2009 macbook pro overheating while gaming

[pizza]

I recently downloaded and started playing diablo 3. My macbook pro heats up to the point it turns itself off. This occurs while playing for only about an hour. I have installed smc fan control and ran the fans at 6200 rpm and it still overheated and shutdown. I checked the activity monitor and found no applications to quit. I only play while the laptop is on a desk; I'm doubt that this would obstruct the ventilation at all.

I have the mid 2009 macbook pro with intel core 2 dou (2.8ghz). It has 4GB of ram and uses a NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB.


Does anyone have any advice on decreasing the temperature while playing?

Thanks for the help,
Mike

 

[pigoo3]

Does anyone have any advice on decreasing the temperature while playing?

If your MBP is shutting off on it's own...some ideas:

- maybe it needs to be cleaned inside
- maybe the fan(s) is/are malfunctioning
- don't hold your laptop on your lap
- play in a cooler room
- don't block any of the air inlets
- don't play Diablo 3

- Nick

 

[cwa107]

If I were a betting man, I'd say you've got a build up of dust either on the fan blades or in the intake/exhaust tracts themselves. If it were my machine, I'd pop open the bottom cover and give it a thorough inspection. Make sure you have a can of compressed air handy.

Hold the fans captive (do NOT let them overspin) and give it a few short quick blasts with the compressed air. Be sure not to hold the button down, but spray with quick, short bursts (you don't want a layer of frost as you spray). Pay particular attention to the area directly beneath the hinge, as that's actually a vent.

If that doesn't work, you may have an issue with the thermal compound being applied excessively at the factory and acting as an insulator - this is not uncommon in Apple products in my experience. If you're handy, remove the heatsinks, remove the existing paste with some isopropyl alcohol and then applying a razor thin layer of Artic Silver (or equivalent thermal compound) in its place, should help.

 

[pizza]

I give it a shot.
Thanks guys.

 

[gandalf79]

I had a similar problem with overheating on my late 2011 15" MBP. It did not overheat to the point that it shutdown but it was very hot and tripped the temperature monitoring software.

My solution was to reduce the maximum frames per second (FPS) in the game options to 30 FPS, which is about the same FPS as your TV. After changing this setting, my temperature alarm is not going off any more. Your mileage may vary. You could also try reducing other graphics settings.

You could also try lifting the MBP off the table with some kind of spacer. The standard rubber feet on the MBP only leave a gap of a few mm. If you increase this to 0.25 in or more then you will get better cooling. Or better, you can use a laptop cooling pad with a fan under that cools the bottom. I did this with my old MBP.

The suggestions of thermal compound and cleaning dust from your laptop are also good. Though disassembling the laptop may void your warranty, if it is still under warranty. Proceed with caution.

I do not think any one these suggestions will fix your problem, but all of them together may do the trick.