Retina 15 heat after logic board replacement

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Level 1

4 points

Retina 15 heat after logic board replacement

Hi

About 2 weeks ago I had taken my (4 month old) MBPR 15" to the Apple service. The CPU and GPU temperatures were skyrocketing. My CPU reached the 90s in OSX just after boot with no programs switched on and when running games in bootcamp it reached a scary 105Celsius.

A week later I got my laptop back stating they replaced the whole logic board. From some reasearch I understood that this is the motherboard with CPU, GPU on it. Once again I ran some tests and got the same results temperatures in Celsius:

OSX standard user use: 60-70

OSX flash based content like youtube: 101 !!!!!

OSX and parallels: 60-98 !!!

Bootcamp standard use: 60-70

Bootcamp gaming: 90-105 !!!!

I've read on forums that the retina does operate at higher temperatures but they do seem a little over the top. I've also tried the Apple Hardware Test and results were that there are no problems found.

I use a cooling pad and even point a fan directly at the device. I am a little angry that on the http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/performance-retina/ site they state one can play games and perform video and phot editing and it still fails to do so at decent temperatures. What else could be the cause, if replacing the logic board didn't solve the problem?

Any help would be appreciated.

Kind regards,

Lukas

SYSTEM INFO:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro10,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 4

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 6 MB

Memory: 16 GB

Boot ROM Version: MBP101.00EE.B03

SMC Version (system): 2.3f35

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4), 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 16GB DDR3

Posted on Aug 8, 2013 12:56 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 8, 2013 1:07 AM in response to lukaspechar

Looks like the power management system is not working properly. Try a PRAM reset (2-3 consecutively reboots before releasing the buttons) and SMC reset (if PRAM don't work):

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964

Please note: only one SMC reset may not produce the needed result. Apply more then one (2-4) and restart between each other.

Cheers

Simon

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Answer 2

Aug 8, 2013 1:12 AM in response to lukaspechar

60-70ºC is normal... 101ºC and your computer should be shutting down (I'm speculating here).

If I were you, I would monitor temperatures and created dated screenshots. When you've amassed four or so temps of 100º+, take the printouts of the screenshots to your local Apple Store/AASP and show them your records.

Personally, I use and recommend iStat Menus 4 for monitoring temps and fan speeds.

Something's just not right...

Clinton

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Answer 3

Aug 8, 2013 1:17 AM in response to lukaspechar

Yes, reading more detailed, clintonfrombirmingham is right. Those temps are not uncommon if the fans run when they're high.

Cheers

Simon

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Answer 4

lukaspechar Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 8, 2013 1:18 AM in response to luxuryliner67

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the quick reply. If I understood well I should perform a PRAM reset 2-3 times as directed by Apple on http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11243

and if that didnt work 2-4 SMC resets (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964). By "between each other" do you mean resetting PRAM and SMC after it for 2-4 times?

Best regards,

Lukas

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Answer 5

lukaspechar Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 8, 2013 1:23 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Hi Clinton,

Yes iStat Menus is what I use when in OSX and I use CoreTemp and RealTemp when in Bootcamp.

I will try the resets and then take some screenshots if this doesn't work. I really hope to resolve this as I work on this device and cannot afford another week without it.

Lukas

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Answer 6

lukaspechar Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 9, 2013 11:42 PM in response to luxuryliner67

Hi guys,

Below is a screen of my latest attemp with flash in youtube! temperatures from 98 -103C !!!!!

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Answer 7

Aug 9, 2013 11:46 PM in response to lukaspechar

That's far, far too warm - and your fans aren't 'keeping up' with your temps - they should be running at 6000rpms at least with those temps.

It could be that you have bad sensors. At this point, I see no alternative but taking the machine into your local Apple Store or AASP and have them run diagnostics. I'm very surprised that you haven't experienced a thermal shutdown. And that points to bad sensors.

Clinton

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Answer 8

Aug 10, 2013 9:00 AM in response to lukaspechar

lukaspechar wrote:

...I really hope to resolve this as I work on this device and cannot afford another week without it...

Since the fans speeds shown are above their minimum, they're responding somewhat to the temperature rise but just not enough. You can take charge of the rMBP's cooling with smcFanControl. That will establish the minimum fan speeds but still allow them to speed up if necessary. There seem to be more complaints about fans making noise than Macs getting too hot, and I suspect the temperature parameters built into Macs tend to reflect that.

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Answer 9

Aug 10, 2013 10:21 AM in response to lukaspechar

Sorry for disappearing: my MBpro is dead. Restarts should be between SMC resets. PRAM restrat should be consecutively. And often useful!

Cheers

Simon

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Answer 10

Aug 10, 2013 10:25 AM in response to lukaspechar

Youtube is a processor power s-u-c-k-e-r as was created for animations and now it's used for movies, sort of animation but much more complex. It's also bad engineered aso looks more like abrowser into another browser than a movie player.

Regardless this, fans may not rush to 6000RPM if the heath is transmitted to the alu body but as the CPU is around 100°C, they should in my holy opinion.

Here, multiple consecutively PRAM reset is better than an SMC reset.

If it doesn't work I would contact an Apple AASP.

Cheers

Simon

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Answer 11

lukaspechar Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 12, 2013 9:14 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I've just received a call from the AASP after I sent them the screens. The technician was very helpful and explained that there is a new test submitted by Apple to test for temperature issues. I will be taking it in about 2 weeks time for a checkup.

He also explained (as a MBPr user himself) he experiences the same temperatues and considers them as normal!! Not sure if this is so as no one else online states this. Has anyone of you heard of this new test?

I am hoping to have some better answers after the test and will keep the thread going.

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Answer 12

lukaspechar Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 6, 2014 3:33 AM in response to lukaspechar

Sorry to answer this so late but have been terribly busy. To cut the long story short:

I took the laptop to the official apple service here in Malta - They replaced the logic board but still it overheats
I took the laptop to the official apple service in Prague. They tested it and found no issues with the laptop and said that the temperatures I saw were only extreme cases (try to convince the expert he's wrong!)
My laptop warranty has now expired.
Decided to open my laptop up and replace CPU and GPU paste (which by the way was all over the place). I cleaned it up and reapplied some artic 5 paste. This helped lower the normal usage temperatures but is back to as it was again.
CPU still throttling when at high temps. Last week Youtube gave me a nice 104ºC it is winter now and even in colder room temperatures the temps are too high.

In other words I have a macbook which cost me over €2000 overheats and not even the expert can help me. A real dissappointment. I wake up everyday angry at the whole situation. Pity I don't live in the US. I'd sue the **** out of Apple. Unfortunately my work depends on Macs so I have no other choice but to stick to these. I will probably switch to iMac or mac mini next time.

Also it looks like that after the another iteration of the macbook the problems still remain as stated in the discussion below:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5521307

It is a real pity as I love the OS and everything works smoothly, but I am sorry to say I am not paying that money again, not for a lap heater.

I dare you Apple try and sort this out!

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