Macbook Pro overheating

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tokyotech
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:26 am

Macbook Pro overheating

Post by tokyotech »

I've been a long time user of Handbrake on Windows and have recently moved on to experimenting on Macbook Pro.

Hardware:
  • 2.2 GHz Core i7
  • 256 GB SSD
  • 8 GB RAM
Transcode settings:

Code: Select all

b-adapt=2:rc-lookahead=60:direct=auto:me=umh:vbv-maxrate=2000:vbv-bufsize=4000:trellis=2:no-fast-pskip=1:ref=5:merange=24:subq=9:bframes=5:b-pyramid=none:8x8dct=0:weightp=0
The Mac is overheating when transcoding a 720p film. The fan whirls very loudly. The power brick becomes very hot and emits a metallic smell. When I unplug the power cord, the fan stops whirling, but framerate drops from 40 fps to 11 fps. It appears to me that Mac lowers processing power when relying on the battery, thereby making it run cooler. Is it possible to make the Mac run in this cool state with it plugged in? On Windows, I was able to set the priority on Handbrake to lower the CPU usage of Handbrake. But on Mac, I can't find this option. It's stuck on super hot drama queen mode and makes my other programs run super slow.
thompson
Bright Spark User
Posts: 356
Joined: Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:04 pm

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by thompson »

Simply put, you have some sort of hardware failure/issue and should take it in to Apple to be repaired.

Macs are actually widely known for not overheating. Unlike a cheap Acer laptop, they are proper computers with proper cooling systems. I've run encodes on my 15" MBP (and my old 13" MBP) for days on end without issue. One of the developers has run similar CPU intensive tasks for WEEKS without problems on his Mac.

Explain to Apple what's happening and, assuming you did the sensible thing and got AppleCare with your laptop, they'll fix it.

EDIT: I should add, the only thing you've described that is actually overheating is the power brick. You don't want that smelling like burning. If it's just a matter of your fans spinning up to max then that's entirely normal behavior.
peterinshanghai
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:47 pm

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by peterinshanghai »

I have a Mac Book pro and using Handbrake is taking 100% CPU and system overheating. It is not a hardware problem as I use other video conversation software which running fast, use 40% CPU.....google this problem and it seems it is a serious software problem.
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s55
HandBrake Team
Posts: 10350
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:05 pm

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by s55 »

@peter - Rubbish. You've just defined a hardware problem.
You *want* your video encoder running the CPU at 100%. Video encoding is a very intensive operation and any video encoder that isn't fully utilising the CPU is badly optimised.
If your system can't handle 100% cpu usage, you need to get it repaired. This is *Normal* operation
Smithcraft
Veteran User
Posts: 2697
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:04 pm

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by Smithcraft »

All of the transcoding apps I've ever used, use all the CPU that they can.

SC
tokyotech
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:26 am

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by tokyotech »

Regardless of whether someone has a hardware problem or not, the developers should port over the Windows option of lowering process priority? I can barely watch a 480p h264 main profile video on Mac while I'm transcoding. It plays back at half the framerate.

Mac: 2.2 GHz Core i7 - can't multitask
Windows: 2.66 GHz Core i7, 3.0 GHz Wolfdale - both allow me to multitask
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s55
HandBrake Team
Posts: 10350
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:05 pm

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by s55 »

tokyotech - That certainly won't help overheating in the slightest. HandBrake still runs at 100% even on a lower priority.

If you want to lower handbrakes priority to allow you to do other things at the same time, use the "nice" command from the terminal.
Deleted User 11865

Re: Macbook Pro overheating

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

tokyotech wrote:Mac: 2.2 GHz Core i7 - can't multitask
Windows: 2.66 GHz Core i7, 3.0 GHz Wolfdale - both allow me to multitask
Mac OS X's scheduler is known/considered not to be very good.
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