I created this thread for people who suspect either their fans are running to slow or their computer is overheating.

First of all we need to get the CPU's at maximum sustained performance and then have a consistent room temperature. Then we can use a monitoring software that will give a history of all the sensors and fans speed.

All things being equal (except our machines) we can then compare our results with others, I'm working on a chart that will give us a idea graphically what to expect for each machine.

This program AltiVec Fractal Carbon Demo set on one of the higher renders will max your CPU's for the purpose of getting a steady reading on the fans, heat etc which you can post and compare.

So now your Activity Monitor CPU meter should be maxed.

Now go get this program Hardware Monitor, it will cost a mere $9 or so for the full version.

Note: The fan bug in Mac OS X has been fixed in 10.3.8.

You may have to change the color of the lines in the preferences.

Ok, now all you have to do is set your room ambient temperature to something that is consistent and leave Altivec running and compare the results against what I and others have submitted here.

You can still use the computer while this is going on.

Please mention your machine specs, room temperature and time of test along with the Hardware monitoring results in both ºF and ºC. (Hardware Monitor preferences)

Note: Drivebay fans look like they have a minimum 1000 RPM setting, if yours is higher then you may be running too hot, lower your room temps or investigate.

Read the last posts for most recent readings.

Here are my results:

Dual 2 Ghz G5, 4.5 GB RAM, ATI 9800 Pro Special Edition

Room Temp: 74ºF/23ºC

Time tested: All night, all day, constant and consistent, slight fan RPM change due to AC turning on/off

Main Logic Board Backside..........106ºF / 41.1ºC
CPU A Die Temperature .......... 145.1ºF / 62.7ºC
Processor Card A Ambient .......... 112.5ºF / 44.8ºC
CPU B Die Temperature .......... 136.6ºF / 58.1ºC
Processor Card B Ambient .......... 103.1ºF / 39.5ºC
Drive Bay .......... .......... 88.7ºF / 31.5ºC
Main Logic Board Air Inlet .......... 82ºF / 27.8ºC
Main Logic Board Ambient .......... 95.2ºF / 35.1ºC
Memory Controller Heatsink .......... 130ºF / 54.5ºC
CPU A voltage .......... .......... 1.48V
CPU B voltage .......... .......... 1.48V
Processor Card A 12V .......... 6.65A
CPU A Current .......... .......... 50.78A
Processor Card B 12V .......... 6.54A
CPU B Current .......... .......... 50.90A
Slot 12V .......... .......... 0
Slot 3.3V .......... .......... 0
Slot 5V .......... .......... 0
Slot combined .......... .......... 32867
CPU A Exhaust Fan .......... 1174 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan .......... 1138 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan .......... 1320 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan .......... 1286 RPM
Drive Bay .......... .......... 1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside .......... 51%
PCI Slot Fan .......... .......... 130% (this seems to change depending on video card use)

Dual 2.5 GHz, 2.5 GB RAM, ATI 9600XT

Room Temp: 74°F/23°C

Time tested: 2.5 Hours... 100% CPU usage

Main Logic Board Backside ..........115.0°F/ 46.1°C
CPU A Die Temperature ..........178.8°F/ 81.5°C
Processor Card A Ambient ..........124.2°F/ 51.2°C
CPU B Die Temperature ..........174.1°F/ 79.0°C
Processor Card B Ambient ..........120.7°F/ 49.2°C
Drive Bay ..........82.4°F/ 28.0°C
SMART Disk ..........104.0°F/ 40.0°C
Memory Controller Heatsink ..........159.6°F/ 70.9°C
CPU A Voltage ....................1.38 V
CPU B Voltage ....................1.38 V
Processor Card A ....................12V
Supply Current ....................5.65 A
CPU A Current ....................51.27 A
Processor Card B ....................12V
Supply Current ....................5.96 A
CPU B Current ....................52.61 A
Slot 12V ....................0.0
Slot 3.3V ....................0.0
Slot 5V ....................0.0
Slot combined ....................6742.0
CPU A Exhaust Fan ..........993 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan ..........963 RPM
CPU A PUMP ..........1000 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan ..........993 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan ..........963 RPM
CPU B PUMP ..........1000 RPM
Drive Bay ....................1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside ..........76.0 %
PCI Slot Fan ....................76.0 %

Dare I say it? Smells a lot like an OC'd 2.0 to me.

Model: Dual 1.8 Rev A

Test time: 4 hours nonstop F@H on both processors

Room temp: 22-23C

Results after 4 hours:

Main Logic Board Backside: 44,1?
CPU A Die Temperature: 58,3?
Processor Card A Ambient: 44,2?
CPU B Die Temperature: 58,2?
Processor Card B Ambient: 43,8?
Drive Bay: 26,5?
Main Logic Board Air Inlet: 25,9?
Main Logic Board Ambient: 32,1?
SMART Disk ST3160023AS (3JS35RXY): 39,0?
Memory Controller Heatsink: 53,1?
CPU A Voltage: 1,44 V
CPU B Voltage: 1,44 V
Processor Card A 12V Supply Current: 5,24 A
CPU A Current: 45,41 A
Processor Card B 12V Supply Current: 5,77 A
CPU B Current: 45,65 A
Slot 12V: 0,0
Slot 3.3V: 0,0
Slot 5V: 0,0
Slot combined: 4338,0
CPU A Exhaust Fan: 786 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan: 762 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan: 680 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan: 659 RPM
Drive Bay: 1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside: 51,0 %
PCI Slot Fan: 76,0 %

Those numbers pretty constant the whole time.

I noticed, that after I stopped the processes, the fans did not slow down, bot rather reved up to around 1700 RPM's for about 30-50 sec. bringing the CPU Die temp down from the 58C when running at full power to about 42-44C, then the fans slowed down. Seems like the system tries to cool the processors down as quickly as possible when the load is taken off - very nice

I also took a measurement of the machine when it was idle, with no appz running except Hardware Monitor. The processor intake and exhaust fans all run at 300 RPM, but the Drive Bay fan stays at 1000 RPM at all time, heavy load or not - I guess that (together with the harddrives sound) is responsible for most of the noise the machine makes, as I can't tell that much difference between the noise when the CPU fans are at 300 rpm versus 6-700 rpm.

cheers
Peter

Have you noticed, in Hardware Monitor, that the readings for:

Main Logic Board Backside
Processor Card A Ambient
Processor Card B Ambient

Never change after boot? I've seen others' results that indicate this is true for them as well. Have a look.

Is the backside blower kicking in when needed?



blakespot

Dual 2.5 GHz, 0.5 GB RAM, ATI 9600XT

Room Temp:22°C

Time tested: 2,5 Hours...near 100% CPU usage

Main Logic Board Backside ..........22,0°C
CPU A Die Temperature ..........82,2°C
Processor Card A Ambient ..........23,5°C
CPU B Die Temperature ..........86,2°C
Processor Card B Ambient ..........23,0°C
Drive Bay ..........26,5°C
SMART Disk ..........37,0°C
Memory Controller Heatsink ..........70,8°C
CPU A Voltage ....................1,43 V
CPU B Voltage ....................1,43 V
Processor Card A Supply Current ...5,18 A
CPU A Current ...................49,44 A
Processor Card B Supply Current ...6,18 A
CPU B Current ....................59,08 A
Slot 12V ....................0.0
Slot 3.3V ....................0.0
Slot 5V ....................0.0
Slot combined ....................5437,0
CPU A Exhaust Fan ..........864 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan ..........838 RPM
CPU A PUMP ..........1000 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan ..........864 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan ..........838 RPM
CPU B PUMP ..........1000 RPM
Drive Bay ....................1000 RPM

blakespot, I found this in Hardware Monitor's FAQ page:

Why do the temperature values labeled "ambient" and "Main Logic Board Backside" never change for the Power Mac G5?

The sensors labeled with the word Ambient (internal identifier: AMB) measure the temperature of the surrounding air. This also includes the sensor at the backside of the main logic board. Mac OS X never updates the readings while the operating system is running because it assumes the environment of the computer is not changing much. The values are only read out when the system is switched on or is waking up from sleep mode. To estimate the current temperature you can only use the values of the remaining sensors.

I have been encoding video all night, and here are my stats:

Main Logic Board Backside:......27,2°C/ 81,0°F
CPU A Die Temperature:..........58,6°C/137,5°F
Processor Card A Ambient:.......31,5°C/ 88,7°F
CPU B Die Temperature:..........57,3°C135,1°F
Processor Card B Ambient:......29,8°C/ 85,5°F
Drive Bay:..............................25,5°C/ 77,9°F
Memory Controller Heatsink:.....65,9°C/150,6°F

This seems pretty normal, right?

Dual 2.0

100% 24/7 months

Room temperature 21 - 22 °C

Main Logic Board Backside 47,2℃
CPU A Die Temperature 60,3℃
Processor Card A Ambient 50,0℃
CPU B Die Temperature 59,0℃
Processor Card B Ambient 46,2℃
Drive Bay 27,5℃
Main Logic Board Air Inlet 26,1℃
Main Logic Board Ambient 33,9℃
SMART Disk ST3160023AS (3JS17W4E) 39,0℃
Memory Controller Heatsink 59,4℃
CPU A Voltage 1,48 V
CPU B Voltage 1,48 V
Processor Card A 12V Supply Current 8,40 A
CPU A Current 54,81 A
Processor Card B 12V Supply Current 7,24 A
CPU B Current 51,64 A
Slot 12V 0,0
Slot 3.3V 0,0
Slot 5V 0,0
Slot combined 4808,0
CPU A Exhaust Fan 999 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan 969 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan 993 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan 963 RPM
Drive Bay 1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside 20,0 %
PCI Slot Fan 29,8 %

PowerMac G5 Dual 2.5GHz, 2 GB RAM, ATI Radeon 9600 XT

Room Temp: 73ºF

Time tested: Folding@home 24/7 with 3 CLI clients, email, forum posting, web surfing, iTunes jukebox listening.

Main Logic Board Backside..........80.4ºF
CPU A Die Temperature .......... 172.0ºF
Processor Card A Ambient .......... 83.8ºF
CPU B Die Temperature .......... 188.2ºF
Processor Card B Ambient .......... 83.8ºF
Drive Bay ..................... 90.5ºF
Memory Controller Heatsink .......... 160.7ºF
CPU A voltage ..................... 1.44V
CPU B voltage ..................... 1.44V
Processor Card A 12V .......... 4.79A
CPU A Current ..................... 59.69A
Processor Card B 12V .......... 5.38A
CPU B Current ..................... 59.69A
Slot 12V ..................... 4095.0
Slot 3.3V .................... 3045.0
Slot 5V ....................... 2297.0
Slot combined ............. 5953.0
CPU A Exhaust Fan .......... 1439 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan ............ 1395 RPM
CPU A Radiator Pump....... 1439 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan .......... 1439 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan ............ 1395 RPM
CPU B Radiator Pump....... 1439 RPM
Drive Bay ....................... 2295 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside .......... 29.8%
PCI Slot Fan ..................... 29.8%

Dual 2.0Ghz, nVidia 5200 Ultra, 1.5GB RAM.

Room temp- 70F

Conditions- After 12 hours of folding full time. IMing using iChat, listening to music w/ iTunes (no visualizer), editing a PDF, folding, and using Entourage.

Main Logic Board Backside 42.8?
CPU A Die Temperature 65.9?
Processor Card A Ambient 53.8?
CPU B Die Temperature 60.7?
Processor Card B Ambient 45.0?
Drive Bay 24.5?
Memory Controller Heatsink 61.0?
CPU A Voltage 1.49 V
CPU B Voltage 1.49 V
Processor Card A 12V Supply Current 8.75 A
CPU A Current 61.77 A
Processor Card B 12V Supply Current 7.10 A
CPU B Current 54.93 A
Slot 12V 0.0
Slot 3.3V 0.0
Slot 5V 0.0
Slot combined 3582.0
CPU A Exhaust Fan 912 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan 884 RPM
CPU A Radiator Pump 1000 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan 912 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan 884 RPM
CPU B Radiator Pump 1000 RPM
Drive Bay 1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside 29.8 %
PCI Slot Fan 29.8 %

Dual 1.8 Rev A 1.5 GB RAM

Room Temperature 73.º F

All temperatures F/C

Main Logic Board Backside 106.7/41.5
CPU A Die Temperature 109.3/42.9
Processor Card A Ambient 105.3/40.8
CPU B Die Temperature 116.4/47.0
Processor Card B Ambient 107.6/42.0
Drive Bay 83.3/28.5
Main Logic Board Air Inlet 76.5/24.8
Main Logic Board Ambient 94.3/34.6
Memory Controller Heatsink 122.0/50.0
CPU A Voltage 1.32 V
CPU B Voltage 1.32 V
Processor Card A 12V Supply Current 5.11 A
CPU A Current 14.28 A
Processor Card B 12V Supply Current 6.86 A
CPU B Current 23.93 A
Slot 12V 0.0
Slot 3.3V 226.0 Maybe in more ways than I can imagine?
Slot 5V 0.0
Slot combined 4217.0

CPU A Exhaust Fan 300 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan 300 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan 300 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan 300 RPM
Drive Bay 1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside 20.0%
PCI Slot Fan 29.8%

Slot 3.3V's number does worry me. Very strange.

Comments?

Dual 2.5, 2.5 GB ram, 250 GB HD, 9600XT

Power setting is set to automatic and a Fah5 client running on each processor maxing it out. If I switch the power to reduced, the die temps on both drop to the 57/135 range and all the fans slow to speeds appropriate for that temperature range.

Main Logic Board Backside .......... 50.5/122.9
CPU A Die Temperature .......... 81.0/177.5
Processor Card A Ambient .......... 57.5/135.5
CPU B Die Temperature .......... 86.3/187.4
Processor Card B Ambient .......... 55.8/132.3
Drive Bay .......... 30.0/86.0
Memory Controller Heatsink .......... 71.9/162.4
CPU A voltage ..................... 1.38V
CPU B voltage ..................... 1.40V
Processor Card A 12V .......... 7.14A
CPU A Current ..................... 63.72A
Processor Card B 12V .......... 7.64A
CPU B Current ..................... 71.53A
Slot 12V ..................... 4095 .0
Slot 3.3V .................... 2304.0
Slot 5V ....................... 3700.0
Slot combined ............. 5053.0
CPU A Exhaust Fan .......... 1371 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan ............ 1482 RPM
CPU A Radiator Pump....... 1371 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan .......... 1371 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan ............ 13.28 RPM
CPU B Radiator Pump....... 1371 RPM
Drive Bay ....................... 1000 RPM
Main Logic Board Backside .......... 76.0%
PCI Slot Fan ..................... 76.0%

Here are my HW Monitor readings while using Safari and iTunes.
Do these readings seem odd? I have installed the 10.3.6 update.

-Sorry, I don't have the exact room temp. I can tell you it very cool with hardwood floors,no heater,no A/C.

I have a 2.5 with 3gb of ram, ATI 9800xt, a Raptor as my boot drive and the stock 160gb drive.


http://www.pbase.com/image/36149187/original

They seem normal.

Dual 2 Ghz G5, 4.5 GB RAM, ATI 9800 Pro Special Edition 10.3.6 ATI 4.4.2 Hardware Monitor 1.21 (updated)

Both processors maxed out using InCrease/Folding@home (see original post)

Please don't bother submitting unless you have the processors maxed out as the fans and everything scales according to CPU usage. Just copy my readings and replace with yours (saves typing) Thanks.

Room Temp: 74ºF/23ºC

Time tested: 1 hour consistant

Main Logic Board Backside..........113ºF / 45.4ºC
CPU A Die Temperature .......... 145.1ºF / 62.7ºC
Processor Card A Ambient .......... 119.3ºF / 44.5ºC
CPU B Die Temperature .......... 136.6ºF / 58.1ºC
Processor Card B Ambient .......... 110.8ºF / 43.8ºC
Drive Bay .......... .......... 88.7ºF / 31.5ºC
Main Logic Board Air Inlet .......... 82.4ºF / 28ºC
Main Logic Board Ambient .......... 97.5ºF / 36.4ºC
SMART Disk WDC WD740GD ..........102.2ºF/39.0ºC
SMART Disk WDC WD74OGD..........102.2ºF/39.0ºC
Memory Controller Heatsink .......... 131.2ºF / 55.1ºC
CPU A voltage .......... .......... 1.48V
CPU B voltage .......... .......... 1.48V
Processor Card A 12V .......... 6.97A
CPU A Current .......... .......... 51.03A
Processor Card B 12V .......... 6.76A
CPU B Current .......... .......... 49.19A
Slot 12V .......... .......... 0
Slot 3.3V .......... .......... 0
Slot 5V .......... .......... 0
Slot combined .......... .......... 28656
CPU A Exhaust Fan .......... 1223 RPM
CPU A Intake Fan .......... 1182 RPM
CPU B Exhaust Fan .......... 1308 RPM
CPU B Intake Fan .......... 1271 RPM
Drive Bay .......... .......... 1053 RPM (no longer stuck at 1000 RPM it seems)
Main Logic Board Backside .......... 20%
PCI Slot Fan .......... .......... 43.9%