Thanks very helpful reply. I have a Mac book Pro 15" (I think...) from 2008. I know its getting pretty old... but in my last semester in college and just trying to hold out until I get a real job to get a new one. Any home rememdies that can help that you know of? Any way to increase the efficiency such as propping it up or anything?
Yep just replaced my own 15" Early 2008 2.4Ghz MBP, not surprised it`s overheating (Penryn C2D), mine also runs very hot. Most likely the fans, heat sync`s will be partially clogged with dust and the thermal past on the CPU & GPU may be coming up for replacement. One of the fans on my 2008 died recently, however the machine has been exposed to dry & dusty climates, so no big surprise. I will basically overhaul mine and pass it to my daughter as it is still a good machine.
Just about anything that lifts up the machine will help, try no to use the machine running flat out just sitting on the desk, you need to allow the heat to dissipate, and not be reflected back from the desk. Avoid material that retains heat like wood, most of the passive coolers are just aluminum, a book & baking tray may work just as well.
You can use an external fan to help keep the temperatures manageable, I use one of these USB fans at present to keep my 2008 MBP running reasonably cool until I replace the fans. Try and keep the machine cool, once it is hot, it`s far more difficult to cool down. As Mac`s dissipate some heat via the case keeping the exterior fan will help to some extent. Mine is limping along on one fan and I am still using it as normal.
Download a temperature monitor so you can see if you are reducing the machines temperatures, Mac`s have several temp sensor. SMC Fan control will monitor both CPU & fan RPM`s it also lets you manually raise the fan RPM to increase cooling, don't go wild with the RPM`s your machine is getting on and it does look to have some problems.
And of course the one you won't like is stop gaming on the MBP, if it dies on you it will make a bad situation worse. Those machines with a NVIDIA 8600m GT GPU are noted for having a weak graphics package that can fail prematurely, rapid thermal cycling can accelerate this issue. Mine has been ok so far, others have not faired so well, requiring replacement of the Logic board. Apple will cover it if the machine is under four years old, if the MBP fails a specific GPU test, which just might be worth a shot, costs nothing to ask
