My Computer overheats, and then freezes up.

[Prussian to the Iron]

its odd. no matter how much ventilation it gets (short of a fan blowing directly into the vent), my laptop overheats if it plays a game too long. once it does this, the screen turns black, the Internet Assistant button turns off, and it appears to be in sleep mode, but the game is still running, evidenced by the audio.

how can i stop this? it mainly happens when playing newer games, usually Mount and Blade: Warband, during graphics heavy battles. is it my graphics card telling me its smoked? whats happening?

[Rhyfelwyr]

Are you sure it is overheating? My PC had problems playing some games for any length of time, and IIRC it was to do with dodgy RAM.

Wrong forum in any case.

[Prussian to the Iron]

what do you mean, dodgy RAM? like not enough?

and its definitely getting VERY hot at the vent, though it may not be the problem necessarily.though it gets really hot no matter whether i'm gaming or just letting it idle at the desktop.

[drone]

Do you have a dog or cat, and when is the last time you cleaned out the vent grills on the laptop?

[Prussian to the Iron]

no pets, and you have to clean those out?i'll take a pic of the vent where it gets hottest, dont know if you can tell if it needs to be cleaned. I doubt it, because I have a fan blowing on it just about all the time it's on, just itt was packed up for moving and its on its way to Virginie.

[Beskar]

Just to be on the safe side, run Memtest86+. This will make sure it isn't a RAM issue (which it can be, similar error to what you described). Overheating laptops generally go as hot as a georgeforeman grill, and everything degrades performance wise, and it usually just switches itself off, not crash like you are describing. (though it is possible)

As for overheating laptops, there are many issues from power setting to graphics driver. As a rule of thumb, always have the laptop raised, not lying flat on a surface of a table or similar, especially when gaming, as the heat acculumates in the wood which causes cooling issues.