laptop shutting down during games

my laptop is shutting down during games. it runs the rest of fm fine and most of the time the actual games pass without incident but the last two weekends (when i get to play fm12 the most), always during a game, the laptop has shut itself down 3 times a day. i'd assume it was a problem with the graphics card but have played more graphics intensive games like shogun total war without any problem. the laptop is a hp hdx with duo p8700 2.5ghz, 4gb ram, nvidia geforce gt130m. any suggestions?

thanks in advance

Does look like a hardware problem... have you checked your memory and hard drive?

I had this a few times on the demo and it was caused by overheating. Some compressed air spray and a small fan next to me has solved the issue, plus I make sure I pause the game every now and then to let the internal fan slow down.

Yes it sounds like an overheating problem- try cleaning the fans as suggested but dont ignore the issue because it can cause computer damage if left unchecked.

Definitely overheating. I would suggest what FrazT suggested as well as placing the laptop on a hard surface when playing instead of directly on your lap or something that is going to completely clog up the vents and prevent the fans from sucking in air. If playing FM on my laptop or doing anything which is going to use a lot of processing power, I always put a tray underneath (like what you eat food off on your lap!).

Check you temps with speedfan or HWMonitor.

thank you all for your replies. i'd be surprised if it was a hardware problem as the girlfriend works for hp and the laptop underwent a one year check by hp engineers and got a clean bill of health a month ago and i have never had any problems with it until last saturday, the first real day i started playing fm12. the laptop doesn't appear to be running particularly hot and sometimes fm has crashed when starting the first game within 10 minutes of switching the laptop on. i've always sat the laptop on a tray to make sure the vents are clear. i'll try the programmes ishu has suggested and let you know. are there any particular products anyone could recommend to help cool the laptop if that is the problem? once again thanks for your help in trying to resolve this frustrating issue.

Have you checked whether Hibernation mode is active? If it not a heat issue, run an intensive AV scan. You may have picked up something. There are viruses around that can cause shutdowns. It is possible that the CPU is overheating or it could be the Hard Disk. When you state Shutdown, is this a crash or a Windows shutdown?

just to update you all i ran the hwmonitor that ishu recommend (thanks ishu) and the temps range between 47 - 52 degrees celcius. thoughts?

just to update you all i ran the hwmonitor that ishu recommend (thanks ishu) and the temps range between 47 - 52 degrees celcius. thoughts?

They are fine. While playing FM?

Try to convert a video or extract a RAR file (anything CPU taxing) and check the temps.

Also do other system tools things, run your disc defragmentation, clean your registries, delete things that you dont need or dont use etc etc

you'll have to excuse my ignorance but i don't think i know the difference between a crash or a windows shutdown, it basically just turns the whole computer off instantly.

If the problem is specifically with FM then the game will usually just close down and take you back to your main desktop, this is sometimes called a 'crash dump' and may be linked to a problem with how FM installed or even graphics/skins you are using in the game.

If the computer is just completely turning off it would suggest to me that it is a hardware or overheating issue. Not with FM.

They are fine. While playing FM?

Try to convert a video or extract a RAR file (anything CPU taxing) and check the temps.

after playing a match the temps are around 60 degrees

after reading most peoples advice about what to do i purchased a zalman notebook cooler which keeps the tempretures of the laptop below 50 degrees all the time, most of the time around 40 degrees but the problem is persisting. most of the time i can play 10 or more games and have no problem but recently i played blackburn rovers in a league cup semi final 2nd leg and the game crashed 6 times, always during the graphics part of the match. when i played the game in commentry only it completed without any problems. any more suggestions?

once again thanks in advance for trying to help me sort out this frustrating issue.

It still sounds like something is overheating to me - could be your graphics chip, or even the motherboard itself. Speccy is another good program for monitoring temperatures, that gives you readings for hard drives, motherboard, processor and graphics. The only time a computer shuts itself down is to prevent damage from some sort of hardware failure.

Have you updated the graphics card driver?

BTW, check your power brick and also the connector for the power lead. If that is showing heat, that can transfer accross. Judging by the fact that temps are still high, sit the lappy on idle and test the temps. Then run FM in windowed mode and then test the temps again. If it crashes during a game then the GPU is probably at fault which as Fraz T has asked, could be a dvr issue. As Wakers has touched upon, it does not mean that Hardware will fail until under load. If it is CPU related, the thermal compound or the cooling fan has probably failed.

Best thing to do is to underclock your cpu, that way it will not get as hot.

Best thing to do is to underclock your cpu, that way it will not get as hot.

I can see what your getting at, but not with a laptop and not if you are not going to ramp up the CPU with a lower multi divider. His Lappy will suffer big time if the native clock speed is messed with

Done it with my dell laptop which has **** cooling. Ddint actually do it in BIOS as most laptops will not let you do it, I did mine in Power Options under Maximum processor state.

Ahh. Good info, I did not think about that as I would not do :/ Will have to check that one out. How is your system performance and what CPU do you have?

Laptop has i5-540M processor but I have underclocked it to run from 2.5GHz to 1.7GHz, this way it doesnt shut down when it reaches high temps. Best way is to to test different speeds to see what is the max speed that cooling can take before it shuts down. Dell laptop I have is really bad but doing this means no more crazy fan noise and game is still very playable.