170 degrees F for CPU

I have a little dashboard program that shows info on my MBP (aluminum, 4 gig, 250 gigs, late 08). It shows the fans running at 4-5000 rpm (although I can not hear them at all), my CPU runs 166-171 F. The upper right corner underneath is to hot to touch. Normal? My previous non-Apple laptop finally gave out because the fan had stopped working, and I did not know it. On this Apple, the fans are silent. Thanks in advance.

mrivmriv said:

I have a little dashboard program that shows info on my MBP (aluminum, 4 gig, 250 gigs, late 08). It shows the fans running at 4-5000 rpm (although I can not hear them at all), my CPU runs 166-171 F. The upper right corner underneath is to hot to touch. Normal? My previous non-Apple laptop finally gave out because the fan had stopped working, and I did not know it. On this Apple, the fans are silent. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

171 might be a liiittttle warm, but on my macbook i get up to around 70-72C (158-161F) while gaming or running something cpu intensive and time consuming. They run a little hot, but it's fine as long as it's running. If there is a problem, it will shut itself off from my understanding.

71-77c is not too terribly hot, you wont want to see it a lot hotter . Just make sure to keep good airflow under it.

Clay

I've seen my MB get up to 82C (179.6F) but that was very momentary. If I am doing something resource intensive, I can see anything between 72C and 78C (161.6F and 172.4). If I am not doing anything resource intensive though, I usually get anywhere between 42C and 52C (107.6F and 125.6F). Right now, it's at 72C (161.6F) but I'm compiling code in a FreeBSD virtual machine and bootstrapping pkgsrc for OS X (if you don't know what this is, don't worry but know that it is resource intensive).

If you are not running something intensive and you're getting between 74.4C and 77.2C, you might want to investigate but not be overly concerned. With no extensive CPU usage, it should not be that high in my experience. Do you have anything blocking the fans? Most importantly, are you using your MBP on a rug/blanket/bed? If so, you need to let it properly vent. Try using a hard surface like a table or a desk.

mines running fine but if i leave it on my bed for too long the video gets distorted, it turns out that the video card overheats because when i put it somewhere else it doesnt do it. i took it apart and the video card is in the exct place it was hot

How do you find out the temperature, fan speed etc?

There are a number of programs that will give you that info. iStat Pro is one that comes to mind.

Snapple Lover said:

mines running fine but if i leave it on my bed for too long the video gets distorted, it turns out that the video card overheats because when i put it somewhere else it doesnt do it. i took it apart and the video card is in the exct place it was hot

Click to expand...

That's because the fans are getting no air. Laptops really should only be used on surfaces where there is appropriate ventilation.

I think the 170 range might be a little high as well. I am surprised you are unable to hear the fan at 5-6000 rpm. On my macbook, if the fan is at 6000, you can hear it quite clearly. Like mentioned above, make sure there is good airflow, that makes a world of difference.

I honestly dont remember ever hearing more than a slight hint of my fans running since i got my macbook in late 07, and it has never gotten too hot whether it is on the bed or the desk, guess i need to get one of those programs so i can monitor these stats...

zseese said:

I honestly dont remember ever hearing more than a slight hint of my fans running since i got my macbook in late 07, and it has never gotten too hot whether it is on the bed or the desk, guess i need to get one of those programs so i can monitor these stats...

Click to expand...

Pros run hotter due to the GPU.