short question, got a macbook pro late 2011, overall temperature about 70 C after 1-2 ours without power cable, is it normal, 20 % cpu power use, just a few plugs on. Normal?

 

Last edited: Feb 4, 2019

depending what tasks you are doing, a static pc in my case with all 6 cores are between 28 to 30 degrees and go to around 40 to 45 when using live

 

Laptops in general get hotter than desktop computers, but 70c is borderline too high, especially when the CPU is mostly idle. Try cleaning the vents with a vacuum cleaner, or compressed air. They are probably clogged with dust. It should help a bit.

 

They run hot. The Intel i5 inside your Macbook Pro has a maximum operating temperature of 100 °C before it shuts itself down to avoid damage. Therefore, 70 °C should be fine if that's as high as you go. With that said, I will tweak the fans or sit it atop a cooling pad. You can compare your temperature with that of othrr users. Some of theirs are running even hotter than yours https://www.intelmactemp.com/list/page3

 

Open Activity Monitor, select the CPU tab and click once or twice on the "%CPU" header to sort it descending, then see what's on top.

 

You can check out an app called MacFancontrol which can help control the internal cooling more also.

 

Thx for the information!
I try to get a cooling board, as i got no tech skills. How much effect would you presume a board will have on the temperature behaviour?
If cooled down a bit more, will the macbook have more realtime cpu power, so to speak is the cpu power linked to the temperature?
Greetings @The Pirate

 

Allright, this i will try definatly! Thank you
On the website they write you can link the fans to cpu temperature (sound like setting a target temperature as long as the fans are able to achieve it). But why isnt this an automated function in the macbook from start?
And can the fans overdrive or something?

 

Unfortunately, the answer is: NO. If the CPU temp specification gives it's normal operating temp range as 0 ~ 100 ˚C it will perform equally over this entire range. A cooler CPU would last longer in running hours.

 

Ok, thx for clearing this up!
Does the HD (unfortunately no ssd) add up to the high temp.? Would an SSD make sense in that term?
Superlowbudget here on my end, feed 3 kids, any cent goin into my little music thing mustvmake sense!

 

What is the environment temperature?

 

The majority of heat is generated by CPU and GPU. With that said, if you can afford it, do it. The performance improvement is going to be great. So great that you may even forget about your Mac running hot. One last thing, if you know how to do it, open it up and make sure the heatsink is properly placed and secure. While you are at it, clean up the fans and vents.

 

Last edited: Feb 4, 2019

If you decide to open it, clean the vents and change the shitty rubbery thermal pads on the CPU and GPU for normal thermal paste. Arctic MX-2 or MX-4 thermal paste isn't expensive at all [couple of euro], and you could get the temperatures down up to 10c that way.

 

Not exactly.
Above 85°C, package power rises approx. 3% every 1°C of difference. CPU running 27W@7000 Passmark will worsen its efficiency to 31W@7000 PM at same load if it's running at 90°C. It's not exactly linear, but there is a significant impact in high 90s, leading to even more heat and less efficiency.

 

Yep. Too hot.

 

Thx @The Pirate & @SineWave: as i recently had the grey screen gpu (radeon) failure typical for macbook pro 2011 , due to the guarantee it got repaired, i guess logic board swap, but they didnt even told me what they did to it.
Now back on track , but fearing the problem will be back sooner or later, as far as i know from some online research. As long as i got guarantee from the reseller (bought it used for 600 euros, i5,16 gb, 500 hd, late 2011) i dont have the courage to have parts changed because of guarantee issues. Fucked Up situation, i try to focus on my art in the little sparetime afterwork/family buisness, but have to steady worry about technical issues. If i had the budget i would instantly buy a older imac or mac mini or something,but def not at the moment.
Ok, enough crying, maybe i‘ll try a cooling board, and try to get thru the year, and see what the future brings.
Thx for the effort , guys! Appreciated

 

2011 sheesh, thermal paste between heatsink and cpu chip is probably dead by now, so it doesn't dissipate heat properly, also clean up fan and vents with compressed air

 

Guess i‘ll have to ask the guys @ asgoodasnew what they repaired, and if they did what you & others suggest. If they just changed the logic board but didnt changed the thermal paste, maybe thats why its so heated. Damn

 

I think I heard somewhere that they did that for reasons related to battery saving and noise. I guess they assumed the main customer base was not running intense software apps. A repair tech told me about macfancontrol when my MacBook was overheating and crashing due to hard drive issues. Btw do you have an SSD drive installed? It could cause your comp to overheat if you have a sata with any OS past Mav.

 

If they changed the logic board there certainly is a possibility they changed the thermal pads, too. But you never know. You should definitely ask them, and tell them about the heating problems. Those warranties are sometimes more pain in the butt than helpful, because you can't rip apart the thing yourself. I suppose you should wait until it expires.

Maybe you can make those guys change the thermal pads, or even put a proper thermal paste inside. Either would help.

Good luck, mate! Cheers!