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Skybird · 08-04-18, 05:11 PM

I could imagine two scenarios possible, one of which I have experienced myself.

Games as well as OS, are code. And whenever new code - from swap files or for save game files - gets written to HD or SD, there is a tiny, a very small and very tiny chance that the writing goes wrong and an essential amount of bytes from something gets overwritten. I have had that in the days of of manually installing a lot of stuff for FS 2000 and with Windows 98SE. Also, I have experienced that some synchronising or file writing to HD for a Steam game chnaged the sinstallation files that were not to be chanbged. A repair via Steam file verification usually finds that out. It does not happen often, it is rare, it is not the rule - but yes, it seldomly can happen, absolutely. I would expect to see it happening less often with SDs than HDs, since a HD is mechanical, has mechancial moving parts and thus has a certain amount of friction that needs to be expected, but I am not sure on how likely that is.

The other risk, also not bvig but technically possible, is that a game heats CPU or GPU and the temp in short time goes thorugh the ceiling. I can see that happening with randomised spawning mods for Fallout 4, which I therefore use only hesitently anbd wioth low settings despite my strong hardware - the working temps usually are - no water cooling - between 72 and 78 ° for five core andf the sixth core scratching shgort of the 80° mark. With these mods affecting the temps however I found that the temps in all cores bary in the rangre of 85 and 90°, which is too risky for my taste, and so I switched that stuff off again. And who knows what temp the GPU then already has...

Its nothing to be too alarmed about, since the hardware shoulod nowadays have auto-brake safety thropttleiong down CPU prefrences when the tmep gets really cirtical. But I think it is good advise not to push it just becasue so far you got away with it. Heat is most likely affecting the durability of your components.

So, yes, I would think a game can damage your hardware or your software installations including the OS. But the chance of it is such that it would usually not be my first guess as a cause for any problems I suddenly face.

Software btw can also malfunction due to software error or RAM problem or whatever. The perfect, flawless, always failsafe piec eof code so far has not been invented.

What goes up, must come down. What got assembled, will break apart again. What was build will get destroyed again. Software and hardware, biologcial and machinery, chemcial agents, genetic codifications - everything.

Edit: P.S. Avoid having your drive defragging while files get written to it due to playing a game. Theoretically modfern OS and mutlitaksign shoukld be able to keep both things separate, but in practice there is a certain, small risk that the data handling gets "hickups" and writes the right thigns into the wrong place, or corrupts data structures. I prefer to have the machine left to itself and alone when it does such stuff. Also, defragging can cause stuttering game performance. Must not alway be, but can happen.

08-04-18, 05:11 PM	#2
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 40,496 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	I could imagine two scenarios possible, one of which I have experienced myself. Games as well as OS, are code. And whenever new code - from swap files or for save game files - gets written to HD or SD, there is a tiny, a very small and very tiny chance that the writing goes wrong and an essential amount of bytes from something gets overwritten. I have had that in the days of of manually installing a lot of stuff for FS 2000 and with Windows 98SE. Also, I have experienced that some synchronising or file writing to HD for a Steam game chnaged the sinstallation files that were not to be chanbged. A repair via Steam file verification usually finds that out. It does not happen often, it is rare, it is not the rule - but yes, it seldomly can happen, absolutely. I would expect to see it happening less often with SDs than HDs, since a HD is mechanical, has mechancial moving parts and thus has a certain amount of friction that needs to be expected, but I am not sure on how likely that is. The other risk, also not bvig but technically possible, is that a game heats CPU or GPU and the temp in short time goes thorugh the ceiling. I can see that happening with randomised spawning mods for Fallout 4, which I therefore use only hesitently anbd wioth low settings despite my strong hardware - the working temps usually are - no water cooling - between 72 and 78 ° for five core andf the sixth core scratching shgort of the 80° mark. With these mods affecting the temps however I found that the temps in all cores bary in the rangre of 85 and 90°, which is too risky for my taste, and so I switched that stuff off again. And who knows what temp the GPU then already has... Its nothing to be too alarmed about, since the hardware shoulod nowadays have auto-brake safety thropttleiong down CPU prefrences when the tmep gets really cirtical. But I think it is good advise not to push it just becasue so far you got away with it. Heat is most likely affecting the durability of your components. So, yes, I would think a game can damage your hardware or your software installations including the OS. But the chance of it is such that it would usually not be my first guess as a cause for any problems I suddenly face. Software btw can also malfunction due to software error or RAM problem or whatever. The perfect, flawless, always failsafe piec eof code so far has not been invented. What goes up, must come down. What got assembled, will break apart again. What was build will get destroyed again. Software and hardware, biologcial and machinery, chemcial agents, genetic codifications - everything. Edit: P.S. Avoid having your drive defragging while files get written to it due to playing a game. Theoretically modfern OS and mutlitaksign shoukld be able to keep both things separate, but in practice there is a certain, small risk that the data handling gets "hickups" and writes the right thigns into the wrong place, or corrupts data structures. I prefer to have the machine left to itself and alone when it does such stuff. Also, defragging can cause stuttering game performance. Must not alway be, but can happen. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.