Normal CPU temperature range

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Level 1

16 points

Normal CPU temperature range

I'm curious if anyone knows what the normal CPU temperature range is for a Macbook? I just installed istatpro so I can now check it. The current CPU temp is 140F and the fan is at 1,500 rpm. At what temp does the fan kick into a higher speed?

Thanks for the help.

iMac 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.1), Wife's computer - Macbook 2 GHz Core Duo OS X 10.5.1

Posted on Jan 31, 2008 7:27 AM

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Answer 1

First Magus

Level 7

21,299 points

Jan 31, 2008 7:49 AM in response to AndyT!

The fans RPM usually start going up when you get above 60ºC/140ºF. My fans will usually ramp up to around 6000 RPM when I hit 80ºC/176ºF.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Jan 31, 2008 8:20 AM in response to AndyT!

The normal range is about 30º-85ºC depending upon CPU and GPU loads. Maximum is 125ºC at which point thermal shutdown occurs (your machine will shut down.) The fans change speed with temperature according to a hard-coded table (not firmware encoded.) The older Core Duo laptops such as yours have a lower fan idle speed than the newer models. Although not supported by Apple you can install third-party software that can be used to increase the fan's idle speed - Fan Control or SMC FanControl. Use at your own risk. The subsequent laptop models now use an idle speed around 2,000 RPM which tends to keep the machines a little cooler. However, this has no effect on when the fan will ramp up to higher revs. The software only raises the idle speed.

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