Unresolved issue with overheating

HP HDX X18T-1200 CTO Premium Notebook PC
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P8800 @ 2.66 GHz
Windows Vista 64-Bit
NVidia GeForce GT 130M
4.00 GB RAM

My laptop overheats and completely shuts off within a few minutes of playing CoH. I say it overheats because the keypad gets progressively hotter and the heat coming off the laptop can be felt 2 feet away on my face. Eventually just before it shuts off the entire laptop is scorching hot.

I've taken, as far as me and my friends are concerned, EVERY measure to make the game playable. We've reformatted the computer and reset everything to factory defaults, reinstalled CoH from the installation disc, run the program in Safe Mode, and even mailed the laptop to HP to check for hardware issues. HP says the hardware is working properly.

I'm currently using a dual fan 2500-rpm cooler, and the laptop is always in a 70 degree temperature controlled room.

Are we missing something?

If HP actually checked the hardware instead of just running a diagnostic program then you've done all you can. You might try some canned air to make sure the vents are clean but other than that nothing. CoH is quite simply very stressful on both the processor and GPU. Nothing else from stress tests to other graphics intense games causes my temperatures to spike like CoH does. Mine stays well within tolerance but still heats up amazingly fast.

The problem is that laptops, even most gaming laptops, simply aren't made to bleed off heat quickly. There isn't a lot of room in there for a heat sink and cooking fans. So it all depends on how the particular cpu and gpu handle the strain. In your laptop's case they obviously don't handle it well. And if your computer is repeatedly running so hot that it shuts down then it's likely going to die soon if put under any more strain.

I hate to say this but, if HP really did give it a once-over and it's all working properly, then it's just poorly designed or manufactured. Those specs look pretty good. A system that powerful just shouldn't be overheating when running CoH at minimum settings - unless it was designed badly right from the start.

Nvidia mobile GPUs run hotter than they should. Add that to the flaw in how HP built the heatsinks on some models (way too large of a gap between the GPU and heatsink) and you have over heating laptops. Some laptops are getting so hot that the GPUs are melting the solder between the chip and the board.