed MacBook Pro could take and what is the usual normal amount?

If you want to do something beyond watching your MBP heat up, check out smcFanControl at http://www.eidac.de/. It allows you to set the low point of fan speeds while allowing the fans to speed up as needed and to save multiple fan speed configurations which you can choose depending on what you're doing.

u235pu239 wrote:

i. Occassionally it freezes up when more then one apps are running. I have noticed this is usually when Firefox is running in the background. Also happened with Safari a couple of times.

I know Firefox has a slight issue with the way it handles RAM, so does Chrome, it has to do with the add-ons and how the unused RAM gets returned for using for another program.

Safari might have a memory leak, it also could be now with 64 bit everyone is rushing out to grab as much RAM as they can, trying to turn their browsers into platforms.

After all, if you think about it, browsers are becoming so powerful that they can actually run software within them, so perhaps Apple is messing with Chrome and Firefox's memory so they can't grow too large and takeover? Just my thoughts.

ii. During the normal usuage the fans don't make a noise (even with multiple apps that are not burden on the RAM). The systems heat up is as normal as that of a PC while running on its normal situation. However, when I play games (like BioShock, Sims etc) Mac just heats up immensly and fans kick in. I have never seen/felt a computer get this hot before.

3D games (or anything 3D) works the graphics and if you have a dedicated video card (the 15" does, the 13" does not) then that heats up too, thus the fans go up.

CPU intensive programs will heat up the processors and the fans go up.

Mac's come with Intel processors and they come with integrated graphics which performs some graphics capability, but can't handle 3D very well at all.

So the way the Mac works with a dedicated video card is it uses the integrated graphics on the CPU for as much as it can then hands off to the dedicated video card.

What you can do is open your System Preferences > Energy Saver and turn off graphics switching, that will use your dedicated video card only, located separately from the CPU and thus concentrate less heat on one spot on the logicboard, you should have a cooler machine.

However 3D gaming will of course always heat the machine up, perhaps a lot less as your not using the integrated graphics which is lousy anyway.

Another issue is 3D games are usually produced for a specific OS version and they milk it, perhaps don't see the value of making a update that works with a new OS X version, rather concentrating efforts on the next version of the game.

So it's ideal to only run games that are designed for the OS X version your using. Which Apple changes the OS version often, now once a year with 10.8 coming out this summer, why there isn't a whole lot of 3D games for the Mac, not to mention you can't find or upgrade video card like on a Windows tower.

So with 3D games, OS stability (Windows remains the same for 10 years) AND the option to replace the video card is paramount.

http://www.cbscores.com/index.php?sort=ogl&order=desc

u235pu239 wrote:

i. Occassionally it freezes up when more then one apps are running. I have noticed this is usually when Firefox is running in the background. Also happened with Safari a couple of times.

That's not normal. You haven't installed any anti-virus have you? What 3rd party software and/or hardware have you installed?

ii. During the normal usuage the fans don't make a noise (even with multiple apps that are not burden on the RAM). The systems heat up is as normal as that of a PC while running on its normal situation. However, when I play games (like BioShock, Sims etc) Mac just heats up immensly and fans kick in. I have never seen/felt a computer get this hot before.

Again, not normal at all. The 15" MacBook Pro has both integrated graphics and a dedicated graphics card. If this were a 13" machine with only an integrated graphics card, and you were running Flash, then it would be normal.

How much RAM do you have? What is your typical CPU usage? Do you have any applications that are taking up a lot of CPU?

A trip to the Apple Store might be a good idea.

u235pu239 wrote:

Ok so I installed the iStat Pro.

The normal is as follow:

CPU 45-47 degrees

CPU Heatsink 38 deg

GPU 33 deg

GPU Diode 39 deg

R-Fan = 1999-2000

L-Fan = 1999-2000

About 15 mins of 3D gaming

CPU = 75 degrees

CPU Heatsink = 63 deg

GPU = 68 deg

GPU Diode = 50 deg

Interestingly the fans remained quite and same as normal usage. The only difference between then and now is that I placed the Mac on a hard surface. Previously I place it on my bed.

seems normal

Agree, and placing any computer on a soft, uneven surface, like a bed top, is guarantee to make it hotter. I place my MBP on a plastic tray, slightly elevated, so that air can circulate underneath.

u235pu239 wrote:

Interestingly the fans remained quite and same as normal usage. The only difference between then and now is that I placed the Mac on a hard surface. Previously I place it on my bed.

They are designed to be used on a hard surface. Putting it on a bed radically changes the thermal characteristics. I suggest a Thermaltake for a soft surface.

I have not installed any anti-virus. But I am very careful about visiting websites and downloading 3rd party softwares on my Mac. However, I do tend to download from torrents regularly.

The third party softs on my Mac are uTorrent, MS Office, CrossoverGames, Any Video Convertor, Adobe Flash Manager & UnRarx.

I would advise against torrents. No good will come from that. There is a real liklihood of getting some unintended 3rd party software that way. The standard mantra of "no viruses on the Mac" does NOT apply when you are using torrents. Plus, the torrent software could be running 24x7 and taking CPU and RAM. That isn't going to help.

u235pu239 wrote:

Interestingly the fans remained quite and same as normal usage. The only difference between then and now is that I placed the Mac on a hard surface. Previously I place it on my bed.

Two things to consider: first, if your MBP is anything like my wife's late 2011 MBP 17", the cooling vents are in the back and resting it on a soft surface, e.g., a bed, tends to close some of the vents off. It appears that the vent is integral with the hinge so part of the vent opening faces up and would vent across the screen, a clever design which avoids having the ventilation totally sealed off if used on the wrong surface (for example a pillow, as my daughter-in-law used to do while wondering why her PC kept shutting down).

Second, with all the complaining in these forums about fan noise, Apple's choice to favor quiet over cooling seems to make sense. But IMHO, cooler is better than warmer, so being proactive with smcFanControl makes sense too, recognizing that the Mac working hard is like an athlete working hard and in the long run, keeping cool is not optional.