Has anyone else had an issue with the game shutting down (powering off) your laptop mid-mission? I have a highish-end Alienware (Ryzen 9 6900HX, 64 GB RAM, Radeon RX6850 XT with 16 GB dedicated video memory) that is more than enough to run it. I originally thought it was an overheating issue, but it's random when it happens, sometimes I'll play for hours before it does it, and then other times it's the first mission I start after opening the game. All my drivers are up to date, so any ideas about what could be causing it, or suggestions on how to fix it? I've already turned the graphics all the way down from high to low and it still happens.

I would appreciate any helpful assistance.

Random shutdowns can be from almost anything, but a failing or insufficient power supply is one of the most likely suspects. I'm not sure how that would translate into a laptop though. Does it happen while plugged in and also while running on battery? Or just one?

With this being a laptop though, overheating is still a potential issue - hardware under high load heats up to near-max temperatures within a minute or two, and any sort of obstruction to a laptop's very very limited airflow can cause problems. Opening it up to blast out fans, heatsink filaments, and ventilation areas with a can of electronic duster won't be a bad idea - and is something that should be done regularly anyway (every 6-12mo) - more often if the area you use the laptop in is particularly dusty.

Download this (https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html) and run it in the background while you play games. It gives a lot of information about your hardware, including temperature readings. Pause the game and check it every so often. While under load, the cpu generally should not exceed 70c, the gpu, 80c.

Though as an aside, a laptop is always a poor choice for any sort of hardware-demanding gaming.

Hello.
Random shutdowns from a video game?

I will explain some things.

A) How old is your " Alienware " brand name laptop ( Dell is who manufactures them now. ) ?

B) When is the last time it was serviced?

Im thinking it IS indeed an overheating issue. Doesnt matter if you just start it up or not.

Do you run temperature monitors on your laptop?
I use HWMONITOR by CPUID myself.
Check core temps.

And depending on how old the laptop is.
A) Needs cleaned, preventive maintenance performed on the internals. Canned Air. Never know what builds up in there.
B) Might need new Thermal Paste on the CPU/GPU. This does tend to wear out, and needs replaced from time to time.
C) OR one of the fans might be DEAD. I had that happen once. Lost the main fan for the cpu/gpu. Slowly burnt out over time, dust. Not enough PM. Started losing rpm, then just locked up. Had to replace it asap. Cause it caused shutdowns.

Key things though.
No artifacts, no gfx issues.
So its not the GPU that is the likely culprit.

When it does this.
Have you checked your WINDOWS ADMINISTRATOR TOOLS?
EVENT VIEWER?
SYSTEM?
ANY STOP SIGNS?

There is a lot to troubleshoot if you want to fix this.

While PSU and Battery could be the culprit. Not likely. your WINDOWS OS would notify you if the battery were failing.

I think its overheating.
Got a laptop cooling pad?
Got knowledge of how to repair / service laptops?
The heatsinks and thermal paste is the first thing Id check, next to core temps.


The guy above, doesnt know his laptop temps.

While under load, the cpu generally should not exceed 70c, the gpu, 80c.....

Im on an overclocked older AMD Elite.
CPU Temp, 91.5C max, 85.6C low 86.8C avg..
GPU Temp is 40C max, 36C low, and 37C avg.

Thats just with air cooling and a cooling pad.
I have this thing heavily modified though, and it never goes above 91.5C

However, CPU/GPU depending on the brand, can handle way different temps.

Best recommendation is chk specs for your cpu/gpu brand.

If knowledgable and educated in PC repair.
Open it up, blow it out, and reapply thermal paste.
Check to make sure all fans, and vents are clear, and in good working order.

Likely Thermal Paste related.