Monitor Crashes???

[Grogle]

Help, I have played COTN fine up to a point, before my laptop screen crashes, and I can no longer see what is going on! The interface at the bottom is still visible, so I can save the game and log out, but even after doing this the screen has "dots all over it" they are in a bunch of vertical lines which change colour whith movement of the mouse pointer!!!
It takes longer for this to happen when playing from a cold computer, but if I switch off and reboot system the screen is fine, but the hotter the comp the faster it happens again, so at best i can play for about 3-4 hours before i have to give up and allow the computer to cool down!!!
It doesn't happen with any other games, eg Age Of Mythology which i can play for ages at a time, so what is this doing to my laptop?

Have attached the DXDiag file, please let me know.

[Keith]

Your video and audio drivers are relatively current.

My offhand guess is that your laptop may be experiencing some thermal problems. Especially if you are running it off of batteries. Those batteries do get warm.

This game puts a lot of stress on the hardware of your system so your equipment is working very hard.

[Amenirdis]

My offhand guess is that your laptop may be experiencing some thermal problems. Especially if you are running it off of batteries. Those batteries do get warm.

That would be my guess, too.
Play while being connected to a power supply. Change the Engergy settings from Laptop to Desktop.
Make sure there's enough room near the fan so that the warm air can escape.

[m1970c]

I had the same problem with my laptop after about 3hrs play it kept grining to a halt so i ended up playing it on my desktop instead ! :D

[Keith]

There are thermal "cooling pads' that can be placed under laptops to help disipate the heat generated by battery usage.

[Grogle]

Have just managed to play for a record time of about 6-7 hours without a crash. I think the thermal problem sounds about right, Where can you get those cooling pads???
And as this is a pretty new laptop (about a month and a half) surely it shouldn't do this? Have I got an arguement for sending it back?
Thanks for the help!

[Jeff Fiske]

Looks like you can get one for around $20.
http://www.newegg.com/app/SearchProductResult.asp?Submit=Go&DEPA=0

I once had a laptop catch on fire when doing a demo! Although this was in 1998, we still have problems with our laptops overheating here so I don't think that returning your laptop will solve your problem as you may get another that does the same thing. (We use a mini-desk fan that clips to the desk- not a great solution).

I would go with trying one of the heat sink's linked, after reading user reviews. Of course someone on this forum might have a specific device in mind.

[Keith]

Tigerdirect (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=447426&sku=Z19-1098) also has a cooling pad listed also. They also have a number of different CPU cooling options (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=cpu+cooling+cpu+cooling&lowprice=0&highprice=0&mnf=0&cat=0&priceStr=0&key=cpu+cooling) listed dependent on your computer, CPU make and type, etc.

The age of the laptop doesn't have much to do with how hot it will get. Batteries when in use generate heat and laptops can get pretty hot.