c2d thermal specs

Quick question. I'm sure someone out there knows the answer. When Intel gives that thermal specification number, the hottest you're supposed to run the processor, how rigorous are they?

The processor in my Macbook is supposed to be kept under 100 C according to Intel, but Folding@Home keeps it in the low 90s constantly, and that makes me nervous.

 

CPU will shut down itself if problems. Low 90 seems high though, try to see if it overheat during heavy usage

 

90 is way way way too hot, it should be at the most mid seventies on load, anything over 75C is bad

 

Try different programs to get temp, it might be a bad read.

 

The only way I can get my Turion above 80 is to completely load both cores, and put my hand over the fan vent, and I still haven't seen it over 82...

the Core 2 is more energy efficient... so... it should be cooler, way way cooler.

 

Your fans should kick in when the temp on your processor jumps.

I love the option on my Voodoo. I can lock all fan speeds on high in the Bios. My 4 fans and my 2lb copper heatsink keep my Opty 185 in my lappy under 60C under full load.

Your laptop must be blazing hot. Those temps will surely damage your motherboard.

K-TRON

 

I'm folding. Both cores are maxed out, pretty much, and the fan is going as fast as it can. I have trouble believing that any engineer would create a computer that can't tolerate running at full load, given good ventilation and average room temperature.

 

Here is a question, what is the temp when not under load?

 

If I turn off F@H and let things wind down, it sits in the mid 50s.

I'm not so worried about the cooling solution though (I know it sucks. It's a macbook ). I just want to know if it's safe to run the processor at up to the temperature its listed for on the Intel site, for an extended period of time.

 

Mid-50s seems high for idling. Have you made sure you don't have dust or something blocking a vent? The MacBooks are known for running relatively hot, though, it's a tradeoff Apple made for their relatively light weight.

From what I understand, running anything hot reduces its lifespan and that of other things in close proximity. So running in the 90s consistently will reduce lifespan - but I don't know that it will reduce it enough that you'll notice it. It might reduce it from 10 years to 7, for example. The motherboard, of course, is what you really need to be concerned about. Even there I doubt it will kill it even in the 90s long term - but the question is, do you have an extended warranty, and how much are you willing to risk by consistently running in the 90s?

Do make sure it doesn't increase above what it is now. If it does, you've got either a circulation problem, or possibly an electrical problem. One of my friends had an nVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra blow up (literally) because it was running too hot - 140 Celsius. And while a graphics card is not the same as a processor, it still illustrates the dangers of running at extreme temperature. You're probably still a good amount below real danger status, but if you see triple digits in a couple months - that's not a good sign.

 

Thanks. The vent is clean. I had it apart just a bit ago

Actually, I've discovered that the thermal solution in this guy is hopelessly inadequate, and that it has to throttle itself down to 1.6-1.8 GHz, from its max of 2, just to keep itself at 90. On the other hand, that means temperature management is a matter of a target temperature maintained in software, which means it's an engineering decision, which makes me feel comfortable about it.

 

Yeah, but remember Macs are notorious for getting hot since they (Apple) reduced the inside case room and cooling to make it thinner.

 

Congrats, you've been conned.

You were sold an item advertised to perform at 2ghz, but under load its actual max due to poor thermal design is lower.

There's a bunch of us over the Alienware section dealing with a similar issue that is causing burned-out GPU's. 90c is right on the edge as far as GPU's go, so if that is a combination heatsink cooling both a CPU and GPU i'd run F@H on only 1 core or fix the problem by returning the product before it dies.