Macbook Fan question...and more

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Hi all, I'm new to this forum, and I recently bought my first Apple computer, the Macbook 2.16, 1GB RAM. After about a month of use, I'm very pleased with it (I love the widgets). It's actually fun to use a Macbook, especially compared to my PCs :)

However I did have some concerns, particularly about the fan.

1) Most of the time my Macbook is pretty quiet. I mostly use it for Internet and Scrivener. However, when I start using apps such as Photoshop CS3, or even Chess, the Fan really takes off. It gets really really loud, competing with my TV. Is that normal? It makes me afraid to use computer-intense software. I searched for other posts, but no one specifically mentions the Adobe CS3 suites. My work's Sony Vaio laptop runs Adobe Suites without the fan getting loud, with only a C2D processor and 1GB memory.

2) Should I get a case/protectors for the Macbook to protect the keyboard, trackpad and monitors, or are Macbooks pretty resilient after heavy usage? I plan to eventually carry my Macbook around wherever I go.

3) I'm planning to upgrade my Macbook's RAM with two 2GB, 200-pin SODIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 sticks once the price drops a little. Is using 4GB of memory safe? I'm worried it will make the Macbook even hotter, making the fan run more than usual.

4) Is it true leaving the Macbook in sleep mode all the time okay? I'm used to Hibernating my PC.

5) I also heard leaving the Macbook plugged in all the time will mess up its battery. Seriously?

Guess that's enough questions crammed in a single post. :)
 
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mini066,

1) How many widgets do you have running? You may be aware, but if not, widgets do take some RAM. How many other programs are you running while running CS3? If you're running quite a few programs prior to starting CS3, CS3 may be just putting it over the top where you need the fan to kick in.

Do this, start your computer and just run CS3 - does it still do what you described?

2) I would get a case only if you are taking your MB on the go. I bought a neoprene case for about $8 that I use to protect while using it in my backpack. Or, you could just get a backpack/notebook case that has enough padding. There's a whole thread regarding MB cases/bags, check it out (use the search). If it's not here, I could be wrong, I know MacNN's forum has a whole thread on it (a fairly long one, too).

3) Adding RAM to your computer will not make it run hotter. RAM is made up of memory locations, which store binary data (can be anything). Adding more RAM allows for quicker information travel between the CPU and other computer internals.

4) I leave my MB sleeping when I'm at college during the day, and do the same for during the night. Note, there are many people here who leave their MB or MBP on all night/day for several weeks.

5) No, it should not "mess up the battery" - you're fine. Eventually, you'll run your battery down from charging/discharging (mobile use, without the AC input)... but by that time, your MB will be obsolete and it'll be time for a new machine.

Hope this helps.
 
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mini066,

1) How many widgets do you have running? You may be aware, but if not, widgets do take some RAM. How many other programs are you running while running CS3? If you're running quite a few programs prior to starting CS3, CS3 may be just putting it over the top where you need the fan to kick in.

Do this, start your computer and just run CS3 - does it still do what you described?

Thanks for the help! I shut down and restarted the Macbook.

I have seven widgets running:
Google Search
Sticky Note
Gmail
Dictionary/Thesaurus
Typecast (views sample fonts on Macbook)
Weather Underground
Calendar

-When I reached the desktop, the Macbook's fan turned on with the "airplane take off" noise. When it went away after about 2-3 minutes, I started up Photoshop CS3.
-I opened up and 300 dpi image, 8x16inches. I made one layer, and scribbled randomly. After about a minute, the airplane fan noise began again.

Besides widgets, I close all programs before running Photoshop.
 
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Hm... interesting. Now, what programs do you have running in the background that you may not be aware of? Things such as start up programs that auto-load when the machine is started?

To find this, go to System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items

Could you let me know what's in there?

---
As a last piece of advice, try upping the RAM to 2GB. I have 2GB, and many people have upgraded to 2GB.
 
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iTunesHelper and iCalAlarmScheduler. I was pretty careful to avoid problems similar to Windows' taskbar :)
 
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It seems like you should upgrade your RAM. At this point, there seems to be no problems or memory resources being tied up. Frankly, I haven't used CS3 at all, so I really can't diagnose anything further. I tried to do what I could, up to actually messing with CS3 itself.

As a last resort, I would run Onyx and try to do a sweep of your system (I don't mean reformatting). If you've done this, great - but I'm out of help for you. There may be someone else on this forum who may know the answer to your problem.
 
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Oh well, thanks for your help! I'll try upgrading the RAM in a few months.
 
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Photoshop CS3 gets my fan going pretty good as well. I just live with it. Any visit to YouTube will get Safari spinning up the fan pretty good. So yeah, it's normal. If you're real paranoid you can get one of those laptop coolers to put it on top of for extra cooling.
 
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just a side note, the max your macbook can take is 2gb of ram (2x1gb sticks)

and, it sounds like you are gonna order the ram from apple.com

i would highly advise against this, i ordered mine for a quarter of the price (no joke) from crucial.com the week after i got my macbook and it came within two days

i have to say, my macbook did seem to spin up the fans alot more when i only had 1gb than when i had 2gb, but it still spins up alot with 2gb....it annoys me a bit, but it cools it down and idles silent (i would rather have 10 minutes in silence 5 minutes in rocket mode than have a macbook that was constantly making a buzzing fan noise...mabye jsut me though)

pete
 
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3) I'm planning to upgrade my Macbook's RAM with two 2GB, 200-pin SODIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 sticks once the price drops a little. Is using 4GB of memory safe? I'm worried it will make the Macbook even hotter, making the fan run more than usual.

AKAIK, Macbooks only support up to 2GB RAM, so adding 4GB will not have any effect?

Confirm?
 
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3) I'm planning to upgrade my Macbook's RAM with two 2GB, 200-pin SODIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300 sticks once the price drops a little. Is using 4GB of memory safe? I'm worried it will make the Macbook even hotter, making the fan run more than usual.

whats the problem? no one corrected the OP
 
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The current MB lineup can utilize approximately 3GB of RAM.
 
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Glad to know the fan thing with CS3 is normal - it's just a lot louder than I'm used to with the Vaio. VrrroooooMMMM

Er, and about the RAM, I'm putting in 4GB (2x matching sticks) for the Dual Channel benefit...the way I use Photoshop, it needs all the help it can get. I think prpandey is right, 2.16 macbooks can recognize up to 3GB of RAM.

EDIT: Here's a link I was reading on about the ram.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/MacBook/Testing/Memory_Benchmarks
 
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whats the problem? no one corrected the OP

Are you asking me? Nothing, I was just laughing because you beat me to the post. I was slow, hence the sleepy face...
 
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Are you asking me? Nothing, I was just laughing because you beat me to the post. I was slow, hence the sleepy face...

No, he's talking about the OP (which is why he quoted the OP). It was about the RAM capacity for the MacBooks.
 
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Just a small update:

I upgraded my Macbook to 2.5GB of RAM (2GB + 512MB stick).

Opened Photoshop CS3, and made a a new 1024x768 image. Messing around, it was running a little slow, but I realized I made a five layered 1024x768 inch image instead of 1024x768 pixels (incredibly huge for Photoshop) . And the whole time the fan never took off!

Anyway, to sum it up quicky, I think the reason the fan turns on a lot for some people is when the Macbook is writing to the hard drive during big application procedures. That in turn causes more heat, starting up the Macbook's fan. Upgrading the RAM solved my fan problems. Thanks for the help!
 

Del


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For the record my MacBook has 2 gig of RAM and doing anything in Photoshop CS has the fan going at warp speed.
 
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Hm, that sucks. I have 2.5 RAM, and I really doubt that extra .5 RAM is making a difference for my fan not revving up.

And I may have spoke to soon. Playing Big Bang Chess that comes pre-installed makes my fan turn up after about 10 seconds.

Anyone have any tips? Should we get our Macbooks checked by Apple?
 
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I don't mean to hijack this thread but I have a question about (what I assume to be) the fan in my MB. If not the fan, my next guess is the hard drive.

I've had my MB almost a week now. No problems at all. I hear the fan blowing which is fine. It's pretty quiet. However, I hear a faint clicking/ticking along with it. I can't really hear it unless the room is completely silent, which is how I heard it.

The clicking is constant and when I shut down my MB, it gradually died down. So whatever is, my guess is it's spinning. Everything is functioning properly and I have no problems. I'm just wondering if this is normal or if it's something I should have looked at. Thanks!
 

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