Videos cause extreme overheating

Not exactly a bug with the website, but I didn't know where else to report it. Giant Bomb videos always cause the heat on my Macbook to skyrocket. No other video services (Youtube, Netflix, etc) cause this problem, and it only happens on my Macbook. I wonder if any other Macbook users have this issue. I don't generally have overheating issues, but it happens 100% of the time I try and watch videos on Giant Bomb.

Which browser do you use? I have noticed that when using Safari it's quiet but Chrome makes the fan real loud.

That might be a Flash thing. What quality setting do you use in the video player here? Maybe try HTML5 or, if you're already on that, switch to Streaming which uses Flash.

Giant Bomb switched to using 60 fps videos which is not common on other sites. This might also make the difference.

There are a lot of different variables that can be causing this. GPU acceleration on/off depending on your chipset, flash vs html5 (depending on your hardware). Some hardware works better with acceleration off than others with it on. AMD vs Intel, Nvida vs ATI, dedicated graphics vs software, etc.

Find out what works best (youtube html5 or youtube flash), then try to run the same thing on GB.

At home, on my windows machine I had to turn off all GPU acceleration for my AMD based system - as it caused a crazy amount of problems, and it's pretty widespread. This is just an anecdote for typical kind of problems.

View them in the HTML5 mode. It'll help a lot. You lose some other advantages (unfortunately).

I've been having the same problem with Giant Bomb for a while and I only watch them in HTML5 mode, so it can't really be a problem with Flash. The overheating only happens with videos on this site, every other place works fine.

Running on a early 2011 Macbook Pro, El Capitan (but the same happened on Mavericks) and Chrome.

@johnymyko: It's not as if we run any kind of special non-standard video. It's just normal video content served in html5 player. The difference you might find, is that we run super high FPS, and super high bitrate - we are more generous than many sites when it comes to bitrate and resolutions. Our user base is quite discerning with their video content ;) You can try choosing lower resolutions so you can compare it to other sites that are likely running lower quality settings.

@jslack: I'm in no way saying GB is running a special kind of video, I'm just saying switching from Flash to HTML5 doesn't solve the problem like most said.

@johnymyko: ya, no, I just wanted to clarify. That sucks. Would be curious if it's caused by GPU acceleration, could try turning it off in chrome (http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/internet/how-turn-off-gpu-hardware-acceleration-in-google-chrome-3605455/)

I already watch them in HTML5, and it doesn't help. I've tried every video setting and it's always the same.

Hmm. I don't have this issue on a 2014 13" MBP. I use HTML5 high setting usually or streaming high. I avoid auto as it does sometimes cause the fans to kick in.

I also use Safari, not Chrome because Chrome seems to be a huge resource hog on OS X. It can heat up my laptop at the blink of an eye, whereas I never have that happen with Safari.

It's definitely a Chrome/Flash issue. I had this for the longest time, and have since moved fully to Safari, but I believe it's to do with the clashing between Chrome's native Flash Playback and Flash proper. If possible, deactivating Flash (and therefore letting Chrome's native player work) should resolve the issue.

It has to be mostly because of 60 FPS video. Even DigitalFoundry used to hesitate and warn people if the video was 60 FPS because it was difficult to be played correctly by browsers. It still is a hassle on most hardware.