Bought a MBP recently and was wondering if someone could answer the following: I do some processor intensive work on my laptop and see that the CPU usage hovers at around 90% by user in Activity Monitor. I am running this straight for over 8-9 hours daily. Am I by any chance killing my laptop? Or is it designed to withstand this kind of usage? Obviously, the fans are on full power throughout and only the area under the screen gets super hot (rest of laptop remains cool).
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MBP Constant Use
- Thread starter saberahul
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Well yea, I have the 3yr extended warranty through Apple as well but was curious if my kind of usage would affect the computers lifespan or if it will make it slower over time.
I doubt a pad helps much has they usually feed the vents in the bottom of notebooks which MBPs do not have.
You can reapply the thermal paste that is supposed to work wonders sometimes.
Of course it is not really designed for this kind of use. Heat lets all the stuff die a lot quicker. Within the warranty you are fine though.
a) It will probably last that long as most PC stuff is built to last about 3-5 years. 3 years even under bad conditions.
b) if it doesn't it is not your fault. You can run it at full power for a year straight and when it dies they would have to replace it.
Back in my overclocking days I used to read some stuff about how much 5C extra heat degrade CPU lifespan. I can only remember it was quite much and the whole expected lifespan (at continous usage) wasn't all that long.
If you mean for the notebook to last you 5+ years chances are good that won't work. If you do this kind of stuff the whole time it would be a good idea to get a desktop which can keep cool even under full load. I would also feel saver doing such work on a Workstation like a Lenovo W520 because they are actually designed for such use.
MBP are thermally designed for people who use them a few hours a day and usually under low stress conditions. They don't overheat and die instantly but they are certainly not running at heat levels in full load which are very healthy in the long run.
You can reapply the thermal paste that is supposed to work wonders sometimes.
Of course it is not really designed for this kind of use. Heat lets all the stuff die a lot quicker. Within the warranty you are fine though.
a) It will probably last that long as most PC stuff is built to last about 3-5 years. 3 years even under bad conditions.
b) if it doesn't it is not your fault. You can run it at full power for a year straight and when it dies they would have to replace it.
Back in my overclocking days I used to read some stuff about how much 5C extra heat degrade CPU lifespan. I can only remember it was quite much and the whole expected lifespan (at continous usage) wasn't all that long.
If you mean for the notebook to last you 5+ years chances are good that won't work. If you do this kind of stuff the whole time it would be a good idea to get a desktop which can keep cool even under full load. I would also feel saver doing such work on a Workstation like a Lenovo W520 because they are actually designed for such use.
MBP are thermally designed for people who use them a few hours a day and usually under low stress conditions. They don't overheat and die instantly but they are certainly not running at heat levels in full load which are very healthy in the long run.
It should be fine.
I ran my older MBP 15" at 190 degrees for hours. To the point my hands would go numb... (I know, not healthy, but had no other choice for awhile).
The thing I would suggest doing is getting more RAM, that should help ease the workload. I know I can run mine with a ton more apps now that I doubled the memory bank. You should do the same since you seem to be working that machine!
Also, try to keep it on solid surfaces.. Pillows usually make them run hotter since the heat is insulated.
I ran my older MBP 15" at 190 degrees for hours. To the point my hands would go numb... (I know, not healthy, but had no other choice for awhile).
The thing I would suggest doing is getting more RAM, that should help ease the workload. I know I can run mine with a ton more apps now that I doubled the memory bank. You should do the same since you seem to be working that machine!
Also, try to keep it on solid surfaces.. Pillows usually make them run hotter since the heat is insulated.
Okay, thanks everyone.
Also, I keep a backup using Time Machine on a portable WD 500GB HDD. I am curious to know if I were to lose this drive or say it was stolen, can someone connect it to their Mac and retrieve all my data or can the data only be accessed by my laptop? Unfortunately I do not have another Mac to try this out with. Advice?
Also, I keep a backup using Time Machine on a portable WD 500GB HDD. I am curious to know if I were to lose this drive or say it was stolen, can someone connect it to their Mac and retrieve all my data or can the data only be accessed by my laptop? Unfortunately I do not have another Mac to try this out with. Advice?
They will be able to retrieve all of your data; if you have a password chances are, you'll have to have that; I restored my new MBP with my old TC and I don't quite remember if I needed a password or not.
You could just leave it home and backup whenever you're in a safe environment?
Okay thank you for that. I was under the same impression. Under TM settings, all I could find was an option for encryption (nothing for password protection). Can someone guide me on how I would go about protecting it with a password? Will encryption do the trick?
I welcome your suggestion of leaving it at home however at times I am required to visit off-seas and usually end up carrying it with me as it comes in quite handy.