What is the hottest safe running temperature for a MacBook Pro?

Question

So I've been having issues with my laptop crashing repeatedley and I ended up putting it down to overheating (from feeling the base/black strip) and do I downloaded a widget for dashboard which tracks CPU temperature and I'm runnin fairly consistently at 70-95, sometimes up to 103 degrees or so. Figure this can't be good for it, and from my reading it should be running at about 60 degrees or so. So how hot is too hot, and how do I go about cooling it more than the fans at 6300rpm?

Answer 1

The MacBook Pro isn't adverse to periods of high temperature, but it's always good to avoid them. 170 degrees F is an acceptable upper level, but you'll want to find ways to lower the heat.
1. Don't use your MBP on your lap. You'd be surprised how common this practice is; this raises the temperature of your laptop by twenty degrees, constantly. Use your MBP on a table.
2. Avoid intensive operations for long periods of time. It's okay to use your machine as it's supposed to be, but a MBP isn't a desktop computer. Intersperse high-temperature use with low-temperature to let your MBP cool a bit.
3. Download an application like SMC Fan Control http://www.eidac.de to help you manually increase the fan. If you have a more recent Mac, look for http://codykrieger.com/gfxCardStatus GFX Card Status, which allows you to moderate graphics use on your MacBook.