Laptop instantly shuts off as if overheating despite normal temperatures.

[Peyton76]

So my laptop is pretty old and has recently been overheating on pretty much every game. I know all the common issues being thermal paste/fans not working/dust buildup.

I clear it of dust buildup regularly, it's like new in that regard. I replaced the main fan not too long ago and it's working fine. I've cleaned out the old thermal paste and reapplied arctic silver properly and cleanly. I don't see why it should be overheating.

The confusing thing is, I keep an eye on the temperatures and the hottest anything gets is the GPU at 60-65c, usually around 45-50c.
Yet the laptop still just shuts off instantly as if it were overheating during any games or similarly intensive programs.
I don't have the money to replace it unfortunately, am I out of luck and the gpu simply done for?

Specs:

• 
  HP HDX 18 Notebook
  Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @2.26GHz
  NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
  3GB of RAM
  Windows 7 x64

I understand these specs are considerably less than stellar but it's been enough to run most things I've been running on low or medium or whatever is needed to work, currently I can't run anything from the past ten years.
Any help is appreciated!

 

[Laptop_Nerd]

Hi,

Please do try these troubleshooting steps that may help in identifying the issue. The problem may not be the GPU, it could just be the AC adapter or battery.
- First do test the AC adapter, remove the battery off the laptop then plug in just the AC adapter and see if it will stay on.
- If it will still shut down I would suggest trying a different AC adapter as well and see if the same problem will happen.
- If the same issue will happen with a different AC adapter that confirms it that the problem is with the motherboard.
- But if it doesn't shut down with just the AC adapter without the battery that means it's just the battery that is faulty.
- Or if it doesn't shut down with a different AC adapter that means it's just the charger that is faulty.

 

[Peyton76]

Took a while to get replacement AC adapter and test it out, unfortunately the shutdowns still occur. Plugged in/battery/both. Does this mean it's the mobo, if yes is it something I can perhaps fix or am I SOL?

Edit: Sorry double post

 

[Peyton76]

Hi,

Please do try these troubleshooting steps that may help in identifying the issue. The problem may not be the GPU, it could just be the AC adapter or battery.
- First do test the AC adapter, remove the battery off the laptop then plug in just the AC adapter and see if it will stay on.
- If it will still shut down I would suggest trying a different AC adapter as well and see if the same problem will happen.
- If the same issue will happen with a different AC adapter that confirms it that the problem is with the motherboard.
- But if it doesn't shut down with just the AC adapter without the battery that means it's just the battery that is faulty.
- Or if it doesn't shut down with a different AC adapter that means it's just the charger that is faulty.

Took a while to get replacement AC adapter and test it out, unfortunately the shutdowns still occur. Plugged in/battery/both. Does this mean it's the mobo, if yes is it something I can perhaps fix or am I SOL?