Broken Fan?

[Ragnaros]

After playing World of Warcraft for quite some time now recently I've been suffering from disconnects that would prevent me from accessing the internet at all (whether it's through Safari, World of Warcraft, iChat, etc.). At first I thought it was the game but I've been having second thoughts that maybe it was my computer getting too hot. So then I downloaded smcfancontrol and to my surprise I saw this:

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1779/picture1bw0.png

Is Fan #1 supposed to be going @ 0 rpm, even if I put the speed to 6000?

 

[After G]

Check the fan with the Hardware test CD - it's the first install CD. Put it in, restart your computer and hold down the letter D on your keyboard after the chime.

 

[anothermacaddic]

I too have had these disconnects playing wow. At first everyone seemed to blame WoW for having poorly written code. Then the focus was turned to a conflict in the driver for the airport card and whatever router you were using. I went as far as getting a new airport card installed, that didnt help. I was almost certain that the problem was in the code for audio because that is the line of code that eventually cuts off the internet connection. Audio doesnt seem to be a problem. The system shuts off the internet connection to prevent a full kernel panic. Check out the posts in the WoW forum about it. They eventually settled on blaming the airport driver.

My personal opinion is this. Its overheating. Even with smc running the fan (or fans on a mbp) at max its still over heating. This will happen on the hot days when its on your lap or when its on a soft surface such as a pillow or blanket much faster. Also, when you play wow with it plugged in the cord and plug get everything MUCH hotter. You can lose a full 12~15c by unplugging it and running off battery while playing.

However, in your case your heating of the graphics chip is being multiplied intensely by your single running fan. This goes to support the over heating theory and further hurts the driver issue theory they are currently standing by.


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/330328/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/327486/

 

[Ragnaros]

So I just ran the hardware test and it detected an error in the Left_Upper_Front. Would the genius bar address this problem?

 

[anothermacaddic]

Call applecare. Send it in. The apple store will have to order the part and it could be longer than you shipping it out yourself.