Q: Have a 2010 27" recently purchased that gets very hot

2.93 GHz intel Core i7 - has 16GB RAM and a 2TB HD

Wondering if the RAM could be making it hot? Or the HD? Or the chip ...

http://bit.ly/1GMZB7H

thanks,

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), intel quad core

Posted on May 14, 2015 3:51 PM

I have this question too

Solved

Mike Sombrio

Level 6 (17,283 points)

Apple Watch

I would think that by running them at speeds that high ALLthe time would have to shorten their life. Depending on what you're doing at the time that screen shot was taken your temps don't *look* extremely high to me. Your GPU seems a bit high and so does the HDD but again it's totally dependent on what you're doing at the time. You could have some dust build up inside your iMac, you could have the beginnings of a hardware problem or more likely you don't have any trouble at all. I can't tell you if yours feels hotter than mine, mine gets plenty warm and I just let the fans run as they normally do. I also don't use my hard drive as a boot disc so mine will be cooler than yours. Your BEST OPTION is to make an appointment and take your iMac in for a free diagnostic. Tell them that you think it' stunning hot and let them take a look at it.

Posted on May 17, 2015 8:25 AM

Q: Have a 2010 27" recently purchased that gets very hot

All replies

Helpful answers

Page 2 of 3 last

by Mike Sombrio,

Mike Sombrio May 15, 2015 10:18 AM in response to LCSterling
Level 6 (17,283 points)

Apple Watch

May 15, 2015 10:18 AM in response to LCSterling

The discs are machine specific, discs from another model Mac will not work. You can order a set from Apple or possibly you can find a download of AHT here
https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 15, 2015 10:24 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
Level 1 (0 points)

May 15, 2015 10:24 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

Thanks. (I ordered iWorks '09 for an older 20" iMac and it came with the extra discs.)

Seems like your 27" and mine should be nearly identical.

I'm concerned that when the HD was replaced it may not have been done correctly. In which case I'd re-do with a Western Digital.

I was certain that the loud noise I was hearing initially was the Toshiba drive, but it may have been the fan running on high ... until it stopped.
Reply options

Link to this post

by Old Toad,

Old Toad May 15, 2015 11:31 AM in response to LCSterling
Level 10 (141,674 points)

Mac OS X

May 15, 2015 11:31 AM in response to LCSterling

Boot into the Recovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down), select Disk Utility and repair the disk. See if DU reports any disk errors. Repeat until there are no disk errors reported. Also repair disk permissions.
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 15, 2015 11:56 AM in response to Old Toad
Level 1 (0 points)

May 15, 2015 11:56 AM in response to Old Toad

Thank you - will try that.
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 15, 2015 2:38 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
Level 1 (0 points)

May 15, 2015 2:38 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

So ... I had no idea how to see iStat menu ... then finally looked up to see it on the top bar. Here's a screen shot.

I was able to set fan speeds to medium and can hear one ...
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 15, 2015 2:43 PM in response to LCSterling
Level 1 (0 points)

May 15, 2015 2:43 PM in response to LCSterling

And here's another showing longer time periods
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 15, 2015 2:49 PM in response to LCSterling
Level 1 (0 points)

May 15, 2015 2:49 PM in response to LCSterling

And here's one that looks worrisome:
Reply options

Link to this post

by Old Toad,

Old Toad May 15, 2015 2:55 PM in response to LCSterling
Level 10 (141,674 points)

Mac OS X

May 15, 2015 2:55 PM in response to LCSterling

You know you can take screenshots of specific areas of the window to make it easier to see what you're trying to show, right?
Use the Shift+Command+4 key combination and the drag the cursor over the area you want to display in the image file.
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 15, 2015 3:16 PM in response to Old Toad
Level 1 (0 points)

May 15, 2015 3:16 PM in response to Old Toad

A recent convert ... still learning.
Reply options

Link to this post

by Mike Sombrio,

Mike Sombrio May 15, 2015 6:24 PM in response to LCSterling
Level 6 (17,283 points)

Apple Watch

May 15, 2015 6:24 PM in response to LCSterling

Just for comparison hers's my iMac after about 15 minutes of web browsing only. I have my fans running at the default speeds. Why are you using Chrome
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 16, 2015 8:54 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
Level 1 (0 points)

May 16, 2015 8:54 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

I prefer Chrome, have an Android phone, a Sony Vaio laptop - so Google syncs all my data and contacts. As I mentioned - a recent convert to Mac.

Wondering why my voltage is higher? And wondering if my fan sensor could be the problem since I'm using iStat to keep it running at Medium - if I set it to Default, the fan is off and the case gets very hot.
Reply options

Link to this post

by Mike Sombrio,

Mike Sombrio May 16, 2015 11:34 AM in response to LCSterling
Level 6 (17,283 points)

Apple Watch

May 16, 2015 11:34 AM in response to LCSterling

The fan is off? As in zero RPM?
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 16, 2015 11:49 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
Level 1 (0 points)

May 16, 2015 11:49 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

If I set iStat to "Default," it seems as if I hear no fan ... and the case gets very hot.

When I first received this iMac, the fan seemed to run on high most of the time.

Which is why I'm wondering if there's a sensor malfunction.

A prior owner replaced the hard drive and may not have addressed the sensor correctly.

Wondering if merely using iStat solves my problem, or if I ought to look into a WD drive and replacing the sensor.

Still have had no luck with AHT (Using Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support) and am going to look into getting original discs.
Reply options

Link to this post

by LCSterling,

LCSterling May 16, 2015 12:24 PM in response to LCSterling
Level 1 (0 points)

May 16, 2015 12:24 PM in response to LCSterling

This is why I wonder if whoever replaced the HD may not have correctly replaced the sensor:

http://blog.macsales.com/27918-owc-in-line-digital-thermal-sensor-solves-imac-ha rd-drive-compatibility-issue
Reply options

Link to this post

by Mike Sombrio,

Mike Sombrio May 16, 2015 3:34 PM in response to LCSterling
Level 6 (17,283 points)

Apple Watch

May 16, 2015 3:34 PM in response to LCSterling

The temp sensor is built into the hard drive by the manufacturer. That's why when replacing the hard drive in iMacs of that vintage require the replacement be from the same manufacturer. If the hard drive wasn't right the fan would be running full speed, and that can sound like a jet taking off. iMacs are built so that under normal circumstances you don't hear the fan. Set the fan speeds to default and see what the speeds are. Monitor your temps under normal operation and make sure that as temps rise so does the fan speed. If you're concerned that your temps are high make an appointment and take it in for service. it's important to remember that the vents are at the top, all of the heat inside that aluminum box has to escape there. The power supply is located top left and that's a major heat source. The aluminum case itself is designed to transfer heat away from the components.
Reply options

Link to this post