55 celsius, 3200 rpm & no fan sound

[playethic]

Uh oh.
I'm noticing that SMC Fan Control isn't working. As in, I go to bump up the RPM to cool down my MacBook Pro, and nothing happens. Usually I hear the drone octave go up as the fan responds.

So two questions - if I'm at 58 degrees celsius-ish and 3200 rpm-ish and no fan noise, is my fan toast?

And since I can't take it in because of a killer deadline, at what temperature or rpm do I need to turn off my computer and wait for it to cool itself?

Thanks

Lisa

 

[NT1440]

The reason you don't hear anything is because that is a low temp. I have mine kick to 4500 when charging and I can barely hear them. Start worrying when your temps are like 85+ celsius.

Frankly I'd be worried about your fans if you COULD hear them at a mere 3200 rpm, the max is 6200 (which is still basically as loud as the 3 pc laptops here just idling).

 

[dockingbay94]

You're computer has a failsafe that will (most likely) shut it down before it reaches an unsafe temperature. Run AHT test by holding down D when starting up. If it's a newer MBP it should be built into the computer, otherwise put in your install disk and hold down D. It'll test if the fans can reach their proper speed.

Remember that all laptops are going to get hot, especially when doing things that require a decent amount of processing power.

 

[playethic]

thx

As an only-one-computer owner, I was ramping up the panic & your notes made a big difference to my stress level. Thanks for taking the time to answer.

The reason you don't hear anything is because that is a low temp. I have mine kick to 4500 when charging and I can barely hear them. Start worrying when your temps are like 85+ celsius.

Frankly I'd be worried about your fans if you COULD hear them at a mere 3200 rpm, the max is 6200 (which is still basically as loud as the 3 pc laptops here just idling).

 

[kuwisdelu]

MacBook fans are very quiet, and 55 C is nothing to worry about it. I don't start hearing them until around 4500 RPM.

 

[Pax]

Start worrying when your temps are like 85+ celsius.

Good advice, but I would modify this to >105 C. If you have a unibody MBP your CPU temperatures can/will get this high in some high load circumstances, just for a couple of minutes. It's all normal behaviour.

And as another poster said, there are plenty of failsafes built in, don't worry.

IMHO Apple is very good at designing laptop cooling systems, its just that its system can seem a bit odd compared to PCs.