Topic: What do you do to keep your computer cool when gaming?

[SkyFlyer]

Ive OCed my P3 1ghz to 1.1ghz with a copper heatsink and a big fan on my CPU. I then have a fan in the front and one in the back, not counting my PSU fan. I also have the option of having a fan on my side panel but I havent gotten around to installing it yet. After 12 hours of continuous running my system gets unstable, however temperature stays well below 50* Celcius.

I overclocked my ATI Radeon 9550 (just a heatsink) from 250mhz Core clock and 195.75mhz Memory clock to 465.75 mhz Core Clock and 233mhz Memory. I get no artifacts after testing with ATITool 0.24 for 11 hours.

[Nemesis]

You guys really think it's a cooling issue and not that of drivers?  If I save a few bucks, maybe I'll check the RAM.

It is not so much that we think it is overheating.  It is more that it could be overheating and it is a fairly quick, easy and cheap thing to check.  If it is heat any fix based on replacing hardware will fail and be a waste of time and money.  If it is not heat then the time and money to eliminate that as the source is very little in comparison. 

Also any steps taken now to clean vents and heat sinks will be needed eventually anyhow so the effort will not be wasted.

When the source of the problem is unclear always check the quick easy and cheap possiblities first.  As one example a friends computer started malfunctioning after he moved.  I was at his house shortly thereafter and he asked me about it.  I began inspecting the system and quickly noticed something.  The surge protector and a light for wiring fault detection - it was on.  He plugged it in elsewhere and the system worked stably again.

Which of course brings up another point.  Power.  Years ago a study on PCs concluded that 85% of computer crashes were power related.  Has anything else been added to the circuit that computer is on?  I have seen problems with flourescent lights on the same circuit as the monitor for example.    Do the lights in the room with the computer flicker occasionly?  Those flickers indicate power fluctuations that can cause crashes.  Low power is less damaging than a surge but both can cause a crash.

[E_Look]

Interesting, Nemesis!

I don't think there's much on the line; his brother's computer is on the same line, same basic config, same basic parts, except older models from the same manufacturers, and it runs like a charm.  I'll check the dirt inside his case first, then I'll run Memtest like Elvis suggested.

And, as always, I'll keep yousall posted.

[E_Look]

Gentlemen,

I ran MemTest 1.6+

and it found two errors:  I have no idea what they mean.  Can anyone clue me in about this?

[Elvis]

Which stick is producing the errors? And how long did you let it run? Check each stick seperately and let it run through a couple passes. If there is one stick that isn't producing errors go with that and see if the puter still crashes. As with everything "computer" you may or may not have found the culprit.

I had a matched pair of Corsair sticks and one stick went bad, ie showed errors on Memtest which was enough to get an RMA from Corsair. Lifetime warrranty is a good thing.

[Javora]

Elvis is right separate the Ram and run the program again for each stick.  Be carefull to write down the error codes, so if your Ram is still under warranty you can get a replacement.

[E_Look]

If I post the error codes, can you tell me what they mean?

[Elvis]

FAQ for Memtest:

http://forum.x86-secret.com/viewtopic.php?t=2906&sid=a7c3352df44e4e2d1492d7977b437ecd


Also this page has good information on what the tests actually do:

http://www.memtest86.com/#details

[Commander Maxillius]

Ive OCed my P3 1ghz to 1.1ghz with a copper heatsink and a big fan on my CPU. I then have a fan in the front and one in the back, not counting my PSU fan. I also have the option of having a fan on my side panel but I havent gotten around to installing it yet. After 12 hours of continuous running my system gets unstable, however temperature stays well below 50* Celcius.

I overclocked my ATI Radeon 9550 (just a heatsink) from 250mhz Core clock and 195.75mhz Memory clock to 465.75 mhz Core Clock and 233mhz Memory. I get no artifacts after testing with ATITool 0.24 for 11 hours.

To keep my gaming system cool I take it off my lap   It only hits 50C if I don't run SpeedFan and let the system decide when it's too hot.  With SpeedFan it never gets above 45C, even with all the airholes blocked.  You can configure when to have it turn each individual fan on, and it'll detect all of them.  It'll also detect any temp sensors, it the case of my laptop, it's got 4: Local Temp (CPU), Remote Temp (Processor, probably an estimate based on the CPU gauge +5C), HD0 (hard disk, though I can't see why the HD needs a temp sensor), and Temp1 (which I haven't found a purpose for yet, since it either displays what Remote Temp does or like now, says 0C).

link to SpeedFan: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

[SkyFlyer]

I don't even get close to 50. I get around 42* after six hours or so of 100% cpu.

Idle its around 33.

[Commander Maxillius]

I don't even get close to 50. I get around 42* after six hours or so of 100% cpu.

Idle its around 33.

My fans don't turn on until it hits 41, then it cools to 37 or 38 then switches them off.  That turns out to be on 10 mintues, off 5.  I did an experiment and turned "auto cool" off for half an hour and the processor hit 60 and the CPU was at 48, but once I turned the fans back on everything was back to normal (CPU below 50) in 3-5 minutes.  The stock fan controller doesn't turn the fans on until the CPU hits 65 or 70, because the system runs WAY cooler now.  It doesn't heat my lap at all anymore.

[SkyFlyer]

Nice. IIRC the P3 can handle up to 70 degrees so 42 isnt too bad

[Commander Maxillius]

It's actually a Celeron, and I don't notice any difference in stability between running the stock controller and SpeedFan.  I do notice, however, that the clockspeed is a true 1200MHz when it's cooler as opposed to something like 1191MHz after a night of SFC. 

I'll have to see how it does with Neverwinter Nights now.

[Commander Maxillius]

in SFC the processor sensor read a max of 57.  The processor sensor always reads higher than the fan controller, so I'll call it 53.  I think NWN will push the controller to 60.

[SkyFlyer]

I think the Fancontroller is reading the case temperature.

Just for fun try taking the case off and then play. You should see a much more drastic gap between the two.

As for 57* on the CPU thats starting to get a bit high, even for a celeron.

[Commander Maxillius]

Taking the case off would be a tad difficult since it's a laptop, and the high temp *may* be due to the fact that it was sitting on a mattress :-p

The CPU only touches 50 on a table.

[SFCOP]

i am using a very old, big(160mm, i think) fan that used to cool some industrial equipment where my dad works. It is connected to my PS by paper clips jamed into the power connector and is being run at 7v(best sound/air flow ratio) but can handle 24v. I have to have the case off all the time as the fan sits on top aiming down onto the CPU and RAM. Keeps system below 40c almost all the time. I have a Athlon XP 3200 CPU and Radeon 9800 pumping out the heat.

[Midnight Tech]

To keep my gaming system cool I take it off my lap It only hits 50C if I don't run SpeedFan and let the system decide when it's too hot. With SpeedFan it never gets above 45C, even with all the airholes blocked. You can configure when to have it turn each individual fan on, and it'll detect all of them. It'll also detect any temp sensors, it the case of my laptop, it's got 4: Local Temp (CPU), Remote Temp (Processor, probably an estimate based on the CPU gauge +5C), HD0 (hard disk, though I can't see why the HD needs a temp sensor), and Temp1 (which I haven't found a purpose for yet, since it either displays what Remote Temp does or like now, says 0C).

link to SpeedFan: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

Maxillius, the reason they give a HDD temp sensor is due to the high sppeds most of the new drives are running...a 10,000 RPM drive can actually run hot enough to burn you after just a short run time.

[Stormbringer]

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cooling/Tt_SubZero4G_P4/pg_5.html

[FPF-SCM_TraceyG_XC]

There is also another issue that may need consideration. Where intermittent memory errors are causing a computer to crash may not actually indiciate a fault with the RAM, but rather the power supply. When a power supply begins to fail, or is under too much load, the voltage produced becomes unclean or can drop too low. Typically, the most sensitive computer hardware to voltage variations will be effected first, and this is usually the RAM. Testing the power supply under load may also be prudent, and even here, it needs to be tested using the same power point and place in the house where it normally runs.

A friend of mine had similar problems once, the cause was actually a faulty power point that was on a bad circuit which did not supply enough power to the computer during certain times of the day. The fault was fixed simply by moving the computer to a good power outlet.