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Twimfy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 11, 2011
888
246
UK
I just picked up a really nice early 2011 17" i7 MBP. I've always wanted one and the price was too good to ignore.

It was running a little hot so while I was fitting my SSD I dissasembled it and added new thermal paste and thoroughly cleaned out any dust.

The temps are all good now (idles at 38c) but I'm confused about the dual fans and heatsink.

With the machine upright the left hand fan always expels warm air but the right hand fan is always cool even under load (Civ 5 for two hours).

I'm assuming it's because the right hand fan is an intake but I just want to be sure. It's definitely running, iStat reports it and I've also watched it with the cover off.

Can anyone confirm this is the way it's meant to be? I want to get a few years out of this machine and I'll be a lot less paranoid if I know the cooling system is working correctly.

Thanks.
 
I'm a big fan of the 2011 17", especially the matte screen.

Um, what was your question? Oh, yeah the hot side is on the left.
 
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