Chosen Solution
So, I have a MBP10,1. It’s excellent as my daily driver until recently when my use case changed. I started playing WoW (World of Warcraft) on it and for prolonged periods of time (1-2 hours). This causes the fans to spin on high (expected), and the machine to warm up (also expected). Now the issue comes when I approach the 30+ minute mark and walk away from the machine for a short period. I notice that the keyboard and the machine is quite hot in the top left side (where the processor resides). Now the CPU has been cleaned and Arctic Silver used, as well as I keep the fins clean (I am an IT tech after all). I’m not concerned about the fans spin on high. I am on a clear desk with no obstructions to air flow AND I know the SMC is working fine. I’m looking for advice (other than a “cooling pad” which would only cool the bottom of the machine) on how to mitigate this heat from the keyboard side. Now don’t go saying, “oh, put a fan on your desk to cool the top” as I’m looking for a better way to migrate that heat away from the CPU.
TG Pro during game usage.
I would install a good thermal monitoring app like TG Pro pushing the fans higher (turbo) when playing heavy games or other processes. Do keep in mind this is not that powerful a system and many games today need much more crunch and graphic performance. You may want to look at getting a used 2015 retina system as a better gaming system. I would also monitor the heat sink ability to transmit the heat from the CPU/GPU’s to the heat pipe air sensors. what is the delta difference when it hits high temp. You may need a new heat sink if it’s not working well. These heat pipes hold a fluid which can leak out reducing its ability to transmit the heat.
