MacBook Pro (mid 2010, 15", i5) - heat, thermal paste and genius bar...

Question

Hi all,
I'd like some advice. I own a mid 2010 core i5 15" MBP which I purchased when they were released (April 2010 or something like that). Since then the laptop has worked more or less OK but it's always been plagued with high temperatures, 75C+ in idle... with basically nothing running or something light such as just Safari (*without* Flash, as I only open Chrome when a website I need doesn't work without Flash; everywhere else, for example YouTube etc, I just use the HTML5 version of the players). The fans stay almost always at 6K rpm, and only rarely they run at a lower speed - when for example I switch the laptop on after having left it switched off for a while, etc. So the fans seem to work OK and seem to respond to the temperature; I have even tried resetting SMC several times, but no difference.
It just looks like the CPU runs hotter than it should. I have default energy saving settings, and don't have any software installed that may keep the CPU running high - such as Caffeine, SmartSleep, etc. Anyway, even a clean install of the OS (Lion) won't make any difference. If I leave the laptop switched off for a while and I switch it on again, within a minute or two the temperature is high again even if I don't open anything else. Even if in the activity monitor there's nothing using a lot of CPU. The temperature also does go further up if I run something CPU intensive such as Handbrake.
While the laptop has worked almost always OK (I do think that some freezes or other occasional stability issues may also depend on temperature), I don't think it's running as well as it could / should from a temperature point of view.
I have read lots of discussions in here and elsewhere, and from direct experience with other laptops (Apple and not) in the past, I believe the issue may likely be related to poor application of the thermal paste. I could re-apply it (for example the AS5 or similar) myself very easily, but I don't want to void the warranty.
I have the 3-years Apple Care, but I have never needed to ask Apple for support before, so I don't know how it works.
Sorry for the lengty introduction... here's the questions:
- Can I just go to the nearest Apple Store (London, Regent St.) or am I *required* to book an appointment with the "genius" bar?
- Is it likely they will take into consideration my advice to reapply the thermal paste as this is quite likely the source of the problem?
- What is the likelihood that they may just replace my laptop with a newer one?
- Does the AppleCare entitle me with some particular privileges for what concerns support?
- I have also upgraded the RAM to 8GB a few months ago, and replaced the HDD (which I use as external drive) with an SSD. Do I need to restore the original components in the laptop before going to the AppleStore? Or is this not needed since RAM and HDD are user-replaceable parts?
Thanks a lot in advance for your help!
Vito

Answer 1

Hello V-MA!
I found this webpage: http://osx86.wikidot.com/known-issues#toc1
by googeling for "com.apple.NVDAResman"
Probably you have to remove the Geforce Grafic drivers as discribed here. But please wait until some others in the forum confirm this.
If you don't understand how to do these commands with Terminal, ask once again for help.
In your message you did not metion, that you just updated 1 hour and something your OS ("System uptime in nanoseconds: 6688834587150"). This is an important information.
marek