Laptop issues yet again.

[Duke{CLR}]

OK guys I am having some troubles with my laptop. I have gone through two video cards in about 90 days. The original fried then they put a refurbished one in which fried shortly after. I also just had the MB replaced because of a suspected issue with charging the battery. Now after a few minutes of gaming the machine will freeze up. It also seems to happen when some kind of action is occuring. This happens with DOD:S HL2 and COD4. I have not been able to test any other games as of yet.

The latest driver is several years old and I reinstalled it but this did not fix the issue.

My question is could it be something other then a video card that would cause a game to freeze after a few minutes. The only way to recover from the freeze is to power down.

[juneau]

What exactly do you mean by some kind of action? Say opening Firefox etc? If this is the case it's very unlikely to be the graphics card, unless you mean action occuring in the game itself. Have you ran any scans on the HDD to check for bad sectors?

[Duke{CLR}]

The issue only happens when there seems to be some sort of action in a game. The rest of the time it works fine. This thing is three years old and it get tossed about quite a bit so doing a HDD check would be a good idea regardless.

I'm trying to limit the time I will need to spend on the phone with Dell by narrowing the field.

I suspect the refurbished parts are the but I want to be sure.

[juneau]

Seems as though when the laptop is put under pressure it freezes. Typically any 3d app at any stage will cause problems. Not just when there is action on screen.

Possibly the power supply i guess. Too much strain being put on it.

[WalkinTarget]

Is this a Gateway laptop ? I have my worries about getting refurb parts in a laptop, as they are 'refurbished' for a reason. Regardless, the warranty should cover it for any length of time, as it is a pre-existing issue that you have already alerted them to.

Sadly, not much you can do but have it repaired yet again. I wouldn't ever get caught with a lappy as my only gaming option. Hell, I don't even bother to use mine unless I'm going on vacation.

[Duke{CLR}]

I'll have to call Dell and see what they come up with. I hope I don't need to have this thing fixed every week.

[Trooper110]

Overheating maybe? Have you checked the battery manufacturer or with Dell to be sure it's not one that was recalled? Other than that, I'm guessing you have the external fans clear of obstructions and the laptop on a solid surface, no carpet or sofa, etc. If it's not overheating, I'd guess it's the refurb card.

[Duke{CLR}]

I have plenty of ventilation I use the targus Podium cooling pad which raises the back of the laptop several inches off the desk. I wish the battery was recalled then I wouldn't need to replace it. It's dead and not being used at this time. Although the I cant get to the temps after one of the lockups if I play for a short period and log off the stay in the 60's Im sure longer play would be much higher because low 80's were the norm for this thing before they replaced the card.