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I have a unibody MacBook Pro. It is noticeably hotter under Windows using Boot Camp than Mac OS X. Does anyone know how to get better temperature and power management results when running Boot Camp?

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4 Answers

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Probably tuning down a lot of the graphics settings of Windows will at least help you unload the GPU.

Or you could try something like CoolBook, which undervolts your CPU and thereby reduces your temperature.

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I realize that these answers won't really satisfy you, but I think the driver support under Boot Camp could use some improvement, before a real solution can be given (see nVidia drivers with Multi-GPU)

Or you could resort to installing Windows 7, which at least loads the system less intensive...

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I'm confused - isn't Boot Camp just the Mac dual-booter software? And that running Windows w/ Boot Camp just means you're booting into Windows? What would "driver support under boot camp" have to do with running Windows on the macbook hardware? – Matt Aug 12 '09 at 14:42
The problem is that Apple can use different types of GPUs and you can't download official Windows drivers for those GPUs because nVidia directs you to it's OEM client: Apple. Apple isn't going to supply Windows drivers, so your left with something that works, but that surely could perform a lot better. This isn't always true, but in the case of multi-GPU systems like some Macbooks it is – Ivo Flipse♦ Aug 12 '09 at 14:48
+1 I'm going to wait in the hope there is another answer – Alex Angas Sep 2 '09 at 15:51
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up vote 1 down vote

I use "Lobbo's Fan Control" for MacBooks, it's a windows app. It's so awesome that I even donated to the author. http://sourceforge.net/projects/lubbofancontrol/

It's free and opensource.

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Have you tried using the drivers in Boot Camp 3.0 on the Snow Leopard DVD? The NVidia 9600M GT on my MacBook Pro runs much cooler with the Boot Camp 3.0 bundled driver than the latest driver available from NVidia. It also gets much better battery life.

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Try running MacFan, a command line tool that allows you to increase the RPM of each fan. Check the release notes for installation instructions.

MacFan screenshot

I've just increased the RPM to 2800 and it has dropped the temperature from 70°C to around 50°C. It no longer has an unsettling feverish hotness in the top left corner, and the increase in noise is not so bad. Having said that, I believe that the majority of Bootcamp users would agree that Apple has a major problem though.

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