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View Full Version : SH5 damaged my video card.

whiplash2002b
02-03-11, 01:09 PM
Hi All,

My first time posting here. I recently got into the SH series (about two months ago), starting with SH4 and then purchased SH5.

I love SH5 and what the mod community has done with it so far, especially TDW GUI mods.

Unfortunately, SH5 seems to have damaged my video card and I wanted to post here about it to give people a heads up.

I didn't realize what was happening til it was too late. During nearly all of SH5's gamplay, my Geforce 260 GTX ran at 100% GPU, usage. I know this because I have finally begun using a hardware monitor that displays on-screen during gameplay.

The first sign of trouble was when I would look at ships that were on fire. There would be stuttering and my video card fan would go crazy. I thought everything was fine and the fan was taking care of business.

Unfortunately, the video card fan speed did not increase when it should have before this time. It just heated up to 100C+ and then start spinning faster. Overtime this caused damage to my video card.
I have read other posts about people with Geforce 260's who have stuttering problems. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. This game is not optimized very well and it can damage your hardware.

Now, my question is... I have purchased a Geforce 570 and I am wondering if any of you guys have that card or something similar and how your performance is with SH5.

My video card is being shipped to me currently, so I am just curious.

-Whiplash

P.S. We seriously need a frame-rate limiter to lower excess heat.
stoianm
02-03-11, 01:26 PM
P.S. We seriously need a frame-rate limiter to lower excess heat.
If you slower the graphing settings (in game) then i think your video card will not run anymore at full capacity:hmmm:
whiplash2002b
02-03-11, 01:32 PM
Good point. I did try lowering all of the settings and re-ran my tests.

The GPU still runs at 100% except when using the navigation map.

It could be a graphics driver issue (yes, I have the newest ones). However, every other game I've played runs smoothly.
stoppro
02-03-11, 04:07 PM
use v-sync
whiplash2002b
02-03-11, 04:13 PM
Stoppro,

I see you have a Geforce 580. How well does it work with SH5?

I do use v-sync, which keeps it at 60 FPS. I think that is a bit excessive. 35 would be fine to me.

In fact, I think the fact that it is constantly trying to maintain 60 fps is one of the issues causing my overheating.
THE_MASK
02-03-11, 04:26 PM
Run at 32 fps
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=2871
Zedi
02-03-11, 04:50 PM
...I have finally begun using a hardware monitor that displays on-screen during gameplay. ...
Name it please.
whiplash2002b
02-03-11, 05:14 PM
Name it please.

EVGA Precision has a hardware monitor option.

I'm not sure if you need an EVGA card to use it, though.
whiplash2002b
02-03-11, 05:14 PM
Run at 32 fps
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=2871


Thank you. I'll give it a shot soon.

EDIT: That significantly reduced the GPU usage. I wish I had known about that about two weeks ago. Good tip!
stoppro
02-03-11, 05:46 PM
I have never had an issue with the gtx580 and I run alot on realtime it doesn't seem to stress it all and it's running on auto. and the graphics are great
dcb
02-03-11, 06:54 PM
Unfortunately, the video card fan speed did not increase when it should have before this time.
(..)
P.S. We seriously need a frame-rate limiter to lower excess heat.

Actually, it was not the game that ruined your card, but the crappy Nvidia drivers. I have the same vidcard, GTX 260, but I'm controlling its heat with RivaTuner, which ramps up the fan speed with the GPU temperature. Without this external control, the fan would stay at 29% until the card gets past 100 degrees Celsius. Be warned that you will get the same behavior with any Nvidia card, including your GTX 580, because it's not the hardware itself (the card), but the drivers, which do not know how to adapt fan speed to the core temperature.
Just google for "nvidia fan control" and you'll find plenty of posts explaining both the issue and the solutions. And BTW, EVGA precision only monitors the temp, but does not increase the card fan speed. RivaTuner, OTOH, does both functions: it displays the temperature on screen and controls the speed of the fan.
stoianm
02-03-11, 06:57 PM
RivaTuner, OTOH, does both functions: it displays the temperature on screen and controls the speed of the fan.

Good to know. Thanks!:salute:
dcb
02-03-11, 07:04 PM
Good to know. Thanks!:salute:

Here is a guide on configuring RivaTuner to get the job done. Unfortunately for other subsimmers who might be interested, it's in Romanian, but for you I know it's OK:03:

http://www.mygarage.ro/ghiduri-si-tutoriale/5014-rivatuner-instructiuni-sumare-de-folosire-7.html

I'm sure there are also English-language guides available on the internet.
stoianm
02-03-11, 07:07 PM
Here is a guide on configuring RivaTuner to get the job done. Unfortunately for other subsimmers who might be interested, it's in Romanian, but for you I know it's OK:03:

http://www.mygarage.ro/ghiduri-si-tutoriale/5014-rivatuner-instructiuni-sumare-de-folosire-7.html

I'm sure there are also English-language guides available on the internet.

Thanks dcb (multumesc frumos)!

I will read this guide right away!
whiplash2002b
02-03-11, 10:15 PM
Actually, it was not the game that ruined your card, but the crappy Nvidia drivers. I have the same vidcard, GTX 260, but I'm controlling its heat with RivaTuner, which ramps up the fan speed with the GPU temperature. Without this external control, the fan would stay at 29% until the card gets past 100 degrees Celsius. Be warned that you will get the same behavior with any Nvidia card, including your GTX 580, because it's not the hardware itself (the card), but the drivers, which do not know how to adapt fan speed to the core temperature.
Just google for "nvidia fan control" and you'll find plenty of posts explaining both the issue and the solutions. And BTW, EVGA precision only monitors the temp, but does not increase the card fan speed. RivaTuner, OTOH, does both functions: it displays the temperature on screen and controls the speed of the fan.


Noted.

I used to have EVGA Precision 1.9.1 or something like that (up until yesterday). However, their newest version allows you to customize a temperature/fan RPM graph, which is kind of neat. So basically you get to determine at what temperature you want the fan speed to increase and what speed you would like it to increase to.

I have also recently download Rivatuner. EVGA Precision uses part of Rivatuner's software for itself. It's basically a less sophisticated version of Rivatuner.

I think it was lack of knowledge of what my video card was up to that caused the damage.

That said, I still think SH5 is not a well optimized game. I have an extensive programming background, and when I see my GPU usage go to 100% and stay there with no fluctuation, that is an indicator that something is wrong.
mobucks
02-04-11, 09:19 AM
SH5 is one of the few games i play where i hear the fan kick on with Rivatuner. Something does cause this game to run hot.
Wilcke
02-04-11, 11:28 AM
Agreed, my new Nvidia 470 will make the fan run up to 100%. I use EVGA Precision to setup a fan speed related to temperature rise at about 60C it ramps up to 100%. A few days ago while running SH5 sans the EVGA Precision I did get some artifacts on one screen. I did an Exit, started up EVGA Precision note GPU at 80C, the fan ramped up to 100% and the temps started down to about 45C at idle.

On the graph SH5 utilizes about 100% of GPU. Nice to see these cards starting to shoulder the workload! Graphically with TDW's mods SH5 is gorgeous and runs smooth as silk.

I am putting an after market heat sink and three large fan setup on my EVGA 470, I am tired of the loud fan noise and this will bring the temps down by about 10C.
whiplash2002b
02-04-11, 12:03 PM
Agreed, my new Nvidia 470 will make the fan run up to 100%. I use EVGA Precision to setup a fan speed related to temperature rise at about 60C it ramps up to 100%. A few days ago while running SH5 sans the EVGA Precision I did get some artifacts on one screen. I did an Exit, started up EVGA Precision note GPU at 80C, the fan ramped up to 100% and the temps started down to about 45C at idle.

On the graph SH5 utilizes about 100% of GPU. Nice to see these cards starting to shoulder the workload! Graphically with TDW's mods SH5 is gorgeous and runs smooth as silk.

I am putting an after market heat sink and three large fan setup on my EVGA 470, I am tired of the loud fan noise and this will bring the temps down by about 10C.

I do recommend using what sober recommended farther down in this thread: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=2871 I set mine to 27 FPS and it did reduce the GPU load significantly. Most people tell you that 30 FPS is what the human eye detects, but 35 mm movies actually run at 24.7 or something like that. So, you can save yourself some GPU processing time with this small download. Plus it's made by Kegety... he's been making awesome stuff for sim games for a long time.
sofie_59
02-04-11, 01:31 PM
And here is a couple of riva turner pages you perhaps dont have seen before!

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=296813/


http://rivatuner.doomdealer.com/ this is a must !
salamine
02-06-11, 07:29 PM
I have a similar problem. During the game I can actually hear all my coolers running at 100% which is pretty annoying. At the very beginning everything seemed to be fine, but then FPS droped by more then twice, not only in SH5, but also in the other games I play..
GT182
02-08-11, 05:35 PM
SH5 is one of the few games i play where i hear the fan kick on with Rivatuner. Something does cause this game to run hot.

Try using water cooling. I'm running a H-50 water cooler and it works great. But you do need to have a 250mm fan in the back of the case.

The H-70 is even better so I'm told. CompUSA did have that one in stock, so I went with what was on the shelf.