P150HM Overheats and shuts down, how can I fix this?

Hi, I'm pretty new to computers so I'm unsure how to resolve this problem. I've had the P150HM for about 2 years, and now whenever I do power-intensive things with it such as play games it gets very hot, the screen goes black and it shuts down with no warning message. I'm guessing this is because the computer overheats and there is a safety that just shuts it down to prevent damage?

I had this issue once last year, and was able to solve it by removing dust in the fans. However, after some research I found out that issues like this could be caused by fans, vents, and heatsink. I'm all right removing dust from fans, but would greatly appreciate help in how to deal with the other two, or to solve other potential problems that cause overheating that I'm not aware of.

Thanks.

 

Welcome to NBR!
You're probably right about it being a thermal protection.
As you mentioned the first thing you want to do is clean out the computer from any built up dust on the fans and vents. If you do that and the problem is fixed you dont have to go any further. To keep temps ideal doing this at least one every six months is best.
If you do that and you're still having problems then you'll want to consider reapply thermal compound on the CPU and GPU. You will find some good advice and links on how to do so here http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/712475-re-applying-thermal-paste-gpu-cpu.html.

 

Thank you! I removed the dust and it seems to have solved the problem. I'll try the thermal paste it it continues.

 

Good to hear, that fixes overheating 99% of the time. Do it at least every 6 months to keep on top of the temps.

 

Hey Midknight Cat!

I'm glad Hutsady was able to help you out. It really does sound like a thermal issue; systems typically have a threshold that, once reached or crossed, the system will power down to prevent further heat accumulation (and thus, permanent damage). Good call.

Let us know if you have any questions on the compound or application!

 

welcome to the forum Midknight Cat

all great advice above from our regular (we never sleep and are always on the forum) suppliers

its defo a good idea to keep an eye on temperatures with some free software which you can find in my sig below. i use core temps and hwinfo64 for cpu and nvidia inspector and msi afterburner for gpu.
summer time and ambient room temperatures always helps towards slightly higher readings as well.

this video is for the latter P150EM which is almost the same as your model so it gives a good idea about upgrades and thermal paste applying Puget Systems Traverse Pro M550i Component Replacement - YouTube

 

Also, when removing dust be sure to use compressed air instead of a vacuum!

 

Air compressor is ideal, but canned air will work. Just make sure not to tilt it as it can build up moisture.

 

the only one ive seen so far that is invertable is sprayduster and can be used at any angle AF International - Spray dusters - SPDI200D - Super Duster Invertible