Fan speeds and temperature - what are safe?

[douglerner]

My MBP (late 2006 17" version) seems to be running hot in the afternoons, even though I have air-conditioning on.

I just ran Fan Control (very nice by the way!) and saw the temperature was up around 70 C and the left and right fan speeds were about 2000 rpm.

I selected the higher RPM, which set the minimum speeds to 4000 rpm. Right now the two fan speeds are showing 4525 and 4531.

It's only been about 5 minutes, but the temperature is still quite high - 76 C at the moment.

My questions are:

(1) What are good, safe temperatures for the MBP?

(2) If the temperature was so high, why wouldn't the MBP automatically increase the fan speed beyond the 2000 level it seemed to be at. Is 70 C not considered high enough to make the fan run quicker?

(3) How long should it take for the temperature to drop after increasing the fan speed?

(4) How *fast* is it safe to run the fans at?

(5) Is making the fans run as fast as possible to first cool off the machine and then reduce the fan speed a good idea?

Thanks!

doug

p.s. The temperature is down to 62 C by the time I finished writing this message. That's a good sign.

[douglerner]

Oh - one more question. Are the fans always supposed to run, even when it is cold?

Thanks,

doug