Could it kill my Mac to run hot for too long?

[BigO]

Hey Guys,

I own a late 2009 15" 2.53 GHz Macbook Pro.

I enjoy to play games so I usually do through Windows 7 bootcamp.
My problem is that I fear that my macbook is running too hot for too long. I downloaded a program to see how hot it was running while the game was playing although Im not totally sure exactly how to interpret it.. Its not simple like Istatmenus which just shows me how hot the CPU is. If I remember correctly it lists GUI, Core1 and Core2. While Im playing said game on average they run a little over 80+ degrees Celsius. Now to my understanding that's not terrible right, but it is still kinda hot. What I'm scared of is how long is too long to run this hot? I could probably play in one sitting for 3 hours at that heat, but I really dont want to kill my macbook pro. I got it just about a year ago and I really don't want to burn it out. Could you guys give me some assurance on this matter? Thank you so much for your replies I really really appreciate it.

 

[piwi]

If I remember well, most intel chips are designed to go a little bit over 100ºC
If you ever reach the limit (105ºC I think or maybe it 115ºC) then a breaker kicks in shutting your system down. It won't let you turn it back on until the temps aren't back in the tolerable range.

 

[0186279]

As long as your fans kick in you are fine. 80c isnt bad really, I've hit that with a bunch of youtube tabs open haha.

It will definitely shut off before it does any damage. My '06 MBP shut off a few times playing everquest 2 so I know it works : )

 

[Rhalliwell1]

if it gets too hot it shuts down. simple!

 

[BigO]

So even if I have it running at 80 degrees Celsius for like 3-4 hours it shouldn't damage the computer? And even if its like 4 times a week?

 

[mikeo007]

So even if I have it running at 80 degrees Celsius for like 3-4 hours it shouldn't damage the computer? And even if its like 4 times a week?

It can cause the components to fatigue, resulting in pre-mature failure. But I wouldn't worry too much about it, something else is going to die before the processor.

 

[mingoglia]

So even if I have it running at 80 degrees Celsius for like 3-4 hours it shouldn't damage the computer? And even if its like 4 times a week?

You could run your machine at 80C for 24 hours a day and not have a problem. Just use your machine and don't worry about it. That's not even close to running hot.

 

[BigO]

Ok great! Thanks a lot for your input everyone, really eased my worries!