Laptop shuts down when playing games

[Offdutygen]

Hey guys!
So, as the topic states, whenever I play a game any more computer intensive than 2D level graphics for an extended amount of time my laptop shuts off. I took it apart and found no dust as I had cleaned out the dust about 2 months ago. I downloaded hw monitor and I seem to be running in the 70s celcius before this happens so it doesn't seem like that is enough to cause the shut down. Also, I am able to turn the laptop on immediately after the shut down, however if i try to continue playing games it will shut back down almost immediately unless I wait a while. I also ran a virus scan and malwarebytes found nothing.

My rig:
Cyberpower Xplorer X6-9600
Windows 7
Intel Core i7-2670QM @ 2.2 ghz (8cpus)
8gb ram
Nvidia gt 540m 2gb video ram

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cybrnook2002]

Thermal protection. Something in there is overheating. (CPU, GPU or mainboard) There are multiple "zones" that can trigger thermal protection. Not just CPU alone.

Especially if its a graceful shutdown, and not a crash. It's going into thermal protect mode.

 

[Solaris17]

its over heating. or you dont have a thermal probe on a chip that is running too hot (GPU)

 

[Kursah]

Could be the power supply is faltering under heavy loads... I've some some older laptops like that start buckling under heavy stress...but usually also hitting closer to 100C under loads, 70C wouldn't be an issue.

Perform some hardware testing, test your CPU, RAM, GFX all seperately and then use a utility like OCCT to test them all at once. Could be a memory issue as well...that wouldn't surprise me...but in the same breath there's usually the random BSOD involved when there's a memory fault. Not always though.

Get some tools like OCCT, Intel XTU, Memtest x86 (make a bootable USB flash drive if you have a spare sittng around or just make a bootable cd), and go through the paces.

I have a feeling either it's overheating and you're not receiving updated temps (how are you verifying temps while in game? OSD posting? Log files?), the power supply can no longer keep up with the demands or you have aged and faltering hardware.

Keep us posted and good luck!

PS. your i7 does not have 8CPU's in the standard sense, but 4 physical and 4 logitcal (read...virtual) cores. Hyperthreading technology is what allows this to be possible on Intel CPU's. Maybe you already knew that. So it's a Quad core with HT, not quite the same as an Octa-core CPU.

 

[Offdutygen]

Well I verified the temps by just alt tabbing between the game and hw monitor. It's possible it is not accurate. I am currently downloading the tools you recommended. I'll do the steps you outlined and update you guys. Also, I thought I didnt actually have 8 cores I was pretty much copy pasting what dx diag told me. Thanks and I'll be back!

 

[brandonwh64]

Either too hot or the PSU adapter is under powered for the laptop.

 

[Offdutygen]

Well while this memtest is running. If my computer is overheating, what do you guys suggest I do about it? I use a cooling pad when I play games and as I said I did not notice any dust in the hardware.

 

[Kursah]

Well I verified the temps by just alt tabbing between the game and hw monitor. It's possible it is not accurate. I am currently downloading the tools you recommended. I'll do the steps you outlined and update you guys. Also, I thought I didnt actually have 8 cores I was pretty much copy pasting what dx diag told me. Thanks and I'll be back!

If you're doing that...you will see reduced temps as soon as load is dropped CPU's and GPU's can drop 10, 20 even 30C or more in a second or two. Use HWMon and Open Hardware Monitor and have them display Min/Max/Current temps. OCCT and Intel XTU are my most used utilities anymore, OCCT will print reports, show min/max, it is an awesome piece of software for diagnostics and stress testing.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Offdutygen]

Ok I just finished the memtest and it said I have no errors. I have hwmon open now and the min core temps are 50-54C and the max are 64-67C do I need to run a game until it shuts off to find out what temp it's getting up to causing it to crash? In the meantime, I'll run Intel XTU.

 

[PLAfiller]

Do you happen to have some old/new cooling pad? May be try playing with it under the laptop for a while and see if it shuts down again. Your rig is specifically designed and labelled as a "gaming" laptop. It's supposed to be loaded up with games. I am thinking, it should be able to handle the load. Where do you keep the PSU brick? On the floor? on the bed? On carpet? Do you game on a desk or put the laptop on your lap?

I had mine shut down regularly when playing, but mine is business class. It's not supposed to handle such temperatures. Lenovo's driver "capps"my GPU at 200mhz, so it doesn't go over 50 degrees. But when I make fresh install and put only nVidia drivers, it runs at 660mhz and easily goes over 80 degrees without supervision when gaming.

 

[Offdutygen]

Yes I have a new cooling pad but using does not seem to make any difference. I usually have my cooling pad on my bed and my laptop on the pad. I've been running the Intel XTU for over 12 minutes now and the temperature has not gone over 89C and my laptop has not shut down. I'll let it run the full 30 minutes I scheduled it for and then run a gpu stress test.

 

[Solaris17]

Run OCCT PSU test. the new one. full screen

 

[Kursah]

Ok I just finished the memtest and it said I have no errors. I have hwmon open now and the min core temps are 50-54C and the max are 64-67C do I need to run a game until it shuts off to find out what temp it's getting up to causing it to crash? In the meantime, I'll run Intel XTU.

You would want to setup the temperature data to go to a log file if you're going to run the game until you shut down...which I don't think the non-Pro version can do. You can save data, but that's a user-initiated action.

Those temps aren't bad at all. I'd run OCCT, 1 hour for CPU linpack x64 and use all Logical cores with 90% memory, if pass, run 1 hour GPU test full screen and native gaming resolution, if pass, I'd run 1 hour of PSU (GPU, Mem, CPU stress test).

Or you could do what Solaris suggests above and skip the first two tests.

Also, 89C is hot for a laptop, but really laptops are built for hot because of design limitations...once that CPU hits 99-100C it will shut down..at least that's been the case with my experience that laptops using that chipset/CPU series.

The IntelXTU test is good, but OCCT's Linpack is a harder stress test. I would start with the CPU test before doing the PSU test. If it overheats, you have a cooling issue..time to reseat heatsinks with some AC MX-4 or similar thermal paste.

 

[Offdutygen]

Run OCCT PSU test. the new one. full screen

Well I ran the PSU test on OCCT and after about 30 seconds my laptop shut down. So, what does this mean?

 

[Offdutygen]

 

[Offdutygen]

Above are the reports that were made by OCCT.

 

[Solaris17]

your tripping voltage protection the board or the power brick or both are bad.

 

[Offdutygen]

Dang, so essentially I need a new computer?

 

[Solaris17]

No you need a new power brick or a motherboard.

 

[Offdutygen]

I honestly didn't realize what a power brick was *facepalm* anyway the power brick I currently have is this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I5ERUW/?tag=tec06d-20 I bought it pretty recently could it be that it cant handle the power load?

 

[Offdutygen]

Actually... looking under my laptop it shows that I need 90W and this is only a 70W brick. Would it be reasonable to say this is the cause then?

 

[sneekypeet]

indeed that could be it in a nut shell!

 

[PLAfiller]

Actually... looking under my laptop it shows that I need 90W and this is only a 70W brick. Would it be reasonable to say this is the cause then?

But how come? Wasn't the brick part of the original content of the laptop you purchased? I mean, the manifacturer has to provide everything necessary for the intended use of the device. Anyway, you got your answer. I am just thinking aloud.

 

[Offdutygen]

No actually the brick quit working at all not too long ago and I bought this one to replace it.

 

[Solaris17]

on the bottom of your laptop what does it say for voltage and amps? it will say something like

19.5v-3.42A