I'm about to violate my MBA

orbitalpunk · Mar 10, 2011

First day on my 1.86 13" Air and I'm shocked at how quick the fans kick in when watch 1080P HD MKV's. I had asked so many people if the AIR could stay cooler than the 2011 MPP 13" and it was unanimous that the AIR was cooler of the two. And it made sense too. The MBP had the new sandy bridge and i5's and they are super fast but power hungry. Also the 3000 intel video chip was much closer the cpu which added even more heat then the Nvidia. So i went with the air. But man, the fans kick in even doing a reinstall of OSX. I don't know if I have a bad copy or the air really can't keep cool while watching 1080P MKV's. So I am considering doing the thermal paste fix. I did it on my 2006 MBP 15" and it made a 10c reduction so I know it works. But I worry of damage or voided warranty. So my question is if anyone can tell me if my AIR is unusal or normal and if the thermal paste job is worth it or not. Here is what I can tell so far.

all in a 80F room:

1080P Dark Knight trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ5U8suTUw0
70c at 3500 rpms

Let me know what you guys come up with

SR71 · Mar 10, 2011

Well, for one watching a 1080P video on the Air is pointless since they do not have 1080 resolution, so you'd be better off watching the video's in 720P as they would look exactly the same.

Two, I'm guessing it's because the room you're in is already pretty hot to begin with.

May I ask where you live? Climate can be a factor.

Alfieg · Mar 10, 2011

I know it's not directly comparable but I tried the Dark Knight trailer in 1080p on my 11" Air (1.6ghz version). I looped it several times in a warm room. My CPU never broke 54c and the fan did not increase in speed at all and was totally inaudible at about 1998rpm.

I keep hearing that the 13" Air is noisy (or a lot noisier than the 11") which I think is totally unacceptable given the increased space for potential cooling in the 13" Air and the fact that it's CPU really isn't clocked much higher in the grand scheme of things. Shame.

iDisk · Mar 10, 2011

orbitalpunk said:
First day on my 1.86 13" Air and I'm shocked at how quick the fans kick in when watch 1080P HD MKV's. I had asked so many people if the AIR could stay cooler than the 2011 MPP 13" and it was unanimous that the AIR was cooler of the two. And it made sense too. The MBP had the new sandy bridge and i5's and they are super fast but power hungry. Also the 3000 intel video chip was much closer the cpu which added even more heat then the Nvidia. So i went with the air. But man, the fans kick in even doing a reinstall of OSX. I don't know if I have a bad copy or the air really can't keep cool while watching 1080P MKV's. So I am considering doing the thermal paste fix. I did it on my 2006 MBP 15" and it made a 10c reduction so I know it works. But I worry of damage or voided warranty. So my question is if anyone can tell me if my AIR is unusal or normal and if the thermal paste job is worth it or not. Here is what I can tell so far.

all in a 80F room:

1080P Dark Knight trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ5U8suTUw0
70c at 3500 rpms

Let me know what you guys come up with

First I was skeptical of your claim, so I did some test myself, (see the images).

I have the 2.13ghz 4gb ram 256ssd Air, and had ZERO issues with that youtube trailer at 1080p. Ran Air silent the entire time.

orbitalpunk · Mar 10, 2011

The room feels like 75 now and my idle temp doing absolutely nothing on it is 38C. I redid the trailer twice and it hits to to 63C@2000rpms. Boy does it change easy.

SR71 said:
Well, for one watching a 1080P video on the Air is pointless since they do not have 1080 resolution, so you'd be better off watching the video's in 720P as they would look exactly the same.

Two, I'm guessing it's because the room you're in is already pretty hot to begin with.

May I ask where you live? Climate can be a factor.

Hi SR71, Well I thought since the rez is 1440 x 900, that there would be some benefit with 1080p vs 720p cause it fits in-between them, no?

I live in southern california in the valley. Its medium to dry.

Alfieg said:
I know it's not directly comparable but I tried the Dark Knight trailer in 1080p on my 11" Air (1.6ghz version). I looped it several times in a warm room. My CPU never broke 54c and the fan did not increase in speed at all and was totally inaudible at about 1998rpm.

I keep hearing that the 13" Air is noisy (or a lot noisier than the 11") which I think is totally unacceptable given the increased space for potential cooling in the 13" Air and the fact that it's CPU really isn't clocked much higher in the grand scheme of things. Shame.

I keep hearing the 11" are definitely cooler than the 13". thanks for helping out tho

iDisk said:
First I was skeptical of your claim, so I did some test myself, (see the images).

I have the 2.13ghz 4gb ram 256ssd Air, and had ZERO issues with that youtube trailer at 1080p. Ran Air silent the entire time.

what was your temp? your fan speed? I can't hear my fans either at 3500rpms. You really can't tell without using iStat pro or iStat menu. I like istat menu better.

If need be, cause im not sure yet, does anyone have a link to a good thermal paste tutorial for the 13" 2010 Air? Thank you kindly.

2IS · Mar 10, 2011

SR71 said:
Well, for one watching a 1080P video on the Air is pointless since they do not have 1080 resolution, so you'd be better off watching the video's in 720P as they would look exactly the same.

Not really, the resolution of the MBA is higher than 720 so watching a 720p video in full screen will result it quality loss.

slapguts · Mar 10, 2011

Mine didn't even flinch.

impulse462 · Mar 10, 2011

iDisk said:
First I was skeptical of your claim, so I did some test myself, (see the images).

I have the 2.13ghz 4gb ram 256ssd Air, and had ZERO issues with that youtube trailer at 1080p. Ran Air silent the entire time.

I honestly have no idea how flash is only using 17% of your CPU. Here are my results with a 1.4ghz 11" MBA. CPU temperature was around 63C but fans were at 2000 rpm (so basically silent).

Hellhammer · Mar 10, 2011

impulse462 said:
I honestly have no idea how flash is only using 17% of your CPU. Here are my results with a 1.4ghz 11" MBA. CPU temperature was around 63C but fans were at 2000 rpm (so basically silent).

What Flash version do you have?

I'm going to try this with my 13" now. Will upload the results in a sec.

impulse462 · Mar 10, 2011

Hellhammer said:
What Flash version do you have?

I'm going to try this with my 13" now. Will upload the results in a sec.

Its the latest version. In safari, it doesn't actually say which version it is, other than just 10. When i tried this same video under chrome (version 10.2.154) my cpu usage went up to 123% ...

Also, @slapguts, you're running the video at 360p not 1080p, hence your low CPU usage.

mstrze · Mar 10, 2011

orbitalpunk said:
The room feels like 75 now...

Wait a second...it 'feels like'?? What's the actual ambient temperature? Estimating it's 80 or 75 inside your house is fairly inaccurate.

And 75-80 indoors is pretty stiffling if you ask me...especially at the coolest time of the day (wee hours of the morning, judging from your post times). Highs yesterday in the valley were in the low to mid 80s. Lows this morning were 40s and 50s. Specifically: Van Nuys was 82 with a low of 49 this morning, Burbank was 84 with a morning low around 52. (I don't know exactly where you live, so pick your poison.)

If you open a window in your computer room, the morning ambient room temp can easily drop to 60 or lower in this weather pattern, given good cross-flow in the house. 75-80 in the early morning is very warm. What does it get to in the afternoons?

[/END METEOROLOGICAL NIT-PICKING]

Hellhammer · Mar 10, 2011

Room temperature is around 23°C.

MBA on a table and the 1080p video in windowed mode (just normal like in screenshots above):

CPU temperature - 54°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - Below 2000rpm

MBA on a table and the 1080p video in full screen:

CPU temperature - 58°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - 2005rpm

MBA on a bed and the 1080p video in full screen:

CPU temperature - 63°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - 2005rpm

MBA on my lap and the 1080p video in full screen:

CPU temperature - 64°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - Below 2000rpm

At least I can't get the fans to speed up with that video.

impulse462 · Mar 10, 2011

slapguts said:
Mine didn't even flinch.

Hellhammer said:
Room temperature is around 23°C.

MBA on a table and the 1080p video in windowed mode (just normal like in screenshots above):

CPU temperature - 54°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - Below 2000rpm

MBA on a table and the 1080p video in full screen:

CPU temperature - 58°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - 2005rpm

MBA on a bed and the 1080p video in full screen:

CPU temperature - 63°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - 2005rpm

MBA on my lap and the 1080p video in full screen:

CPU temperature - 64°C
CPU usage - ~20%
Fan speed - Below 2000rpm

At least I can't get the fans to speed up with that video.

What version of flash do you have? why is my cpu usage 80%+? My MBA is on a table and its freezing where im sitting. (not sure of the actual room temp, but its lower than 25C im sure)

slapguts · Mar 10, 2011

impulse462 said:
What version of flash do you have? why is my cpu usage 80%+? My MBA is on a table and its freezing where im sitting. (not sure of the actual room temp, but its lower than 25C im sure)

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplatformruntimes/flashplayer10-3/

Hellhammer · Mar 10, 2011

impulse462 said:
What version of flash do you have? why is my cpu usage 80%+? My MBA is on a table and its freezing where im sitting. (not sure of the actual room temp, but its lower than 25C im sure)

I have 10.2, can't remember the exact version number. Remember that you have 11" MBA with 1.4GHz CPU while I have 13" with 1.86GHz CPU.

impulse462 · Mar 10, 2011

Hellhammer said:
I have 10.2, can't remember the exact version number. Remember that you have 11" MBA with 1.4GHz CPU while I have 13" with 1.86GHz CPU.

Thats true, but on my mom's 2009 MBP @ 2.26ghz, it's getting around the same cpu usage. At least nothing near 17%. At least on my MBA, the bottom doesnt' feel as hot as with the MBP.

Hellishness · Mar 10, 2011

after watching:
CPU 60c
Room 69f
fans 1996
And my MBA was sitting on my bed.

Ace134blue · Mar 10, 2011

Go for it, you just got a mac with a sloppier than usual application of TIM (thermal interface material). I recommend doing it and also recommend getting this TIM, may be expensive but its one of the best and is much better than Artic Silver 5, which is conductive btw.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=10&IsFeedbackTab=true&rdm=35#scrollHelpful1

SR71 · Mar 10, 2011

impulse462 said:
I honestly have no idea how flash is only using 17% of your CPU. Here are my results with a 1.4ghz 11" MBA. CPU temperature was around 63C but fans were at 2000 rpm (so basically silent).

Sorry to go off-topic, but how did you get your dock like that on your MBA? I really like it and would love it if you could PM me with how to get that exact same style dock on my MBA when I receive it next week.

Thanks in advance.

impulse462 · Mar 10, 2011

Ace134blue said:
Go for it, you just got a mac with a sloppier than usual application of TIM (thermal interface material). I recommend doing it and also recommend getting this TIM, may be expensive but its one of the best and is much better than Artic Silver 5, which is conductive btw.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=10&IsFeedbackTab=true&rdm=35#scrollHelpful1

Right, when I'm home for spring break, I was planning on re-applying the thermal paste. When I complete that, I'll run the test again and report back in this thread.

@SR71, check your PM's

orbitalpunk · Mar 11, 2011

can someone post a link to good tear downs for the 2010 MBA? I think ifixit are earlier generations.

iDisk · Mar 11, 2011

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Air-11-Inch-Model-A1370-Teardown/3745

orbitalpunk said:
can someone post a link to good tear downs for the 2010 MBA? I think ifixit are earlier generations.

Ace134blue · Mar 11, 2011

impulse462 said:
Right, when I'm home for spring break, I was planning on re-applying the thermal paste. When I complete that, I'll run the test again and report back in this thread.

@SR71, check your PM's

Good, just make sure you apply it right and also not to put more than is needed like apple does.

MRU · Mar 11, 2011

Just watched it on my 1.4 4GB

I was surprised it played perfectly smooth albeit with some buffering on my 4mb connection.

Full screen with coolbook running, it actually only went up to 1200mhz and I was at 40 Celsius

I have no idea what the ambient temperature is in my room, but the heating is on and I have an electric fire on too.

Normal browsing my mba is 33c

impulse462 · Mar 11, 2011

Ace134blue said:
Good, just make sure you apply it right and also not to put more than is needed like apple does.

Just a quick question, I used to build PC's so i'm fairly familiar with using/applying thermal paste. I know I have some AS5, but it is pretty old: around a year. Would that make a difference in my results?

I'm about to violate my MBA

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