Overheating MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo

[jryan388]

My sister has a 5 or so year old MacBook Pro that her husband gave to her, but recently she has been having major heat issues. It shuts down constantly for her rendering it basically useless.

I decided to run some benchmarks to get a better idea of what was going on. I didn't want to download anything so I ran the Kraken js benchmark on chrome and ff simultaneously, bringing the overall system load past 95%. After less than a minute, the cpu temp was in the high 90s, and I stopped the benchmark at 99C to prevent a shutdown.

Any idea what might be causing this? I've checked the activity monitor, and there is nothing out of the ordinary. Both fans run at bout 6k rpm at full load. No other temps (gfx, battery, hdd, etc) are above normal. My sister took it to a local computer repair shop, and they said they cleaned it out (including fans, so its not dusty) and "couldn't find anything wrong," even overheating. Right. So I have been thinking I might have to take it apart and check the connection between the CPU and the hsf. I don't want to risk any damage, however, if anyone has a better idea of what might be causing this.

Specs: 2.16ghz Core 2 Duo
1GB ddr2
Radeon X1600

 

[jsc]

IF the shop truly cleaned it out (however they did), you are right. That is the next step.

OTOH, I am not an expert on MacBook Pro's.

 

[jryan388]

I just did another test, and after about 30 secs, the processor was at 90C, while "Main Heatsink" 1 and 2 were at only 30C and 31C, respectively. This is strengthening my belief that the thermal paste is drying or has come off or something. Any ideas?

 

[Nedal0]

I will suggest you do the cleaning yourself. Buy a can of compressed air and clean all vents Rear, Side, Bottom.

If the temps don't g down after that, you can consider opening it.

I do not trust computer repair shops. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

The fact that you made your to this forum tells me you are smart.

Post back and let us know

 

[jryan388]

I will suggest you do the cleaning yourself. Buy a can of compressed air and clean all vents Rear, Side, Bottom.

If the temps don't g down after that, you can consider opening it.

I do not trust computer repair shops. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

The fact that you made your to this forum tells me you are smart.

Post back and let us know

People... that was a year and a half ago... see the date?

Anyways, I opened it, cleaned the heatsinks, reapplied thermal paste, and installed an undervolting kernal extension. It worked a lot better, only shutting down a couple more times in the year or so that she used the laptop after that.

 

[Nedal0]

hehehehe I just saw the date. Sorry I didn't notice earlier.

Good to hear was all sorted