Problems with Gateway FX notebook freezing?

[ActionHobo]

I recently acquired my brother's old Gateway FX laptop. It's not too old, but it has its problems.
Here are the specs:
Core 2 Duo P8400
4Gig DDR3
Nvidia 9800M GTS
Seagate HDD (300GB)
Win7 Ultimate 64Bit

My brother has had problems with GeekSquad in the past, so he refused to take it to them to get it fixed. One of his fixes was to THROW AWAY THE BATTERY because he thought that was the problem. So now I have a laptop with no battery.

The problem with this laptop is that when you are playing a game, lightweight or heavy, it can only play it for about 20 minutes and then the entire laptop freezes and has to be restarted.

I have noticed just this morning that the cores of the CPU have different multipliers. Could this be causing the problem?
Core 0 has a multiplier of 9.0, making it run at 2393MHz
Core 1 has a multiplier of 8.5, making it run at 2260MHz

If this is the problem, or if there is any other known problem with this laptop that I'm not aware of, please inform me.
A solution would also be nice.

Thanks in advance, Tom's Hardware.

 

[warren024]

I have this exact same laptop. What I noticed was overheating as an issue when gaming, for more than 20 mins - this could lead to an eventual shutdown. I have used canned air to clean vents and a notebook cooler and have gotten better results.

I don't know about your core multiplier's having any type of effect that would shut down your computer - and I would assume it would entail a BSOD if it did.

 

[ActionHobo]

I seem to have fixed the problem by removing the back panel of the laptop, exposing the CPU heatsink, and running a 120mm fan under it to cool it. Not the best fix in the world, but it lets me play Just Cause 2 a little while longer. Thanks for the info.

 

[ActionHobo]

Best answer selected by ActionHobo.

 

[Guest]

I seem to have fixed the problem by removing the back panel of the laptop, exposing the CPU heatsink, and running a 120mm fan under it to cool it. Not the best fix in the world, but it lets me play Just Cause 2 a little while longer. Thanks for the info.

I want to try this 120mm fan idea. I know little to nothing about this. Is there a place to plug the fan in so that it has power and runs? Any help on how you did it would be fantastic.

Thanks!
~Spitfire Schoch

 

[Christopher Pibal]

change the graphic card settings in the nvidia video card software to performance instead of the other one cuz it will make ur laptop run at 60C sometimes 70C loading max settings i got it with the fx 9800M GTS for 300 put a 2.8 in it very cool

 

[Christopher Pibal]

change the graphic card settings in the nvidia video card software to performance instead of the other one cuz it will make ur laptop run at 60C sometimes 70C loading max settings i got it with the fx 9800M GTS for 300 put a 2.8 in it very cool

 

[Brett928S2]

and cuz im a ********* genius

REPORTED FOR SWEARING.....

All the best Brett

 

[Brett928S2]

f u food united ur a f head

Hi

Ban coming in ...3...2.....1...

All the best Brett