MacBook Pro 15 - overheating anyone?

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Hi.

I have recently (3-4 months) switched from PC to Mac and have never been happier (MacBook Pro 15").

However, I was very surprised when I played my first ever game on Mac - Warhammer Online. I activated the "Higher Performance" in the preferences to get the most out of my graphics.

About 20 minutes into the game, my smc fan control was showing my temperature between 85-90 Celcius with the fans working on full. Is this normal for MacBook Pro 15? Anyone have the same issues? Whats the point of having 2 graphic cards if the laptop overheats every time a game is played?
 
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Hi.

I have recently (3-4 months) switched from PC to Mac and have never been happier (MacBook Pro 15").

However, I was very surprised when I played my first ever game on Mac - Warhammer Online. I activated the "Higher Performance" in the preferences to get the most out of my graphics.

About 20 minutes into the game, my smc fan control was showing my temperature between 85-90 Celcius with the fans working on full. Is this normal for MacBook Pro 15? Anyone have the same issues? Whats the point of having 2 graphic cards if the laptop overheats every time a game is played?

Note: the two graphics cards are not used in tandem. 9600gt uses more juice so make sure you're plugged in the wall.

And yes , being a notebook it will run hot during a game that's CPU intensive. Make sure it's on a flat surface and no ports blocked.

FYI if your MBP overheats it will shut down to avoid damage. If it's still running, it is just running hot. ;)
 

cwa107


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This is true of most notebooks, but more evident with the aluminum Macbook models since Alu is conductive, whereas plastic tends to act like an insulator.

I would avoid using it on your lap (there's a reason manufacturers have gotten away from the term "laptop" and now use "notebook"). Use it on a hard, flat surface like a table top when gaming, or use a lap desk. This allows for some air circulation beneath the machine, allowing it to cool more effectively.

Additionally, if you really feel the need to monitor the temps, I would recommend using iStat Menus or Pro rather than SMCfancontrol, since the latter can be made to defeat the your automatic fan control, which is thermostatically controlled. Quite frankly, unless your machine is overclocked, I see no reason to be paranoid about internal temps.
 

pigoo3

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Hi.

Whats the point of having 2 graphic cards if the laptop overheats every time a game is played?

No one promised that your laptop with one integrated & one dedicated graphics chip ("two graphics cards") would not get hot...the point is you would have better graphics performance!

- Nick
 
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Thanks

Thanks for the replies guys!

I was just worried if at some point I would reach a critical temp and smth would malfunction (had smth of a similar case with a dell couple of years back).

I'll also look into the other fan control programs, however, in smc's defense, the fan speed does adjust automatically if a certain temp is reached. When i played the game, I simply put the fans on max.
 

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