Overheating problem

olle.linuxeb17_ESO

Hi there guys, after new update patch 12 and new macOS I faced this issue - my CPU is going crazy and shows me 85%-95%, all four cores.
I'm using macbook pro, mid 2014. It has GeForce 750M (plus Intel Iris Pro 1536MB).

Up to september, the average CPU was around 65-70% and no more than 75%. Now, I'm to be honest, scared to play when I see 90+%.
Is there anything I can do? I've made a research on the internet but no luck (don't say I'm googling bad )

I don't know if this is an eso issue or apple one but it stays still. Did anyone have the same problem?

P.S. Coolers are clean.

Delpi

Yeah I have the same problem. My fans go crazy when I play for more than 5 minutes. I have all graphic configs low btw...

Druachan

I have played on a mbp myself and it played fine for a few hours at a time and it got warm and the fans were kicking in but it didn't seem to cause any major problems. I mostly play on a 2011 iMac 27 inch which is on medium. Mostly. It gets pretty hot round the vent but I regularly play 7 or 8 hours solid and not really had any issues. If was you I'd just put the laptop on something that allows it vent pretty well.

olle.linuxeb17_ESO

Delpi and Druachan, thank you for replies.

I keep my laptop on a stand so it vent well, plus game settings is mid. It just weird, I run virtual box and some ides and it doesn't overload the system as much as this game alas. Anyway, let's hope guys from eso do optimize the game.

upd: This is what I've found - might be helpful - http://osxdaily.com/2016/10/04/macos-sierra-slow-fix/

Druachan

I've been playing this for about a year now, maybe longer. I dont find it too bad overall, I think its gone through a few iterations. I had a look at http://osxdaily.com/2016/10/04/macos-sierra-slow-fix/

There are some good overall tips in there. I did some checking of running eso on my iMac, for a while, and mostly it utilises about 15-20% of cpu. bear in mind that with hyper threading and multiple cpus it can get over 200% for some processes. I also have it running in medium flavour, though for fun i put it up to ultra high, and that does up the usage by about double and also the heat. as I'm on an iMac it tends to run warm when playing.

Couple of things i found

Not related to so but to MacBooks running hot playing games.

https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/318d4b/does_the_heat_generated_from_gaming_on_macbook/?st=iue2t9c3&sh=df40090e

and this too

http://www.macinfo.us/how-to-prevent-your-macbook-from-overheating.php

which might be helpful, bottom line is I think that your mbp running hot would be a concern over time, but if it has breaks it might not be so bad. I think its part of the design really, trying to make it so thin and so light.

olle.linuxeb17_ESO

Druchan, thank you for the articles, they were useful

altemriel

I always use the cooler pad when playing more than few hours, works pretty well for me

http://heavy.com/tech/2015/03/best-laptop-cooling-pad-cooler-fan-accessories/

olle.linuxeb17_ESO

altemriel, thank you. I might think of changing cooling pad.

aldriq

Great info, thanks for posting. I didn't even know cooling pads were a thing.

Druachan

I have a 2015 MacBook Pro. I have ESO on there for times when I can't use my iMac. So I then added fanny widget,
http://fannywidget.com silly name but oh well Anyway while playing eso the temperature would hit about 62 degrees and the fans would be blowing pretty hard. Some checking with an intel site says the cpu should not get above 95 degrees, if it does your MacBook Pro will shutdown to prevent it overheating.
So if you are worried then install something like fanny widget, something that shows the current temperature and check how hot it's getting. Definitely keep it off a surface like fabrics or so that will only make it hotter. So a stand or cooling pad would help.

Just for you guys i did a bit of testing by running through a delve in cold harbour with my character to see what happens to the temperature. My character says she didn't mind being mashed in the pursuit of research ;-)

so my graphics setup is as follows



At idle the temperature is 41 degrees and when the game is launched it goes up to 57 degrees.

I took some screens of the temperature at various parts of the delve which I've shown below. So its getting warm in there but not dangerously warm.



I found that being somewhere busy with players like rawl'Kha or vulkhelguard also increases the heat. though not beyond the mid 60s.

So I'd say, is your MacBook overheating? probably not, if it was it would shutdown, its definitely working hard though.

ViscousSummer88

It's normal for your fans to operate, that's what they're there for. MacBooks can reach high temperatures before the fans will ever hit 100%.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202179

Unless your whole machine starts to freeze up or your co,outer crashed, its fine.

Same for your CPU, you'll not fry it by running it at 100%.

DeadlyRecluse

I used to freeze shotglasses of water and balance them on my mac to keep it cool during ESO play. I had two sets I would rotate from computer to freezer, along with some whisky rocks. If I was on point with my ice rotation, I could play for an hour before it critically overheated and shut down.

Ah, good times.

Delsskia

I would recommend that everyone go to www.eidac.de and download smcFanControl. Once you install it use its preferences to create a gaming setting that will crank your fans to max. Just hit the gaming setting every time you log into ESO and then set it back to default when you're done.

I've been using this awesome little app for about 15 years and it helps my Mac run 20 - 30 degrees cooler while I'm gaming.

olle.linuxeb17_ESO

Thank you all for replies. Druachan, super screenshots

I've installed istats to be able to see information in terminal. Actually, it is very convenient. And I wrote a simple script that stores logs of cpu sensors (all 4 cores) and was able to see the temp changes during 15 mins.

Launched the game
00:47:05 TC1C Core 1 temp: 55.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 56.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 56.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 53.0°C
Been playing
00:49:05 TC1C Core 1 temp: 83.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 83.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 84.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 84.0°C
00:51:06 TC1C Core 1 temp: 78.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 79.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 81.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 79.0°C
00:53:06 TC1C Core 1 temp: 84.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 85.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 90.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 84.0°C
00:55:06 TC1C Core 1 temp: 82.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 83.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 84.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 83.0°C
00:57:06 TC1C Core 1 temp: 89.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 86.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 86.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 84.0°C
00:59:06 TC1C Core 1 temp: 88.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 89.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 85.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 85.0°C
01:01:06 TC1C Core 1 temp: 82.0°C TC2C Core 2 temp: 83.0°C TC3C Core 3 temp: 83.0°C TC4C Core 4 temp: 85.0°C

When I'm not using the game the istats shows me this

$ istats --no-graphs
--- CPU Stats ---
CPU temp: 32.38°C 

--- Fan Stats ---
Total fans in system: 2
Fan 0 speed: 2168.0 RPM  
Fan 1 speed: 3381.0 RPM  

--- Extra Stats ---
TC1C Core 1 temp: 43.0°C  
TC2C Core 2 temp: 36.0°C  
TC3C Core 3 temp: 36.0°C  
TC4C Core 4 temp: 35.0°C  

Well, the articles guys shared are pretty nice though. Could decrease temp from 95 to 85-90.
Gonna search for other issues that might cause the overheating.

Druachan

Being the 40s is the norm when it's idling or not playing games. Might want to check for apps that are syncing with the cloud or doing background stuff. I found one app that was open but not in use and it was eating up 95% of the cpu so shut that down. Have you tweaked the game performance that might help? 85 degrees seems hot though to be honest.