Crashing during gameplay [Solved]

[CressAlbane]

I've recently been having an issue with my computer crashing. When I'm running an application that seems to be "graphically intense," (I use quotes because this ranges from Skyrim to ZeroEditor) the computer will crash after about 3-7 minutes of use. The crash is a straight power-off; it doesn't have any error message or blue screen.
I've been trying to figure out what's causing this, and here's what I've done so far. Advanced System Care v6 reports that my system is fine. Originally I thought the problem might have something to do with sound, as I was having an issue where sounds would become garbled after about the same length of gameplay. The crashing issue happens when the application doesn't use sound, though, (ZeroEditor), so I've eliminated that. I haven't tested it completely, but changing my 3D graphics device from NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M to integrated graphics seemed to help quite a bit. I only tested this fix with Sonic Adventure 2, a game with mild graphics, so far, and while the game ran very slowly, no crash seemed to happen after playing for about 45 minutes. I tried updating the driver for the NVIDIA card, but it didn't fix the issue (it was up to date). Since the crash seemed originally to be a power disconnect, I opened the laptop and made sure the battery was well-connected. This didn't change anything, however.
Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? I'm planning to try a factory reset within the next few days.
Computer: Dell XPS 17 laptop
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M
Processor: Intel Core i7-2630QM @ 2.00GHz
RAM: 6GB

[kinetosimpetus]

Have you checked the CPU temperature?

This program claims to be able to report temperatures, and even issue alarms for high temps. http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

[Marth8880]

I had this same problem. Turned out my graphics card's fan wasn't spinning.

[CressAlbane]

It looks like CPU temperature could be the issue.
I just ran the game alongside Real Temp to monitor things; the max temperature it hit was 97°! It didn't crash during the run, so I think what's happening is CPU hitting 100° and shutting off for safety. My CPU's temperature while I'm typing this is 80°, apparently, which seems very high for such an idle state. I'm going to look into cleaning out the inside of the computer, but if that's not the issue, it might be the fan - I was having some strange fan noise a few weeks ago. I'll keep you all posted - please let me know if you have any other suggestions or ideas!

EDIT: It actually appears my fan has a real issue. I downloaded Speedfan, hoping to make my fan run a bit faster automatically, and it didn't detect any fans! Does anyone have any ideas what is wrong here? Is my fan broken?

[Twilight_Warrior]

Short answer? Probably.

[Loopy53]

Long answer: Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooost likely. I would look into getting a new cooler perhaps. Water cooling is always great, but not an option for laptops. No detection of fans could be speedfan itself, as the gpu/cpu may not have a fan controller chip thingy. If the fan is spinning, cleaning and lubing it is fine. IF not, get a new cooler. I always use an external laptop cooler, something ergonomic and that covers the entire base is always great. coolmaster is a great place to start. If your on a soft surface that could be the issue. 80*c is likely a clogged fan. so do this:

start by cleaning fans and lubing them ( if you know how )
test
if it works, great if not
get an external cooler
if that drops the temps to below 60, great if not
look into a new, better fan
if that works, great if not
get a new laptop case with more holes for better airflow. That should do it.

hope this helps!

[CressAlbane]

Thanks, Loopy53. I do feel very faint airflow coming from the vent, but it's not as strong as I remember (although I could be wrong). I'm going to be working on the fan within the next 5 days; I'll report back then.

[Marth8880]

Well...not all laptops have motherboards that support fan control, but still, it could be broken.

[CressAlbane]

Fan replaced, computer no longer crashing. Temps might still be a bit higher than they should be.

[THEWULFMAN]

Honestly I'm a happy camper if my GPU is around 80c when playing games on my laptop, but often get closer to 85c than I'd like.

Thanks Dell for having your GPU not actually touch the heat sink, using a horrific heat pad to bridge the gap. My CPU is fine because it touches the heat sink link it's support to.

My motherboard doesn't support fan control, doesn't show up for me in Speedfan either.

[CressAlbane]

Thanks - it's comforting to know somebody else is getting the same range of temps I am. Fan still isn't showing up in SpeedFan, by the way.

[Loopy53]

It might not, try MSI afterburner and see if it does.

[THEWULFMAN]

I use that too (to underclock my GPU), I doubt it'll be there. It's not Speedfan's fault, it's the motherboard.