Just a few quick questions...

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KillerSkaarj

KillerSkaarj

Art for swans is dope!
Jan 24, 2008
486
0
0
Ok, last night, I was clearing dust from my computer and stumbled upon a gruesome sight. The CPU's heatsink was covered, yes, COVERED in dust. It was like a blanket over it. So this brings me to my questions: Does the CPU fan also help keep the rest of the computer cool, not just the CPU itself? And if so, do you think overheating causes games to run crappier, such as UT2004 lagging miserably with random graphical glitches such was the "killer polygons," random polygons that appear to stretch off of nearby meshes?

I know these are stupid questions, but my curiosity must know this.
 
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GreatEmerald

Khnumhotep
Jan 20, 2008
4,042
1
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Lithuania
Yeap, dust keeps getting into the fan, and cleaning it will greatly increase performace. Actually, not cleaning it might result in hardware failure because the temperatures get so high the components can melt. You have to clean your PC at least once a year. Usually PCs also warn you about overheating (starts beeping like crazy, first short beeps, then faster until it gets to one long beep that drives everyone crazy). And I've also noticed that cleaning the dust makes booting faster, both BIOS and MBR load a lot more quickly.
 
SkaarjMaster

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
8
38
Sarasota, FL
Yes, I would clean your PC every 6 months just to make sure but definitely every year; that reminds me, I haven't cleaned this one at work in a while.:)

Skakruk, is Coretemp/Realtemp better than CPU-Z?
 
SkaarjMaster

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
8
38
Sarasota, FL
OK, I'll try Coretemp for my older system (single core) and Realtemp for my new dual core system; I'll also look into Speedfan, but I'm not looking to speed up or slow down my fans right now especially with 4 of them hooked to a Nexus fan controller already that I control from the front.

KillerSkaarj, see what a few quick questions gets you?;) By the way, get back to base, we attack the Necris soon!:)
 
KillerSkaarj

KillerSkaarj

Art for swans is dope!
Jan 24, 2008
486
0
0
Hehe, yeah, kinda weird.

What's also kinda weird is that I think UT3 messed up my Video card. Now I can't play UT2004 on all highest settings anymore because of odd graphical anomalies. The bad thing about this is that I bought this card specifically for that (and Spore too) and since it's no longer able to do what I want, I have no choice but to replace it, and I'll do that once I build my new computer.
 
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GreatEmerald

Khnumhotep
Jan 20, 2008
4,042
1
0
Lithuania
It actually can, through overheating. My PC started beeping while playing UT3 too, and if I were to ignore that, I'm pretty sure something would have melted. So in your case something might have melted already. So make sure there's no dust and good airflow before you play UT3, and also enable BIOS overheat warnings (under PC Health) for the CPU so you could hear if it's about to overheat.
 
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Almost Tactful

Almost Tactful

Unreal Noob
Apr 8, 2009
154
0
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For those that are running Intel's 45nm CPU's the newest version of RealTemp is the best as it is pre-loaded with all the correct TJMax settings for the most accurate temperature reporting ;) and to the OP, keep the computer clean and I'm not sure if you do or not but if you smoke by it that can really make it nasty inside.
 
SkaarjMaster

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
8
38
Sarasota, FL
CoreTemp doesn't support my old P4 3.2 Northwood processor, so I guess I'll use both for my new system and not add anything new to the old system (idle CPU temps for PC Probe and MBM5 are both at 36 degrees C right now).

I hope your video card isn't a dead yet; the melting thing doesn't sound good at all.
 
SkaarjMaster

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
8
38
Sarasota, FL
You must have liquid cooling then. From what I know, 36 degrees C is fine. I know in the past (5-10 years ago) the goal was to get your idle CPU temps in the 40's (degrees C) and you were doing good and if they crept up into the 50's then you're still probably OK, but if they got higher than this then you need to do some adjusting to your cooling.
 
KillerSkaarj

KillerSkaarj

Art for swans is dope!
Jan 24, 2008
486
0
0
GreatEmerald said:
It actually can, through overheating. My PC started beeping while playing UT3 too, and if I were to ignore that, I'm pretty sure something would have melted. So in your case something might have melted already. So make sure there's no dust and good airflow before you play UT3, and also enable BIOS overheat warnings (under PC Health) for the CPU so you could hear if it's about to overheat.
Click to expand...

Too late for that. Now it's resting in a small, cardboard coffin that my relatively new Network Card was stored in. I mean, it still works with UT2004, but then I get "killer polygons" and eventually the game completely crashes. I uninstalled the whole game thinking that was the problem, but then I couldn't reinstall it, and now all I have is Unreal Gold installed from the original CD. I miss playing with your UT3 Weapons mutator...

Also, if I were to enable AA on Unreal 227, I get graphical errors that look like rainbow colored stripes going through every texture which eventually either leads to a game crash, a computer freeze, or a blue screen. I pulled the card out immediately after this happened and not only was the heatsink friggin' hot like it should have been, the main card was fairly warm as well, although that may just be normal as well.

So yeah, one of my most favorite games ever (UT3) actually eventually prevented me from playing my OTHER favorite games. The irony is sweet, glaring, and horrendously painful, and since my anthology disk broke, I can't install Unreals Gold through Tournament 2004. And now I'm a miserable pile of... hey, how much is it on Steam? It really sucks to buy something I already have, though.
 
G

GreatEmerald

Khnumhotep
Jan 20, 2008
4,042
1
0
Lithuania
Too bad, my UT3 weapons mutator has recently been upgraded to UT3 Weapons and Vehicles mutator.
The rainbow thing is actually a known bug, but it's really rare. Guess it happens just like the killer polygons.
 
SkaarjMaster

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
8
38
Sarasota, FL
Have you tried burning a copy of that CD/DVD and see if that installs the games you want? I usually try this as a last resort before tossing the CD/DVD.

hehe, yeh it's fairly hot down here in Florida and my computer room is fairly small. I do have a Thermalright SLK-947U heatsink on my older XP system, so that is definitely helping. I probably should have reset the heatsink on the CPU with some new AS5 before I moved it to the new box, but I didn't and it's still running on the same AS5. I doubt this would make that much of a difference and since everything is running fine now, I didn't want to screw it up somehow by taking everything apart and put it back together again.
 
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