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Is it a bad idea to manually increase the fan speed?

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LoganT

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 9, 2007
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Not literally, but in software. I work in 3D modeling applications and I would use a program like iStat Menu when under heavy workload to increase the fan speed to its highest possibility because the computer would be getting very hot and Apple’s built in detection seemed to be a little too conservative.

Is increasing it ok to do or should I really trust Apple on how fast the fans should be?
 
Decreasing it is a bad idea. Increasing it isn't bad, under typical circumstances. It'll consume a bit more power to drive them faster of course, but will keep things cooler which isn't bad.

Most Macs can actually go beyond what they report as maximum fan speed though. If they're let to their own devices and reach extreme circumstances, the fans can go way faster than 100% Just make sure you're not under such extreme circumstances if you set a custom fan profile, so your increase in fan speed is actually an increase and not a limitation on fan speed.
This will basically only happen if your ambient temperatures are extreme though, or if there's a real big issue with dust or something like that.
 
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LoganT said:
Not literally, but in software. I work in 3D modeling applications and I would use a program like iStat Menu when under heavy workload to increase the fan speed to its highest possibility because the computer would be getting very hot and Apple’s built in detection seemed to be a little too conservative.

Is increasing it ok to do or should I really trust Apple on how fast the fans should be?
Click to expand...
Increasing the fan speeds will not hurt anything as these fans are made to last for years. So if you want a cooler running CPU go ahead and max out the fan speeds when doing intensive tasks
 
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LoganT said:
Is increasing it ok to do or should I really trust Apple on how fast the fans should be?
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I think you'll be just fine. I sometimes run Macs Fan Control on my 27" iMac when slamming the GPU. I crank the fans to max, and I've let them run for hours, sometimes days straight. Never a problem or issue, and I do notice smoother performance when I do this. I'd say, if you want a little more cooling, do it. Just don't reduce fan speed -- that would be a major no.
 
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ascender said:
Because the teams who designed, built & tested the laptop probably have a better idea of how much cooling is needed at any given time than any of us do?
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I disagree to a extent. I think Apple would rather throttle the clock speed so the fans don’t ramp up causing it to get louder. I don’t care how loud my computer is.

I render out visuals that take sometimes 60+ hours to complete and my MacBook gets extremely hot during that time. I think I’ve seen upwards of 190° Fahrenheit and it’s that hot for hours and hours. Which I understand why, all of my ram, CPU and VRAM is being used by one application. I usually just walk away and come back in a day to see the progress.

I want my Mac working as hard as it can to keep itself cool and I don’t believe it is. I feel like (and I could be wrong) that Apple tries to find a balance between power and fan noise. I want all the power I can get so I can be done with my project faster because the faster it gets done the faster I can have my MBP running at a reasonable temperature

I’m not saying Apple is necessarily wrong for the general public who seem to really care about how loud the fans are. For me, I want it sounding like a jet engine. Battery life is not an issue because if I’m doing something like that it has to be plugged in. My MacBook Pro’s battery would probably die in less than 2 hours if I didn’t.

Just so we’re clear I would never decrease my fan speed. I’m not that insane.
 
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What model of macbook do ya have? Im also curious about the fans in these new macbooks. How many years will they last? like if for say you bought a specced out macbook and the fans ramp up for 4-6 hours of each day more or less, then how long will the fans or even the macbook last?

Btw when your rending 60+ Hours... Is that all at once?
 
LoganT said:
I disagree to a extent. I think Apple would rather throttle the clock speed so the fans don’t ramp up causing it to get louder. I don’t care how loud my computer is.

I render out visuals that take sometimes 60+ hours to complete and my MacBook gets extremely hot during that time. I think I’ve seen upwards of 190° Fahrenheit and it’s that hot for hours and hours. Which I understand why, all of my ram, CPU and VRAM is being used by one application. I usually just walk away and come back in a day to see the progress.

I want my Mac working as hard as it can to keep itself cool and I don’t believe it is. I feel like (and I could be wrong) that Apple tries to find a balance between power and fan noise. I want all the power I can get so I can be done with my project faster because the faster it gets done the faster I can have my MBP running at a reasonable temperature

I’m not saying Apple is necessarily wrong for the general public who seem to really care about how loud the fans are. For me, I want it sounding like a jet engine. Battery life is not an issue because if I’m doing something like that it has to be plugged in. My MacBook Pro’s battery would probably die in less than 2 hours if I didn’t.

Just so we’re clear I would never decrease my fan speed. I’m not that insane.
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Have you though about a MacPro instead of laptop? Lots more power and cooling not limited by the need for portability. Plus expandability. I really seems like your workload is much better suited to a deskside system or even a server than a portable, designed for ease of carrying and artificially limited by this constraint.
 
I would never, ever mess with the fan manually. If you decrease the speed you risk overheating the internal components. If you increase the speed, you put undue wear on the fan itself.

Just let Apple do what Apple does. If the performance is not to your satisfaction, maybe a different device is warranted.
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LoganT said:
I’m going to need a reason why there’s “literally” no need to do this.
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Because Apple and its customers have put hours and hours into testing the automatic fan speed on these expensive machines.
 
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jerryk said:
Have you though about a MacPro instead of laptop? Lots more power and cooling not limited by the need for portability. Plus expandability. I really seems like your workload is much better suited to a deskside system or even a server than a portable, designed for ease of carrying and artificially limited by this constraint.
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I’ve definitely considered it. I’m limited in space in my apartment but I’m gonna keep an eye on the Mac Pro during my return period. I fear the one I want would be way too much money.
 
BeatWilson said:
What model of macbook do ya have? Im also curious about the fans in these new macbooks. How many years will they last? like if for say you bought a specced out macbook and the fans ramp up for 4-6 hours of each day more or less, then how long will the fans or even the macbook last?

Btw when your rending 60+ Hours... Is that all at once?
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60+ is definitely rare but not impossible. The average is probably around 24 hours and yeah that’s all at once. I’m asking for my upcoming fully loaded 16” MacBook Pro. I started doing this type of work on my late 2013 15.4” and I started doing this 3 years after I had already owned it so there was already some wear on it. It didn’t seem to cause any problems so I agree with others that say the fans are high quality. It’s more that I just spent the most amount of money I’ve ever spent on a laptop and I want to be sure I’m not prematurely degrading it more than what is normal.
 
I increased the fan speed on my Mac Pro 5,1 for years. Never hurt it. It keeps the CPU cooler than Apple does if you leave it alone. No problem if you don't mind the noise. Only other downside is there's more dust collected inside.
 
LoganT said:
I’ve definitely considered it. I’m limited in space in my apartment but I’m gonna keep an eye on the Mac Pro during my return period. I fear the one I want would be way too much money.
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My guess is even the base MacPro will be quite powerful.

And if you are doing that rendering professionally consider the impact of being able to bill for more jobs in the same amount of time. Also, systems are a deductible business expense.
 
jerryk said:
My guess is even the base MacPro will be quite powerful.

And if you are doing that rendering professionally consider the impact of being able to bill for more jobs in the same amount of time. Also, systems are a deductible business expense.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don’t make any money from it, yet. It’s just a very expensive artistic passion of mine.
 
If the Mac Pro is too expensive, you could consider getting one or more Mac Minis to offload your renders to. Build your scenes on your MBP and render on the Minis. As an added benefit, your MBP remains accessible to keep working on your scene as your Minis churn away.
To save money, get some of the older models second hand and load them up with some 3rd party Ram. It will likely be cheaper than loading a 16" MBP up with Apple-taxed Ram.
 
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