Quietest 2011 MBP under load (for audio work)

[propower]

Hey All,

I am a pro audio guy and do quite a bit of recording and editing. My main axe is a Mac Pro but I am upgrading my office machine from a mini to a mac laptop. I already tried both of the Air ultimates and just couldn't live wothout high speed ethernet (NAS access) and also missed having a high speed (FW800 port) I/O port........

So now I have the i7 2011 13" MBP. Really a great machine. Silent pretty much with temps in the 40s and 50s for light loads...... I did some testing with pro tools and loaded the machine up to about 15% CPU usage. Fans were bearable (but nearing my limit for noise) at about 3500 rpm......

Anything around 20% or more kicks the temps up to the mid 80s and cranks the fans to ~ 6K. Not horrible but not really useable for in room recording if I want to.......

I still have a week left to exchange this one..... So what's the question ......

1) Any one getting to these or higher loads with other members of the 2011 MBP family with significantly lower fan speeds?
2) Any of the notebook coolers worth it to help keep temps down?
3) (asked in another thread)...... but any way to limit the max cpu freq in the i5/i7 series ???

Thanks in advance......
-Lee

 

[toxic]

the quads will be even hotter, so they'll be louder, if anything. perhaps the 2010 15/17" models are for you - same TDP as the new 13" but with more volume.

a cooling pad will help, I hear it'll make temps go down about 5 ºC. if you'll be running it under load for awhile, though, you'll have to get two or three to keep the pads in the optimum temperature range.