MBP heat "problem"

[ErikJN]

There's some talk going on about the MBP becoming quite hot, especially when running CPU-heavy stuff like gaming etc.
Is the MBP getting so hot that it starts malfunctioning, or is the main problem that it's to hot to keep on the lap?

I can live with the second, but I want to be sure that my machine will stay stable, also when I run heavy apps before purchasing.

 

[thegrandmaster]

Mine just gets hot enough so you'd think 'damn, that's hot' not so hot that its gonna start causing problems. I believe Apple say anything up to 90c is 'within spec', my MBP gets pretty toasty playing CS or messing with some big video in iMovie6 HD.

So basically, gets hot, only 90c+ is malfunctioning temperature.

 

[MERMac]

Mine gets a bit hot on my lap when I do something that exercises the CPU like playing video or running photoshop. Not hot enough to burn, but enough to make my leg sweat. When just browsing the internet it's barely warm.

I did find that by installing a utility called Fan Control 1.1 I was able to reduce the heat when taxing the CPU. It has a high and low temperature threshold and base fan speed. As the temp increases the fans speed up. They certainly are different sounding fans than the Dells I am familiar with. Almost like a turbine kind of sound at lower speeds. But they do keep it pretty cool if you set the threshold low which allows the fans to speed up quite high when they need to.

I suspect Apple set the default program for a more quiet running machine as opposed to running cooler. Before I installed to Fan Control app I never heard the fans speed up at all.