[warchieft2k]

Hello, I have notice how my mac book get extremely hot while i am running a few applications... I have iStat and it shows my fan going at 6200 rpm full time and my temperature is high as hell.

My question is... is there a cooling system out there that is just for the Macbook... I have seen a few at Best Buy and other stores but the Macbook;s fan is under the screen I don't see how one of those units that goes under it can help.

any suggestions?

Thanks
Carlos

[Sethro]

What I do when my Macbook gets too hot is just leave it on my air conditioning vent for a while and it cools off pretty well, for a more permanent solution you might want to get a cooling mat or have a look to see if there is too much thermal paste applied to the machine. This is something that happened to me, there was way too much thermal paste applied on the processor and it made the machine run really hot, with some skill I managed to fix the issue and my Macbook runs along at about 55 degrees which is alot cooler than before.

[warchieft2k]

So you mean open up the unit and look around the CPU and remove the extra thermal paste? I'll look into it.

WOW... I think I'll wait till I get my new drive so I can open it only once!

[fletch33]

smcFan Control is a must with the macbook. especially if you use it on your lap. i keep my mac around 110 degrees and if i dont use smcFan control it can easily hang out around 140 which is too hot for my lap.

[warchieft2k]

smcFan control installed! thats a great piece of software thanks!

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Originally Posted by warchieft2k 

Hello, I have notice how my mac book get extremely hot while i am running a few applications... I have iStat and it shows my fan going at 6200 rpm full time and my temperature is high as hell.

My question is... is there a cooling system out there that is just for the Macbook... I have seen a few at Best Buy and other stores but the Macbook;s fan is under the screen I don't see how one of those units that goes under it can help.

any suggestions?

Thanks
Carlos

You're MacBook's fan shouldn't be going that fast, how hot does it get? The enclosure bottom sensor reports 88-94 F with the fan at 1500 RPM when just sitting on my table.

Originally Posted by warchieft2k 

So you mean open up the unit and look around the CPU and remove the extra thermal paste? I'll look into it.

WOW... I think I'll wait till I get my new drive so I can open it only once!

1. Don't open it up to replace thermal paste if you don't want to void your warranty and 2. upgrading the HD is a entire different process.

[warchieft2k]

I have iStat pro thats how I get my temp and fan speed.
for example after running seti@home for say 20 minutes or so... or when encoding a DVD to Divx or mp4... my fan speed shows between 6000 and 6200 rpms
MY CPU temp got to 80 degrees sometimes 90.. keep in mind this is celsius.

I do not think getting this hot is normal thats why I posted here...

My warranty is already up... I had it since the macbook first came out....
I figure for the HD you still have to open the machine.

now back to the temp issue... what do you think? is this normal or what?

Thanks

[warchieft2k]

enclosure bottom celsius 35 or fahrenheit 95
fan speed 5900 rpm
CPU temp 61 celsius or 146 fahrenheit

I am using handbrake to extracting a DVD and typing this message....

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Originally Posted by warchieft2k 

I have iStat pro thats how I get my temp and fan speed.
for example after running seti@home for say 20 minutes or so... or when encoding a DVD to Divx or mp4... my fan speed shows between 6000 and 6200 rpms
MY CPU temp got to 80 degrees sometimes 90.. keep in mind this is celsius.

I do not think getting this hot is normal thats why I posted here...

My warranty is already up... I had it since the macbook first came out....
I figure for the HD you still have to open the machine.

now back to the temp issue... what do you think? is this normal or what?

Thanks

You didn't tell me that you where encoding video!! Its going to sound like a jet when you do that!

So, yeah, thats normal for encoding video. What are your temps when your MacBook is idling (not doing anything, not running seti@home, etc)?

[warchieft2k]

normally it runs between 55 and 62 degrees celsius

now... should i worry about my fan going bye bye on me for running so high? for long periods of time?

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Originally Posted by warchieft2k 

normally it runs between 55 and 62 degrees celsius

now... should i worry about my fan going bye bye on me for running so high? for long periods of time?

Well, MacBooks aren't meant to encode video and other CPU intensive tasks as the whole machine gets hot. It shouldn't cause any problems, but I'd invest into a Mac that can handle such abuse. I.e. a iMac

[variozin]

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO 

Well, MacBooks aren't meant to encode video and other CPU intensive tasks as the whole machine gets hot. It shouldn't cause any problems, but I'd invest into a Mac that can handle such abuse. I.e. a iMac

As I have read and learned, MBs are just not fit for graphics intensive tasks. For rest I think core 2 duo 2GHz is quite good.

[fletch33]

Originally Posted by warchieft2k 

normally it runs between 55 and 62 degrees celsius

now... should i worry about my fan going bye bye on me for running so high? for long periods of time?

i read a lot of info and talked to couple of long time mac users about controlling the fan before i installed smcFan Control and i could not find anyone or read anything that said it is bad to keep your fan running above default settings. the only info i found was that it can certainly damage your mac to get too hot and that if you dont mind the small amount of noise from the fan you will be fine. smcFan will place an icon on your task bar that allows easy switching of your profile for the fan control. i keep it at default (which is still a hair above mac settings) unless i am doing some serious stuff like running parallels XP and burning a dvd at he same time etc.. or if i am using it on my lap for any amount of time.

my research found that the macbook being hot on your lap is very common and this makes it much more comfortable on your legs

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Originally Posted by variozin 

As I have read and learned, MBs are just not fit for graphics intensive tasks.

True, but what does this have to do with CPU intensive tasks? Encoding video isn't graphics intensive, its CPU intensive.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO 

Well, MacBooks aren't meant to encode video and other CPU intensive tasks as the whole machine gets hot. It shouldn't cause any problems, but I'd invest into a Mac that can handle such abuse. I.e. a iMac

Huh?

MacBooks can encode video just fine.

They get warm. So what? That's why they have fans.

Of course, the original poster needs to be dashed about the head a bit for complaining that his machine gets warm when he's doing pretty much the heaviest non-gaming task he can ask of a computer.

Video transcoding is seriously heavy lifting.

Be happy that your MacBook's fans are working properly - everything is fine.

[amazing]

MBs do just fine encoding video. But, as mentioned, it's gonna get hot. So, the original question should have been, "how to cool this thing?"

Main way to cool it: elevate the rear of the laptop, buy a small, very quiet desk fan, and direct the fan over the laptop. A quiet fan is much better than the hairdryer fan noise of the laptop.

[Sethro]

As I understand, Macbook have only 64 MB or Video RAM or VRAM so it should be pretty difficulty on the tiny Macbook to encode video, but then again it should not be impossible and it must be taxing on the machine too.

I suppose what you could do is put the Macbook next to a portable table fan and just let the fan cool the external inclosure and let the internal fan cool the CPU and GPU etc.

[variozin]

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO 

True, but what does this have to do with CPU intensive tasks? Encoding video isn't graphics intensive, its CPU intensive.

You said that MBs are not meant to encode video which is wrong. And I said that they are just not meant for heavy graphics. Thats it..! Now coming to the point what they can do, then MBs can very well do CPU intensive tasks like video encoding. Its just all MBs and MBP thin body which doesnt dissipate the heat efficiently.

If I am a pro video person then yes I will definately keep a desktop, not even Imac but mac pro. All machine gets very Hot when doing CPU intesive jobs. Its just their body structure on which heat depends.

When I do video encoding on MB I keep it on the desk and not on my lap. Its always a good idea to leave your computer when its doing some CPU intensive jobs which dont need much human interaction

[warchieft2k]

Well, all I really wanted is to know if there was a cooler specially designed for the macbook.

and well commenting on some of the points made earlier....
why would anyone pay $1300 or so for a computer in which one cant back up a DVD? or encode a movie that one filmed on one's camera?
or even do some seti@home or folding@home?

I mean if you just want a computer to do email buy a macmini... is less money.
I use me laptop for anything and everything from encoding video to playing games to internet... and so should everyone. and well i dont encode video on my lab either... but it is always good to keep the unit cold while doing intense tasks.

I think I will try the small desk fan option.
and thats my opinion.

Carlos

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Sethro 

As I understand, Macbook have only 64 MB or Video RAM or VRAM so it should be pretty difficulty on the tiny Macbook to encode video, but then again it should not be impossible and it must be taxing on the machine too.

The VRAM has no influence on the machine's ability to encode video.

[Sethro]

Originally Posted by analogika 

The VRAM has no influence on the machine's ability to encode video.

I'm not sure if that true. Then there should no difference in speeds when encoding with a 2 Ghz Macbook Pro and a 2 Ghz Macbook. My old Core Duo Macbook Pro is much faster at encoding video for my iPod Video than my new top end Macbook, which packs a faster processor.

[frdmfghtr]

Originally Posted by warchieft2k 

and well commenting on some of the points made earlier....
why would anyone pay $1300 or so for a computer in which one cant back up a DVD? or encode a movie that one filmed on one's camera?
or even do some seti@home or folding@home?

I mean if you just want a computer to do email buy a macmini... is less money.
I use me laptop for anything and everything from encoding video to playing games to internet... and so should everyone. and well i dont encode video on my lab either... but it is always good to keep the unit cold while doing intense tasks.

You can do all that on a notebook, but that's not what notebooks are designed to do; portability is a key design factor in a notebook, not extended CPU-intensive tasks as they will draw a lot of power and generate a lot of heat.

Addressing the original question, you can find any number of different notebook cooling solutions with a Google search. Here are a couple I came across:

Evercool Notebook Cooling Pad

Antec.com - NoteBook Cooler

They are useful even if working away from your desk and AC power, as they are USB-powered. Of course, they are going to take a chunk of battery endurance with them when running on battery power.

BTW--I think a Mac Mini is just notebook components in a desktop form factor.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by frdmfghtr 

You can do all that on a notebook, but that's not what notebooks are designed to do; portability is a key design factor in a notebook, not extended CPU-intensive tasks as they will draw a lot of power and generate a lot of heat.

Actually, heat generation and power consumption (which go hand-in-hand) are the two most important considerations in general laptop design.

A design which can overheat under normal circumstances generally never goes into production.

Originally Posted by frdmfghtr 

BTW--I think a Mac Mini is just notebook components in a desktop form factor.

So is the iMac, btw (except for the hard drive). The only Mac actually built from desktop components is the Mac Pro.