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Having Issues With My Laptop While Playing Games

by SirKaffee Mar 13, 2015 5:40AM PDT

First off, hello and thanks for taking the time to read my post and help me out with my issue!

So a few weeks ago (I think) I got home, grabbed my laptop, booted it up, and the screen kinda freaked out for a quick sec and went back to normal (might have been due to how I grabbed it which is probably the source of most of the trouble I'll list). When I finished loading up and tried using applications, that application would freeze and give me the "Not Responding" bull-crap after showing no signs of response for 2-3 minutes. This was for every single thing I tried to do and would sometimes start giving me a message saying that Windows is not responding and gave me two options: stop it or cancel.

However, that issue got resolved. I got my computer wiped and installed Windows 7 Ultimate. The freezing stopped and everything was back to normal after updating a few drivers until I booted up a game. The first one I did load up was League of Legends. After a few minutes, my whole computer shut down and I found out that it was because my computer overheated. Keep in mind that this was a game that my computer had no problem playing and would never make my comp crash due to temperature problems. I tried other games (such as metal gear rising and dark souls) and the result was pretty much the same.

So basically, my laptop ran into an originally very bad but easily solved problem but upon being fixed was not able to cool itself sufficiently enough while playing games that it had no problem running before. I've even installed programs like SpeedFan to see if the fans weren't running but they are (although I'm not sure if they're running as well as they were before). I'm currently going to try and purchase a cooling pad to see if that will alleviate the problem but I still want to see if there are any other issues or another solution.

Specs + Model:
Model: Toshiba Satellite P755-S5398
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
Intel Core i5-2430M CPU 2.4 GHz
6 gigs of memory
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

Discussion is locked

10 Posts
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Re: overheating
by Kees_B Former Forum moderator Mar 13, 2015 5:43AM PDT

Then it's time to open the case, check all fans (especially the one on the graphic card) and the heat paste. it's not software, most likely, it's hardware.

Kees

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Thanks for the advice and quick reply
by SirKaffee Mar 14, 2015 5:29AM PDT

Like I told Proffit, I did reply before but I guess it didn't show up.
Will definitely try the dusting and see what can be done about the paste. I know that the paste is on the CPU so that will probably need more experienced hands than mine.

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Question
by Bob__B Mar 13, 2015 10:17AM PDT

Is that w7 ultimate what came with the machine?

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Answer
by SirKaffee Mar 14, 2015 4:35AM PDT

No, it got installed after my laptop got wiped.

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What wasn't asked was
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Mar 14, 2015 4:38AM PDT

Does it work with the factory issue OS and drivers?

Did it work after the week of finishing off the new OS install?

Comment: I find less than half the techs out there can get a laptop Windows clean install done right. It's that big a challenge.
Bob

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Answers (again)
by SirKaffee Mar 14, 2015 5:36AM PDT

Yeah, everything is working fine on the OS. Drivers got installed and as far as the OS goes, its working better than before. It's pretty fast in comparison to before.

The person that got it done, a relative of mine, has done this kind of wipe before for someone else I knew and everything worked just as well as it did before. Same thing goes for my laptop post-wipe everything's working pretty well unless something slipped my notice.

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It's your call
by Bob__B Mar 14, 2015 8:46AM PDT

I would load the factory restore image (w7 home premium?).
That gets me back to a known working software package.

If it still does not work then it would seem to be a hardware issue.

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Looks old enough for the usual work.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Mar 13, 2015 11:36AM PDT

Open case, clean with canned air, check fans, still failing? Replace old heatsink compound. Under 20 bucks of DIY material. Maybe under 10?
Bob

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Thanks for the advice and quick reply
by SirKaffee Mar 14, 2015 5:25AM PDT

I submitted a response before but I guess it didn't register or something, I dunno.
Anyways, thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought of replacing the heat sink. I've never really had to open up a laptop case before, I've usually dusted through exterior openings but a deeper cleaning is probably needed.

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I don't replace the heat sink.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Mar 14, 2015 6:31AM PDT

In over 2 decades I never replace the heat sink. Just the 1 to 2 dollars of compound.

And then I don't do that until I've used the canned air. And again, I don't open it the first time.

Canned air on laptops is at least a bi-monthly ritual. Laptops that don't get that work often end up with trips to the shop counters.
Bob

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