Random shut down while playing games

[doombug]

I only have my laptop for 3 months and I've been experiencing some issues while playing games for some time now. I get random shut downs without warning when both on battery and on AC. I believe it is not a memory chip issue as I do not get artefacts on my screen or BSOD.
The battery could also be a culprit and I have yet to test the laptop without the battery (only AC plugged in).
Keep in mind that I have not overclocked any component and my temperature reads are within normal limits. I use MSI Afterburner when I game and oveheating is rarely an issue. There are extremely rare cases when my temperatures go beyond 90 degrees Celsius. Mostly they stay around 80 and below. I may have received a faulty GPU from the start, as I see no reason for this card to fail within 3 months of medium use. I can detail the software/games as well as temperature reads for each if needed. My concern was fueled today when I played LIMBO on battery. As you all know, the game is an indie title and it is not demanding at all. At first I thought my battery was depleted, but I was only gaming for half an hour at the lowest brightness possible. This couldn't have emptied the 90% full battery so fast. When I turned my laptop back on, I still had around 40% or battery left and, thus confirmed my doubts.

Please let me know if I need to RMA. My computer is under 3 year Platinum warranty (details below).

Specifications:

Chassis & Display Vortex II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card 2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6990M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE
(7200 rpm)
Optical: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Sound Card Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS 802.11N
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor

Warranty 3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

I would greatly appreciate it if I could receive an answer as soon as possible.

 

[paul1224]

Probably best to give PCS a call regarding a RMA as it will be much quicker than via the forum as it isn't the official support channel.
I'm no expert but have you made sure that the drivers are up to date for the graphics card just to make sure it isn't that causing the crashes?

 

[doombug]

Probably best to give PCS a call regarding a RMA as it will be much quicker than via the forum as it isn't the official support channel.
I'm no expert but have you made sure that the drivers are up to date for the graphics card just to make sure it isn't that causing the crashes?

I thought it would be appropriate to post this here in the Technical Support section.
Shouldn't driver crashes manifest differently? Random shut downs aren't driver issues in my opinion.

 

[AndyL]

It sounds to me like the laptop is shuting down when it reaches its threshold temperature. Try cleaning out your vents. Also, when you are gaming is your laptop on a hard flat surface or is is it on your lap i.e. could the vents be obstructed in anyway?

By the way, what are your idle temps? as this may also point out a problem with the cooling system.

 

[doombug]

Like I have mentioned before, temperatures are within normal limits and I always game on a hard flat surface with the back raised ever so slightly to allow airflow without any obstructions in the back. I use MSI Afterburner to monitor temps and I never allow them to go beyond 85-90C. My idle temperatures are 40-45 C.

 

[vanthus]

Have a look in event viewer it may give you a clue to the problem.
Go to control panel(All control panel items)/performance information and tools/click advanced tools on the left hand side/view performance details in event log.
this will take you to diagnostics-performance events & boot and shutdown events.
If nothing obvious showing there,at the top of the tree on the left hand side,click on custom views/administrative events.
You might get more information that points to something by selecting details/Friendly & XML view,in the event viewer.
you could also try selecting "event log online"at the bottom of the page.

 

[doombug]

I seem to have found serveral problems in the event log, although I cannot identify precisely which event is the culprit for the random shut down. Is there a way I could export these logs and attach them here to facilitate in solving this thing? Should I export it in .evtx, .txt, or .xml?

 

[AndyL]

The reason you havent seen the temps go any higher is becuase if they did then the laptop would shut off!! Therefore I still believe this is the most likely culprit.

 

[Wozza63]

Andy could be right, do you have VSync enabled? this means that the game will only produce the amount of frames necessary (probably 60fps depending on monitor) rather than as many as possible, meaning the GPU won't need to work as hard

you could also use gamebooster, which disables unnecessary programs meaning that you'll be creating less heat although this would be only slightly

would recommend doing these before you consider clearing out the fans/vents

 

[doombug]

Andy could be right, do you have VSync enabled? this means that the game will only produce the amount of frames necessary (probably 60fps depending on monitor) rather than as many as possible, meaning the GPU won't need to work as hard

you could also use gamebooster, which disables unnecessary programs meaning that you'll be creating less heat although this would be only slightly

would recommend doing these before you consider clearing out the fans/vents

I always use V-sync to limit the FPS to the maximum output of my monitor, which is 60Hz. Higher FPSs than this are useless.
IMO Gamebooster hardly makes a difference on heat output. It usually frees system RAM, which doesn't necessarily impact temperatures.
I will clear my vents once I get home, but I doubt that I have too much dust inside, as I only have the computer for 3 months.

 

[Wozza63]

it uses memory as well as CPU power, it is displayed as a percentage in task manager and just because it says 0% doesnt mean its not using anything, would be worth a try imo, you might be pleasantly surprised

 

[doombug]

it uses memory as well as CPU power, it is displayed as a percentage in task manager and just because it says 0% doesnt mean its not using anything, would be worth a try imo, you might be pleasantly surprised

Aren't there any other programs that are more effective than Gamebooster? I always considered Gamebooster to be a "one button press" software for the average user.

 

[Wozza63]

its not one button, rather than disabling programs under the name rgbr.exe it says what it is and you can obviously google what it does if you are confused, you then tick the ones you dont want

you can do it all manually but i can't remember how, havent used Win7 for a while now

 

[doombug]

The reason you havent seen the temps go any higher is becuase if they did then the laptop would shut off!! Therefore I still believe this is the most likely culprit.

General threshold temperatures for GPUs lie between 100 - 105C. I mentioned that I had my temps above 90C in EXTREME and rare cases. Peak temperatures that I measured were 96C, but this happened once or twice, and if I managed to log that temperature, it obviously means that my computer did not shut off! The random shut downs that I am talking about occur when I have temps around 80, which is not close at all to the threshold temperatures I have mentioned earlier. That is why I doubt that these occurrences are temperature related.