The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Vents on the aluminum MacBook...

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by m4rc, Jun 8, 2009.

  1. m4rc

    m4rc Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    109
    Messages:
    457
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Good evening,

    Quick question here--- In OS X my MacBook is very, very quiet. You can't hear anything at all, at least compared to my Inspiron 6400s. I haven't heard the fan kick in yet while in OS X. Now, in boot camp, there's another story. I almost always hear the fan! What's up with that?! It frightens me knowing that the notebook is working extremely hard while just idling in XP, I'm afraid to play 3D games for too long, even though there's no lagging or fps drops or anything.

    So here's the question. I'm certain that too much heat is a bad thing, but where the heck are the vents? On my Dells they're clearly on the back. On the MacBook i see absolutely no exit points for heat. This scares me.
     
    m4rc, Jun 8, 2009
    #1
  2. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    352
    Messages:
    3,799
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    The laptop definitely gets hot under windows. It because apple's drivers are not well optimised for windows. don't worry, the temps vary from low 60's to low 70's during web surfing. then the fans kick in and bring the temps down.
     
    Luke1708, Jun 8, 2009
    #2
  3. jackpfree

    jackpfree Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    130
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    isnt it possible to use SMC fan control in windows(bootcamp)? i hear thats what people do to keep temps down when gaming on windows.

    i think its ironic that the one real problem the macbook is that there are still problems when running windows.
     
    jackpfree, Jun 8, 2009
    #3
  4. groove75

    groove75 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    84
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The ventilation is definitely enhanced with the laptop open. I did some thermal tests awhile back and had overheating problems in select games with the lid closed. Temps dropped a few degrees when I would open the lid.
     
    groove75, Jun 8, 2009
    #4
  5. Seshan

    Seshan Rawrrr!

    Reputations:
    540
    Messages:
    1,989
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Just put your hand at the back of the machine you will feel air coming out, that's where the vent's are.
     
    Seshan, Jun 8, 2009
    #5
  6. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    352
    Messages:
    3,799
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    yes, it's at the back and opening it definitely eases airflow and temps are decreased.
     
    Luke1708, Jun 8, 2009
    #6
  7. m4rc

    m4rc Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    109
    Messages:
    457
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Ah, I see...

    I'm going to try to locate these fan control settings.
     
    m4rc, Jun 8, 2009
    #7
  8. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Your fans are already spinning up fast to keep it cool.. thats why you hear them... using a fan control program just lets you spin them up manually, or sooner, you don't want to prevent them from spinning faster, it'll damage your laptop. heavy gaming in OSX will also make them spin very fast as the machine gets very hot.

    Theres some OSX app called Coolbook thats a rip off as far as I've seen, but maybe its just buggy on my laptop.... it lowers the voltages of the processor to keep it cool... yet it never worked on mine, it just lied about the temperature.
     
    doh123, Jun 8, 2009
    #8