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Heat Damage vs Fan Speed Damage

J

jeremybuff

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 3, 2009
206
0
Asheville, NC
I was wondering if anyone had input regarding to fan speeds and temperature.

My UMBP runs at an average of 130°F under normal activity, which for me is browsing, a bit of Photoshop, etc. Fan speeds are around 2000 RMP. If I bump up the fan speeds to 3500 RPM my temperature drops to around 95°F.

Is 95°F while the fans are running at 3500 RPM better than 130°F running at 2000 RPM?
 
jeremybuff said:
Sorry about that!

My laptop runs pretty warm? So 130°F (for 50°C) at 2000 RPM is hot? I was under a different impression..
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50C is normal, hell I even cool in MBP terms. Hot is when it starts to find it's way to 90C still within limits but cause for concern long term.

Either way your not hurting your fans running at 2k or 4k, and if I had to make a choice, I'd burn my fans up first, guessing a fan is cheaper than a logic board :)
 
bossxii said:
50C is normal, hell I even cool in MBP terms. Hot is when it starts to find it's way to 90C still within limits but cause for concern long term.

Either way your not hurting your fans running at 2k or 4k, and if I had to make a choice, I'd burn my fans up first, guessing a fan is cheaper than a logic board :)
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That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. I am assuming that I won't be able to set my fans at a speed that is too high, one that will screw them up fast. Good to know everything it "cool"! :)
 
My MBP runs at about 87°C usually with the fans at about 7500rpm.I also keep it on a cooling pad which I plugged into the wall with an AC adapter I found that gives it a lot more power.
 
jeremybuff said:
That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. I am assuming that I won't be able to set my fans at a speed that is too high, one that will screw them up fast. Good to know everything it "cool"! :)
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Correct :) SMC won't let you turn the fans below 2000rpm and over I think 5700rpm. I've run mine in clamshell mode hooked to my ACD for several hours 5+ and had the fans running full on at max speed. Temps were mid to high 80's and zero issues, it is how these things run. It is a laptop and it's going to get hot when we push them.

@pyro.. ya I'm sitting at 41C now on 2000rpm, which is normal if I'm just surfing, no video's etc.. click into a HQ/HD youtube and it will hit the 60's pretty fast, full screen Hulu and I'll crack into the 70C range. All perfectly normal.
 
voyagerd said:
I edited the preferences file for the SMC fan speed controller to let me set it higher. At 6000 rpm it was getting too hot. The max speed that my fans can go is 7900rpm.
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I think at 8345 your MBP will "hover" off your desk lol :) wow that's gotta sound like a jet about to take off huh?
 
bossxii said:
I think at 8345 your MBP will "hover" off your desk lol :) wow that's gotta sound like a jet about to take off huh?
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No, the jet take off is my G5 in single user boot!:p

My cooling pad is actually a lot louder than either of the computers since I'm overdriving it a lot. To make my MBP hover, you'd need to flip the fans in the pad upside down and overdrive them a lot more. :D
 
pyromaniaque said:
Can someone answereth this please?
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i've asked this before and i havent been able to get a good answer. my guess would be that it is a combination of environmental factors and user habit. i run about 3 different apps at a time, 2 browsers and iTunes. my comp runs at about 30C. when i play games or am doing editing in Pro Tools Or Logic its running at about 65C. i use a cooling station as well. when idle my computer is running at about 20C. i like to keep it very cool haha. if one keeps there comp on their lap or a bed its going to heat up because of poor air flow. also keeping the computer on a desk doesnt keep as cool as when it is elevated.
 
The rest of the world uses kilometers instead of miles, meters instead of feet and inches, kilograms instead of lbs, kilowatts instead of horsepower.... and celsius instead of Fahrenheit... so what? My prefs for monitoring my MBP temps give me the option of stating it in C or F. I use F, because it's easier for me to relate to. I'm not disqualified from discussing issues of cpu/gpu temp just because I state temps in F because it's a piece of cake for anyone who doesn't understand those numbers to convert them to Centigrade, or whatever other scale they'd prefer. :)

As a point of comparison, my MBP typically runs 104-124F in average use... iPhoto, iTunes, Firefox, Google Earth, NeoOffice. My fans are set to run 2500rpm as an idle speed, and once in awhile I will manually ramp them up if needed.

I think I'd much rather put wear on my fans than on my gpu, since they're a lot cheaper to replace.
 
pdxflint said:
The rest of the world uses kilometers instead of miles, meters instead of feet and inches, kilograms instead of lbs, kilowatts instead of horsepower.... and celsius instead of Fahrenheit... so what? My prefs for monitoring my MBP temps give me the option of stating it in C or F. I use F, because it's easier for me to relate to. I'm not disqualified from discussing issues of cpu/gpu temp just because I state temps in F because it's a piece of cake for anyone who doesn't understand those numbers to convert them to Centigrade, or whatever other scale they'd prefer. :)

As a point of comparison, my MBP typically runs 104-124F in average use... iPhoto, iTunes, Firefox, Google Earth, NeoOffice. My fans are set to run 2500rpm as an idle speed, and once in awhile I will manually ramp them up if needed.

I think I'd much rather put wear on my fans than on my gpu, since they're a lot cheaper to replace.
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it also lets you use Kelvin which it crazy. it came up as the default and i was like wtf?!?!

ps - where are those sunglasses pdxflint?! come on your from Oregon!! hahah
 
"I use F, because it's easier for me to relate to."

Good for you... But if you're posting in a public FORUM please use what the vast majority of people use.

Regards,
Simon
 
voyagerd said:
What's the maximum the temp gets to for you guys without using a cooling base or overdriving the fans? The hottest I've seen mine is at 95C.
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dont want to try and find out. mine is at 35C right now. the hottest it has gotten on my cooling stand is 76C and that was as hot as i could get it. most of the time it stays around 45C-50C for gaming. and 30-35C for regular use. idles at 20-25C.
 
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