Fans running all the time?

hey all, just recently made the switch to apple and frankly im ecstatic .. im a bit paranoid as it was expensive so i dont want to break it. i play WoW, world of warcraft occassionaly and i know the laptop isnt a gaming machine so i know not to expect insane fps etc etc. but with everything in the video options tab running on low and only one tab in safari open the fan seems to be running all the time while the game is running.

i downloaded the istart widget and it gives me these specs while the game is running: 6200+/- RPM, Main Heat A - 59 deg Celsius, CPU A - 68-71 deg, Main Heatsink B - 57 Deg. idling/regular use (websurfing, aim, etc) fan rpms are hover 1800 and below, 47/50/47 are usually the respective tempertures as well. the fan is quite loud, personally i dont mind it but i dont want to do anything that would compromise the system. ive read some of the posts here and it doesnt seem like others are having any problems with running the game and quoting any heat problems. the laptop itself does not seem that hot to the touch, and the loud fan does stop upon exiting the game. hope that is thorough enough to get a solid answer, thanks in advance

welcome to the forums!

every game i've tried kicks the fans in constantly. we're just trying to make the macbook do something it's not super good at (rendering game graphics with no dedicated video card). it's normal, and while not the best possible state for your mac to be in, it's not unusually damaging/wearing.

you may have seen this thread, but if you haven't, check it out.
what games are working on your macbook

The thing with macbook fans is that they come on when CPU utilisation goes up as well as when temperature goes up. If it's doing something that will make the CPU hot due to high utilisation, it will kick the fans in to stop it getting to hot in the first place. Of course, if you run a complex 3D game it will get hot but 60C isn't high for a CoreDuo.

The fans are not to cool it but to prevent it from getting hotter. All duo core machines runn hot.

All of the Intel Macs have their fans running all the time, My MacBook has them running at about 2000rpm constantly unless I do something to make them go faster (FCP, Games, etc). It's normal. :black:

Do you mean really noisy fans?

Apple did update firmware to make fans run all the time because of overheating problems beforehand, but i dont think that world of warcraft would require them to go into constant overdrive?

plus, now that you are a mac user it must be time to throw away WoW. You're cool now.

(unlike your new macbook, lol)

cam_macintosh said:

Do you mean really noisy fans?

Apple did update firmware to make fans run all the time because of overheating problems beforehand, but i dont think that world of warcraft would require them to go into constant overdrive?

plus, now that you are a mac user it must be time to throw away WoW. You're cool now.

(unlike your new macbook, lol)

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yeah the 'really noisy fans'

wow is where the cool kids are at ;D haha.

thanks to everyone for the replies

??? said:

The fans are not to cool it but to prevent it from getting hotter. All duo core machines runn hot.

Click to expand...

if they are running hot then it is poor cooling, the fans ARE there to cool the CPU, hence how they prevent it from getting hotter..... by cooling it

core duo and core 2 duo are very cool running chips themselves.