Macbook strange behaviour with streaming video

I have a 1.83gHz Macbook running OS 10.4.11 with 2 gb memory.

I mostly use it for general Internet stuff, particularly streaming video using Firefox or Safari.

Recently I've been having issues when watching streamed video where it stutters and skips for a few seconds like a scratched CD, and it affects the whole computer, can't move the mouse etc. It's like it's hitting the rev limiter ! After this the audio in the video sometimes becomes distorted, even if I start a new video, and requires Firefox to be reset to change this. I've had the same problem with Safari.

Also the fan is running at full power most of the time. I've checked activity monitor - all seems normal here. I've downloaded coreduotemp which general shows about 27% CPU usage and temperature ranges from 60-90 celcius, but the frequency is always at 1.83gHz. Is this normal?

My biggest concern is the skipping issue. If anyone can offer any solutions/advice I'd really appreciate it !

i figure your video issue is related to your heat issue.

your processor has a max temp threshold of ~70c. video processing is processor intensive for machines with integrated video like yours as the CPU is doing all of the video processing.

because of the heat, it's cutting out and causing errors, resulting in the video choppiness.

depending on the age of your machine, sounds like it needs to be cleaned as the fan can gunk up and lose efficiency. if it's clean (no, you cant inspect it without full disassembly) then there's a more pressing issue that's causing this significant buildup of heat.

That sounds logical, thanks Oakie. I'll take the fan out and give it a good clean and see if this helps.