When does your MBP fan kick in?

[TatsuTerror]

I'm on a PC right now and the fan is whirring at full speed. My next computer will be the MBP when the line is updated. I've had a lot of problems with my current laptop as far as heat and fan noise. When does your fan kick in? Does it start whirring away when you open Safari? Also, how hot does it get under normal tasks like emailing and browsing the web? Do you recommend using any fan software to keep things under better control?

Thanks.

 

[JWest]

Fans are always on, they don't just "kick in". It's a common misconception

Anywho, what you mean is at what point can you hear them whirring at higher speeds I'm assuming. This usually happens after the computer has been on for a while or when you start doing more intense work. If you're just browsing the net and using iTunes, they'll likely hover around medium speed. Even when they're high, they're not excruciatingly loud, though some people think otherwise (it's kind of a matter of opinion).

 

[ktbubster]

When I had a macbook pro 2.2 sr I actually had to download a fan control to turn the max temp limit all the way down just to make sure the fans worked because I never heard them!

The macbook pros are great and virtually silent. The fans rarely got audible even running dvds or anything. The only time i could hear them would be when I was running solidworks through vmware or parallels!

No problems for me at all!

 

[digitalpencil]

They're just not very loud.. that's far from a problem though. I only hear mine when performing stability test under XP when OCing my GPU.
If you want to know what your system is doing at any given time try iStatPro:
http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=7
By far the best widget available giving you individual temps, fan speeds, battery health and much more at the hit of a button.

 

[esd]

When I boot into XP and I've been playing Team Fortress 2 for a while (which, incidentally, looks great on the MBP)

 

[iCeFuSiOn]

I never hear the fans on my MacBook Pro.

 

[MacBookJoePro]

Yea, the MBP fans are always on. According to iStat, the consistantly run at 2000RPM, which is pretty much silent. If you download smcfancontrol, you can control your fan speed at anytime during any preferences, sort of like profiles for when your computer is plugged in or not.

I've seen my mac temp go up to 60C and the fans are still at 2000C while i'm using handbrake. Not too bad MBP, not too bad!!

-JoE