iMac dissatisfaction.

So the iMac does everything you want and does it well but you don't want it anymore because you're unhappy with the temperature it idles at?

Erm...ok.
 
Wow, this forum is clearly a breeding place for trolls. No, 80c is not 'satisfactory' at all, I've got a degree in computing already, so I don't know what the hell you guys are on thinking that a computer running at 80-85c while gaming is okay, if that was on my PC computer, i'd be (insert swear word here) disgusted.

The fact remains is that, 75% of the replies that I have received here are from nothing other than fan boys and little girls who do not like a person who is on both sides of the fence abusing their precious little apple computers.

Idling at 45-50c when there is nothing going on apart from watching a Youtube video is well, it is pretty bad but I can live with that. The main problem and/or concern at the start here was that my brand new iMac is reaching temperatures that are not of a normal level, now okay, I get that it is an all in one computer, so the temps are going to be above, but I gamed on this like once to test the I don't know, let's say the functionality of the computer itself? as I do with all my computers.

benchmark tests > cpu tests etc, etc and it's pathetic as are most of you with your replies, are any of you past the age of 16? or what? I mean, seriously, all of these replies, I would have expected this from a troll forum/post on 4chan. lmao, oh my, what a thread.

Now let's go through a few of these lovely messages and reply to them as I see fit, as this is just a wonderful community, I love how it is all just keyboard warriors online these days, but none the less, let's do this.

So you don't want it because it gets a little hot? Do you hug it while playing games?

No, I do not, are you ginger and do you wear a kilt?

Why do you specifically need the iMac for uni work?

They do get hot while gaming but why does that matter?

It uses programs that I have specific preferences over and that are cheaper alternatives.

Coda, Transmit, etc.

Gaming while hot does not matter, as long as it's respective, if I sold my gaming computer and used this and then it was running at 80c for prolonged periods of time, my life span would rapidly decrease.

You're a fool.

This is a pointless thread.

You're an idiot, point being?

It's unclear to me why you ever bought an iMac in the first place.

Could you not do your university work on Windows office software?

Ah that's right, that's why I bought an iMac! to use Microsoft Office and that's also why I'm in university, my bad! jesus.

I'd like to know this as well. I was in the exact same position as you last December and nearly bought a 27" iMac with 2GB gfx, 3.4 i7 etc... and was all set to pay for it... then actually thought about the reason I was buying it - for gaming, SO! I sacked off the £1800 and spent £940 on an i7 Windows tower, which works better with the creative suite than the iMac does due to the Mercury Playback Engine with the GTX 570.

Can I ask what work it is that you do? Also you mention you have a PC as well..if this is the case and it can handle all the same things the iMac does with ease, why did you buy it? I can only assume it was easier to take to/from uni or something? I really wanted a Mac but just did the sensible cost effective thing based on what I needed it for, sounds like you should have done the same.

Upside I guess is that you'll be able to sell it for almost the same amount you paid for it, they hold their value really well. Better you make that decision while there is a stack of warranty left.

Ah an actual question, well this is actually what I was hoping to recieve int he first place, this is great.

I went ahead and bought an iMac because of the fact that I thought it would be a good replacement for my current computer even though the specifications are more a less identical, I thought because I have used Macs in the past (MBP's, Mac Minis) that it would be a good step up, they use applications that I really enjoy such as: Transmit, Coda, Final cut, xCode, Unison and so on, I thought it would be great for me to buy one and then have one around incase I wanted to use these programs, obviously it was a mistake buying this machine.

I do a web/programming degree, hence the need to go ahead and buy one of these machines, now granted, I could do my work for the most part on dreamweaver/notepad & filezilla, but they are not my preferred apps.

Just put some bacon on it and be thankful. Jeez.

That is always a viable option, thank you.

---------

Thank you for the past 10 minutes of entertainment, guys it has been SO much fun, it really has!

<3, much love.
xoxo.






 
To be fair, there has been a lot of pointless posts in here, but the temperatures are within the thermal specification from Intel and Apple, it isn't the coolest thing ever but it won't do any harm.

There are only 2 fans I believe in it, small ones at that due to the design of the iMac, the aluminium shell also acts like a passive heat sink also.

Ultimately the temperatures are normal, you cannot have it cooler and retain the design of the iMac. If you are that annoyed over an arbitrary number then simply return it to Apple, are you still within the 14 days?

My Mac Mini, smaller and hotter than the iMac idles at 40C and under load goes to 70C yet it does that day in day out with no issues.

If it is really an issue, ask Apple if you can send it back, if not you'll just have to live with it, I recommend not even bothering to check the temperatures, if it works it's fine. The high temperatures will do no harm.
 
OP: You gotta get rid of it now. You will never be happy with it once you have decided that it does not meet your needs. Reading through some of your earlier posts, it is clear that you like gaming and customising your rig - neither of these are possible with the iMac.

The 6770m is a weaker part than a desktop 6770 - about 50% of the raw processing power, slower clock etc. The 6770 is now a £50 card. So your imac with a (downclocked) 6750m is not ever going to deliver anything other than a casual gaming experience. In PC graphics terms it has the power of about a £30-£40 desktop part.

Go back to the darkside - lots of good stuff at the moment on the PC side with Ivybridge etc.

Just steer clear from Windows 8... that looks like a total dog in the making.
 
I agree that the tone of answers were uncalled for but you really are worrying over nothing. It's not the computer that's running at 85°c, it's the cpu. The maximum operating temperature of i5 chips is 100°C, according to a quick google, so it is operating within the specified tolerances as specified by Intel.

I've got a 2.8ghz core2duo iMac, I've had for years. It's one of the first aluminium models and while it gets hot it has never skipped a beat in all that time, despite heavy use. While you can read about various problems that iMac users have, for example failing optical drives, problems with overheating iMac's just isn't something I've ever heard of.

As someone mentioned the fans are run slowly in order to keep them quiet. You can however override this and increase their speed, just as you would do with a regular pc.
 
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The aluminium shell is essentially a giant heatsink. Have you ever looked inside an iMac? Mine gets hot when I'm pushing it editing ProRes 4444 1080p or higher video. However I don't go sticking my hands on the back of the iMac whilst doing so. Plus I'm glad it does some passive cooling as it remains nice and quiet to work at.

I have a PC and even before I start pushing it with video work or gaming it sounds like a Hoover. Warm it up a bit and it's a hurricane. I know what I'd rather have.

My issue here is you must have known such components in an all-in-one would lead to heat. Apple could have stuffed the device with fans and made people put up with horrible noise or cleverly use the design to provide as much passive cooling as possible. My second issue is the aluminium is at the back so it being a little warm or even hit doesn't affect the user.
 
I have an iMac at work. It gets very warm running Creative Suite all day and manipulating big files. It's 3 years old, so it's clearly designed to take the heat.
 
Wow, this forum is clearly a breeding place for trolls. No, 80c is not 'satisfactory' at all, I've got a degree in computing already, so I don't know what the hell you guys are on thinking that a computer running at 80-85c while gaming is okay, if that was on my PC computer, i'd be (insert swear word here) disgusted.

I'm not a troll. I have a computer science degree, 15 years of IT Support experience and I'm Apple Certified.

The machine is not running at 80C, the chips are as reported by the on-die thermal sensors. It's well within the thermal envelope for those components. The case will get slightly warm, it's aluminium and designed to do so.

Revel in your slim, stylish and well performing all in one and stop worrying about a number that doesn't matter.
 
well, i can see why the op may be worried about 80 degrees tbh. I know people say the machines are designed to take it etc by my MBP with the nvidia 9400 used to get almost as hot. I took it to apple and they told me it was normal, so i thought no more abut it. Two weeks later i started getting kernel panics, and the GPU went faulty, so its not unheard of. Fortunately it was under warranty,but OP if i were you i'd just enjoy it and make sure you get the 3 year applecare for peace of mind.
 
You have a degree in computing? Well did you buy it off eBay?! who the hell cares? Does your lovely cooler Pc have a 27" screen sitting flush against all of its operating components?? Noooo you say? Hmmm I wonder why the iMac is hotter than that...
 
Lol, sounds more like a GD post than anything.

Having a Degree in Computing automatically means you know everything and more than everyone else? Hurrrrr
 
well, i can see why the op may be worried about 80 degrees tbh. .

Really? The CPU is well within the thermal limits. Now if the back of his case was 80 degrees he might have issues. Apple have designed the iMac to handle prolonged running at temperature. Not a little bit of gaming but day in, day out video, audio and photo editing pushing the CPU and GPU to the limit.

What I don't get is this heat is vented (partially) via the aluminium at the back. Why would that being warm be even a concern to the OP? It's obvious to even people without CompSci degrees that an all-in-one like the iMac is going to get warm in places under load.
 
80c on full load is pretty normal, especially for an all-in-one, did you think because it was by Apple it would have all the bells and whistles all the fan-boys seem to think they have?

You seem very deluded that the iMac is anything other than overpriced hardware lol.
 
Heck, the graphics card on mine is at 70c right now, doing nothing but web browsing. And amazingly, if I hadn't looked at the temperatures, I wouldn't know! ;)
 
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