2008 MBP (not unibody) overheating. Any tips or clues??

[DUSTmurph]

My friend's MBP has recently started getting really hot for no reason it seams. Temps are up to 235 degrees when running iTunes, Safari, and Adium. and nothing huge is happening on safari, just apples homepage. i tried quitting all applications and it lowers to only about 170 degrees.
I already installed smcfancontrol for her, but this isn't really fixing the problem, just masking it. She said it's never been running this hot over the past year she's had it.

Anyone have any clues to why it is doing this? Or any tips to get it to run cooler? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[geoffreak]

170 degrees Celsius?!?

But seriously, at just over 100 degrees C, your computer is running on the hot side. Take it by the Apple store if you are worried.

Can you post a picture of all your temperatures in iStat? (Celsius preferred)

 

[spinnerlys]

235°F = 113°C
170°F = 76°C

Have you had a look at Activity Monitor and saw what might take up all the CPU?

 

[DUSTmurph]

170 degrees Celcius?!?

But seriously, at just over 100 degrees C, your computer is running on the hot side. Take it by the Apple store if you are worried.

Can you post a picture of all your temperatures in iStat? (Celsius preferred)

haha no in Fahrenheit. Sorry for the confusion. Unfortunately I'm not currently on the problem computer and probably won't be for about a week.
235 degrees F = 113 C
170 F = 77 C
From what i remember it was her CPU or CPU heatsink that was the concerning temps. I'll probably end up taking it to the Apple store, but its a long drive for me and i was hoping it was something we could possibly fix ourselves. Plus, no applecare

 

[geoffreak]

If you don't have AppleCare, don't bother with the Apple store. Just open it up and blow away any dust you see around the inside of the laptop.

 

[DUSTmurph]

235°F = 113°C
170°F = 76°C

Have you had a look at Activity Monitor and saw what might take up all the CPU?

Ahhh, for some reason I didn't think of trying yesterday. Later today I'll have her do that and that will more than likely shed some light on something. thank you. i will inform you upon any updates.

 

[DUSTmurph]

If you don't have AppleCare, don't bother with the Apple store. Just open it up and blow away any dust you see around the inside of the laptop.

Yeah I was going to do that, but frankly I'm quite scared to open it up. I'm pretty clumsy with my hands and I'd hate to mess something up. But I'll end up biting the bullet and just doing it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[applebook]

I don't understand why the CPU didn't shut down before those temps. The thermal shut-down temperature is supposed to be about 105C for Penryn CPUs.

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

Besides whatever might come out of Activity Monitor you could also consider using Coolbook for lowering cpu temps. Just perform a search for Coolbook on these foums and you'll notice that there's some excellent results to be gained from that little app.