iMac is lagging because of heat?

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Level 1

5 points

iMac is lagging because of heat?

I'm having some trouble with my mid 2010 iMac. Lately, every time I play any game (like Minecraft or Elder Scrolls Online) the game starts to lag after playing for around half an hour (before that moment the game runs fine). By the time the game starts to lag, my iMac has become as hot as a chili pepper so I think that's the cause of my problems. Could it be that my iMac is full of performance-draining dust inside? I've never cleaned it and I've owned it since February '11.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9), mid 2010, Core i5 3.6GHz, 8GB RAM

Posted on Mar 2, 2014 2:21 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 2, 2014 2:27 AM in response to iLad

It's more likely that both the lag AND the heat are effects of something else. Possibly the spec of your iMac is not up to the intense graphics demands of the games (I don't play games so I've no idea if these are playable given your machine), or you've got other things running at the same time and the total load on your CPU is just too much.

I'd suggest you first make sure nothing else is running while you're playing, and second run Activity Monitor (/Applications/Utilities/Acitivity Monitor.app) when you notice the lag and see whose eating up all the %CPU time and RAM.

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Answer 2

iLad Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 2, 2014 2:31 AM in response to Phil Stokes

I'm absolutely sure my iMac can handle these games. Up to less than half a year ago, Minecraft ran as smooth as butter (200fps) and looking at the way the Elder Scrolls Online runs before it starts to lag after playing it for half an hour, my specs are definitely not the problem here. I always make sure nothing else is running while I play games.

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Answer 3

Mar 2, 2014 2:36 AM in response to iLad

OS, so check what Activity Monitors report when the lag kicks in.

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Answer 4

iLad Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 2, 2014 2:43 AM in response to Phil Stokes

Nothing too interesting. When I play the Elder Scrolls Online, that process is using quite a bit of % CPU and RAM. But no extremities. Also, I should note that the lag is not consistent. The game lags for about 10 seconds, then for about 2 seconds it's back to normal FPS, then it lags again. Same thing for Minecraft.

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Answer 5

Mar 2, 2014 9:03 AM in response to iLad

iLad wrote:

Nothing too interesting. When I play the Elder Scrolls Online, that process is using quite a bit of % CPU and RAM. But no extremities.

I don't mean to be rude, but if you can't be bothered to be specific, no one here is going to be able to help you.

When you see the lag, fire up Activity Monitor, take a screenshot, post it.

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Answer 6

iLad Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 2, 2015 7:57 AM in response to iLad

Turns out one of the fans inside the iMac was broken (the fan near the disc drive I believe). This caused the computer to overheat. Replaced the fan and removed all dust inside, now it works like a charm again.

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