iMac G5 3G CPU overheating?
I've read extensively here on these boards about the problems that the flat-panel iMac had with heat issues, and supposedly, they had been solved with the final release of G5 iMacs, one of which I own.
Well, lately, I've found that my iMac will be sitting idly, doing nothing... and then all of a sudden, all the fans will go on full bore, the machine will feel very hot, and the screen will eventually go blank, as if the system is overheating.
I don't use processor-intensive programs... I basically have Mail, Safari, and perhaps Word open at the same time when this happens. Although this began on a day when it was very hot out (and very hot inside my apartment), the last two days have been much cooler, but the problem happened again today.
I downloaded X Resource Graph to track the temperature and discovered, that while idle--again, with Mail, Safari, and Word open--the CPU was running at 100% constantly. The fans were at full bore, and all the graphs were in the red. I eventually rebooted the machine, and at the moment, it seems to be fine.
Does anyone know what could be going on? Any suggestions? Thanks so much!
GTSC
Well, lately, I've found that my iMac will be sitting idly, doing nothing... and then all of a sudden, all the fans will go on full bore, the machine will feel very hot, and the screen will eventually go blank, as if the system is overheating.
I don't use processor-intensive programs... I basically have Mail, Safari, and perhaps Word open at the same time when this happens. Although this began on a day when it was very hot out (and very hot inside my apartment), the last two days have been much cooler, but the problem happened again today.
I downloaded X Resource Graph to track the temperature and discovered, that while idle--again, with Mail, Safari, and Word open--the CPU was running at 100% constantly. The fans were at full bore, and all the graphs were in the red. I eventually rebooted the machine, and at the moment, it seems to be fine.
Does anyone know what could be going on? Any suggestions? Thanks so much!
GTSC
Comments
Originally posted by Chucker
Well, what applications take up the most CPU?
I'm not sure how to answer that question. The monitoring app doesn't break it out like that. Although I can see a spike whenever I use Safari, if that helps any.
I'm a bit vague on the point of the question, too. Why would any of those apps overheat the machine anyway? Doesn't make sense. Rendering in Photoshop is one thing. Checking your mail is entirely another.
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Originally posted by Gandalf the Semi-Coherent
I'm not sure how to answer that question. The monitoring app doesn't break it out like that. Although I can see a spike whenever I use Safari, if that helps any.
I'm a bit vague on the point of the question, too. Why would any of those apps overheat the machine anyway? Doesn't make sense. Rendering in Photoshop is one thing. Checking your mail is entirely another.
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Go to ~/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor ... use the drop down menu and select to view all processes ... it will let you know what's taking up your CPU. Be warned - it's variable based on what you have running at the time.
Originally posted by AgNuke1707
Go to ~/Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor ... use the drop down menu and select to view all processes ... it will let you know what's taking up your CPU. Be warned - it's variable based on what you have running at the time.
Hey, thanks so much for that advice. I discovered that one of my widgets (an otherwise very cool Norwegian panorama widget from BackPacker magazine) was sucking up 80 percent of my GPU activity! I disabled it, and my computer runs just fine now.
Those damn Norwegians.
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