Laptop games crash, 3 lights flash then shutdown instantly

[Angelmaker30]

i have a 6 year old ish pc specialist gaming laptop in good condition thats developed a fault. On games i've always been able t run perfectly on high setting, the games now crash (sometimes after a minute, sometimes after 20 or 30 minutes). 3 leds flash then it instantly shuts down.

Specs
Chassis & Display Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Storage Drive 120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive 500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Ive cleaned fans etc. checked the ram and the slots. I think its either cpu or gpu thats causing it. The system idles a little hotter than i'd like but nothing drastic. Any advice gratefully received

 

[SpyderTracks]

i have a 6 year old ish pc specialist gaming laptop in good condition thats developed a fault. On games i've always been able t run perfectly on high setting, the games now crash (sometimes after a minute, sometimes after 20 or 30 minutes). 3 leds flash then it instantly shuts down.

Specs
Chassis & Display Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Storage Drive 120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive 500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Ive cleaned fans etc. checked the ram and the slots. I think its either cpu or gpu thats causing it. The system idles a little hotter than i'd like but nothing drastic. Any advice gratefully received

When you clean the fans, do you do it by removing the cover and removing the fans? or do you blow from the slots in the case?

Have you repasted since you've had it?

When you say temps aren't too drastic, what are they under load?

 

[Angelmaker30]

i removed the fans and cleaned them and the grills as thoroughly as i could. I have not re-pasted and was thinking this could be an issue. cpu temp spikes to around 85 to 90 degrees for short periods but is not prolonged and is usually just after start up not during gaming. I do not notice excessive fan speed up before the crashes.idle temp about 45 degrees on cpu

 

[SpyderTracks]

i removed the fans and cleaned them and the grills as thoroughly as i could. I have not re-pasted and was thinking this could be an issue. cpu temp spikes to around 85 to 90 degrees for short periods but is not prolonged and is usually just after start up not during gaming. I do not notice excessive fan speed up before the crashes.idle temp about 45 degrees on cpu

When you say the grills, did you remove the heatsinks from the chips?

 

[Angelmaker30]

no i left the heat sinks in place as I did not want to cause further issues by doing the wrong thing I really appreciate your time btw thank you.

 

[SpyderTracks]

no i left the heat sinks in place as I did not want to cause further issues by doing the wrong thing I really appreciate your time btw thank you.

Ok, that's good then.

It doesn't sound like a heat issue on the CPU then, that all sounds perfectly normal, and certainly not at throttling levels.

What about the GPU temps under load?

 

[Angelmaker30]

Without sounding like a total noob, whats the best way to check gpu temps when gaming please? I have afterburner and speccy installed.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Without sounding like a total noob, whats the best way to check gpu temps when gaming please? I have afterburner and speccy installed.

Speccy can be a little hit and miss as to weather it will actually pick up the dedicated GPU.

I would personally download HWMonitor (free):

HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID

HWMonitor for Windows® x86/x64 is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, powers, currents, fans speed, utilizations, clock speeds ... The program handles : CPU and GPU-level hardware monitoring...

www.cpuid.com

It's just really simple to use whereas afterburner can be a little more involved.

 

[Angelmaker30]

Update. just worked out how to add overlay on afterburner. Ran a game for a few minutes thats been crashing. GPU steady at 55 degrees.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Update. just worked out how to add overlay on afterburner. Ran a game for a few minutes thats been crashing. GPU steady at 55 degrees.

GPU is fine then temps wise.

The other test to do is run a stress test on the CPU and GPU separately to push them to limits, monitor temps througout.

For GPU, use furmark:

FurMark Homepage

FurMark - GPU stress test and graphics card benchmark

geeks3d.com

For CPU use Prime95:

Download Prime95 version 30.19 Build 14

Download Prime95 - a handy tool for overclockers and system stability checkers, Prime95 has a feature called "Torture Test" that allows maximum stress testing on the CPU and RAM. There are several options allowing the stress test to focus on the memory, processor, or a balance of both.

www.guru3d.com

We're aiming for a crash and to record temps at that time. Running separate tests will easily tell us which component is failing (if it's the CPU or GPU).

 

[Angelmaker30]

I'll do that now thank you. For reference, every stress test i've tried cpu has been very stable. when I ran heaven it crashed very quickly. I'll run the tests now.

 

[Angelmaker30]

ran furmark for 5 minutes. Peaked at 96 degrees and held steady with no crashes.

 

[Angelmaker30]

ok all sorted. ran a prime95 test for just under 30 minutes this evening 0 errors and 0 warnings but temperatures exceeded 100 degrees at times

see details attached.

 

[SpyderTracks]

ran furmark for 5 minutes. Peaked at 96 degrees and held steady with no crashes.

Was that GPU temps of 96?

 

[Angelmaker30]

yes the GPU

 

[SpyderTracks]

yes the GPU

Hmmm, apparently that was quite normal for this GPU in this chassis:

Review Clevo P170EM Notebook

In-depth review of the Schenker XMG P702 PRO (Intel Core i7 2670QM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M, 17.3", 3.9 kg) with various measurements, benchmarks and ratings.

www.notebookcheck.net

The CPU temps are certainly worrying, anything near 100c is thermal throttling.

If it were me, I'd repaste the CPU as a precaution and see if that brings temps down.

 

[Angelmaker30]

I will indeed try that I also found this fan's tachyo not reporting its rpm to the EC; it will auto-shutdown after ~6x beeping and flashing caps/num lock leds

 

[Angelmaker30]

Update. Changed the cpu fan today and repasted the cpu. Thermal paste definitely needed changeing. System is running quieter and cooler but the crash still persists. This is from even viewer. When they arrive i'm replacing gpu fan and heat sink and will repaste gpu then update.

 

[Angelmaker30]

Hi guys I have the following system

Chassis & Display	Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)	16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB) Change to: 16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card	NONE
1st Storage Drive	120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive	500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm) Change to: 320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive	NONE
RAID	NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
External Hard Drive	NONE
Memory Card Reader	Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Power Cable	1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor

I have an issue (3 lights flash, beeping followed by shutdown) which as far as I have worked out so far means I probably either need to replace fans (tachyo not reporting) or flash bios. The first step (fans) i'm half way through doing. CPU fan replaced and cpu re-pasted. I'll do the gpu fan and paste as soon as the new fan arrives.

If it turns out I need to flash the bios, please can someone help me? I have absolutely no idea how to do this.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi guys I have the following system

Chassis & Display	Vortex Series:17.3" AUO Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)	16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB) Change to: 16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card	NONE
1st Storage Drive	120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive	500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm) Change to: 320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive	NONE
RAID	NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
External Hard Drive	NONE
Memory Card Reader	Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Power Cable	1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor

I have an issue (3 lights flash, beeping followed by shutdown) which as far as I have worked out so far means I probably either need to replace fans (tachyo not reporting) or flash bios. The first step (fans) i'm half way through doing. CPU fan replaced and cpu re-pasted. I'll do the gpu fan and paste as soon as the new fan arrives.

If it turns out I need to flash the bios, please can someone help me? I have absolutely no idea how to do this.

Many thanks in advance.

You'd need to contact PCS for anything BIOS related.