New 2011 MacBook Pro i7 has fan running loud and fast with PT9

[SpinningDisk]

I know this may be wrong but why not use, smc Fan Control.

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by skyko

Under "Setup | Playback Engine" you have 8 "host processors" configured, right?
Try to set it to only 4 but set the "CPU usage limit" to 99%.

Your CPU has 4 cores but with 2 (hyper-)threads each, so Pro Tools thinks there are 8 cores. I had a similar issue on a 2010 MacBook Pro and could resolve it by setting the "host processors" to the actual number of real cores in the machine.

Has anyone had luck with this suggestion? My fans kick in running Pro Tools, videos, anything I consider moderate CPU use. Reading all the responses makes me think that at least some of the fan noise/heat issues should be resolvable.

Tim

[Cryos]

I tried the SMC fancontrol software and it does nothing to reduce fan rotation whatsoever.

I tried booting in 32 bit mode to see if this would make a difference, and it did but only a little.

Whats really strange is when I look at activity monitor it's not like I'm totally maxing out the computer's cpu either. In protools my cpu meter will typically be between 20 to 46% running on 7 out of 8 chips.

There's definitely something fishy and I just don't have the technical expertise to tackle this beyond what I've done and researched so far. It's really a shame too, cause the MBP is a kikass unit, more powerful than an HD4 setup hands down!

[digiot]

So I have been using an 15" i7 2.4 for about 6 months now. I use it as my primary Mix/edit rig with Protools10HD. When I run it off the built in I/O I am able to keep the fans from spinning too high. I usually run it with an external USB interface (Apogee Duet2) and an external 30" CinemaDisplay though and the fans are "blasting" away! When I first started using it I thought the MBP was going to lift off! In my case I believe it is the 30" external display that forces the ATI Grafix card to kick in and thus creating more head. So the fans spin at full blast.
I learned to live with it but am also looking in to ways of cooling the laptop to keep the fans from spinning so high.
Since I use PTHD10 and its RAM caching feature I no longer need an external drive to playback audio so all my audio is stored on the internal drive.
Over all this setup blows away my old HD3 system when it comes to performance.

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by TimothyJohn

Has anyone had luck with this suggestion? My fans kick in running Pro Tools, videos, anything I consider moderate CPU use. Reading all the responses makes me think that at least some of the fan noise/heat issues should be resolvable.

Tim

According to iStat Pro, my processor temp goes up to the mid 70's lower 80's during either moderate Pro Tools or video use (fans at about 5500 rpm). The folks at my local Apple Store recommend that I bring it in for testing. They said that although audio programs might cause the processor to run hot, temps in the mid 70's lower 80's are high enough to be concerned about.

I'll keep you posted.

Tim
17" Macbook Pro 2.3 GHz quad i7 8gb ram OSX 10.6.8.

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by TimothyJohn

The folks at my local Apple Store recommend that I bring it in for testing. They said that although audio programs might cause the processor to run hot, temps in the mid 70's lower 80's are high enough to be concerned about.

I'll keep you posted.

Tim
17" Macbook Pro 2.3 GHz quad i7 8gb ram OSX 10.6.8.

So I took it in, and the fellow at the genius bar ran a hardware diagnostic. Everything's ok. I even brought an iLok and external drive and ran a demo session with Ozone 5 on the master. The CPU was up to the lower 80's and the fans were flying. He said the heat is normal, the fans ok, and that under stress from a program such as Pro Tools, this was to be expected. If the software was not working or if the computer shut down due to the heat (a failsafe), have it checked out again. In the meantime, keep it elevated off a flat surface, and keep it ventilated (which I do).

The fans do get loud---bummer.

Tim

[jakas]

Hi guys, I have the same problem with my MBP with i7 and 8 GB of ram. Bought in April 2011. At beginning I had System 10.6.8. Interface used: MBox 3 or FW Digi 8 rack or internal with Aggregate.
High temperature just opening a simple session, fans always on at higher velocities, frezee during recording....It is crazy!!! I spend a lot of money to buy this MBP just to have a great portable system. It was better my old MBP, with some limitations but worked well everytime. After troubles and thousands of phone call to Apple (I have Apple Care), they first changed hard disk. At beginning seems to be better but same problems. After they changed all the mother board. Better but impossible to use without problems of heating or fans at full speed.... but just for stupid operations. I formatted the new hard disk, intalled Lion 10.7.2, fresh, Pro tools fresh, plug ins, just that I need and with attention for compatibility. Now at 44.1/24 session, works well, no problems, sometimes fans starts, but it is normal. Impossible to use at 96/24. Just with 6 tracks, only a Waves IR1 for reverb, 6 Digi EQ, some busses... nothing so special: fans are always at full speed, heat od DIE Cpu more than 98° celsius... so I will use my hammer on it! Sometimes I have same problems with Skype, Firefox! It is crazy for a professional computer like this!!! I will set up like SKYKO said in his message.