Loud Macbook Fan Noise

Question

Level 1

8 points

Loud Macbook Fan Noise

I have had my white macbook, the latest version for about 5 months. Every time i play a game called runescape the fan turns on really fast and makes a lot of noise, it's really annoying. I've read around for solutions and I can't find one. My CPU usage of Safari increases to 80-90%! Just for having the Java runned game, runescape. This loud fan noise only happens when runescaping, or watching online videos such as youtube or hulu. What should I do?

I know that the heat has built up caused by the java/flash in those websites, making my computer's CPU usage high, causing the fan to turn on really loud. This has never happened before. It has but only for a few minutes. The fan keeps running loud and stays like that until I close the websites or safari. Dust? Should I clean the interior? (but I've only had it for 6 months). No sudden shut downs so my computer isn't dusty dusty. The vent isn't covered either. Any Help?

Posted on May 17, 2009 2:33 AM

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Answer 1

kickwack Author

Level 1

8 points

May 17, 2009 10:06 AM in response to Lyssa

I won't accept your answer

I have had my macbook for six months and it started acting that way two days ago. It has never made loud fan noises nonstop. It would turn on a bit loud rarely, but turn off in five minutes or so. This is not normal, for it has never been this way before

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Answer 2

Lyssa

Level 8

41,405 points

May 17, 2009 2:41 AM in response to kickwack

Unfortunately, that's probably normal behavior. On my MacBook, Java applications take up quite a bit of CPU power, causing the fan to kick in. Viewing websites with Flash content (such as youtube, hulu, veoh, and so on) also use a high amount of CPU power, which causes the fan to turn on.

As best I know, there's nothing you can do about it, aside from making sure you have the latest versions of the Java & Flash plugins.

~Lyssa

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Answer 3

Lyssa

Level 8

41,405 points

May 17, 2009 11:12 AM in response to kickwack

Well, hopefully someone else has a better answer for you then. My MacBook has always behaved that way--the fan kicking in when running Flash/Java applications while running OS X. Interestingly, the same is not true if I run the same applications or websites while running Windows XP via BootCamp. I suspect there's some problems in the coding for the Java/Flash plugins for OS X.

~Lyssa

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Answer 4

May 30, 2009 2:20 AM in response to Lyssa

I just found a post on noise macbooks: http://nathanspipe.blogspot.com/2008/03/macbook-fan-noise-solution-or-solved.htm l

It seems that some people have a pending printer job. Remove it and your problem might be solved.

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Answer 5

May 30, 2009 5:15 AM in response to kickwack

It is almost certain that dust is NOT your problem. In order to cause the problem as you described it, that it only recently and suddenly started, it would have taken a huge amount of dust to accumulate very quickly.

It takes a very large amount of dust to affect the cooling of any CPU. Dust only becomes a thermal insulator when it is a thick and dense blanket, not when it is merely visible such as the dust on top of the china cabinet.

If there are no processes viewed under "All Processes" tab in Activity viewer using double digit % then the fan should not come on fast (it always runs when the MacBook is powered up by the way). If there are double digit processes running then the fan will run fast. You just have to figure out if any double digit processes are running erroneously or normally.

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Answer 6

May 31, 2009 6:30 PM in response to kickwack

Are there any other programs running in the background?

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Answer 7

eclaxon

Level 1

0 points

May 31, 2009 9:26 PM in response to kickwack

I just started having this problem today, I haven't used my Macbook in a couple days. The only programs I am currently running at safari and ichat, but the fan randomly starts getting really load. I actually noticed the problem before I even opened it tonight, the fan was extremely load. I'm in the same boat not sure why its happening, dust isnt a problem. So if you figure it out let me know.

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