Crash - overheating?

[alexwoody]

Hi all,

Firstly, I am very impressed to see such an epic opensource project, with such excellent results.

However, I am struggling to run the game as things stand. My PC is 3 years old and not great - I don't know the specs but to give you a clue, it can't run SupCom, but can run Black & White 2...just.

A problem I had with Black & White 2 is reappearing with Spring - my computer will just switch off 15-20 mins into the game with no notification. I am assuming that this is an overheating issue, and I when I next get a chance to play, I will take the cover off and stick my room fan next to it.

However, I have turned a lot of the settings right down (sob) on Spring - is there any setup anyone would suggest to remove the load either on the CPU or the Graphics Card that would nullify this problem? I am not too fussed about the appearance - I am after gameplay!

Once again, well done to the developers on this fine game. I am also active in the OTTD forums, where there is an opensource version of Transport Tycoon. I am in awe of the commitment both teams have put in to make such amazing tributes (and ultimately stand-alone games) to classic games. Going slightly off-topic - does anyone know of any opensource version of M.A.X or Wizball? That would be great...

[manored]

Overheating is not the only problem your computer might have. Once my old computer would shut down winhout explanation after around 1 hour of use and we discovered it was because there was one liquid leaking from somewhere.

[DJ]

does the pc shutdown or reboot? Windows can be set to automatically reboot the pc if it crashes which could be what is happening here. Check your event log to be sure.

[KDR_11k]

Overheating often comes with some weirdness before the crash, especially when it's the graphics board.

I'm not sure lower graphics settings reduce the heat the card causes, it'll probably just calculate more frames in the same time.

Because of the age of your PC I'd guess it's just dusty, open it and give it a thorough cleaning.

[alexwoody]

Thanks for all your replies. As I mentioned, when I played B&W2, the computer just turned off some time into the game. I set up a room fan next to the open box, and the problem seemed to go away.

I am going to try this technique again to see if it improves. My reason for posting here is that whilst B&W2 crashed after 1-2hours, Spring crashes 10mins into the game.

In terms of what happens prior to the crash, the game freezes for 5 seconds, whilst the machine whirring increases quite noticably. Then it shuts down.

[AF]

whatre your system specifications?

[alexwoody]

I don't know the specs but to give you a clue, it can't run SupCom, but can run Black & White 2...just.

Do you know where I can see my specs or an easy-to-use diagnostic program I can run to find out?

[pattex]

Code: Select all

(in terminal)
$glxinfo

should uncover some things about your grafics adapter if you have linux. Otherwise you could benchmark your system if you want to know its speed.

just n00bish thoughts...

/edit: if you don´t have linux, you could load a knoppix-cd (this is a live cd, i.e. you boot from cd, and it starts linux without installing it to the headdisk buit rather using only ram) to check glxinfo

[AF]

device manager.

system properties will tell you your cpu+ram, just right click on ym comp and pick properties.

Display properties will show you your gfx card on the last tab in XP etc. Its the only tab available under vista.