I wanted to know if increasing fan speed of macbook pro with applications such as CoreDuoTemp, smcFanControl or Fan Control is harmful or not. My macbook's cpu temp rises up to 80 degrees when I use ooVoo or mysql and I want to reduce it. Is it useful to use these applications to do that? thanx.
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3 Answers
I’ve used smcFanControl when I had a 1st Gen Macbook Pro 15’’. It’s not harmful in the sense that the fan is designed to be on, but of course, like any other mechanical device, the more you use it, the faster it wears out. If your Macbook Pro is getting too hot, try one of those utilities to see if it helps. In any case, getting a cooling pad is not a bad idea. Depending upon the type of work and conditions that you have, a Fanless may be enough.
I believe the “best” fanless was the iLap. And for cooling pads with a Fan, you’ll have to see and trust the power of Google Shop. These generally use a USB port to drive a couple of Fans. Among the best features you can look for are the provision of an extra USB (so you don’t lose your port), portability if you move and sound level of the fans, whether they can be turned on/off, etc.
answered Nov 28, 2010 at 17:12
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Thanx for you reply. I bought a cooler fan but it's fan is in the center and the left side of my macbook gets hot. I know it helps but it does not have the performance I thought it has. When I use ooVoo, the temp of my mac gets to 80 deg but I tested thesmcFanControl and it reduced it to 60 deg. But I want to know if changing the normal fan speed could be harmful or not. Although I only use the app when I use ooVoo.– AliBZCommented Nov 28, 2010 at 19:05
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@Ali Unless you put your fans at 110% of their speed for 10/hrs day/365 days (just an estimate) I doubt there’s gonna be a problem with it. If anything, I’m sure you’ll be more happy to have a FAN replaced than a fried motherboard. ;) Commented Nov 29, 2010 at 12:04
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yeah beacause gpu is located top left so... set fan controls default or manually spin up left fan 1.5X FASTER than right fan while playing games on windows 3100 for left and 4600-5000 is enough and really cool(heavy gaming ) else 4500 for game and right 2700rps should be enough!
Just to add to this post (several years later), I've heard plenty about fan controller software being bad for the MBP, but have yet to see any documented evidence of this. Would love to hear from anyone who has actually experienced fan breakdown from using a fan controller. I personally use a controller and it works great -- fan stays silent most of the time, but ramps up when watching videos or gaming and my laptop is about 10 degrees cooler when stressed (checked with iStat).
Also, I tried all of the highly rated laptop coolers (both fans and aluminum stands without fans) and did pretty rigorous testing with and without the fan -- no difference in temps at least for the MBP retina (probably because there is no large intake vent at the bottom like most laptops). Also tried the thermapak cooling pad -- this didn't result in any change in temps according to iStat, but definitely does absorb heat (you can tell just by sitting on it). I kept that just for novelty and maybe for sitting on at the beach.
