Control heat when using Boot Camp to run Windows

chscag

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I've been reading posts in various Mac forums about overheating when running CPU intensive apps while using Boot Camp. This seems to happen more often when playing games.

SMCFanControl has been reported to work somewhat when set in OS X and then a reboot to WinXP or Vista without turning off the machine. Some folks say it works, others say differently. Normal Fan speed for the MacBook is 1800 RPM but when you reboot into WinXP or Vista, supposedly it drops to 1000 RPM and doesn't speed up unless the CPU starts to get hot.

Anyway, it would be nice to have a free app to control CPU temperature while in Windows. I found a nice one that not only controls temps, but it also monitors CPU/OS usage, can control CPU voltage (thereby controlling temperature) and lots more.

The application is called "RightMark CPU Clock Utility" and can be downloaded from here:

http://cpu.rightmark.org/

Loads up on startup and minimizes to the system tray. Very nice. I just tried it out by running a game I have that heats up my CPU very quickly. It stayed cool and ran the game normally.

Highly recommend it for the serious gamer! :D
 
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thanks! Also, how do i create a thread? i dont c a link anywhere. :/
 
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How do I control fan speed with this program? I can't seem to figure it out.
 

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oh yea i tried that but when i launched i keep getting an error saying somthing aobut loading the driver. im running windows 7 64 bit.
 
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chscag

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Check their latest offerings. I don't believe the version I use works with Vista or Windows 7 64 bit. I'm using Windows 7 32 bit and it works fine.

The only small glitch I found using it in Windows 7 versus XP is that the temperature readout in the system notification tray has to be refreshed every so often. Oh, and one more thing..... you'll need to turn off the pesky UAC control in Windows 7 or it will constantly complain about running the program.

Regards.
 
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chscag

chscag

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UAC = User Account Control. It doesn't like programs that are not in its data base and for which have not been tested by Microsoft for behavior. I've got several of those running. Instead of getting a silly UAC warning every time I need to run the program(s) and acknowledge OK, I just turned it off all together.

UAC options are found from "System Configuration". Just do a search from the start menu.

Regards.
 
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Bootcamp and Heat

OK,

First of all, on all newer MACs, the fan control is done by the BIOS when under Bootcamp, provided you do all the OS.X updates. This FAN control update was done to deal with XP and VISTA heat issues.

So for ie. a newer 24''/27'' I-MAC with a Nvidia GT130 (9800m GTS) or a ATI (mobile), it is a non issue, it will work just fine. All the graphics on I-MACs are done by mobile cards.

However, for Macbooks there can be issues, even so... less so since the last Apple BIOS updates...

The easy cheap fix is to buy some of there 3M rubber feet which are self adhesive, these about 1cm high (1/2 Inch) and to stick em on the rear underside of your Aluminum Macbook, one left one right. It will lift the rear of the Macbook, allowing for better airflow, it works wonders! The side effect is that it becomes easier to type on your I-Mac when it is on any hard even surface.

As to using SMC FAN Control... since the BIOS update, at least on my MacBook Pro, when I play a game under Vista... the FANs crank up 100%... so I use SMC FAN control only, when I do a full defrag under Windows Vista (I turned off auto defrag), as I had problems early on when I installed Vista, before the BIOS udpate with the MacBook Pro becoming too hot. I don't want defrag to do WRONG because the little HD gets too hot.

So... if you do all the OS.X updates... you should be just fine.

Regards,
Coolknight
 
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chscag

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CoolKnight:

In case you don't already know.... Macs do not use a BIOS.

Fans in a Mac are controlled by thermal heat sensors not a BIOS (which a Mac doesn't have anyway). The thermal sensors work regardless of which OS is running at the time - Windows or OS X.

The problem is that Windows games really tax the CPU and GPU causing heat to build up. Generally that's not a problem since the machine will shut down if it overheats. However, most folks do not like to hear their fans screaming at a high RPM when gaming even though that's normal.
And there are ways in Windows to control the CPU to cut down heat build up.

Regards.
 

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