MacBook average CPU temperature, and related question

C

captain.joco

Registered
I apologists straight away if this have been covered recently, but i need to ask

I have MacBook with Intel Core Due Processor, 2 GB ram.
What is the average temperature CPU temperature for standard usage ( I know that standard usage is very arbitrary, and by this I assume safari, iTunes and let say Pages to be the only major apps running ).

I use iStat pro widget and according to it my CPU temperature is 55*C. Is this too high? Lately the fan has been turning on more recently almost without any apps running so I think that there might be some hardware problem. I ran HardwareTest it found nothing.

The macbook is 2 yrs old. Do i need to get it cleaned or is there something else I should be worrying about?

Any toughts?
Thanks in advance.
 
Under high load, my MacBook Core2Duo's processor (2.0GHz, 2.0GB RAM) goes as high as 85 degrees Celsius (converting videos, rendering stuff, anything that pushes the processor to 100%).

I don't think 55 degrees Celsius is too hot for standard use.
 
63 degrees Celsius is only 145 degrees Farenheit, so still ok by my book.

If you see 80 degrees Celsius or more while you're using the laptop in a light fashion (email, web surfing without Flash video, etc.) then I'd start getting concerned.

Anything less than that should be ok.
 
My MacBook Pro when sitting idle is around 50 - 55° C. As soon as I open Mail temperature rises to 80 - 85° C. Of course by then the fans have kicked in but as long as Mail is open, temp. stays around 80 - 85°. When I close down Mail temp. drops to 55 - 60° C in a few seconds.

I just installed iStat and it seems that it is the CPU that generates the high temp.

This behavior started a week ago or so. I have been using the MacBook Pro for almost three years.

Yesterday I Asked a Tech on MaxOSX.com as soon as I get an answer, I'll let you know.

Greets,
 
Canticleer said:
Yesterday I Asked a Tech on MaxOSX.com as soon as I get an answer, I'll let you know.

Greets,
Click to expand...

Hehe, the same techs also post in the forum! :p

Just basic stuff though, make sure you run your laptop on a hard surface and nothing is blocking the airvents. I also used to use a cooler quite often, they are cheap and somewhat effective.

Also use activity monitor to see if any processes are making the machine work like mad - i often find when the fans kick in it is some flash site in safari/ff playing up.
 
If Mail.app appears as the CPU-sucking culprit, then the question to be asked next is: have you any Mail add-ons, plug-ins or "enhancers" installed?
 
Thanks for the replies.
@ ora; my laptop is on the same hard surface as it has (mostly) been since the last 3 years and nothing is blocking the airvents. The temperature rise only happens since a week or so and when running Mail. FOr example now Safari and Aperture are running and the temp. is 49° C.
When Mail is open Activity Monitor shows that Mail is using more than 100% of the CPU, sometimes over 110%. How this is possible I don't know.

@ ElDiaboloConCaca; no, I don't have any Mail add-ons, plug-ins or enhancers. The only thing I have installed on the PowerBook Pro the last week is the BitTorrent client Transmisson which has, as far as I know, nothing to do with Mail. And I haven't been running Transmission since the day I installed it.

Ivan
 
Canticleer said:
When Mail is open Activity Monitor shows that Mail is using more than 100% of the CPU, sometimes over 110%. How this is possible I don't know.
Click to expand...
You have a computer with a dual-core processor, so you basically have two CPUs. Each CPU can handle 100% load, for a maximum theoretical usage of 200%.

110% just means that you're using all of one processor and some of the other (or, 60% of one and 50% of the other... or, 90% of one and 20% of the other... or, etc.)

Check to ensure that all of your mail account settings are correct, and possibly rebuild Mail's mailbox index (I think the procedure for this has been posted on this site somewhere).
 
110 is high for just mail :)

Right now i am idling in safari, skype, mail, ical, Word2008, preview, iTunes Textedit and OmniOutliner and am running at about 10% total cpu load - my machine is new yes but not _that_ much faster.

try EDCC's idea - which is as easy as Mailbox>Rebuild.
 
Thanks for the CPU-explanation Diablo.

I checked my mail account settings and all seems to be ok. Rebuild Mailbox in the Mailbox menu is greyed out. So that way I can't rebuild it. Is there another way?
 
The complete Mail data in Activity Monitor are (here on my mac in Dutch, so forgive me the inadequate translations)

Mail 99,8 % CPU 12 Thr. 427,14 MB real memory 1,35 GB virtual memory Intel
 
I have rebuilt every single folder that I could rebuild. Some acted strange, some of the read messages that were in the folder returned marked unread after the rebuild, in other folders deleted messages reappeared after the rebuild or messages still in the folder were downloaded a second time.

But as I said, I have rebuilt every folder I could. Then I quit Mail, let the temperature drop to 55°C and reopened Mail. Immediately temp rose to 75° and the Activity Monitor showed that Mail used around 100% CPU, 10 threads, 70 MB memory and 1 GB of virtual memory. By then temp; had risen to 80° C.

So no real change in fact.
 
At this point I would be compelled to say that you should delete Mail's preference file.

Unfortunately, I believe that this will remove your accounts from Mail as well, causing you to have to re-enter all the server settings and what-not. I could be mistaken on this.

If you're the type that can remember those settings off the top of your head, this may not be an issue. If not, this may cause a little work to be done.

I'll wait on recommending that just yet until someone here can confirm whether or not it takes your account settings with it.
 
Thanks Diablo, I'll give it a try tomorrow and keep you informed. In this part world it's way after midnight and I think it's better to go to bed now. Tomorrow is another long day.

Cheers
 
I moved (did not delete) the Mail preference file (~/Library/preferences/com.apple.mail.plist) to another location (desktop) and restarted Mail. All the mails in my inbox were gone. The mails in my smart folders and local folders are still present. But, what's more important, the problems still presists. Mail hogs the CPU and makes the temp. rise to 85°. So I quit Mail again, deleted the new preference file and put the old back in place. After opening Mail again, all my mails were back.
 
Problem solved. Someone named Steko on the Apple Discussions Forum gave me the advice to open iSync, open Preferences and click on Reset Sync History. To my relieve this completely did the trick. After that Mail uses around 30% of CPU when downloading new messages and 0,0% when sitting idle. This had no effect on the temperature whatsoever.

I'm glad this one's solved. Thanks for your time and effort guys. I appreciate it.
 
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