Brand new iMac 27" 100 degree C core temperatures

Question

Just got new 4.2 GHz i7 27" retina 27" iMac with the 8Gb video card.  X-Plane 11 regularly registers 100 degree C core temperatures with the CPU, even with the fan speed ramped up with a fan controller.  I've tried disabling turbo boost, which makes it a bit better, but not much.  Performance (fps) is great.  Frankly, I'm not prepared to wreck an expensive iMac, and can carry on using XP-10, but it seems a pity.  I've cut reflections down to minimum, cut down the objects (buildings, etc.), but this should surely not be necessary.

So, I took another tack.  I have found that increasing some sliders in the rendering decreases the frame rate (as expected), but has the side effect, and benefit, of then reducing the CPU temperatures to more acceptable levels.  Maybe that is the answer!  Just slow things down!  Comments please!

 

Comments

Guys, that's very good to find this question, as currently I'm totaly disappointed with myself, making my choice ))

I have now gaming notebook ASUS ROG G752VY with i5 in Turbo Boost mode up to 3.8 and GTX 980m 4 Gb video memory. I would say that temperature issue is also with me - devolting CPU donw to 1.2 mv I succeeded to have approx 80 C temp. Originally was approx. 93-95 C, mostly close to 100. In the meantime, my FPS in the most airports shows not less than 35, which is good. In the scenes with less details FPS could raise even up to 50-60. In the worst case scenario I might have 20-25 FPS. I believe, that it's not too bad. But I want more + I want to have desktop computer, as I'm a bit tired to move my ROG Notebook

This is why I started to consider purchasing iMac. For the moment I'm lookin on i7 with 4.2 (in boost 4.5) with Fusion Drive and Radeon Pro 580 - the same as described above.

Guys, who already have this iMac - what is your FPS in average? Would I have better results with iMac in comparison with my ROG (see above)? Is 580 really a bottle-neck?

And, finally, is there a solution for the 100C temp on iMac?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might give to me... Of course, I'm afraide to spend a lot of money to this iMac and finally roll back to my ROG, selling iMac for 50% of its original price...

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Sorry for piggy-backing on this older thread, but looking to get back into X-Plane again using v11. I'm a mac user, and don't need to know that a PC will be better for this. i.e. I have an iMac 27" with 2 additional monitors which I use for work, and would like to jump into X-Plane using the same setup, rather than building a new system.

I'm looking at buying iMac 27" i7 4.2 ghz w/ Radeon 580 (8GB VRAM). Can you guys confirm that this setup would likely run X-Plane 11 with a decent rendering setting medium/high, on the 3 screens, and stay above 20 fps without high core temps?

Anyone have experience on these systems or the latest report on how v11 is running on a system like this?

thanks

Answer 1

I've got the same problem (see setup below). 

Could you please explain how you increased what sliders in the Rendering Options or could you include/attach a screenshot of the Rendering Options? What aircraft are you flying? Do you own one of the FF's, JARs or the IXEG or SSG?

 

Thanks so much,

Theo (TDPlane).

 

 

 

Profile Signature: macOS Sierra 10.12.6 - iMac Retina 5K - 4.5 GHz Intel Core i7 - August 2017 - 27 inch 5120 x 2880 - 16 GB - Radeon Pro 580 8 GB - X-Plane 10.51 64 bits - 747-8 SSG - 757 Professional FF - 767 Professional FF - 777 Worldliner FF - 787 Dreamliner - Airbus A350 FF - A320Neo JARDesign - A380 PH British Airways - A330 PH Lufthansa - alpha / beta tester A330 JARDesign - CRJ200 - beta tester 747-8i SSG - plugin tester OS X FF A350 - IXEG 733 - EADT 737-800 v5 - Boeing 757 v2 Professional FF

Comments

Theo, I will try and do what you ask in the next few days.  Your "specification" indicates you are still on 10.51.  So, are you having problems with that, or is it just when you try XP11?  I do have several airliners, but I fly GA nearly all the time.  As a matter of interest, XP10.51 runs quite coolly with no ortho or Alpilot's HD Scenery.  Pop in the older UrbanMaxx textures to make the towns look better, and it is fine.  Add in the extras, and even XP-10 seems to be running hotter on this machine than on an earlier one I had.  I thought Skymaxx Pro had some influence, but I don't now think it is that noticeable.  I'm still experimenting in 10 and 11, so that is why I'm holding off telling you exactly what I have found to work the best. What really surprises me is that the X-Plane developers (who use Macs) have never addressed this in any way.

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I'm sorry. I'm on X-Plane 11. My mistake ...

Profile Signature: macOS Sierra 10.12.6 - iMac Retina 5K - 4.5 GHz Intel Core i7 - August 2017 - 27 inch 5120 x 2880 - 16 GB - Radeon Pro 580 8 GB - X-Plane 11 - 747-8 SSG - 757 Professional FF - 767 Professional FF - 777 Worldliner FF - 787 Dreamliner - Airbus A350 FF - A320Neo JARDesign - A380 PH British Airways - A330 PH Lufthansa - alpha / beta tester A330 JARDesign - CRJ200 - beta tester 747-8i SSG - plugin tester OS X FF A350 - IXEG 733 - EADT 737-800 v5 - Boeing 757 v2 Professional FF

Answer 2

Jeez Mate I think you've picked the wrong machine to be playing X Plane 11 on if youve got 100+ Degrees on the core.

Comments

Well, as I pointed out, the developers have used Macs, and surely must have noticed this problem.  Earlier iMacs were thicker, and had 3 cooling fans.  The newer thinner ones (no DVD drives) have only the one fan.  That often spins up with other programs, or even OS-X performing some task.  Macs have fallen foul of "form before function".  After all, on a desktop, where you only see the front of the screen, who cares whether the casing is a bit thicker?  The soon to be arriving iMac Pro will address this problem, but at a sky-high price!  I, like many others, are sort of wedded into Apple, but I must admit that I have been considering getting a PC for flight sims. Then I can have a cooler for the CPU.  The trouble is finding the room for another large screen.....

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Yes very true about the new thinner iMacs. Since Steve Jobs hasnt been here Apple have become lazy with their designs and I have kinda lost interest in their products because of the high price for something that is not worth that much. What you said about even the OS ramping up the fan speed is not a very good design for airflow it seems like because that not really what you want to be happening. Apple isnt what it used to be IMO.

Answer 3

Buy a PC. Macs are not good, it's only a thing of fashion.

Comments

Nonsense, HighFlyer ;-)

Theo, have a look at these settings, and let me know how you find things.

 

Download file

 

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Just installed High Sierra.  Maybe it's too early to tell, but it seems to be running X-Plane cooler.....  We'll see.

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Thanks @flyingdrill ... I'll give it a try ...