Macbook Pro shuts down when burning disk or watching video

[Motan55]

I have a 1st generation macbook pro and I am running OSX 10.4.11. For some reason, every time i try to burn a disk or if I am watching high resolution video the computer will just crash and completely shut off. It only happens if I am doing one of these two things. Everything always seems to be fine when I turn it back on.

Advice?

 

[AppleMayhem]

Couple of thoughts...I believe the graphics card there is the ATI x1600? Are you monitoring the GPU temperature on the system? When you play HD video, whats the temperature? Your looking for something between 35 and 65 degrees C.

The DVD burning can also generate heat, and if the GPU is already overheating, this might tip it over also. If the cards fan has failed, it would be running near the top of the thermal envelope all the time..and anything that causes heat (DVD burning) or taxes the card (games, video) might be causing this.

Have you checked the system logs yet?
Applications/Utilities/Console. Check the crash log.