15" MBP (i5 or i7) noise/heat levels vs. MB/MBA?

[iceberg888]

I wanted to get some MBP forum opinions as well ...

I've been on the fence between a 13" MBA vs a 15" MBP lately. I'm a big fan of the 15's HR-AG display, but am potentially even more enamored of the MBA's portability and SSD.

Coming from a 2.2Ghz SR Black Macbook (4GB/500GB), one feature I'd definitely like is something quieter. I find it distracting when the laptop fans are blowing hard.

I'm usually running multiple MS Office 2011 apps (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) simultaneously on the OSX side as well their XP counterparts on VMware Fusion (I have certain financial risk modeling tools that only work on Windows). Combine that with a lot of Safari tabs, Skype, Adium, and NPR playing in the background via Flash, it all heats up the processor to the point where the fans can be really blowing (5-6000+ rpms according to iStat). Get the processor anything over 63C and the fans will start to kick in.

I remember reading early complaints about the heat the Core i7s can throw off when the MBPs were first introduced and have some reservations whether it'll be a noisy machine. Maybe the i7 will laugh at the load I'm throwing at it, so it'll never be more than idling. But even there, I'm assuming the MBAs with their low-voltage processors would run cooler (although perhaps the tighter housing counters the cooler chips). Alternatively, I'm willing to get the 2.4GHz i5 model if that improves things.

Anyone with experience with i5/i7 running similar loads that can comment?

Also curious if throwing an SSD in the MBP would make it run a little cooler/quieter due to the faster access times.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[Stvwndr219]

The i5/i7 will be a definite improvement over the Core 2 Duo that is in the macbook air's. It's up to you but I got a chance to look at the hi-res screens on the 15" and they are gorgeous! Definitely gives you a lot more space to do those things you were talking about.

As for cooling, I think they will both throw off similar amounts of heat given the right stress level but the i5 will be able to do it faster.

As for throwing an SSD in there, it will definitely speed up system usage and, in theory shouldn't be as hot but I don't see the regular drives contributing all that much to the thermals as it is off to the side and isolated from the logic board and the big heat hogs.

 

[iceberg888]

Good to know, thanks!