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2012 MBP non-r and smcfancontrol

C

canadianrider

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 21, 2012
14
0
Hey guys, I picked up one of the new cMBP's and while setting it up the top left go pretty hot near the screen. So I downloaded smc fan control and noticed that the fans were spinning at the default of 2000rpms without changing. I'm assuming that's were they always sit while the machines on. It seemed weird to me that the top got hot in in the one spot but the fans didn't kick it up a notch.
So I used smc and ramped up the rpms to 2400 and voila that machine cooled down amazingly. So I guess my question is would I be hurting anything in the long run by using smc to keep the fans at a minimum of 2400rpms all the time?

Also is there a way to set the apple fan control to come on at a lower temp then stock?

Cheers!

And by the way very happy with the cMBP right now. I ended up getting the one with the 1g 650m.
 
canadianrider said:
Hey guys, I picked up one of the new cMBP's and while setting it up the top left go pretty hot near the screen. So I downloaded smc fan control and noticed that the fans were spinning at the default of 2000rpms without changing. I'm assuming that's were they always sit while the machines on. It seemed weird to me that the top got hot in in the one spot but the fans didn't kick it up a notch.
Click to expand...
Your Mac is not overheating and you don't need to control the fans. The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat. CPU Tjmax = 105C, GPU Tjmax = 100C on i3, i5, i7 processors. (Source: Intel) If you're not already using it, iStat Pro will give you accurate readings of your temps and fan speeds, among other things.

Unless there is a rare defect in a Mac, most temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload being put on it. Websites with Flash content, games and other multimedia apps will put higher demand on the CPU/GPU, generating more heat. This is normal. If you're constantly putting high demands on your system, such as gaming or other multimedia tasks, expect temps to rise and fans to spin up accordingly. It's just your Mac doing its job to maintain temps within the normal range.

It is also quite normal for your Mac to become extremely hot to the touch during intensive operations. The aluminum body transfers heat more effectively than other materials used in computer casings, so you will feel the heat more. This doesn't indicate that it's overheating and will not harm the computer to be hot to the touch.

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). iMacs have 3 fans with minimum speeds in the 800-1200 range. 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. (PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with these issues, so resetting it will not help.)

The intake and exhaust vents are in the back of the computer near the hinge on all Mac notebooks (except the new MBP with retina display, which has intake vents along the sides at the bottom). The iMac vent is a slot on the back near the top of the computer. Make sure the vents remain unblocked to allow your computer to perform at its best.

Learn about the fans in your Mac
Apple Portables: Operating temperature

For Flash-related issues:
 
can you please comment on how fast the FANs spin up during work? will the fans spin up higher than 2k during regular work, iPhoto or do you have to push stuff like encoding to get the fans hearable?

little temp / fan mini-review would be really much appreciated, its the only thing holding me back right now to buy it.

thank you in advance!
 
Thanks GGJ. So in other words I should just uninstall smc fan control and not worry about it?

To answer your question no the fans didn't change from 2000rpm the whole time I was setting up the comp/browsing the web. That was about 2-3 hours worth of work. I'm new to mac but it's my understanding that, that's far better then last years. When I'm home and have some spare time I'll try and do up a little review about the fans and what not but as far as I can find none of the temp monitors work for the 2012 mbp yet.
 
canadianrider said:
When I'm home and have some spare time I'll try and do up a little review about the fans and what not but as far as I can find none of the temp monitors work for the 2012 mbp yet.
Click to expand...

will be more than enough to know if the fans don't kick in unless doing heavy lifting. thanks alot!!! will stay tuned for that mini review :)
 
So just a mini non-techy update. I've put roughly 10 hours onto the machine so far and so far I'm happy with the cooling. I downloaded istatpro as GGJ suggested and then tried to stress the machine a bit. So i ran minecraft while downloading/running the start of bootcamp assistant. As expected the machine started to heat up but as it did the fans kicked in appropriately and didn't let any temps get past 80 degrees. Once the fans had been at about 5000rpm (and not at a very invasive sound) for 5 or so mins the temps were back around 65-75 degrees and the fans went back down to about 3000rpm. I'm thinking the new kelper gpu/ivy bridge processors are to thank for this as the cooling system apparently hasn't changed.

The top of the laptop is warm to the touch right now but i've been plugging away on it for over 5 hours getting everything installed/set up and currently installing/download diablo 3.

The fans have stayed at 2000 rpm the whole time I've been on other then when I tried to stress it. The temps right now (can't confirm if istatpro is actually reading correctly but it seems like it's on track) are;

CPU 47C
GPU 51C
750gb 5400rpm HD 33C
 
I don't like how hot the default management lets my machine get before it spins the fans higher.

I can understand wanting to remove anything that gets it hot when you're not doing anything. I run a VM for work and then have multiple other processing hogs open and I want it to stay cooler more than I want it quiet.

I think there are indeed use cases that warrant the end user managing the fans, not so much for the safety of the internals, but for the comfort of the person using the box.

I have never had any sleep issues or any other strangeness so other than the overhead of another running process I see no negatives of SMCFanControl and I plan on using it on my rMBP.
 
I keep mine on 2400rpm when plugged into power, yeah sure it's not much etc but Apple's algorithms take too long to spin up imo, especially with the newer processors which throttle CPU power when too hot. You can't hear them at 2400 plus if on power its not using any more battery
 
canadianrider said:
The top of the laptop is warm to the touch right now but i've been plugging away on it for over 5 hours getting everything installed/set up and currently installing/download diablo 3.

The fans have stayed at 2000 rpm the whole time I've been on other then when I tried to stress it. The temps right now (can't confirm if istatpro is actually reading correctly but it seems like it's on track) are;

CPU 47C
GPU 51C
750gb 5400rpm HD 33C
Click to expand...

thanks alot for the first mini temp/fan info! will be nice to know how the machine reacts on playing d3 :)

just out of curiosity, when playing minecraft alone without doing anything else, do the fans/temp go very high?
thanks alot so far!
 
Ben8472 said:
thanks alot for the first mini temp/fan info! will be nice to know how the machine reacts on playing d3 :)

just out of curiosity, when playing minecraft alone without doing anything else, do the fans/temp go very high?
thanks alot so far!
Click to expand...

I'll let you know about minecraft later the problem with that is I don't know how to get it to run in full screen mode so for me at least it'll always be running the OS plus minecraft.. But right now I'm trying to figure out why the CPU is getting so hot while bootcamped in windows 8.

As for Diablo 3 I played for about an hour, and the fans did run on high a fair amount of time but it did keep the temps under 80C. So I call that a fair trade off.
 
since i don't need usb 3.0 its a really tough decision between a refurb early '11 and a new '12

thanks so far for the infos, really much appreciated!!!
 
canadianrider said:
Thanks GGJ. So in other words I should just uninstall smc fan control and not worry about it?

To answer your question no the fans didn't change from 2000rpm the whole time I was setting up the comp/browsing the web. That was about 2-3 hours worth of work. I'm new to mac but it's my understanding that, that's far better then last years. When I'm home and have some spare time I'll try and do up a little review about the fans and what not but as far as I can find none of the temp monitors work for the 2012 mbp yet.
Click to expand...

Try DesktopMonitor from the MAS.

As for running the fans at slightly higher RPMs than default - no it won't hurt anything.
 
When encoding a video with Handbrake last night was the hottest I've seen mine get yet. It went to 102C. Fans kicked in to over 5K RPM on each side and dropped the temp to 96-98C. Once the encode was down the temps dropped to 68C real fast and then back to idle temps within a few minutes. Fans were really quiet I must say.

I can also test Minecraft and temps. I haven't really taken notice much to the temps when playing it.
 
Ben8472 said:
since i don't need usb 3.0 its a really tough decision between a refurb early '11 and a new '12

thanks so far for the infos, really much appreciated!!!
Click to expand...

get the new 12 hands down. heating issue is not fixed but a lot better then 2011's due to the new processor/gpu + ivy bridge + nvidia 650m.
 
I have used SMC Fan Control for several years and it can be beneficial in certain circumstance, Apple`s own cooling algorithm effective, however it`s does tend to be trade off temperature versus noise.

SMC Fan Control allows the user to pre-empt any "heavy lifting" and manually spool up fan RPM in general it`s easier to keep a system cool, than cool down an already hot machine. Extremely stable never having an issue with the app, in general I use Apples default, for battery & mains supply, for charging I add 1K to the fans of my Late 2011 15" 2.4 i7 MBP

UltraFan is another alternative, that works on a very different principle, by setting a predetermined temperature the app will look to maintain that value by increasing/decreasing fan RPM`s. The app is still in beta, many have found it to be very stable. I have personally found this app very useful with my older Early 2008 Classic 15"MBP helping very much to keep the GPU temperature below 70C (Nvidia 8600GT). I use UltraFan on my Late 2011 13" Air as well, as the fan can be a distraction once it reaches full speed (6.5K) preferring UltraFan to kick in a little earlier with reduced RPM`s

There is no real negative using SMC Fan Control and the ability to take control of the systems cooling manually is a useful feature. What I like about SMC Fan Control is that it is only changing the default minimum value and will not go below Apple`s own default value, so there is no chance of the system overheating, if temperature increases the fans will still ramp up following Apple`s cooling algorithm. Manually raising the minimum threshold does aid cooling of the system. For the most part Apple`s own solution is effective, however the machine will always tend to feel hot to the touch with moderate workload and upwards.

For temperature monitoring bresink.com`s Temperature Monitor is by far the most detailed, offering many display and configuration options, for most iStat`s wiget is more than enough.
 
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