Overheating

Question

Level 1

15 points

Overheating

So as I'm watching this YouTube video in 720p (keep that number in mind) I hear my fan spin up. This is weird, since my CPU temps are well within normal (60-70 degrees Celsius). But then, as soon as I go into full screen, the fan goes nuts. My CPU gets over 90 degrees Celsius, and within 10 seconds, my fan is at top speed, making my Mac sound like a jet at takeoff. This only happens when I watch 720p video or higher.

Then I look at the Activity Monitor app, and I see that the Safari app as well as the Flashplayer-plugin are eating my CPU alive. It hits 70-80% (in some strange cases 90%) load which is strange, I mean, its only 720p video!

My question is, does this happens to other people as well? Or is it just me?

And Apple, can you fix this issue? It forces me to watch the video in a lower resolution, and if I do watch in 720p, I have a jet in front of me, which is pretty annoying.

Baseline 2011 MacBook Air

13.3' Core i5-2557M (Sandy Bridge) @1.7GHz

128 GB SSD

MacBook Air (13-INCH, MID 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Sep 6, 2012 12:08 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 6, 2012 12:46 PM in response to MrVinney96

this happens to almost everyone - when i'm watching a video - via YouTube or any other online sites - my macbook heats up - mine goes to 90 degrees Celsius.

what is your temp when you're at idle? if it's between 45 - 50 degrees Celsius, then your Macbook is performing within specs.

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Answer 2

MrVinney96 Author

Level 1

15 points

Sep 6, 2012 1:06 PM in response to Bimmer 7 Series

Hi

It lies around 55-60 degrees Celsius at idle. In the very beginning (when I had this machine for 2 weeks or so) the temps you said where the idle temps. Since then it has been 55-60 or sometimes 60-65 degrees Celsius.

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Answer 3

Sep 6, 2012 1:10 PM in response to MrVinney96

ok....with all apps closed ( exited ) - open activity monitor - under all processes (not my processes) see what's running in the background that's using 10% and above in the %CPU section. Highlight the ones using 10% and higher and hit quit process (only do that with the apps your recognized) if you don't know which one to highlight, take a snapshot and post it here so we can see what's causing your temps to go up while you're on idle.

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Answer 4

MrVinney96 Author

Level 1

15 points

Sep 6, 2012 2:07 PM in response to Bimmer 7 Series

Hi

You know what, I think the answer is much simpler. It's called dust. I think there is some dust between the tiny aluminium fins that cool my processor (or in this case, block the cooler from cooling). The computer is sitting on my bed mostly (when I'm gaming and when the system is in stand-by). Maybe its time to clean it up a bit.

There is nothing in Activity Monitor that goes above the 10% mark in idle.

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