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Penryn MBP Users:Heat advice?

C

Chiefo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 27, 2008
13
0
Hey,
I did it. Just got my brand new 15" MBP yesterday. My first Apple in 21 years of computing, also my first laptop. I have no experience with them.
I DO know, however that heat is the bane of technology.

Do I need to do anything special to keep this baby in perfect working order? Right now, it is sitting flat on a desk. It's got some space on each side and the back, but do I need to buy one of those laptop stands or a cooler to keep this thing fresh? I am basically incredibly nervous that my expensive toy will die early.

If anybody would kindly report in and tell me how they treat theirs, I would be much obliged!

Thanks,
Chiefo
 
Generally, they will do just fine on a flat desk. I'd suggest what not to do than what to do but I think you already know what I mean (ie - laptop on beds, etc..) basically don't block vents.
 
I don't think you need any coolers. I've put my computer on my bed, compiled code, etc. No problems. However it doesn't hurt to use one of the ergonomic stands. Helps with the wrists.
 
Heat Mmonitoring/control

I too use my MBP on a flat desk, but I sometimes notice an occasional increase in temperature. I would recommend to you two tools to monitor and control the operating temperature(s) of your laptop.

The first is a hardware monitoring program called iStat Pro that runs in Dashboard. It monitors your system activity, temperatures and a lot more, and best of all it is highly customizable and doesn't change anything about your system configuration. It is available @: islayer.com.

The second is a program called smcFanControl that controls your internal fans in the laptop. I use it when I notice the temperature increases under a fair amount of system activity. It is useful IMO because of its ability to bump up the fans slightly so they're not audible, but are running faster than they normally do providing more cooling to the internal components. Again, this application is customizable and allows you to create preset fan speeds for a quick speed up/down of your system fans.
 
plogue87 said:
I too use my MBP on a flat desk, but I sometimes notice an occasional increase in temperature. I would recommend to you two tools to monitor and control the operating temperature(s) of your laptop.

The first is a hardware monitoring program called iStat Pro that runs in Dashboard. It monitors your system activity, temperatures and a lot more, and best of all it is highly customizable and doesn't change anything about your system configuration. It is available @: islayer.com.

The second is a program called smcFanControl that controls your internal fans in the laptop. I use it when I notice the temperature increases under a fair amount of system activity. It is useful IMO because of its ability to bump up the fans slightly so they're not audible, but are running faster than they normally do providing more cooling to the internal components. Again, this application is customizable and allows you to create preset fan speeds for a quick speed up/down of your system fans.
Click to expand...

I agree with the above except in that you should run istat menus instead of istat pro. Istat pro is only viewable from you dashboard whereas istat menus runs on your menu bar, so you can always monitor your system info. Also, istat menus weighs in at 2.5mb whereas istat pro come in around 800kb. This is just another piece of evidence that leads me to believe that istat menus is a better program.
 
I second everything said above. Main thing is not to block the vents. I've also left my computer on my bed without any issues.
 
Can someone please tell me where the vents are located on the macbook pro. also is there any chance of anything bad happening if i keep it on my lap while im using it?
 
My usual rant, istats displays about 10c higher than known to be accurate temp software.

Just make sure it can get air flowing underneath it if your doing intensive, mines on a pillow atm, but thats ok for surfing.
 
so what is an appropriate temperature for us not to be worried?

let's say just surfing, doing email, text, etc., then working on video editing or gaming... what are the expected temperatures for different scenarios?
 
there really are too many variables to determine an "optimal" temperature for different scenarios. Ambient environment has plenty to do with how cool your computer will run, i.e. moving air, or still air. Idling in one location can produce a different temperature than idling in another. Same with a load on the CPU. Also being plugged in vs. on battery power makes a difference in temperature due to downclocking.

Generally you dont want to be hotter than 85C or so, but all MBPs are different specially in how the thermal paste was applied. (I've read C2Ds have an operating temperature past the 100s Celsius, so no need to worry)...
 
cool, thanks a lot for the reply. Never once did I bothered to know how warm my previous MBP was, I am in the 40's right now.
 
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