MBP 17" Penryn VS previous chip: HEAT

[ProfGentleGiant]

Hello, all. Newbie here, so I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question.

I think I'm going to take the leap and purchase a 17" MBP. There are some pretty amazing discounts now on the pre-Penryn MBPs. My question has to do with HEAT. Stories about MBP heat issues are nearly apocryphal. Is there really a big difference? I'm a professor and I spend long hours typing and using a variety of programs; the MBP will be on my lap for all of it.

Thanks in advance.

Timothy, aka ProfGentleGiant
[Dead IBook G4; Dead Wallstreet Powerbook G3; currently using brand new--work provided--Dell LED Tablet PC]

 

[alphaod]

You should see no issues with heat just typing; these computers get hot when you're watching a video, encoding movies, editing pictures; normal usage will not get the computer uncomfortably hot for lap use.

 

[squeeks]

also most of the heat issues i believe are with 15" models, the 17" has more real estate to spread the heat out better

 

[dblissmn]

Nothing to worry about, at all.

What I noticed about the Penryn 15s and the 17s in the store is that the extremities of the case, including the bottom, were cooler on the 17. The internal electronics didn't seem much different (yes, I put iStat on a bunch of MBPs in the store . . .). On the other hand, I know which MBP has the coolest running graphics chip I've seen -- my 15 incher. Most of them, both screen sizes by the way, seem to run the graphics chip somewhat warmer than the CPU, which makes sense seeing as it is on a larger die size than the processor. But my GPU only seems to run a degree or two warmer in Celsius than the CPU instead of seven or eight or ten. The Penryn uses a GPU on the same 80nm die size as the Merom/Santa Rosa.

With a Penryn I'd say you have nothing to worry about whatsoever. I would say they run about 20 degrees Celsius cooler (20 exactly would be a 36 degree F difference) than the first MBP. The only way to get these up to the routine temperature on the MBP is to do something very, very demanding like running the Hardware Test CD, and then you do get the fry-an-egg syndrome with the metal strip between the keyboard and the air vent. Just as with previous Intel Mac laptops, the fans don't speed up at all from the quiet-running 2000rpm default in the 40s or 50s Celsius; the difference is that 40s and 50s are the typical operating range for the Penryns and even resource hogs like Nikon Capture NX do not get the Penryns into the high 60s where you once got the infamous "mooing" sound with early Macbook firmware rhythmically switching the fan on and off right at 65. The other thing I like about it is that putting the iSkin keyboard protector on barely warms the computer up at all.

With Merom on the Santa Rosa board, you have one key warmer running component -- the processor of course. What I have seen on web boards is progress with each iteration of the MBP, but unfortunately I have no personal experience with the Merom/SR. But the other key chips on SR -- system controller, Airport, GPU etc are little changed between the Merom and Penryn.