Mac Overheating problem after dual HDD + SSD upgrade

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Mac Overheating problem after dual HDD + SSD upgrade

I upgraded my late 2011 Macbook Pro with 16 Gb Ram, HDD+SSD, running Yosemite now. I have the new SamSung 250G SSD installed in the original hard drive bay while the old hdd installed in the optical hard drive with an enclosure.

The average CPU temp was around 71C (160 F) without any major programs running, now with smcFan Control, it drops 42C (109F). Is this normal? Is it safe to run it like this? I'll need to use lots of animation and video editing programs on this mac. Any good suggestions?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 22, 2015 1:43 PM

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Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jun 22, 2015 1:48 PM in response to LynnChen66

71°c is high but not lethal for casual use. Perhaps Spotlight was reindexing after you installed the new SSD. What are the temperatures now without engaging the SMC fan control?

Ciao.

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Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jun 22, 2015 1:49 PM in response to LynnChen66

Reset the SMC:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Ciao.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 22, 2015 1:51 PM in response to LynnChen66

Well, according to what you've written the MBP used to operate at 71ºC and now operates at 42ºC with SMC FanControl installed. So exactly what is the problem? I'm unclear on this.

If you use a lot of animation and video editing programs, then you should expect the computer to run pretty hot. Even were the computer running hot that shouldn't have any connection to the upgrades you did unless you didn't install things correctly or disconnected something and did not reconnect it.

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Answer 4

LynnChen66 Author

Level 1

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Jun 22, 2015 2:09 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

It goes back to 70ºC when I turn the SMC Fan Control. What do you mean by "Spotlight was reindexing"?

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Jun 22, 2015 2:14 PM in response to LynnChen66

If you recently upgraded or made a lot of file changes, then Spotlight will index the drive which causes things to slow down and become warmer until Spotlight finishes. Spotlight builds an index to enable quick searches for things.

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Answer 6

LynnChen66 Author

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Jun 22, 2015 2:18 PM in response to Kappy

The overheat problems shows up after the upgrades, I'm worrying it may get worse when using more programs in the future.

Well, my my question is: what's causing the overheat? Any other ways to keep it back to normal even without SMC Fan control? Thanks a lot!

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Answer 7

Jun 22, 2015 2:45 PM in response to LynnChen66

check the activity monitor and see if the processor still running at 100% even if you are not running any program. and search what program is consuming your processor the most. (sorry english not my language)

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Answer 8

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jun 22, 2015 3:21 PM in response to LynnChen66

To expand on Martinez.2 suggestion, open Activity Monitor to ALL PROCESSES and set CPU to display values from high to low. Are there any applications that are consuming a lot of CPU resources?

Ambient temperatures and the physical location will have an affect on the temperatures of the MBP. Make certain that it has a lot of ventilation.

Down load an Etrecheck report and post it. Perhaps it may offer a clue.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Also run an Apple Hardware test:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

Note that an error free AHT is not definitive.

Open the MBP bottom panel and look for dust and dirt that may have accumulated inside. The fans warrant careful inspection.

Ciao.

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Answer 9

LynnChen66 Author

Level 1

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Jun 24, 2015 11:39 AM in response to Martinez.2

Thanks Martinez.2, I did a check

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

19% WindowServer

14% CEPHtmlEngine Helper(2)

12% mdworker(16)

7% Finder

5% backupd

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

2.13 GB Adobe Photoshop CC 2015

1.09 GB kernel_task

557 MB mdworker(16)

492 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(4)

475 MB softwareupdated

Without SMC Fan Control, the temperature still stays around 71ºC. Any idea? Thanks!

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Answer 10

LynnChen66 Author

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Jun 24, 2015 11:47 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

OGELTHORPE

OGELTHORPE, thanks for the Etrecheck link. I also ran a Apple hard ware test, no error was found (Didn't do the extended test, it took too long and laptop gets really hot)

Just now I was just watching a video, the temperature rised up to 83ºC, the fan was running almost full speed. That really makes me nervous.

If I can't figure out, I may try take the new SSD out and put the old Hdd back in the hard drive bay... 😟

Here is the Etrecheck test result:

---------------------------------------------------

Problem description:

overheat

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 6/24/15, 2:31 PM

Hardware Information: ℹ️

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) (Technical Specifications)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2

1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 349 - SN = D8620320409DGDLAM

Video Information: ℹ️

Intel HD Graphics 3000

AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

Cintiq 24HD 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) - Time since boot: one day 1:6:36

Disk Information: ℹ️

Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB disk0 : (250.06 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Lynn SSD (disk2) / : 248.83 GB (185.13 GB free)

Core Storage: disk0s2 249.20 GB Online

TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk1 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1s2) /Volumes/Macintosh HD : 337.00 GB (184.40 GB free)

USB Information: ℹ️

Wacom Co., Ltd Cintiq 24HD HUB

Tablet Cintiq 24HD Tablet

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Seagate Backup+ Desk M 2 TB

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

LiuLiu BackUp (disk3s2) /Volumes/LiuLiu BackUp : 2.00 TB (962.17 GB free)

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Configuration files: ℹ️

/etc/hosts - Count: 57

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.ftdi (1 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (6.3.11 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

smcFanControl Application (/Applications/smcfancontrol_2_4/smcFanControl.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.194 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.194 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

WacomTabletPlugin: Version: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.6 - SDK 10.9 [Click for support]

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player [Click for support]

WacomTablet [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Lynn SSD: Disk size: 248.83 GB Disk used: 63.70 GB

Destinations:

LiuLiu BackUp [Local]

Total size: 0 B

Total number of backups: 42

Oldest backup: 2014-07-23 01:52:29 +0000

Last backup: 2015-06-22 01:28:42 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 0 B < (Disk used 63.70 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

19% WindowServer

14% CEPHtmlEngine Helper(2)

12% mdworker(16)

7% Finder

5% backupd

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

2.13 GB Adobe Photoshop CC 2015

1.09 GB kernel_task

557 MB mdworker(16)

492 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(4)

475 MB softwareupdated

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

2.41 GB Free RAM

14.00 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Jun 24, 2015, 12:53:13 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent_20 15-06-24-125313_[redacted].crash

Jun 24, 2015, 10:09:49 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/accountsd_2015-06-24-100949_[r edacted].crash

Jun 24, 2015, 10:01:40 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/accountsd_2015-06-24-100140_[r edacted].crash

Jun 24, 2015, 09:56:33 AM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/accountsd_2015-06-24-095633_[r edacted].crash

Jun 24, 2015, 12:49:58 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Adobe Photoshop CC 2015_2015-06-24-004958_[redacted].hang

Jun 23, 2015, 04:51:16 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Finder_2015-06-23-165116_[reda cted].crash

Jun 23, 2015, 01:29:46 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Character Animator_2015-06-23-132946_[redacted].hang

Jun 23, 2015, 01:24:59 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WacomTabletDriver_2015-06-23-132459_[redacted]. crash

Jun 23, 2015, 01:24:51 PM Self test - passed

Jun 23, 2015, 09:01:29 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WacomTabletDriver_2015-06-23-090129_[redacted]. crash

Jun 22, 2015, 07:53:26 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WacomTabletDriver_2015-06-22-195326_[redacted]. crash

Jun 22, 2015, 07:09:54 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Adobe Desktop Service_2015-06-22-190954_[redacted].crash

Jun 22, 2015, 07:08:45 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WacomTabletDriver_2015-06-22-190845_[redacted]. crash

Jun 22, 2015, 07:02:20 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WacomTabletDriver_2015-06-22-190220_[redacted]. crash

Jun 22, 2015, 06:59:53 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WacomTabletDriver_2015-06-22-185953_[redacted]. crash

Jun 22, 2015, 02:28:29 PM /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Safari Webpage Preview Fetcher_2015-06-22-142829_[redacted].crash

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Answer 11

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jun 24, 2015 12:15 PM in response to LynnChen66

What happens when you shut down Adobe Photoshop?

What happens if you disconnect the HDD that is in the DVD drive location?

Ciao.

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Answer 12

LynnChen66 Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 24, 2015 12:37 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

It drops a little bit to 60ºC without Photoshop running. That's still pretty high considering nothing major is running.

I'll try disconnect the HDD sometime soon, got few deadlines... Maybe...it's safe to keep use it for a while?

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Answer 13

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jun 24, 2015 1:09 PM in response to LynnChen66

60°c is not too bad. As I stated before, even 71°c is acceptable for operating a MBP even though it is high for casual use. When you start getting into the high 90°c+ range, then there are reasons for concern. You certainly may continue to use it at current temperature levels.

Be advised that there are temperature shut down circuits that will prevent the MBP from being damaged due to excessive heat.

Ciao.

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