MBP Stand and gaming.

[kevkeys]

i portioned my hard drive for a few games coming out(GW2, D3, and SWTOR)
i really like this stand and i can use my monitor with my 15" MBP

http://www.amazon.com/Twelve-South-12-1105-BookArc-MacBook/dp/B0053XG1AW

my only concern is how well the fans would work with the case closed? i feel it constricts the exhaust a bit because its not open. any thoughts on this?

thank you for your input. i couldn't find this anywhere online.

 

[Prodo123]

The MBP runs fine in clamshell mode. I had mine in 20-hour movie re-encodes (which means 95°C constantly) multiple times and it still runs like a champ.

 

[GGJstudios]

my only concern is how well the fans would work with the case closed? i feel it constricts the exhaust a bit because its not open. any thoughts on this?

thank you for your input. i couldn't find this anywhere online.

The fans are not restricted by operating in clamshell mode. There is no air intake or exhaust through the keyboard on any Mac notebook, and there never has been. Both intake and exhaust is through the vents in the rear near the hinge, which allows venting with the lid open or closed (for operating in clamshell mode). There is a solid panel under the keyboard, preventing any meaningful airflow.

 

[kevkeys]

The fans are not restricted by operating in clamshell mode. There is no air intake or exhaust through the keyboard on any Mac notebook, and there never has been. Both intake and exhaust is through the vents in the rear near the hinge, which allows venting with the lid open or closed (for operating in clamshell mode). There is a solid panel under the keyboard, preventing any meaningful airflow.

wow, thats really interesting. i have a silicon keyboard cover to prevent dust getting in there, but i always take it off when the fans kick in. i previously thought there was slight exhaust through them. so this will be good then. thankyou both so much. i was very paranoid about this ad how the fans will act (i thought maybe the lid being open allowed more air out/in.) i will be ordering this ASAP. i really like the look and have a spot for it.

 

[shanimal]

I don't think there is SUPPOSED to be exhaust from the keyboard, but I know for a fact that when the fans are at max there is hot air blowing from under the keys.
I have my MBP connected to a external monitor so I always have it in clamshell mode. I hooked it to a monitor for gaming, but running in clamshell mode with a stand kept it just as cool (if not cooler) than if i had it open on my lap.

 

[GGJstudios]

I don't think there is SUPPOSED to be exhaust from the keyboard, but I know for a fact that when the fans are at max there is hot air blowing from under the keys.

That is simply not possible. Look at the picture. There is no way for air to pass through the keyboard, because air can't pass through the solid sheet under it.

 

[mfuchs88]

That is simply not possible. Look at the picture. There is no way for air to pass through the keyboard, because air can't pass through the solid sheet under it.

Nope, I'm with the other guy. What you're saying is there is a solid piece of material that reaches across all sides of the unibody with an airtight seal allowing no air whatsoever to pads through? Not even enough for him just to feel it? If this was true, why would my logic board get damaged if I spilled something? It's like a draft in a window, its not made to be there, but air passes through and if its windy enough outside, you can feel it. I love how helpful you always are, but I always get this sense of superiority from your posts and it irks me a little bit that you feel like that because you have a database of links you post on every question. Don't get me wrong. You're very helpful and we appreciate you on the forums, but try and listen to what others are saying sometimes because not everybody's experience is the same. Cheers!

 

[GGJstudios]

Nope, I'm with the other guy. What you're saying is there is a solid piece of material that reaches across all sides of the unibody with an airtight seal allowing no air whatsoever to pads through?

Yes it covers the entire bottom of the keyboard, and no, not enough air could pass through to feel it, if any.

I love how helpful you always are, but I always get this sense of superiority from your posts and it irks me a little bit that you feel like that because you have a database of links you post on every question.

I don't have any sense of superiority. I post links so people don't have to take my word for things, so they know the source of my information, and so they know I'm not posting my opinion, but facts. If it irks you, you're welcome to add me to your ignore list, so you don't have to read my posts. Many find them helpful, some don't. I'm not interested in winning any popularity contests. I'm interested in posting accurate, factual information to answer people's questions and to counter misinformation, which I have done.

... sometimes because not everybody's experience is the same.

When it comes to things like air passing through the keyboard, everyone's experience IS the same, even though some may have a different perception. There is no venting through the keyboard. That fact doesn't change just because someone erroneously thinks it does.

 

[shanimal]

When it comes to things like air passing through the keyboard, everyone's experience IS the same, even though some may have a different perception. There is no venting through the keyboard. That fact doesn't change just because someone erroneously thinks it does.

There is not a different perception on whether air comes through the keyboard or not; it either does or it doesnt. When the fans are at max speed, air DOES come through my keyboard. Not enough to to bother me, nor to damage the screen when closed, but there IS air coming from my computers keyboard.

Maybe its just my computer, I dont know, but I do know I'm not imagining things.

 

[Prodo123]

Yes it covers the entire bottom of the keyboard, and no, not enough air could pass through to feel it, if any.

I don't have any sense of superiority. I post links so people don't have to take my word for things, so they know the source of my information, and so they know I'm not posting my opinion, but facts. If it irks you, you're welcome to add me to your ignore list, so you don't have to read my posts. Many find them helpful, some don't. I'm not interested in winning any popularity contests. I'm interested in posting accurate, factual information to answer people's questions and to counter misinformation, which I have done.

When it comes to things like air passing through the keyboard, everyone's experience IS the same, even though some may have a different perception. There is no venting through the keyboard. That fact doesn't change just because someone erroneously thinks it does.

Sorry, GGJ, this time I have to agree with the OP. I can clearly feel the air being sucked in through the keyboard, especially by the "asdf" and "uiop."
Usless there is a rubber padding that completely seals the keyboard holes from the rest of the body, there is bound to be some air flowing into the laptop through the keyboard. Think about it. The squirrel fans have just one vent, and that's for the output of air from the rotating blades to the back of the laptop. Then where do the fans draw air from? The top, of course! And what's on top of the fans? The keyboard.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

On inspection, I would say the ideal venting situation is with the laptop open with the display at least perpendicular to the base because that seems to create the greatest overall area of space to ingress/exhaust air (both from underneath and above combined). However I think this is minimal, and if you were to have the MBP standing vertically, the extra volume of air it resides in will allow a greater rate of heat loss.

Also, I agree with the guys above that air does flow through the keyboard to a very small degree. The slab below the keyboard is certainly not airtight, and even liquids pass through some parts. However, it wasn't designed to be an intake system.

 

[gpzjock]

The keyboard doesn't suck....

I decided to test the airflow on a Macbook Pro 2011, fired up WoW and ran it till the fans were full on noisy, I took a very fine piece of tissue paper and tried to detect any airflow around the Macbook Pro.
Results: Air flows in and out along the rear hinge only, any perceived air flow around the keys is due to the hinge edge breath reflecting off the screen face with the clamshell open.

Check this thread for a detailed explanation of heat management on these lovely pieces of design: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-prevent-your-mac-from-overheating

Please note i5 CPU based MBPs happily stay at around 90ºc for hours without any performance reduction or visible damage.

This nutter cut holes in his case to improve airflow for very little effect:
http://my2011macbookpro.com/modding-the-case-bottom-panel-to-reduce-temps/

 

[GGJstudios]

The squirrel fans have just one vent, and that's for the output of air from the rotating blades to the back of the laptop. Then where do the fans draw air from?

Read my first post in this thread. Both intake and exhaust are through the vents at the rear. There is no venting through the keyboard. There never has been on any Mac model. That's why they can safely be used in clamshell mode. Apple wouldn't recommend clamshell if it blocked the intake vents.

When the fans are at max speed, air DOES come through my keyboard. Not enough to to bother me, nor to damage the screen when closed, but there IS air coming from my computers keyboard.

No, air is not coming through the keyboard. Here is your explanation:

I decided to test the airflow on a Macbook Pro 2011, fired up WoW and ran it till the fans were full on noisy, I took a very fine piece of tissue paper and tried to detect any airflow around the Macbook Pro.
Results: Air flows in and out along the rear hinge only, any perceived air flow around the keys is due to the hinge edge breath reflecting off the screen face with the clamshell open.

Check this thread for a detailed explanation of heat management on these lovely pieces of design: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-prevent-your-mac-from-overheating

As that article correctly states:

A common myth is that the MacBook family vent heat via the keyboard. This is false. No Mac laptop has ever vented heat through the keyboard.

 

[cosmicjoke]

i think my late '11 2.5ghz 15" macbook pro throttles in clamshell playing diablo 3 open beta....
i have 2x thunderbolt displays and the game is pretty much unplayable in clamshell...

to my surprise, using all 3 displays (2x tb and internal lcd) i can play the game just fine in fullscreen or windowed @ 1080p @ roughly 40-45fps (turning off shadows).... close the lid and the game quickly degrades into unplayable.

here's a really bad video i took with phone of game running well w/ all 3 displays, it's only running at 30fps cuz i prefer vsync on, but it really held to 30fps quite well through the whole beta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d7I...DvjVQa1PpcFPcwBAuWNAJRPiNAb_kVuORV2urhx38dEE=

i ended up playing this way for well over an hour.... real big fan of the bookarc, have one myself, but am thinking for at least some gaming, play w/ lid open for performance....

 

[kevkeys]

i cant seem to figure out why performance would be hindered while the computers closed? you would think it would do better because its not worried about pushing its internal display?

 

[chrisvee]

i cant seem to figure out why performance would be hindered while the computers closed? you would think it would do better because its not worried about pushing its internal display?

The only thing that I've noticed when in clamshell mode is that my wireless internet signal decreases a little bit. Other than that, I use that stand with my MBP and it's been great. I've played WoW, League of Legends, and other games with no real problems.

 

[psykick5]

i think my late '11 2.5ghz 15" macbook pro throttles in clamshell playing diablo 3 open beta....
i have 2x thunderbolt displays and the game is pretty much unplayable in clamshell...

to my surprise, using all 3 displays (2x tb and internal lcd) i can play the game just fine in fullscreen or windowed @ 1080p @ roughly 40-45fps (turning off shadows).... close the lid and the game quickly degrades into unplayable.

Like another poster said, closing the lid reduces wifi performance, and with Diablo 3 being in a sense online, it would make your game lagg.

 

[cosmicjoke]

i cant seem to figure out why performance would be hindered while the computers closed? you would think it would do better because its not worried about pushing its internal display?

well, my thoughts is when i am playing diablo 3 with the lid closed, it exceeds a temperature where the cpu throttles to lower the temps... with a throttled cpu you're gaming at roughly 15-20fps, a pretty unpleasant way to game. anyways, i'd recommend just trying it with your setup, mine has two thunderbolt displays with increase idle temps of the mbp by about 10c per monitor, with both i idle at roughly 60c to begin with, maybe with one standard 1080p monitor it will be playable with lid closed.... i can try with my hdtv at some point...

anyways, it may vary with game some, but i can tell you there's no performance impact with diablo 3 using the internal display & 2 tbs, in fact i get the same performance as i do with just playing on my laptop's internal display without the thunderbolt displays plugged in period.

it's all to do with the game's settings, i can't play diablo 3 greater than 1080p on my thunderbolt displays, and if in windowed mode i have to leave it at the window size of 1080p, maximizing the window is like playing at 2560x1440p... aside from that, i turn off shadows and lower ground clutter, game plays at 42-45fps, same as if just using laptop display w/ same settings, though i prefer playing w/ vsync on which pretty much locks it at 30fps, this game plays real smooth at 30fps.

anyways, i wouldn't worry about hurting the computer testing out what works for you and your setup, i have two 2011 macbook pros in the house, and have used both in clamshell pretty hardcore for the last half a year. it's not gonna harm the macbook, though may screw with your gaming performance... if you do decide you want a lid open "clamshell" you can do that with a terminal command in lion, just google it.

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Like another poster said, closing the lid reduces wifi performance, and with Diablo 3 being in a sense online, it would make your game lagg.

i don't think that is it at all, i have ethernet cable hooked into my TB displays, i think the cpu is throttling from temps in clamshell, anyways, i'm sticking to my guns to just test it with your set up and see what works for you, but lid closed/open a variable to tweak w/ if your having performance issues... it definitely solved mine.