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2008 macbook fan constantly on

D

Danando1993

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 14, 2010
163
66
The fan on my 2008 macbook is constantly on even with only one webpage open, within a couple of minutes of me turning my macbook on it gets hot and the fans come on when only using one webpage why is this?

It has no intense programmes or games installed which could slow it down but it does only have 1GB of ram, surely this cannot be the reason though for constant fans when only checking emails or facebook?
 
Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs, MBs and minis). They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If they're spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. Also, make sure you don't block the vents, which are located at the rear, near the hinge.

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.

Do you have Parallels installed?
 
I don't block the vents yet the fans still come on and no I don't have parallels installed. I understand the fans will come on to control the temperature but why does it heat up so much with only one webpage open? May it need dusting?
 
Danando1993 said:
I don't block the vents yet the fans still come on and no I don't have parallels installed. I understand the fans will come on to control the temperature but why does it heat up so much with only one webpage open? May it need dusting?
Click to expand...

Not likely that it needs dusting. Did you reset the SMC? Look at Activity Monitor? Do the websites have Flash content? Flash is known to put heavy demands on system resources, driving up heat.
 
I have just reset the SMC and will check the activity monitor now, the fans come on when only browsing macrumors. Thanks for the help.
 
I assume you have an early 2008 model. Yes, they are hyper sensitive to CPU use and the fans will come on easily and loudly.

If all you are doing is web browsing, it is undoubtedly due to Adobe Flash.
 
Thanks for the replies yeah I'm guessing it must be the flash intensity.
 
Fans spinning up all the time is usually a sign of dust collecting on the inside of the computer.
 
dabear said:
Fans spinning up all the time is usually a sign of dust collecting on the inside of the computer.
Click to expand...
That is not true. Dust is rarely an issue. Fans spinning up are usually a sign of a process consuming system resources.
 
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