This is my 1st post on these boards. I have been surfing here for a while, but only made an account to ask this question. Cliff-notes to my story are at the bottom if you don't care about the details.
I know this whole macbook pro + heat issue has been beaten to death on these forums, but I gotta ask anyways. My previous computer was a 13" Dell XPS with the 8400M vid card that had a tendency to go toast. I had one go bad on me within 6 months. After that, I was extremely paranoid any time the computer got hot at all. That computer stayed on a stand that aided in airflow to the computer. It didn't die on me again. This was 3 years ago.
Fast forward to now. I am finishing up my 4th year of grad school and decided it was time to get a new computer. I just bought a 13" i5 macbook pro to write manuscripts for publishing in journals, to write my dissertation on, and for some monotonous internet surfing/counter-strike gaming on the side. I consider myself a very light user in terms of needed computing power. Typical programs that are open are ms office, iTunes, and chemdraw (I'm an organic chemist). I decided on the 13" because of cost and portability. I figured that counter-strike is a 7 year old game, surely this computer could handle the graphics on a level that I can tolerate (I was planning on playing with low settings. Anyways, I download the game last night and booted it up this morning. The temperatures quickly got up to the mid 90s and hovered there. My main concern is long-term head exposure and the possible degradation that could result. This computer CANNOT crash. Yes, I have applecare and I back up everyday with time machine, but that isn't the point for me. I'd rather not play the game if it is gonna cause this computer to have problems, especially until around this time next year (my projected defense date).
I realize that people are gonna say, "If you are that concerned about it, just don't play the game." All I really want to know is this temperature level perfectly safe for long periods of time (an hour or two a day over years of use)? Would the use of one of those stands that increases airflow to the computer reduce the temperature any substantial amount (the old stand + computer has been employed by my wife for her own use at her business so it is unavailable for me to try out)? Also, I'm not going to tear apart the computer and reapply the thermal adhesive to the heat sinks and void my applecare warranty. I'm mainly paranoid to this because I've had a computer die because of heat issues, luckily it was under warranty at the time. Thanks for any remarks to this issue...
Cliff-notes: Played counter-strike on 13" i5 MBP, computer got to 95 degrees and hovered there. Is this temperature over a long period of time going to destroy the computer?
I know this whole macbook pro + heat issue has been beaten to death on these forums, but I gotta ask anyways. My previous computer was a 13" Dell XPS with the 8400M vid card that had a tendency to go toast. I had one go bad on me within 6 months. After that, I was extremely paranoid any time the computer got hot at all. That computer stayed on a stand that aided in airflow to the computer. It didn't die on me again. This was 3 years ago.
Fast forward to now. I am finishing up my 4th year of grad school and decided it was time to get a new computer. I just bought a 13" i5 macbook pro to write manuscripts for publishing in journals, to write my dissertation on, and for some monotonous internet surfing/counter-strike gaming on the side. I consider myself a very light user in terms of needed computing power. Typical programs that are open are ms office, iTunes, and chemdraw (I'm an organic chemist). I decided on the 13" because of cost and portability. I figured that counter-strike is a 7 year old game, surely this computer could handle the graphics on a level that I can tolerate (I was planning on playing with low settings. Anyways, I download the game last night and booted it up this morning. The temperatures quickly got up to the mid 90s and hovered there. My main concern is long-term head exposure and the possible degradation that could result. This computer CANNOT crash. Yes, I have applecare and I back up everyday with time machine, but that isn't the point for me. I'd rather not play the game if it is gonna cause this computer to have problems, especially until around this time next year (my projected defense date).
I realize that people are gonna say, "If you are that concerned about it, just don't play the game." All I really want to know is this temperature level perfectly safe for long periods of time (an hour or two a day over years of use)? Would the use of one of those stands that increases airflow to the computer reduce the temperature any substantial amount (the old stand + computer has been employed by my wife for her own use at her business so it is unavailable for me to try out)? Also, I'm not going to tear apart the computer and reapply the thermal adhesive to the heat sinks and void my applecare warranty. I'm mainly paranoid to this because I've had a computer die because of heat issues, luckily it was under warranty at the time. Thanks for any remarks to this issue...
Cliff-notes: Played counter-strike on 13" i5 MBP, computer got to 95 degrees and hovered there. Is this temperature over a long period of time going to destroy the computer?
