So I am not the expert on tpfand, but the last time I saw it claimed to work was in openSUSE 11.3. Further, I don’t know how old your laptop is, but do not dismiss dust build up out of hand unless it is brand new. Finally, other suggestions are to control CPU speed which makes a difference with heating. A new kernel is an option as this is where the newest stuff lives, but openSUSE 12.1 already has kernel 3.1 included.
Thank You,