GPU Performance and Temperature Issues
By
Bright Shadow,
Posted on: 2010-11-04 14:53 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
For some reason OpenGL games, like CoH, will stress a graphics card more than a Direct3D game. No idea why.
Want to stress test your videocard, max out temp and power use, a number of review sites now use FurMark, which happens to be OpenGL based.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
I don't have any issues with the card to stress test it though. I'm just worried that playing CoH at 84°C might ruin my card.
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
For some reason OpenGL games, like CoH, will stress a graphics card more than a Direct3D game. No idea why.
Want to stress test your videocard, max out temp and power use, a number of review sites now use FurMark, which happens to be OpenGL based.
And it seems the only thing I can do to lower the temperature to around 73°C is to either:
A. Bring the resolution down to 1280 x 800 (I'm running at 1680 x 1050 now) or...
B. Remove the side-panel of my case. This is not something I'd have to do just run ONE stupid game. xD
Bottom line is...SHOULD I worry about 84°C?! If so, I might just as well lower the resolution.
Quote:
If you are getting a lower temperature with the side of the case open, then you might have an airflow problem in your case. It sounds to me like something is obstructing your airflow. Either you have poor cable management, or you do not have enough fans doing what they are supposed to be doing. Proper airflow in a case should almost always run cooler than having the side open.|
Originally Posted by Bright Shadow
B. Remove the side-panel of my case. This is not something I'd have to do just run ONE stupid game. xD
|
The point to having the case enclosed is to purposely force fresh air in through the front and throughout the case and out the back. An open case ruins the airflow and cause some areas to be stagnant and get even hotter. It's not usually recommended to run with the case open unless you have a small fan blowing into the case to force airflow.
On a side note, I heard that the higher-end NVidia cards do run fairly hot when under stress anyway, especially OpenGL, so you might be safe for now, at least by a few degrees. The reason he was asking you to do a stress test is to see what kind of numbers you get from your card under a controlled test environment.
Quote:
This. Unless you have a box fan pointed at it while the side panel is off, the computer should run cooler with the side panel on. If not, something is wrong: fans running too slow, not enough fans, fans not balanced (i.e. all pulling in or all blowing out), filters clogged, etc.
|
Originally Posted by Master-Blade
If you are getting a lower temperature with the side of the case open, then you might have an airflow problem in your case. It sounds to me like something is obstructing your airflow. Either you have poor cable management, or you do not have enough fans doing what they are supposed to be doing. Proper airflow in a case should almost always run cooler than having the side open.
|
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Yah, I don't have a very good case. But I got it for free as a bundle on some of the parts I ordered...so! It has one fan in the front, one larger fan in the back. There is also a "pipe" that kindda "sits" on top of the the fan mounted on top of CPU (it's attached to the removable side panel and when the side panel is closed, it positions directly on top of CPU fan, which directs the CPU heat straight out the case).
The issue is...the "pipe" thingy, is right in front of the rear fan. And the video card is at the very bottom of the case below the pipe.
I tried many things, including removing the pipe, adding a third fan on the side panel, etc etc. But nothing seemed to have a drastic effect.
I guess I have to save up for a better case. Sigh!
Nvidia spec page on that card, http://www.nvidia.com/object/product...tx_260_us.html
says max temp 105c
I have the PNY 216 core version of that card, and OC it runs about 80c under gaming load. I wouldn't worry to much about it, but if you are, you can use a program to set/adjust fan speed(s) to help with the cooling. More noise however.
Unfortunately, this is normal. At least for CoH. The only way I can tell you to lower the temperature is to use software to manage the fan control on the card and push it up beyond 40%, to like 60-75%.
Quote:
I tried your solution. And it works wonderfully. I downloaded EVGA Precision for my card and it had a nifty feature that'd let me create a "temperature vs. fan speed" curve and after some adjustment, it's lowering my temperature down rather significantly.
Originally Posted by Lakevren_
Unfortunately, this is normal. At least for CoH. The only way I can tell you to lower the temperature is to use software to manage the fan control on the card and push it up beyond 40%, to like 60-75%.
But this comes at the cost of extra noise and extra wear on my fan. Hopefully the latter is not that big of an issue.
The noise I can deal with. Until at least I get a new case over Christmas!
First thing's first. There are my system specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2 Q9300 @ 2.5 GHz
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, 896 MB Memory
Now I can run CoH rather decently at near-max graphics with Ultra Mode. My frame rate usually hovers around 35 FPS. Sometimes it spikes to 60 FPS or even beyond when there is not much going on. In some other areas of the game, especially in Pocket D, for some reason, it drops to as low as 15 FPS.
I have Vertical Sync forced off both in game and in NVIDIA Control Panel, and I'm following the settings found here:
jg0001's NVIDIA Settings for Quality (ver2), Post #136
But performance isn't my main issue. My issue is that with these settings, my GPU seems to run at around 84 °C.
I run games like Fallout New Vegas, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and all those 'fancy' games at maximum graphics, and my GPU NEVER spikes that high in temperatue! At max it'd only float around 70 °C!
During idle times when I'm not running games or doing graphically intensive stuff, my GPU hangs around 50 °C.
I'm just wondering is this behavior normal?! City of Heroes looks visually terrible in comparison to all those high end video games; why would it punish my GPU like this? Does anyone else experience this pattern? Is there something I can do that would improve my performance without making the game look even worse than it does?
Is 84 °C too dangerous? Should I even worry? I might just be paranoid since my recent graphics card fried on a hot day when hitting around 90 °C (it was a 9800 GTX) which made me go buy the one I currently have.