'07 2.16Ghz Idle Temp?

[burnout8488]

I leave my MacBook on overnight, plugged into a 20" Apple Cinema Display. Power settings dictate the monitor goes into sleep mode after 7 minutes of no activity, so it's off when I wake up.

When I check iStat immediately after, the CPU temp is around 52º-57º C. Shouldn't it be in the low forties?? The fan is around 1800rpm.

This MacBook is recently rebuilt, and I used Arctic Silver thermal paste on the heatsink. (Correct amount, not the gobs Apple provide)

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The temps sound about right, depending on the CPU load and room temperature.

 

[kaydot]

My temperatures are identical on an 07 macbook. It usually sits at 56c, and the fan comes on any time the temperature approaches 60c.

 

[GenesisJLS]

Those temperatures do sound correct. I reapplied some arctic silver ceramique to mine earlier in the summer and it helped. It's an older machine, they do heat up, especially without a dedicated GPU.

 

[burnout8488]

Thanks guys. My girlfriend's '08 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro runs a lot cooler when idle (40-45ºC) so that got me thinking.

Maybe the aluminum chassis of the MBP helps cool the chip down better in the pros....but the integrated/non-integrated GPU argument makes the most sense, since hers has a dedicated 8600 chip.