Excess Heat in my MBP?

I have just upgraded my 2.16 Core 2 Duo MBP from 1.5gig of RAM (original 1gig plus a 512 i bought seperate) to 2gig of RAM using a Samsung DDR2 PC5300 667mhz memory chip...

Anyway, I did this a few hours ago, and since doing so, I am now experiencing running temperatures on my MBP that I have never before seen! Previously, the highest the CPU ever got was 75 degrees C and then I had 3 different browsers open, and several applications, all to see how much the computer coudl cope with.

Now, with only Firefox, Mail and aMSN open, I have just witnessed CPU temperatures of 80 degrees C! And the case feels noticably hotter too! Is this normal?

If so, is it advisable to run less RAM if you don't require it all the time? The main reason I upgraded to 2gig was just cos it was cheap enough to do so, 1.5gig has done me fine to be honest (1.5gig made a noticable difference over 1gig though)...

Please, if you have any experience in this matter, let me know!

ram shouldnt make your cpu temp go up. i suggest you check to see whats using your cpu with activity monitor

ya my MBP gets really hot too and it says sometimes 120C! when im running a few applications, i remember seeing a guide on how to fix it but it requires opening the MBP up

wow thats crazy

ashkonee01 said:

ya my MBP gets really hot too and it says sometimes 120C! when im running a few applications, i remember seeing a guide on how to fix it but it requires opening the MBP up

Click to expand...

1) smcFancontrol and set your base rpm at 2000. you will barely notice a difference in noise.

2) coolbook 2.x. You can shave off a few degrees there too.

3) Open up your MBP, remove the logic board, remove the thermal paste and reapply an appropriate amount (I remember reading up on it on the web somewhere).

You can also buy a cooling pad for your MBP.

Hope some of this helps...

TheChemist said:

1) smcFancontrol and set your base rpm at 2000. you will barely notice a difference in noise.

Click to expand...

In my opinion, an app better than smcFancontrol is Lobotomo Fan Control. it adds a preference pane to your system preferences that allow you to set a base fan speed and minimum and maximum temperature thresholds.

Once you set those things, the app will adjust the fan speed accordingly. My base speed is at 2000-rpm, my minimum temperature is 130 degrees F (54 C) and my maximum temperature is at 170 degrees F (76 C). With these settings, my MacBook Pro stays cool.

link: http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/

I was under the impression that with smc, only the base rpm value was changed, but the 'cooling curve' was maintained.

I will look into lobotomo. Thanks for the FYI

btw, with coolbook and smc, my MBP (2.16 CD) idles at 49 C with Mail, entourage, quicksilver, Safari & iCal running (screen is set to full brightness too).

Mind you, I've already had a logic board replaced (this was before installing Coolbook), so perhaps the technician applied the proper amount of thermal paste, instead of putting too much on... ?