p.1 #5 · OT: if you're a MBP user, you have to do this.
No it's just confusingly worded, energy saver settings control the cooling profile (how the fan responds to temperature).
Running the fan a little slower, or turning it off altogether, means everything will run a bit hotter, possibly even causing things to throttle down. It requires less power overall because you don't have to spin the fan, and the natural dissipation of heat even without airflow goes up and the component gets hotter.
High performance mode runs the fan more aggressively, keeping temperatures lower, performance can improve for a number of reasons then.
I turn my 3 fans up on my iMac and also the one fan I have in my MBP. I also have a setting for when on battery for the MBP.
Certainly helps keep things cool I also use a cool mat, a cheapie I picked up at office works for $14.95.
Even though all the blurb about unibody and convection cooling, If something gets to hot to touch then that can't be good, especially computers.
p.1 #8 · OT: if you're a MBP user, you have to do this.
Garry Burton wrote:
Certainly helps keep things cool I also use a cool mat, a cheapie I picked up at office works for $14.95.
Even though all the blurb about unibody and convection cooling, If something gets to hot to touch then that can't be good, especially computers.
Your body/nerves have a different threshold than a computer chip.
"Too hot to touch" begins around 50 degrees centigrade. For a graphics ASIC or a CPU, these temperatures can be quite typical. They're perfectly happy to run at 50C steady state all day long. For the chip, typically between 70 to 85 is where it might start to throttle down in speed and 85C is where it is not designed to go above. In the higher temperature regions it is possible to get into a runaway state so some chips are design to just shut down if they ever get to this point.
p.1 #9 · OT: if you're a MBP user, you have to do this.
My MBP used to hover around 85 - 97 when punting 5D files through LR now I have in down to 35 - 50.
I'm happier with that and I reckon my computer is also.
p.1 #10 · OT: if you're a MBP user, you have to do this.
Anything above 85C is serious, that's not good for the CPU and can cause instability as well as shorten the life.
Customers want more power, smaller size, a computer that runs a long time on batteries, and so on. A lot of these things work against each other, so compromises have to be made.
Regular maintenance is important, running the fan at a higher speed or all the time will cause the system to absorb more dust which can ultimately restrict it. If temperatures seem to be getting above what you'd expect, open it up and vacuum or blow all the dust out from the heatsinks, intake and exhaust vents. Especially if you have pets or other animals, or live in an area where there are a lot of particulates in the air.
