Overheating GPU?

[Kasumi]

I feel ashamed for needing help so often... I'm so sorry for spamming this forum with my problems.

I am currently playing Mass Effect (as some who know me may already know) and think I may have run into some issues with the GPU last night. I was playing normally when I started noticing very thin, almost unnoticeable short while lines randomly appearing and vanishing on the screen. At first I thought it was water dripping from the roof of the cave and was part of the in-game environment but then I realised it was happening indoors as well.

It only seems to happen when Shepard is running. If I just stand around and do nothing or do other things like access my stats and journals everything is fine. Last night was the first time it happened and I've been playing for two or three hours every night for the past five days so it freaked me out.

I am worried that the GPU may be overheating. The side vents on the right of my laptop do emit really hot air flow while I'm playing and the laptop's internal fan sounds like a aeroplane taking off (only while the game is running, sounds fine during normal use). I don't quite understand why this might be as the computer is always in an air-conditioned room and is kept on a wooden desk. More often than not, I use an external cooling fan or keep it elevated with a book to allow circulation.

I've installed SpeedFan to monitor temperatures and got this:

Spoiler: Screenshot

This is while idling. I'll update this post with a reading on while Mass Effect is running later tonight.

I use an ATI Radeon HD 6470M though I also have an Intel GPU (I switch between the two depending on my needs). It's obviously the ATI card I'm worried about. I've tried updating drivers but it won't even recognise my system. Granted, it only happened that one time and I may be overreacting but... what do you think?

 

[Slayn312]

Kasumi with another problem.... You have to many problem....

Sorry... I can't help you on that cuz I don't play to many game on my laptop.....

 

[Ren Nanase]

What OS are you using and have you installed any new programs in the past few days?

 

[Kasumi]

[MENTION=23111]Slayn312[/MENTION] I'm so sorry...

I use Windows 7 64-bit and 4GB RAM if that helps. As for new programs, I installed Fraps but uninstalled it the same day.

 

[Second_Flight]

Sorry.... maybe this will help

http://masseffect.bioware.com/me1/gameinfo/system_requirements_pc.html

 

[Kasumi]

Specs:
HP Pavillion g series
Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium
4GB RAM
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2410M CPU @ 2.30GHz
AMD Radeon HD 6470M

 

[Ren Nanase]

I take it this might be something what it looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fextN4faAd0

 

[thecoins]

In my case, sign of GPU overheating is lag in anything, including drag and drop in windows explorer. I think your case isn't overheating, the noise also normal, it means the fan works. but probably dust is clogging the fan, so the temperature is a bit high. make sure you didn't place your laptop in a dusty area, because if your laptop overheat too much, then the battery and DVD drive will be affected, like mine.. T.T

 

[Kasumi]

I take it this might be something what it looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fextN4faAd0

Thanks for the video! Actually, yes, that's pretty much what I'm getting. The only difference is that my lines are vertical and they only appear when the player character is running in the game. Other parts of the game and even on normal times like now, I don't see anything. One of the commenters mentioned plugging his power supply straight into the wall instead of from a multi-plug (which is what I have now). I'll try doing that and see what happens.

[MENTION=7722]Second_Flight[/MENTION] Well, it looks like my laptop meets all the recommended requirements except for the processor which still exceeds the minimum requirements anyway. Besides, my friend has an older laptop than mine and she can run stuff fine.

[MENTION=29831]thecoins[/MENTION] Hm, I'm not experiencing any lag that's above the expected rate. You may be right. Unfortunately dust may be a problem. The... heat sink? Is that what you call it? I think that and the fan should be checked out. My entire room is rather dusty in general because my dad always insists I keep my door open and that lets a lot of dust in. The thing is I lack the expertise and confidence to open her up and clean it myself. D:

 

[thecoins]

[MENTION=33148]Kasumi[/MENTION] better not open it yourself... you could make it worse. And yes, it's called heatsink. my laptop's battery has broken because overheating...
95 degree celcius when playing games and I tend to ignore it... now I must turn extra fan on to maintain the temperature in the safe zone, although it's still hot. probably I'll bring it to service center some other time...

 

[Kasumi]

Wow, 95 degrees C... I suppose that's quite bad? If you bring it to the service centre, what do they do? Clean it for you?

Oh dear. I just checked SpeedFan and temperatures are reaching 60-68 C with Chrome open and files transferring to an external HD.

 

[thecoins]

probably they'll change the fan. but i have no time for it now...
95 degree is quite bad... i can warm a bottle mineral water if i put it beside the heatsink.

65 degree is quite high, but seeing the specifications of the laptop, maybe it's normal... or not?

 

[Monjster]

Firstly u have a beast pc for how much u know about computers lol.


Try cleaning the vents/heatsink first. Use an air brush or air compressor or a can of compressed air. Blow out the dust thru the vents/heatsink/fan. Make sure you remove all if not most of the particles. Best if you can open it up and clean from the inside and of course reapply thermal compound... but this is not really necessary.

Take note also that when you are using it, best if you keep the vents clear from any (possible) obstruction (i.e. table cloth, bed sheets, carpets, pets, clothes, etc...).

 

[thecoins]

checking speedfan and the GPU temperature is 72° C after play some games.... it's very hot inside...

 

[Kasumi]

probably they'll change the fan. but i have no time for it now...
95 degree is quite bad... i can warm a bottle mineral water if i put it beside the heatsink.

65 degree is quite high, but seeing the specifications of the laptop, maybe it's normal... or not?

Why? What's up with the specs?

Firstly u have a beast pc for how much u know about computers lol.


Try cleaning the vents/heatsink first. Use an air brush or air compressor or a can of compressed air. Blow out the dust thru the vents/heatsink/fan. Make sure you remove all if not most of the particles. Best if you can open it up and clean from the inside and of course reapply thermal compound... but this is not really necessary.

Take note also that when you are using it, best if you keep the vents clear from any (possible) obstruction (i.e. table cloth, bed sheets, carpets, pets, clothes, etc...).

By beast PC I assume you mean it's a good one? xD

Well, I have no idea where i can find a can of compressed air around here. Never seen them in my country before... Besides, I heard they are quite expensive. And erm... just where is the heatsink...?

When using the ATI card, I keep the laptop on a wooden desk and elevated on cut pieces of toilet roll tubes (as you can deduce, I am quite the miser) which serve as stands along with two small external cooling fans. The laptop is always in an air conditioned environment. I've pulled out all the stops I could. If I were to go any further I'd be using ice packs or something.

 

[Monjster]

[MENTION=33148]Kasumi[/MENTION]

U can try going to nearby car fixing place (forgot the word on English) they are bound to have an air compressor

As Im too lazy to explain everything:

http://icrontic.com/article/clean_laptop_heatsink

Google is your friend


It's long but it will fix your problem (that if u dont wanna pay for the service)

 

[Kasumi]

[MENTION=33968]Monjster[/MENTION] Dear God... just looking at those pics makes me nervous. I don't think I can do it. My laptop doesn't look the kind where you can access just the heatsink, I think you have to take off the entire bottom panel.

If I ask my brother to help me, I wonder if he'll ask any questions... (I'm not supposed to play games)

 

[Monjster]

Well I can't do that one with TeamViewer for u lol... It's far more simple with a PC...

 

[Kasumi]

Ah well it's fine. I'll figure something out... somehow... thanks anyway. :D

In the meantime, I'll try playing again tonight and see if anything has changed.

 

[thecoins]

yeah, to clean laptop's fan you'll need to open entire bottom cover..

[MENTION=33148]Kasumi[/MENTION] you have a good performance laptop there.. idk if your laptop's temperature always that high or not..

 

[Monjster]

yeah, to clean laptop's fan you'll need to open entire bottom cover..

[MENTION=33148]Kasumi[/MENTION] you have a good performance laptop there.. idk if your laptop's temperature always that high or not..

Well as it said it was playing ME1 with that laptop it shouldn't have any problems. Overheating would only be able to come from dust and stuff...

btw [MENTION=33148]Kasumi[/MENTION] U burnt ME yet ?

 

[Kasumi]

[MENTION=29831]thecoins[/MENTION] I'm not sure myself... The keyboard always did feel warm but that was normal since day one. Temperatures are now at 50-56 degrees Celsius. Only Chrome and SpeedFan itself is running.

EDIT: [MENTION=33968]Monjster[/MENTION] Nope. I got the discs with me now but I haven't found a place that sells DVD-Rs yet. Though depending on how reliable another friend is, I may be able to get pirated copies from the store which may be cheaper than the cost of the blanks.

 

[thecoins]

well, at least your laptop isn't as worse as mine... just keep it away from the dust and you'll be alright. 50 - 60 ° C is quite normal

also blank DVD-R is quite common, isn't it? and it's very cheap

 

[Kasumi]

Yeah, but this is with only Chrome running.

That's what I thought. Maybe I'll be able to find some at the central station tomorrow. And don't underestimate the price of counterfeit goods here. I may be able to get ME 1 for RM10 (approximately 3 USD).

 

[thecoins]

Hmm.. same here... that 10RM or 30.000 IDR here can get me a ME1.... but blank DVDs are cheaper.. I can get 3 for 2 dollar or 20.000 IDR...