Normal operating temperatures and fan speeds for mid-2006 iMac? I have an aging, but still functional mid-2006 iMac at home. Last night, my wife was in the basement and said she smelled a faint odor of something burning, she said it smelled like it might be plastic. Earlier in the night, I had noticed a high-pitched whine coming from the computer.

I'd like to eke as much life out the computer, which we use for balancing the checkbook and my wife uses to check her email and do some light writing now and again, as we can get.

I had an old copy of iStat nano on the computer and saw that all three fans were spinning and none of the temps seemed too high.

Could someone tell me what the normal CPU, hard drive, and optical drive temps and fan speeds are?

Thanks.
With a machine that old, dust covering the internal components will make it difficult for the computer fans to dissipate heat.

I would suggest turning the iMac over, opening the RAM cover and blowing out as much dust as you can through the vents.