P6831FX Shutting down after 20 minutes of gaming

My 6831FX is shutting down after 20-30 minutes of gaming. I've been playing Crysis Warhead and Red Alert 3 and they both shut down the comp.

I'm assuming it's overheating, but I'm not sure. I've tried elevating it 1" off of the table with a little desk fan blowing in the direction of the heatsink on the back left.

Is it overheating? Anyone else have this problem?

 

Try two programs for temperature monitoring:

1. Nvidia System Tools 6.02
2. HWMonitor

 

is this happens when on batteries ?
if so the answer is clear.

if not: download hwmonitor, orthos(cpu stress), furmark (gpu stress)
run some tests to decide if its overheating that causes the shutdowns...

 

Nope, it's not on the battery. This is plugged into the wall. I'll check out hwmonitor. What kinda temps SHOULD I have when gaming?

 

anything under 80 is good
anything over 90 is not so good

i never seen the gpu tops 70 while gaming.

 

There isn't a program that logs in real time is there? Or one I can set an alarm on?

 

alarm on what ? you dont know whats the problem...

 

quick note, system tools is 6.03 now

 

I had best buy geek squad look at it and they couldnt repeat the problem i/u had.
I reinstalled vista. downloaded drivers of gateway. works like butter.

 

i have exactly the same problem i installed windows again got latest driver and still the same donno what to do and where is the problem :/

 

I am having the exact same problem, don't know if i should invest in a fan or raise the laptop off the desk a little to provide better airflow

 

hi well i dont know if u already fixed your laptop but i had the same problem and i noticed alot of people who have this laptop have the same problem.
1rst of all for me drivers for gpu provided by gateway seem to have a problem so i downloaded the drivers from nvidia.com the drivers for 8800 gts not the 8800m or watever it is i dont remember. when you start installation u will see an error saying that driver is not supported. u must install the drivers from control panel manualy, the drivers are extracted in C:NVIDIA
this fixed my problems for some time but after a bit i got a similar problem but it was because of overheating. if you open the laptop you can see the cpu fan and if u remove it there is dust on it and it must be cleared i donno why but once in a while my fan is covered with dust and i need to clean it maybecoz i have a messy bedroom anw
next its a good idea to use the undervolting guide since you can reduse the volts alot and reduse the heat..

sorry for my english :/

 

Sorry about ressurecting such an old thread, but I have the same problem, fan not moving at all, getting 70*C while idling and up to 90 when playing something, eventually shutting down especially if something covers up the side vent. I've tried cleaning it with compressed air from the outside but it's not moving, and I've been trying to open the whole thing up for hours but I can't figure out how to open the thing, and which side is supposed to go off (they should have made a easy, bolted opening above the fan). How do you open up the P6831?

 

Have you updated your bios? Gateway's laptops 7811FX and previous laptops, such as the 68xx series, were all updated due to fan problems.

Your laptop is either shutting down because of heat problems or a driver problem. Make sure your bios is updated to the latest ones Gateway has released. It should solve the fan/heat issues. After that, make sure all your drivers are updated (Windows Update should work).

 

I tried to update the BIOS but the update program says "Operating System Not Found" and skips everything and just boots Windows (which is such an annoyingly wrong paradox). I am just very annoyed here, updating this laptop has been such a chore, I haven't been able to update the video card on it, ever, and now the fan's stopped working. I can't send it to Tech Support because Gateway doesn't have anything like that in my country.

It isn't just a "fan issue", my fan isn't working at all, and I watch the temperature slowly rise in RivaTuner until shutting down.

 

There are a few people in this thread that have re-done the thermal paste on their GPU heatsink who could tell you how to get to it: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=346399&page=3&highlight=gpu+overheat