

Now, I respect Apple enough to believe that they wouldn't allow their hardware to actually be in danger during normal use, but I do wonder if there is a tradeoff on performance when things like this happen. I don't know much about thermal throttling, but based on my initial research it seems like temperatures like these would hinder my CPU performance at best, and potentially risk my hardware at worst. Intel's website lists the Maximum Case Temperature for my Processor as 72C as well. Furthermore, I was watching my temperatures as my 2013 iMac rendered an After Effects project, and while the Ambient temperature stayed in the 30C range, the CPU cores were in the 90s. I'd assumed the range represented a specifically researched range for optimum performance, but now I have no idea what those temperature ranges are. But then I noticed that the temperature ranges displayed in these options are not always consistent. And, if it is only useful on a case by case basis, how beneficial is it in terms of performance in scenarios like video rendering or gaming?Īt first I thought universally setting sensor based values to Ambient (or the nearest relevant hardware when multiple fans are available) would inherently be better than leaving it set to auto, as I read that after OSX Yosemite Apple decided to prioritize quieter fans over consistently cooler hardware. However, I got to wondering whether it has beneficial application on any Mac, regardless of use scenario, or if its use is case specific.
#Macs fan control max speed reddit full
You can listen to all fan noise recordings for yourself in the full review videos on YouTube.I use Macs Fan Control on a 4,1 Mac Pro we have at my work, and I've installed it on the MacBook Pros of a few friends who've all complained that their laptops got too hot. Press and hold the shift, control, and option key on the left side of the keyboard. With that said, lower values are definitely possible with lighter workloads, again these represent worst case results.ĭecibel values reported are the maximum within the period recorded. The main point is these are levels you can lock the fan to regardless of how heavy the load is and it should not ever run higher regardless of the workload. If a laptop has more than 3 performance modes, I’ll always include the lowest and highest performance mode. For example, if the laptop just has one fan speed, then the same value will be listed for the stress test three times. If a laptop does not have all of these modes, the existing data point from the lower mode is repeated. While these are not global, I have made an attempt to specify the noise level under stress test for low/high/maximum fan modes. Many laptops have different performance modes which affect fan speed. By default, all laptops tested are sorted from quietest to loudest going by their loudest possible fan noise. You can use the table to search for specific models, or sort them by loudest to quietest. This combination represents a worst case, therefore noise levels provided below also represent a worst case when under heavy CPU + GPU load, and do not represent Test Results Explained Stress test results are done by running the Aida64 CPU stress test with only ‘stress CPU’ checked along with the Unigine Heaven GPU benchmark running at the same time at maximum settings. Idle results are tested with nothing happening – the machine sits idle for at least 30 minutes in the lowest performance mode available. The noise floor within the testing environment is around 31-32dB, unfortunately it can vary slightly and I did not record the floor with each idle laptop, so idle results are not the best. This does not measure pitch, just decibel values.

Testing is conducted with a Digitech QM-1589 located approximately 30cm / 12″ away from the laptop. Which gaming laptops have the quietest fans and which have the loudest? Are you looking for a silent gaming laptop? This page contains the fan noise from all laptops that I’ve reviewed.
