[Crash] Crash to... off

Did you measure temps? both CPU and GPU..

Did you play on battery or powercord?

Do you experience this behaviour with any other (heavy) programms?

etc

I did measure both.  I have them monitored with alarm if too high.  With the game running, I was at around 73C.  I have my laptop on a cooling fan thing (which I know doesn't help that much). 

During each crash, I had it plugged in (power cord). 

The only other time this has happened to my recollection was once while running Skype.  Otherwise, as far as usage, I don't know which games are actually heavy use.  But on my laptop, I've played games like XCOM very smoothly.  

(I'm currently abroad, so I don't have my gaming rig to play with).  

hmm.

Most shutdowns are either heat or psu related. You excluded heat.

I can not recall knowing a full shudown being not hardware related. Either the software overloaded the machine or the hardware was worn down.

The alpha dhas a high CPU load, but (for me) its not maxing it out.

Hows the lapotopfan running any problems there? (not the extra cooler)

73 seems kinda high.. the game is very very cpu intensive so that might be the issue

Yeah, I have noticed, using other monitoring programs, that the cpu load is extremely high... higher than anything I have ever run on this laptop. It is not an old laptop... has good specs as far as laptops go (that aren't designed for gaming).  But I have played a number of games that are high on graphic details with a lot of other stuff going on.  Most recently I played Banished with no problems.

It does seem like a hardware issue.  However, if it is related to the heavy load, (maybe because of the increased memory and 64-bit computing) I wonder if that is something to address given that this is alpha, and the game will only get more complicated (thus even heavier cpu use).

In my experience laptops can be finicky about heat. If you live in a place where it is cold, you can try playing the game outside and see if the problem persist. Im serious I did that before.

I also noticed the game is very heavy on the CPU, I have a I5 4670k so it can take it but I still get a healthy 75% load on all cores just while idling on the galaxy. 

Very, very true. My wife's VAIO will CTD at a preset temperature, or sometimes even if you look at it the wrong way. Seriously though, try to set the graphics right down to as low as possible, and shut down any programs running in the background to try to lower demand. And cross your fingers too.

CPU usage is not likely to go down. Since the game needs all those threads to not only render the game, but also for the AI. You need to address the cooling issues on your laptop. Check that fans are running and such. Even under extreme loads the laptop shouldn't be overheating. If it is something is wrong with the fans or you've duct taped the exhaust ports

Well the second post is intresting. Bit old and much to read but might help you tips on overheating

I'm more inclined after reading all of these replies to suspect a back level GPU driver. Try running DxDiag and posting the "Systems information" and the "Display Devices" sections here. It could also be an audio driver, but that is rare.

I'm still not convinced it is a heating issue since I've tried it multiple times with temp sensors checking (unless the sensors are broken) and the system does not approach critical temps.  The system is nearly dust free - all fans working, thermal paste reapplied (properly).  All drivers are up to date.

Now, it is possible that the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400 can't handle it.  Or... my laptop, even if it is not old, is starting to break down.  I used to work in computer repair so I am familiar with the potential issues.  Often in this case, after cooling systems are checked, memory tested, etc... I start to suspect either something gone wrong with the MB chipset, power connections, etc.  

Anyway, as I said in the OP, it may not have anything to do with the game.  But maybe in the alpha the game engine is not as efficient as it will be later.  *shrugs*

During any alpha or beta test, you can expect debugging features to be turned on, and that they will be turned off for the full release. But I don't think this is your problem. And with your load showing 75% (high, yes, but not unreasonable) I have difficulty seeing this as a cause.

Your graphics card certainly meets minimum requirements as stated in the Steam description of the game.

Something has to trigger the shutdown, and I don't think the game could do that by itself. My first thought was temperature, but the temps you gave us are certainly not enough to cause it. I would not expect temperature to cause a shutdown until the graphics card had declocked several times, in which case I would expect you to see continuingly degrading performance.

So now we get to the more remote possible causes, and I suspect you are already guessing what I am thinking of and probably have already checked for them, but here it is anyway. -- Have you checked for viruses, adware, and browser hijackers?

One other thought: you mentioned you have an Intel I7, but you didn't mention what model.

From here on I find myself grasping for straws as to what the problem might be (perhaps I am already) and if this doesn't help you may have to find a better qualified person to track the problem down.

Hehe... the system is clean from all kinds of malware.  I'm fairly meticulous about this sort of thing.  The CPU model is 740QM.  But yeah, full shutoffs are not simple to track down... almost always hardware, and usually heat.  But since heat isn't the issue, it is possible that one of several components have just degraded over time.  

Really, the only reason I brought it up here is because other than one time using Skype, I've not had this happen at any other time with this laptop.  And, it was not a one-off occurrence as it has happened a number of times. 

Anyway, not much else to say here.  :/

Good luck in tracking it down. I hope you find the problem and I would really like to know what caused it (purely from a curiosity standpoint).

Another post on this forum made me think of another possibility: bad memory management by the OS. Have you looked at the debug.err file yet? Perhaps there is a clue there.

Some people have been seeing a sensitivity to display resolution size. You might try different size options in the game "options" -> "Graphics" menu.

You may find something if you examine the game's debug.err file. Or you can post it here, maybe I will see something.

Well, I ran several furmark stress tests and low and behold...the computer shut-off a couple times.  The temp however did not hit critical.  Looks like I have a mysterious hardware problem. Since I can't just swap out components on the laptop, it looks like... well...  time for a new laptop!  Weee!!!

Ouch.

(Or I can just wait a few months 'til I'm back home with my desktop and keep using this laptop for work... which is what it is for anyway).