MacBook late 2008 - perfomance issues, i tried a lot :(

[mrmojo88]

Hey guys,

first time im posting:

Im having my MacBook since 2008 - its the MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008).
I changed to Mavericks i think 2 years ago? and since then im feeling perfomance decline.
But now i reached a point its just too troubeling.

I can barely watch any streams or youtube, without it getting really hot and loud.
Most of times surfing alone is a hassle..and im talking about 1 Tab, and no other apps running.

So i tried everything i can. 2-3 years ago i already put in a SSD, i replaced it a few months ago with a better and bigger one. Back then the SSD really did change it, but that was on Snow Leopard.
I just freshly installed El Capitan after a format.
I just put in 8GB of Ram, i used to have 4gb.
I cleaned my dock, i cleaned my desktop, i did a few of those "apple troubleshoots".
But nothing is helping.

What are my options? Try Snow Leopard to see if that helps?
What can be problem right now? The processor? Or is it simply an old machine and it cant be helped?

There are no process running, i keep checking the system activity, etc.
Nothing seems to help :/

Right now i feel like it must be the cooling system ... cause it gets hot and lout really fast.
Maybe its time to let it clean by somebody and replace the fluids to help it cool? or what is there to replace?

sorry for the broken english, and thanks for any input!

 

[thats all folks]

when you say that it is, getting loud, you mean the fan? looks like an issue with getting heat out of the system. could be just a buildup of dust or the thermal paste on the CPU has dried out/is no longer making proper contact. either way, time to open it up.

 

[mrmojo88]

when you say that it is, getting loud, you mean the fan? looks like an issue with getting heat out of the system. could be just a buildup of dust or the thermal paste on the CPU has dried out/is no longer making proper contact. either way, time to open it up.

Yes i mean the fan.
Do you think a buildup of dust or thermal paste that is from 2008 could influence perfomance?

 

[crewkid89]

Yes i mean the fan.
Do you think a buildup of dust or thermal paste that is from 2008 could influence perfomance?

If there is a lot of excessive heat, the processor will throttle (slow itself down) so that it will run cooler. You could try installing iStat or some other performance/temperature monitor so you can see what's happening in real time (Boot, Open a browser, watch a video, etc).

By the sounds of it, you have tried everything else to improve performance. Your machine should be able to browse comfortably in several tabs and watch at least 480p if not 720p videos without choking. I would go with the above advice and get a can of air and go a lookin' for dust. I don't know about thermal paste. I would also use an ifixit guide for your exact model to do the tear down so you don't lose any screws or get stuck trying to put things back together in the wrong order. It has saved me a lot of time in the past.

 

[mrmojo88]

If there is a lot of excessive heat, the processor will throttle (slow itself down) so that it will run cooler. You could try installing iStat or some other performance/temperature monitor so you can see what's happening in real time (Boot, Open a browser, watch a video, etc).

By the sounds of it, you have tried everything else to improve performance. Your machine should be able to browse comfortably in several tabs and watch at least 480p if not 720p videos without choking. I would go with the above advice and get a can of air and go a lookin' for dust. I don't know about thermal paste. I would also use an ifixit guide for your exact model to do the tear down so you don't lose any screws or get stuck trying to put things back together in the wrong order. It has saved me a lot of time in the past.

Ok, i put a wooden board into the fridge, put a small towel around it, and put my mac on top of it.
The mac was cool from the outside, the alu was really cold.
But im not sure if i saw any perfomance increase.

Its something that is making it run slowly, little by little.. what could that be? it feels like there is a part in the macbook that is going down soon and the perfomance issues might come from that.
There is literally no other reasons why this macbook is not running optimal...

 

[thats all folks]

Ok, i put a wooden board into the fridge, put a small towel around it, and put my mac on top of it.
The mac was cool from the outside, the alu was really cold.
But im not sure if i saw any perfomance increase.

Its something that is making it run slowly, little by little.. what could that be? it feels like there is a part in the macbook that is going down soon and the perfomance issues might come from that.
There is literally no other reasons why this macbook is not running optimal...

that really wont have an effect beyond a few seconds. if the fan is blocked or the CPU is making poor contact with he heatsink, not much you can do from the outside. are you looking at Activity Monitor (or some other usage indicator) to see if your cores are running full out? might be some process eating up your cycles.

 

[crewkid89]

Ok, i put a wooden board into the fridge, put a small towel around it, and put my mac on top of it.
The mac was cool from the outside, the alu was really cold.
But im not sure if i saw any perfomance increase.

Its something that is making it run slowly, little by little.. what could that be? it feels like there is a part in the macbook that is going down soon and the perfomance issues might come from that.
There is literally no other reasons why this macbook is not running optimal...

Did you try installing a cpu temp monitor? Trying to physically cool down the machine as you did will have little effect. The cpu dissipates heat upward through the heat sink, fans, and vents. I want to say the older ones mostly blew air out upward above the keyboard.

Outside of a spinning hard drive, which you no longer have, there isn't really a component that would gradually get slower as it approached failure. CPU, Memory, and system board failures look more like total lockups, kernel panics, and unexpected restarts/shutdown.

If the fans are running full tilt there is one of two possibilities. There is an excess of heat or the temperature sensor is broken. Either way, a temperature monitor will give you more information.