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zeldafan4ev

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 17, 2010
8
0
Hi,
I've been working on my new Macbook for a few months now, and I LOVE it. My favorite part is how quiet the fan is. On my old Windows PC, when I put a bunch of stuff on it, especially games, it would slow down, overheat, and the fan would get LOUD.

I have 1 or 2 Mac games I would like to load onto my Macbook, but I don't want to hurt the fan or decrease the computer's overall performance like my PC's. I'm so worried about having a forever noisy fan and slow computer like my PC.

I'm only using 30 gigs of the hard drive right now, mostly video, and putting these games on would add maybe 20 more gigs, so not a lot. I just don't want to wear down my laptop.

If it makes any difference, the bigger game is World of Warcraft. (Please don't respond about how stupid the game is, or how it won't run anyway, it will run, and no one likes a troll :) )
Thanks for any help I appreciate it!
 
Installing and running a game won't effect the hardware on Macs or PCs.

Sure if you are playing a game things are going to get hot and the fans are going to get loud but as soon as everything cools down it will be just as quiet as it was before.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about (except maybe loss of productivity:)).
 
zachsilvey said:
Installing and running a game won't effect the hardware on Macs or PCs.

Sure if you are playing a game things are going to get hot and the fans are going to get loud but as soon as everything cools down it will be just as quiet as it was before.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about (except maybe loss of productivity:)).
Click to expand...

Finals week is over, I'm maxing out :D
 
zachsilvey said:
Installing and running a game won't effect the hardware on Macs or PCs.

Sure if you are playing a game things are going to get hot and the fans are going to get loud but as soon as everything cools down it will be just as quiet as it was before.

You have absolutely nothing to worry about (except maybe loss of productivity:)).
Click to expand...


My hard drive made quite a bit of noise while installing, but I guess that's normal, I'm just very careful of sounds haha
 
The only way installing games could weaken your overall performance is if you either leave them running in the background (ie, don't exit/quit) or install so many that you begin running out of HDD space.

You can't hurt a computer by using it, even using it hard. That's like being afraid you'll hurt your car by driving it on the highway. In either case, if it hurts the computer/vehicle, something else was already wrong.

So enjoy playing those games.
 
iThinkergoiMac said:
The only way installing games could weaken your overall performance is if you either leave them running in the background (ie, don't exit/quit) or install so many that you begin running out of HDD space.

You can't hurt a computer by using it, even using it hard. That's like being afraid you'll hurt your car by driving it on the highway. In either case, if it hurts the computer/vehicle, something else was already wrong.

So enjoy playing those games.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Was it ok that I left my macbook online overnight for 13 hours installing all the updates and such? I just turned off the screen.
 
zeldafan4ev said:
Thanks! Was it ok that I left my macbook online overnight for 13 hours installing all the updates and such? I just turned off the screen.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can't hurt your computer by using it.

I leave my machines on 24/7 especially my Mac Pro. I have never had a single problem. Sure you want to shut down every once in a while but just using your machine doesn't have detrimental effects on hardware.

I have run my macbook overnight at 100% CPU usage converting video without any issues.


Just a few side notes. If your computer ever gets too hot it will automatically shut itself down far before it reaches a damaging temperature but this rarely ever happens (maybe on a very hot summer day).

There is a finite lifetime for spinning hard drives but it is very very unlikely you will ever reach it unless you damage the drive by dropping it.

The only other part of the MacBook that will suffer wear and tear is the battery, but Macs have the best batteries on the market, the new ones will go 1000 cycles without losing much charge capacity.

I have packed by MacBook back and forth to school everyday for 2.5 years without a single hardware issue. Its been slammed around in my trunk, been through a car accident (where my car was totalled) but it's still kicking.
 
zachsilvey said:
Yes, you can't hurt your computer by using it.

I have packed by MacBook back and forth to school everyday for 2.5 years without a single hardware issue. Its been slammed around in my trunk, been through a car accident (where my car was totalled) but it's still kicking.
Click to expand...


Wow, macs are pretty sturdy computers.

For some stupid reason my WoW installer restarted, so I have to wait a second time, but it's going pretty fast, hopefully be done in an hour or two. (Started a few hours ago)
 
zeldafan4ev said:
Wow, macs are pretty sturdy computers.
Click to expand...

I leave my IBM laptop on 24/7 as well.

I think you're just a little afraid of your computer. Short of physically harming it, there's nothing you can do by simply running software that can physically damage the system. You can't overheat it or prematurely wear it out. Do whatever you want with your computer and, as long as you stay within its operating parameters and don't drop it/spill stuff on it, you'll be fine.

And unless you're in the middle of a rain forest, in the Sahara Desert, or in the Arctic Circle, you'll be within operating parameters.
 
iThinkergoiMac said:
I leave my IBM laptop on 24/7 as well.

I think you're just a little afraid of your computer. Short of physically harming it, there's nothing you can do by simply running software that can physically damage the system. You can't overheat it or prematurely wear it out. Do whatever you want with your computer and, as long as you stay within its operating parameters and don't drop it/spill stuff on it, you'll be fine.

And unless you're in the middle of a rain forest, in the Sahara Desert, or in the Arctic Circle, you'll be within operating parameters.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just played WoW for 3 hours on it, once I turned it off everything went back to normal, it's just a little hot. I'll put it in sleep while I go away for a half hour or so, let it cool down and rest :D
 
zeldafan4ev said:
I know, I'm just in this weird mental state of keeping my new macbook perfect haha
Click to expand...

I know what you feel like. If I ever think my computer or device is slowing down I always restart it. One night I tried to leave it on overnight by putting it on sleep and I didn't like using it like that. Hope that you do enjoy using your mac for games though.
 
Merthyrboy said:
I know what you feel like. If I ever think my computer or device is slowing down I always restart it. One night I tried to leave it on overnight by putting it on sleep and I didn't like using it like that. Hope that you do enjoy using your mac for games though.
Click to expand...

I always go through this phase when I get a new "expensive" thing. Then I get to a point where I realize I bought this to use it not just to stare at it.
 
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