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Do Games Run Cooler In OS X Or Boot-Camp Windows?

J

Joan M. M.

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 3, 2009
9
0
I have a Macbook Pro 13 Unibody and I like to play a few games. I have Windows XP Installed Via Boot-camp and when I play games like Call of Duty 1, Medal of Honor Airborne, Medal Of Honor Allied Assault Etc, the cpu and gpu hit 85 degrees Centigrade. I am wondering if I used mac games would it run any cooler? Is there anyone with a game in os x and windows versions and can test out the temps on either OS?

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo p7550 2.26GHz, 2GB DDR3, Nvidia Geforce 9400m.

Thanks
 
It could vary depending on the game. Bad Mac ports can be more demanding than running them native on Windows - which could make the computer run hotter.

On the other hand, I've been having a real hard time setting fan speed in Windows 7. In OS X i can control the speed of the fans, and keep the computer cooler.
 
MyDesktopBroke said:
It could vary depending on the game. Bad Mac ports can be more demanding than running them native on Windows - which could make the computer run hotter.

On the other hand, I've been having a real hard time setting fan speed in Windows 7. In OS X i can control the speed of the fans, and keep the computer cooler.
Click to expand...

If you're using SMCFan Control (or whatever the name is), the settings survive a reboot (not a power down), and so if you go into OSX and set it to 6200 (or whatever), then reboot into Win7/XP the settings will stick, i.e. it'll be spinning at your set RPM in Windows.

Rather useful for keeping temps down when gaming...
 
I use SMC fan control and I set my fans to 5500RPM the max is 6200RPM. But even at that fan speed it gets very hot(85C) My brother Acer Aspire 5315 only gets to 65-70C while playing the same games. I thought that if I bought the mac versions of these games, It would run cooler and I wouldn't have to reboot each time I want to play a game. I might put Windws 7 on it, Would that make anything run cooler?
 
Joan M. M. said:
I use SMC fan control and I set my fans to 5500RPM the max is 6200RPM. But even at that fan speed it gets very hot(85C) My brother Acer Aspire 5315 only gets to 65-70C while playing the same games. I thought that if I bought the mac versions of these games, It would run cooler and I wouldn't have to reboot each time I want to play a game. I might put Windws 7 on it, Would that make anything run cooler?
Click to expand...

no, not really, my GPU routinely gets up to 85....
 
Joan M. M. said:
I use SMC fan control and I set my fans to 5500RPM the max is 6200RPM. But even at that fan speed it gets very hot(85C) My brother Acer Aspire 5315 only gets to 65-70C while playing the same games. I thought that if I bought the mac versions of these games, It would run cooler and I wouldn't have to reboot each time I want to play a game. I might put Windws 7 on it, Would that make anything run cooler?
Click to expand...

I never understood the need to crank fans this high. In my iMac if they get over 2k speed I am surprised. Yeah the thing gets hot (180F) but who cares, if it weren't supposed to survive that I would assume Apple would code for it, if not it goes back under warranty.

I don't want to hear my machine and I don't. I also am not going to second guess the professionals who made it.
 
Shivetya said:
I never understood the need to crank fans this high. In my iMac if they get over 2k speed I am surprised. Yeah the thing gets hot (180F) but who cares, if it weren't supposed to survive that I would assume Apple would code for it, if not it goes back under warranty.

I don't want to hear my machine and I don't. I also am not going to second guess the professionals who made it.
Click to expand...

While I agree with you, remember he is talking about a laptop. The issue is not that you don't want it to run hot just because, there is an actual reason; you are touching the computer and it is not always comfortable to rest your wrists in it - let alone put it on your lap.
 
I would just play games and if it over heats and burns up, send it back, but I bought mine used with no warranty.
 
Joan M. M. said:
I would just play games and if it over heats and burns up, send it back, but I bought mine used with no warranty.
Click to expand...

It is highly unlikely it will overheat and burn up, unless your fans are not working. And even then, the computer should power down after it reaches a dangerous temp.

By the way, I think your computer still has warranty, according to the specs. It doesn't matter if it is used if it has been bought less than a year ago.
 
I bought it used from somebody in the local paper, so I didn't get any disks or paper work .
 
I just installed windows 7 Ultimate on my macbook. It is running at the same or slightly lower temps(40C idle) than on XP Pro. I will try to buy a mac game that I have for PC and will test. Then post results.
 
In my experience, even without SMC Fan Control, OSX will ramp up the fans on its own after a certain point, like around 90˚C. Which is ridiculous, but whatever. In Boot Camp, as far as I can tell, they won't ramp up at all regardless. Fan management under Boot Camp is practically non-existent apparently. And because of the way the Boot Camp drivers work in Windows, you can't even access the SMC without turning off the Boot Camp keyboard manager altogether. I've looked for solutions, and there is one rudementary program somewhere that you can use to access SMC Fan Control in Windows, but it is very glitchy and not really supported because it's a home-brew quick fix.

In DIY PC circles, idling at 35~45˚C is the ideal range, 55˚C is considered a good target under load for most chips, with "hot" ones going into the 60's. Above 70˚C is generally too hot for comfort (for the longevity of the hardware) and anything that gets up into the 80's is just outright poorly designed/cooled. This means that MacBooks live beyond the edge on a daily basis. My CPU and GPU regularly idle around 50~55˚, even on a cooling pad with fans blowing on it. They max out in the 70's under full load, but only because I set the fans to max (6k rpm). I don't dare let them linger above 80˚ for too long.

So I hatched a plan.

Wanna know what I'm gonna do next week with my MBP17?
I'm gonna take it apart, take off the heatsink, clean off the thermal gunk, and use a reasonable amount of PROPER thermal grease, instead of the globs of cheap goop that come from the factory. I'm giving Arctic Silver's "Matrix Thixotropic" thermal compound a try. Might look into that thing that people do to dampen the track-pad click noise a bit as well.

Bravely going where few dare to tread. :cool: Wish me luck.
 
I tested Age Of Empires III demo for mac and Call of Duty 2 demo for mac and it seems OS X runs them cooler.(My CPU is 70C while running the these games in OS X and 85C in Windows 7) I know they are different games, but Cod 2 has to require more than Cod 1 and AOE3 Is alot newer than both of those. The games I tried in windows are: Call Of Duty 1, Medal of Honor Airborne and Allied assault. These games made the CPU and GPU average at 85C at 5500rpm fan speed. Now for OS X Call of Duty 2 for mac and Age of Empire III for mac made the CPU and GPU average 70C at 4700rpm. I guess I will be buying mac games.
 
if your notebook Mac is getting hot, take it off of your lap/couch/bed, put it on a coffee table, or a laptop stand, or a large hard cover book (atlas?) on your lap for example might do the job.
 
OZMP said:
if your notebook Mac is getting hot, take it off of your lap/couch/bed, put it on a coffee table, or a laptop stand, or a large hard cover book (atlas?) on your lap for example might do the job.
Click to expand...

I don't put my macbook on a bed only on a counter top or cooling pad.
 
well...

COmparing running Star Trek Online in Windows 7 natively, to my Unofficial Wine based port of it...

In Windows with fans at 6200 RPM, it sits around 83-85ish

In OSX with the fans at 6200 RPM it sits around 78-80ish.

In OSX it has an extra layer (Wine) doing more work... and the frame rate is slightly lower.... but it still seems a bit better there.
 
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