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I'm about to buy a second Mac Pro - I have one in London where the temperature is pretty cool most of the time, but want to get another one for Spain where the temperature gets up to 51 degrees celcius outside sometimes.

What it be a foolish thing to try and use a system that presumably would overheat pretty quickly in such a hot country? I've tried air conditioning, but that really doesn't bring the temperature down much when you're in that kind of heat. Plus it's VERY noisy with AC on and I'm a composer so need as much silence as possible for when I'm recording...

Thanks for any pointers - especially from people in hot countries!

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  • If you can stand the heat, you might not need big AC for the entire room. Just pipe cold air to the Mac Pro fan inlets from a small AC in another room. You only have to keep the fan inlet area below 35C.
    – hotpaw2
    Feb 8, 2011 at 0:55
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    I've lived in hotter temperatures and used computers even without an AC running. Even if temperatures rise to 51 degrees, it will never get that hot indoors. If it did, you probably wouldn't survive for too long ;) In a well-ventilated lodging, you should be at a comfortable 30 degrees. A fan directed right into the air inlet should keep your system cool.
    – Jimi Oke
    Feb 8, 2011 at 4:13
  • Start working at night! ;)
    – Jeshizaemon
    Feb 8, 2011 at 16:44
  • I have a Mac Pro. I live in Madrid. So it shouldn't be a problem, but you'll want to have A/C around during the day.
    – Martin Marconcini
    Feb 8, 2011 at 21:35
  • Thanks for all these comments - Martín, I live in Sevilla (frying pan of Spain so they say...and they're right), so I think finding the best way to add AC to the room is essential, or adding a fan directly into the air inlet as Jimi suggests so at least my computer doesn't melt. Problem with the first option is space and the price of running full-on AC all the time! I usually go for the string-tanktop-sweaty-Rab-C-Nesbitt-look when it gets hot...
    – Osu
    Feb 17, 2011 at 12:25

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It gets 120+°F here during the summer sometimes, which is approximately 50°C. In the shade it'll be approx. 10-20° cooler, and indoors approx. 78°F with A/C.

The A/C doesn't run full time, so if you were to turn off your A/C while recording then turn it back on periodically, you should be able to maintain a reasonable interior temperature, both for you and the computer without it impacting your recording.

Plus, if you have good headphones, the only times you'd need to turn off the A/C is while using a microphone to record voices or acoustic instruments. Electric guitars and basses, amps, keyboards and synths should be going direct or be loud enough that ambient noise from the A/C shouldn't be a problem.

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From Apple's Mac Pro Technical Specifications:

Electrical and operating requirements:
Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)

If your indoor temperature reaches 51˚C, that probably spells bad news for microprocessors. You might be in for a very costly climate control system if you need an acoustically isolated space.

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I don't know the exact numbers, but the temperature in the shade in a ventilated area is significantly lower than the temperature in the sun. I lived 20 years in Texas where temperatures would often be over 100°F during the summer. Indoor temperatures were usually in the 80's. For other desktops, I have "fixed" overheating by directing a fan directly inside the case, but the Mac Pro has very good ventilation, so opening the case would probably just make it worse.

I doubt that there is any habitable place in the world where the indoor temperatures exceed 95°F, as I don't think humans could survive there.

Also, I have left my MacBook in my car, where temperatures get up to 160°F. It does shut down eventually, but the shutoff temperature is much higher than the officially rated one.

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