Atomic Systems

Can anyone help me out here? I have an Acer Aspire 5755G laptop which I bought specifically for playing 'Train Simulator', however the last time I played the game my laptop got too hot and turned itself off, the performance of the laptop also dropped, once being able to play on the lowest TSX setting it struggled to play the game on basic settings. My friends have continued to use Train Simulator on their laptop when it was getting too hot and eventually the laptop wouldn't start up anymore.
Is this normal for a this laptop? Also should I continue to use it or would it be best to stop playing now while my laptop still works?
Thanks.

Laptops get hot when 'pushed'.
Games 'push' computers pretty hard.

That's always been the case, and probably always will be. I wouldn't think about stopping playing the game because the lappy gets hot, but think how to get rid of that heat so you can continue playing. Don't have it on your knee with the vents covered up (worthwhile checking now that they aren't blocked with dust) ; if it's on a desk raise the rear edge a fraction to allow air (and therefore the heat) to circulate and move away---a proper lap top stand can be bought fairly cheaply; these often have a material with good thermal properties to move the heat away.

You Could consider a laptop cooler...
I don't use a cooler, since my laptop is mostly used for office work and is normally sitting on a table, so it doesn't become a problem for me. It would probably help some, and they normally aren't that expensive.

Cheers
Peter

PeterBN wrote:You Could consider a laptop cooler...
I don't use a cooler, since my laptop is mostly used for office work and is normally sitting on a table, so it doesn't become a problem for me. It would probably help some, and they normally aren't that expensive.

Cheers
Peter

Good morning
Picking up on Peters advice above
I can recommend the use of a lap top cooling stand
Mine is a Belkin and I've used this now for the past year without any problems
I picked it up from Amazon for £14
First though you need to check where the vents are located on the machine?
My lap top has vents around the side and two in the middle underneath
I have the cooler positioned so it blows air in to the central vents
Regularly check the vents and clean them carefully of any crud I try to do this on a monthly basis
Another thing to take in to account using a cooler is to use a powered USB Hub this ensures a good power supply to drive the fan correctly
If you just rely upon the lap top power this tends to be insufficient
I hope this info helps
Kind regards Stephen

Cooling stands aren't a bad idea and I have one but the laptop won't necessarily run any cooler because the fan speed will be controlled by the computer against temperature. Unless your laptop is hopelessly flawed - and Acer has an excellent reputation - then all a cooler should do is help not replace so don't expect it to be a panacea. It will lift the computer off the desk, though, and ought to reduce the dust getting into it though it's an expensive option for that!

It sounds like the machine used to run RW but doesn't now, which means something changed. I had a similar experience. My Lenovo CPU used to sit in the low 70s when running the sim but the temperatures kept rising until it was running in the low 80s instead. I guessed the airways had become partially blocked so I took the back off the laptop and found some build-up on the fan. The fan was running smoothly so I used some compressed air from an aerosol can to blow the crud away and thought that would do it. Nothing changed so I had another go but this time I blew the air into the laptop through the exhaust vent. A cloud of dust and fluff shot out! That did the trick and my computer is back to the low 70s when I'm running RW, whether it's on my cooling stand or not.

Keith

I have an Acer 5755G laptop and it runs Railworks on full settings on non TSX mode, but needs some compromises in settings for TSX. It depends on the graphics card fitted.
I use a cooling pad and it does get a bit hot, but not enough to cause a problem, even when running for long periods.

From this it sounds reasonable that you have a laptop is faulty. Internal cleaning is important as already mentioned so I would try that first.
After that if it's still problematic then back up everything before proceeding further.

When you have backed up you system, reinstall the original software using Acer recovery manager installed on your laptop.
You could then try installing Railworks again from the backup and see if the problem remains. If it does then your lappy requires repair.

I've had a warranty failure with my Acer and it took about 10 days for them to repair it. They have a good system for warranty repairs and the whole issue was dealt with effectively including labeling and collection etc. Note that the repaired laptop will be returned with original software only loaded.

Andym.

Both my son and myself used identical laptops, Acer Aspire, but I forget the model number.
He left his on the duvet, where it eventually overheated and shut down. It hasn't performed like it used to since, even after setting back to factory settings.
He recently ran a test on both the laptops and found that mine performs twice as well as his will now.

I don't use a cooler but always ensure all vents are in clear air and unobstructed.