Diagnose my computer: load-related shutdowns

[jbsegal]

So my laptop - 4+ year old 15" MacBook Pro - has taken to shutting down under high memory/high cpu conditions

Comments

[dalesql]

Fits the classic overheating symptoms. Check your fan and all the air paths and air filters if any. A nice heavy layer of dust clogging things up will do this exact thing. Secondary check, is the fan actually going to full speed? If the fan is variable speed, check the temperature sensing to see if it is going full speed when hot.

[chienne_folle]

My computer started shutting itself down every once in awhile, and it turned out to the the power supply.

[pir]

Open it up and vacuum out dust, etc?

[c1]

Taking apart an iBook (yes, not a MacBook!) isn't that bad-- a metric buttload of screws in places more obscure than Timbuktu, but certainly doable in about ten minutes. I can't imagine things inside Apple's Reality Distortion Field have gotten so extreme that current Apple laptops won't yield the goods to a similar effort.
Once open, following everyone's comments about blowing out/vacuuming dust should be productive.

[jbsegal]

There's a reason I included a link to the teardown to get to the heatsink.

Replacing the hard drive wasn't too bad. This is a complete deconstruction.

[jbsegal]

(Near complete. Just have to get the display cables out of the way.)

[dr_memory]

Sadly, I'm afraid that sounds exactly like a thermal problem. Does the fan fire up?