A warning to all mod users

[Snarf]

Take care when playing mods as the graphical requirements may increase significantly compared to the stock game. A GPU that can handle the stock game may get fried when playing certain mods, especially mods that change/enhance environments or that change the nature of gameplay. Mod designers don't have the resources to test compatibiliy with all the different graphics chipsets, so play at your own risk. If anyone has issues, please post your graphics, ram, processor and the mod(s) you were playing, that way others can be aware.

[merc4ulfate]

I have never seen a mod fry a graphic card. The card will not render or it may crash the game but it will not fry.

I have seen graphics card with too much dust and too much heat fry due to poor maintenance however.

My graphics card is over five years old and I have never found a game it will not play and it is small compared to what some game enthusiast put in their rigs. It do clean out the cabinet now and again to reduce heat and I reseat cards and ram when I do.

Nvidea GEForce 9500 Gt(512 MB ram)

[GlobalExplorer]

Mods are not frying GPUs, jammed fans are. If you see blackscreens once graphics get intense, first clean all the dirt that has accumulated under your heatsink and fan with a vacuum cleaner, before stopping to use mods!

[Sniper297]

Best to use a can of duster from a computer supply store, sticking a vacuum cleaner snout into a computer can set off a static spark that will fry components.

http://www.staples.com/Dust-Destroye...product_326196

[Snarf]

I'm not telling anyone not to use mods, just making more of a general disclaimer. Either way, it is nice to know what graphics cards can handle the task and which ones struggle (or die).

Mine was an Nvidia GE8600 in my laptop it would get quite hot even without mods if I did not prop it up on something. Upon disassembly, it looked like there wasn't a large enough contact patch of thermal compound between the GPU chip and the heat sink.

[TG626]

Then that would be the case of a program REVELING a fault, not causing it.

It may sound like silly semantics, but in one way the User or MOD maker is at fault, the other way the manufacturer of your computer is at fault.

Of course these days, good luck getting a manufacturer to admit and take responsibility for such a thing.

[HertogJan]

A few years ago I used to drive big rigs through Europe and watch movies at night before going to bed, I played some SH4 on it aswell but not that often.
Over a period of time temperature when up big time.. talking bout 70c idle and 85c with Media player classic running...
Always use my Zalmann Notebook cooler NC2000 as a base for extra cooling...

I cleand it but didn't help a lot and before long Temp went up again, started to think something was broken...
I reopend the laptop and wanted to clean the heatsinks but didn't want to take the hole laptop a part so I took a straw (like the ones from Mc D.) and cut it in half over a length of 10cm or so, I put the straw in every spacing of the heatsink and after each spacing cleaned the dust remnants with a old-school air duster (the one where you have to press a rubber baloon).
After all cleaning, restarted the laptop and temperature droped 50c... I kid you not!!!
Temp ideal now is 35c and when runnig SH4 it's between 40c and 45c

[Armistead]

If a mod adds too much load you should see a problem in FPS from the start. Either get a better card or expect poor gaming results. I can't imagine anyone trying to play a game with very low FPS...Don't blame mods...

[TG626]

True. I've seen laptops die a gory death from dust blocking the heatsink.

hmm, don`t want to interruppt, but i got my beautiful AGP 3850/Sapphire killed after newly using the enhanced environment mod. so who murdered my card, hm? ... no no, she died a well earned dead in action after hard years of serving, but hes right, some environmental mods need a lot more hp than the stock game.

[jiro freed]

I'm a new user of silent hunter IV. I was playing a few days ago. I had a problem on loading my saved game of my career mode. The game (silent hunter 4) suddenly stopped working after I try to load the next mission (somewhere in southwest part of australia, american base,freemantle if I'm not mistaken, my sub is just been upgraded to new model). I suspect that the mod pasted directly on the directory seems to be the culprit. I tried to reinstall the game by uninstalling it first and deleting all the sh4 remaining traces except for the sh4 on my documents (because that's were my saved games is located) then reinstall the game. Afterwards, I used the JSGME mod loader but the same problem occur. I can't really load my game. Can anyone help me about this.

My Computer specs

HP Z800
Graphics: Nvidia Quadro X 2000
OS: windows 7 64 bit
memory 32 GB

[Snarf]

[QUOTE=TG626;2185133]Then that would be the case of a program REVELING a fault, not causing it.
/QUOTE]
I agree with that, I'm just trying to raise awareness that issues could arise, not blame mods for anything. Anyone should know that when you choose to load a mod it's your own fault if something should happen to your computer. Not everyone has the common sense to keep the innards of their computer clean also, so this is a good thing to be aware of too.

[Sniper297]

Only thing I want in my lap is Gabrielle Union, computers belong on desks.
Actually it is good advice for laptop users for any game, have a temperature monitor and preferably an alarm. Laptops are made for portability, so compromises have to be made to trade off performance and longevity for lower power use, compactness and lighter weight. Pack stuff in tighter, eliminate or reduce the size and weight of heat sinks, guess what will happen?

Anyone running any kind of graphics intensive video game on a laptop should be aware that it's not really designed as a gaming machine, the fact that it WILL do it or is even advertised as being perfect for games doesn't mean it will do it as well as the equivalent desktop, and will inevitably produce a lot more heat in the process.

Original specs for SH4:

Publishers Minimum System

• Processor: 2GHz processor (Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon)
• Display Card!: DirectX 9 video card with with 128MB of RAM
• Memory: 1024MB
• Free Disk Space: 6GB
• Operating System: Windows 2000

Publishers Recommended System

• Processor: 3GHz processor
• Display Card!: DirectX 9 video card with PS 3.0, VS 3.0 and 256MB of RAM
• Memory: 2048MB
• Free Disk Space: 6GB
• Operating System: Windows XP

When I first bought the game a Pentium D dual core with 1 gig of RAM and 512MB video card was considered mid range, most people now have i3 or i7 CPUs with more than 2 gigs RAM and 1 to 2 gig video cards.


Be advised, most laptops do not have actual video cards, they have a small video chip on the motherboard without all the circuits, VRAM chips, cooling fans and heat sinks on a real video card, and they share part of the system RAM to emulate video RAM - at the cost of performance. So when buying a new game for a laptop, look at the recommended system specs, double that, and consider the multiplied numbers to be the MINIMUM specs for a laptop.

[Sniper297]

Missed one, jiro freed - read this:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/faq....b3_board_usage

If you walk into a party where everyone is talking about learning the macerena and ask how to change a flat tire you're gonna get a lot of blank stares. If you walk into a group of guys talking about cars you'd get better results. If the post heading or topic has nothing to do with what you need help for, it's best to click the NEW TOPIC instead of replying to a thread, you'll get more and faster help that way.

[merc4ulfate]

How quickly humans attribute cause after affect and forget the randomness and coincidental nature of the universe.

The same thing happens after a person gets their car fixed following a collision. Every sound must be something wrong and blamed on the reason for the repair when coincidence is most often the root of their irrational fears.