Hitting Intel TJMax spec of 105c

Question

Level 1

8 points

Hitting Intel TJMax spec of 105c

Hi,

I've recently purchased a used rMBP. It is an early 2013 15" Retina, 2.7ghz, 16gb ram, 500gb Flash notebook.
With iStat Menus installed, I've noticed the computer gets extremely hot. Upon boot-up, whether restarting after hours of use, or a fresh boot after sitting in a cold room all night, it consistently hits between 95c and 105c, which is Intels thermal junction max. I've also noticed it doesn't take much of a cpu-load to hit those same temps regularly. I've seen it max out at 105c just syncing files with google drive, or even launching most apps causes it to jump up to scary levels. I've seen it idle as low as 40c-50c (115F), but usually with a single application open (Logic Pro X, Studio One v3, etc) it will consistently stay around 90c-100c.

As an experienced computer technician, I've removed the rear panel, cleaned the unit of all dust, and correctly cleaned the cpu/gpu and applied arctic silver 5 thermal compound. I even polished and cleaned the heatsinks. I notice it helped a bit, but the computer still gets excessively hot when doing most any task, and lingers around those high temps. My room is typically around 72/73F, and the computer is on a flat surface and well ventilated area.

I am beginning to think I was intentionally sold a troublesome macbook. I know I have read countless threads here and elsewhere regarding macbooks overheating, but does anyone have experience with the consistently high temps I've described here? And what options do I have, or what might I try besides the usual suspects i.e. reset SMC, NVram, erase and reinstall, etc, all of which I have done more than once thus far.

Thanks in advance.
Trip

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013), macOS Sierra (10.12.4), 2.7ghz i7, 16gb Ram, 500gb Flash

Posted on May 9, 2017 7:07 PM

Reply

Answer 1

itsTrips Author

Level 1

8 points

May 9, 2017 8:47 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks for your reply, Grant. I should have mentioned my experience with the fans thus far, but left that out in the interest of keeping the original post a short as possible.

I am currently using iStat Menus to adjust the fan speeds. I've found (on my own and friends rMBP's) that the default settings Apple uses appear to be pretty conservative. I've since taken to overriding Apples default fan speeds (2150rpm-L and 2000rpm-R) with the medium(4000rpm) and high settings(5900rpm) in iStat. Up until a few minutes ago, I had everything closed except for Chrome to type this message. I then opened Logic Pro X which began to scan newly installed AU plugins prior to loading a default template. The screenshot below should at least give somewhat of an indication of where the temps have been over the last hour, day, and week.

In regards to the fan speeds, despite often keeping the iStat setting to medium (when idle to keep things cool) I have in fact noticed that when the temps get over a certain threshold the default apple settings will kick in and even override the iStat setting. For example, I have them set at medium now, but upon opening Logic Pro X and it performing its plugin scan the fans eventually increased their speed to max. However, it seems to have taken longer than one might expect. At least 3 minutes or so at over 205f before that happened. After having launched logic and that plugin scan starting, the temps have not fallen below 205f and seem to fluctuate between 205f and 218f. These seem extremely excessive to me, despite knowing that these machines do tend to run hot. Once the scan completed and Logic opened its default template, I then closed Logic, and again have only Chrome running to type this, and I am idling at around 170f.

Reply

Answer 2

etresoft

Level 9

57,242 points

May 9, 2017 7:17 PM in response to itsTrips

Hello itsTrips,

A 2013 15" Retina, 2.7ghz, 16gb ram, 500gb isn't much different than a top-of-the-line Mac today. In some ways, it is better. You have to ask yourself why someone would want to get rid of that particular one.

Reply

Answer 3

kaz-k

Level 9

51,348 points

May 9, 2017 7:46 PM in response to itsTrips

You'd better make Genius Bar appointment or take your MacBook Pro to Apple Authorized Service Provider to tell them about thermal issue.

I think thermal issue tend to be thermal paste or silicon grease which too much or too little pasting between the CPU and heat sink.

You can re-paste better thermal conductivity silicon grease by yourself.

Reply

Answer 4

itsTrips Author

Level 1

8 points

May 9, 2017 7:59 PM in response to etresoft

Thanks for the reply. This has been a lurking fear of mine. Certainly a worst case scenario. Sadly, despite trying to remain a positive person and see the good in people, it appears as though you are correct and the seller indeed may have pulled a fast one.

p.s. EtraCheck is excellent!

Reply

Answer 5

itsTrips Author

Level 1

8 points

May 9, 2017 7:59 PM in response to kaz-k

You are correct, excess thermal compound and improper application is a known issue with these machines. As such, when I discovered the high temps I removed the rear panel, cleaned out all the dust, and correctly applied high quality thermal compound as I mentioned in the original post.

Thanks

Reply

Answer 6

May 9, 2017 8:08 PM in response to itsTrips

A Mac that is nearing those high temps should have the fans roaring, which you have not mentioned. Fans speeds are set based on measured temperature inside the case, from CPU, from memories, and from additional sensors.

There is an RPM indicator on each of the two fans in the 15-in model, so the diagnostic can detect a faulty fan.

Reply