Issues with my laptop while gaming

I posted here twice previously about my Sager NP8150 laptop, both times having issues with my charger. You guys were very helpful with those issues, but I seem to be having another one.

Over Easter weekend, my computer started having issues after I left it on overnight. It started shutting down abruptly while I was playing a game (for reference, I was playing Warframe), then wouldn't boot up at all, so I brought it to a repair shop. After a week, the shop claimed that my charger cable was the issue (again) and ordered me a new one, giving me a temporary replacement. The computer is booting again, but it still shuts down after about 15 or so minutes of playing Warframe, a game that it could previously handle effortlessly. Some research on my part has turned up some possible issues:

1. Overheating problems
2. CPU/GPU issues
3. Possible short in the motherboard

I don't think it's a heat issue, because I have a cooling pad and the repair shop cleared the laptop of dust (at least they claimed to), but I have no frame of reference for the other potential issues. Do either of those issues seem possible, or do you think it might be something else entirely?

Thanks in advance!

 

Grab open hardware monitor (or HWMonitor) and run it while playing games for about 5ish minutes, exit the game, and see what the highest thermals were.

It could be heating issues despite a cooling pad, could be a bad thermal paste job.

 

Get HWiNFO64 and fire up the logging feature, fire up your game, then use Generic Log Viewer to open the log after the system shuts off and you restart it and look at the temps on the CPU and GPU.

Here is where you can get the log viewer.

http://www.hwinfo.com/forum/Thread-LogViewer-for-HWINFO-is-available

I would say you're more than likely overheating and the system is shutting down to protect itself. If you notice a really fast temp spike, it is either a fan issue or a paste issue. You wouldn't believe how often these repair places neglect to plug the fans back in......

 

I would clean it myself too. Get a can of compressed air and if you´re not comfortable opening your laptop just blow the crap out of the fan intakes on the bottom.
You´d be surprised how much difference the dust can make. This one time (at bandcamp?), I got terrible performance. Hwinfo wasn´t reporting any abnormal temps or throttling so I tried everything I could think of besides cleaning. In the end I was about to reinstall Windows when I gave it a shot whith cleaning and boom, back to normal.

 

Agreed about overheating. If they have cleaned it out from any dust for you it would probably be the thermal compound. When you ordered the computer originally did you get the stock thermal compound or something better like IC Diamond. If it was stock, then it probably is time to repaste that.