My brand new computer keeps shutting down when playing COH

I bought a new Dell laptop computer and when I play COH my whole computer will just POOF, shut down with no warning. Im playing the game then its like someone pressed the Off key on my computer.

this is the info from COH helper. thanks!
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.8---

DxDiag gathered at September 27, 2009 13:30 (-04:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Studio 1555
BIOS: Ver 1.00 BIOS A06 PARTTBL"
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 3066MB
.Net Memory Report: 2389MB out of 3066MB available
Page File: 4247MB (704MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD3200BEVT-75ZCT2) 273216MB out of 305205MB (89%) free
D Drive: (HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GA11N) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor: Default Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
Manufacturer / Chip: ATI Technologies Inc. / ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9553)
Video Memory: 1024.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6925
Driver Date: 5/4/2009 10:36:10 PM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: IDT Audio
Driver File: sthda.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.6162.0000
Driver Date: 3/19/2009 8:35:42 PM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: 0C234M
Motherboard Version: A06
BIOS Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
BIOS Name: Ver 1.00 BIOS A06 PARTTBL"
BIOS Version: DELL - 6040000
BIOS Release: 20090423000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 800x600
3D Resolution: 800x600 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: No

Physics Quality: None
Maximum Particles: 100
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Crisp
Water Effects: None
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: No
Shader Detail: Lowest

World Texture Level: Low
Character Texture Level: Medium
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 0.500
Entity Detail Level: 0.500
Shadows Enabled: No
Gamma Correction: 0.864
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: Yes
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Compatiblity
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600

Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.000
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 2348960 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 1600.20090902.5T2
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found

The usual culprits for shutdowns are overheating and underpowered.

Use Speedfan to check on your temperature.

Don't know how to check for power issues on a laptop.

You can try going to your manufacturer's website and see if this is a common problem for that machine. While there, see if there are any updates for you motherboard's chipset/CPU.

In the meantime please check out this thread, Common Solutions & Posting Guidelines


Then post the results of this program:

• HijackThis - it will show us what's running on your computer concurrently with CoH. Click on "Do a system Scan and save a logfile." It will automatically open up Notepad and put the info there. Make sure Wordwrap is off in Notepad (Format > Wordwrap unchecked) before you cut and paste here.

Check that you don't have the machine set to hibernate after a period of time. The only other time I've had something like that happen is when the system is overheating, and will shut itself down. I had that on my laptop when I accidentally had a vent blocked. You might try dusting the system and marking sure your vents are unobstructed.

Thanks for the responses.
The only reason I didnt think it was overheating is that when it shuts down I can reboot it back up and start playing again like nothing happened.

On my old computer if it reheated Id need to leave it off for a little while before going in and playing again.

A GB of video memory and you're running 800x600?

It's shared memory, is this an onboard vid chip? I know nothing about ATI.

well...i bought this http://www.amazon.com/ACC-NT-CRYO-LX...5919313&sr=8-1
and laptop still shuts down when I play this game

I cant return this laptop. I got the Speedfan software and as soon as I load up COH my fan goes crazy.

I play now with minimum graphics and gamma. Isnt there anything else I can do?

While it is probably a heating issue, you might also run a memory test to ensure the quality of your memory.

When I first started playing this game years ago I had some bad upper memory but never realized it till I played this game and kept crashing out.

If you can install a diagnostic tool (I'm not sure what ATi compatible stuff is out there), see if you can probe the temperature of the GPU as you play.

If the GPU temps don't seem to be affected very much by fan speeds, even when ramped up fully, you may want to see if the heat sink to the GPU has been properly installed. Consult online with other people who have the same laptop or GPU to see if they temperatures you see are inline with theirs. If not you might be able to fix it.

If it is under warranty, sometimes the vendor might humour you and attempt a repair.

If you are sneaky and have a good PC installer type friend or overclocker, they can probably do a better warranty voiding job than the vendor and seat/reseat the GPU using a high quality thermal compound. Of course the usual caveats apply when cracking open a computer. There are a million and one things to break and if it doesn't work afterwards don't blame me.

A GPU reseat may not cure your overheating entirely but should significantly improve the cooling capacity of the fan and heatsink already installed. Since this is a laptop, changing out the heatsink and fan is an unlikely fix since better parts probably don't exist unless you are a machinist.

In the meantime perhaps the /maxfps command might keep you from overheating while not looking at an ugly game.

Thanks a lot
I did /maxfps and it says Maxfps 0
is that right?

Im totally clueless about this stuff

I'm not familiar with Speedfan but, if you are running ATI and the Catalyst Control Center is loaded up (usually indicated by "CCC.exe" and "MOM.exe" in processes running) there is a fan speed control in there. By having Speedfan and CCC running maybe they are conflicting?

I forget if the ATI driver has the same features on a laptop so.........
If the control center is running, there should be a ATI symbol in your taskbar by the clock. If not, you should be able to bring it up by using the same method as if you wanted to change resolutions.

Once the control center is open, click the "Graphics" drop down loacted upper left corner.
>Choose "ATI Overdrive"
if the driver for the laptop has the same features as a desktop you should see two sections marked "Enable ATI Overdrive" and "Enable Manual Fan Control". In order for the fan speed to be adjusted you need to
>Click the lock symbol to unlock the section
>Place a check mark in the "Enable ATI Overdrive" box
>Place a check in "Enable Manual Fan Control"

You can then manually adjust the fan speed. You must choose the "Enable ATI Overdrive" in order for the fan to respond manually. Don't ask me why but, that's the only way I have ever got it to work in the past 3 builds of the control center. You do NOT need to adjust the Overdrive feature so, you are not overclocking the chip.

And, if you don't have these features on the laptop version of the driver, sorry =( that's the best I could do to help.