Could anyone tell me why my imac gets so hot when I use it, I've only had it a little while and only recently started using it a lot. Mostly photoshop, lightroom, aperture and for periods of about 4/5 hours at a time. Any advice would be gratefully received, if its usual that they run hot thats ok.
iMac, iOS 6.1.3
Hot is relative, but it has been my experience that new iMacs run quite cool.
Identifying resource hogs and other tips:
Find out what processes, if any, appear to be burdening your Mac.
Run Apple Hardware Test and ensure its exhaust fans are operative.
You must remove the firmware password, if one has been set, before you can use AHT.
Hot is relative, but it has been my experience that new iMacs run quite cool.
Identifying resource hogs and other tips:
Find out what processes, if any, appear to be burdening your Mac.
Run Apple Hardware Test and ensure its exhaust fans are operative.
You must remove the firmware password, if one has been set, before you can use AHT.
It would be a BIG help to know to which of the four iMac families yours belongs, and the actual Mac OSX verison. Doing "About this Mac" from your Apple menu will show the OSX version and the processor type. The letter will help us figure out which iMac family.
It's important becasue the first iMscs had no fans and latter ones did, so overheating issues are very linked to family (PowerPC G3, PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel)
Hi Allan, thank you for replying, it's very kind of you, Its a version 10.8.2, processor 2.7 Ghz intel core i5 and memory 4GB 1333MHz DDR3. Do you know if my mac is one of the ones prone to overheating?
Thank you again
Hi John, thank you for responding to my query, its very kind of you, I'm going to run a test.
Many thanks
I think we first have to determine what you mean by "hot." No one can say anthing without that. And, no need to run the AHT yet.
Get iStat Pro. This is a widget which will display temps and fan speeds, among some other things. Please post a screenshot with temps set to Celsius (Cmd-Shift-4) and use the camera icon above.
Don't see any reason your model should be prone to overheating. However, my Mid-2010 iMac 27" felt really hot yesterday. Then I noticed some weekend visitors places a thick stack of CD envelopes under the left side, blocking half the air intakes (on either side of the RAM door). Removing the blockage dropped the temps to normal in minutes. So make sure you haven't stuck anything under the vents
If you are viewing video or playing gfx-intensive games, the computer will heat up. That's normal
Here's an utility I use for temps:
http://bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html
I like it better than the iStat widget because it puts the temps in the menubar so your don't have the invoke Dashboard to see the temps.
Hi Allan, I have just run a hardware test and it says its all ok I will try your suggestion now, thank you. I'm new to apple, and to be honest I'm a bit of a techno phobe so I have no idea if it's too hot! Hope it's beautiful in Idaho, because its horrible weather here in England!
I often suggest iStat Pro because it includes fan speeds, which Temp Monitor doesn't (Hardware Monitor, paid version, does.) With fan speeds, you may sometimes see that a sensor or fan isn't functioning properly.
Forgot to link iStat Pro.
Hi allan
These are the temps but the temp is ok on computer at moment, its only sometimes its as hot as ****: temps now are 15,32 CPU heatsink, 37 CPU A Proximty, 34 Display screen proximity, 36 graphics processor heatsink 1, 37 graphics processor temp diode, 38 main logic board, 34 optical drive, 47 power supply position 2, 45 primary heatsink smart disc, 34
As you already know, those are cool. Nothing to worry about there. You need to post the temps when it's hot.
Yeah,
Those temps are pretty cool.
Everything is running below 120 degrees F and cooler.
My iMac had been consistently running hotter than this, I was concerned and I took precautions and took matters into my own hands to keep the temps down as much as possible.
Keep an eye on the temps from time to time daily.
If you start noticing temps climbing into the 40-50 degrees C range, you might want to consider installing a manual software fan control app to ramp up the RPMs of the internal fans a bit. You may, also, consider getting a small desktop fan ( I use a very small high speed fan) and let that blow cool air at the back,of my iMac, too!
Thank you, I will, they get hot when I am using photoshop and lightroom for a few hours at a time.
Its now running at 48 degrees C. Ive been using photoshop for acouple of hours
Hi Trude,
That's fairly cool! It's fine. I actualy meant temps that are between 50-60 degrees C or higher.
I feel any temps 120 degrees F and lower is a good, comfortable temperature range.
Any temps that are higher than this and approxh the 130 degrees F range and higher, I would strongly think about taking some extra precautions.
As of right now, I wouldn,t start worrying.
😉l
What is 48C? Where are the rest of the temps?
Help - hot iMac
