Bioware, your game runs too hot. My solution.

[undeniablyjeff]

First off, thanks for the compliment about my age and the "you're too crazy approach".

 

Let's cut through the red tape/psychobabble/ridiculous insults to my intelligence that have no bearing on the ACTUAL problem, shall we?

 

The game causes GPUs to overheat.

 

It happens across desktop/laptops and ATI/NVIDIA cards. It is causing machines to fail. Black screen due to overheat and shutdown to save your rig from combustion.

 

That's not a good thing, that is a bad thing. Like being set on fire. Fire bad. Heat bad.

 

If nobody reported this, I would think I was alone, but there are countless threads regarding this issue and no patchable solution is seen.

 

 

You can't blame a pen for writing a nasty letter.....

 

It is obviously some kind of issue with SW:TOR...to say that it's merely a "driver" issue and downplay the severity is childish, reckless and endangers a growing customer base in the first few months of its release. I suggest you do more research instead of making assumptions about how much knowledge you have about this issue and stop running your post count up to look "cool".

 

Oh, pun intended.

 

Pure win.

[xioix]

running in fullscreen (windowed) solved my overheating problems

[undeniablyjeff]

Thanks for writing this, OP, and for keeping on topic.

 

Overheating is a serious issue when it's caused by software. I'm one of the people who have been perplexed by this, and breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't just my machine. My card (high end Radeon) started showing artifacts just a couple days after TOR's release. The artifacts got so bad, I almost decided to send the card in (or get a different one). It took going beyond what should be done (for a game, at least) to bring my system temperatures down, and the artifacting stopped.

 

Workarounds are inconsistent all the way around. There is no one system configuration that runs this game like a dream, and high quality components aren't a free pass to great game performance in this case. I know people with systems chock full of hardware new to the market who run the game WORSE than I do. That simply shouldn't be.

 

If these very serious performance issues aren't addressed before my 80 days run out, I won't be renewing my subscription. I'd rather keep my hardware intact. (And that's if TOR doesn't destroy my computer before the 80 days are up...)

Edited January 9, 2012 by undeniablyjeff

[Drachs]

It's the manufacturers responsibility to design a card and a set of drivers that won't overheat and become damaged. The game developers have no control over that, and it would be impossible for them to write code for every graphics card out there.

 

The game coders write the game to talk to a system called DirectX that's published by Microsoft. This system talks to the drivers developed by each graphics card manufacturer, which then talk to the card.

 

If something the game is doing is causing cards to overheat and become damaged it's the card manufacturers that have screwed up, and it's very likely the game designers wouldn't understand much less be able to fix the problem.

[Asurai]

I have no problem with heat. mine max at about 80 and the game is on pretty much all day.. then again I have good fan/cooling and capped my fps to 60 in game.

[jakarai]

Err, I forced AA which LOWERED CPU TEMPERATURES TO NORMAL.

 

Adding AA should be increasing work, not decreasing work.

 

And explain that it only started happening since Jan 6th patch, and only in SWTOR, and got fixed entirely by doing as I stated above (ultimately by increasing workload on my system).

 

Also note it was only CPU temperatures affected, not GPU temperatures.

 

I noticed that same thing after that patch. My CPU would never stress running this game. Then after that patch it was using 24-25% CPU power constantly and the game still runs the same. I don't know what they did but it didn't work.

[swtorjkcbr]

I have no problem.

 

My mind wandered off about here ...

 

hotter than Jessica Alba on a summer day.

[Tortoises]

There is something going on with the game as in.. it needs more graphics options, and GPU Drivers with SWTOR support are needed badly at this moment in time.

 

I run a super cool system, my temps right now with no load are 29c 42c 39c

 

SWTOR seems to make my PC work like no other game, the fans all kick into high gear and I will see my temps go to 39 59 42.

 

For most people that is fine, for me that is hot. BF3 or Skyrim with max settings dont make all of my fans kick on full blast and raise my temps that high.

 

I also noticed a lot of video lag while participating in a PvP raid last night.

 

I love the game, Long Live Star Wars and Bioware, but we really NEED some GPU support now!

 

Specs: i7 950 3.2ghz Nvidia GTX 560Ti , 6gb DDR3 w/Heatsinks, Asus mobo, 800w PSU, 2 TB 7600rpm WD HD, Hades Gaming case with 1x 200mm fan, 2x 120mm fan, 1x 140mm exhaust, Liquid cooling on CPU, tri temp control. 200mm side vent

Edited January 9, 2012 by Tortoises

[Chevex]

"I don't know anything about how this stuff works but obviously it's easy to fix and they are refusing to fix it. I'm not a programmer but obviously programming is easy so I don't understand we would be ignored and forgotten like this."

[MadJerry]

I run a i7-3930 with SLI GTS450s. My idle is about 40c. When playing SWTOR it caps out in the high 60s with infrequent peaks to 70c. The master card is usually a degree or two higher under load than the slave card. The GPUs have stock coolers and my case has a ton of ventilation and huge fans.

 

Does that seem out of the ordinary to anyone?

 

This does not seem abnormal to me. My only comparison however is EVE Online. It's the only other game I play. It runs at the same temperatures and is probably less graphically challenging than SWTOR, given it is almost 9 years old.

Edited January 10, 2012 by MadJerry

[ajjw]

Oddly enough...Skyrim puts me to 79c avg...81 max ( Still fine, It can take it up to 95c, and 105 before it starts falling apart)

 

SWTOR overall is pretty light? All Max + .ini tweaks? I dunno why you guys are complaining? Get better cooling? Get a better Gfix card? Clean out your fans? Stop crying?

My rig is the opposite. Skyrim on max settings with graphical improvement mods, I average 60-65*C. BF3 on max settings it can peak at 70*C. This game even on low settings? Can peak at 86*C. Yeah. :-/

 

Better cooling? HAF922 with multiple 120mm fans. Card idles at like 30-35*C. Better GFX card? Why? I can run the game with a constant 60fps (50~ on Fleet) with max settings.

 

What is strange is that this game can peak my card at 86*C regardless of me being on low settings or tweaking the .ini for very high settings. That indicates a problem with the code somewhere.

[Tal-N]

You install SW:TOR on a gaming machine....you need to WATCH OUT and play Star Wars: Temperature Monitor Control.....BOOM.....fried computer due to excessive heat.

 

You know absolutely nothing about computer hardware. Gfx cards overheat due to lack of cooling and no amount of coding is going to make it run hotter than is is designed to. A benchmark test on a system for graphics should be able to run indefinently at 100% load if everything on the hardware side of things is normal.

 

If your card is overheating then it either needs cleaning, is faulty or has been overclocked incorrectly.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Tal-N

[MrTijger]

The game runs too hot? What, you're playing on Tattoine or something?

 

This is just beyond stupid, if your setup cannot handle load then the game isnt the problem, your computer is.

[paddles]

sorry guys but if you are all having overheating issues you arent cooling your computers right, invest in water cooling, trust me it is the way forward, my cpu never goes above 20c on full load

 

if you cant afford water cooling check your computers ventilation on the chassis and make sure that you have several fans in your machine, some blowing cold air in and some blowing cold air out, ventilation is everything, the hotter the inside of your machine is the hotter your cpu is going to be

 

you can get some really great ideas from this website and they are really easy to do

 

http://www.mnpctech.com/CaseModTutorials.html

[DoubleSpoiler]

Even if the game isn't causing cards to run hot, it's still terribly optimized. But, I do think there is something weird going on. I'm running on a laptop , around 60fps idiling in Dromund Kaas right now, with random jumps/dips, and my GTX 560M is around 65C, which is the lowest it's been in game, ever. The highest it's gotten is 90C, but when a desktop computer with average cooling gets the same temps as me... I think something's going on.

[freakuancy]

Gentlemen, it appears were are the ignored and the forgotten.

 

The reason why GPUs are overheating is because of bad coding. All it takes is somebody checking to see what commands and instructions are being sent to the GPUs. I am not an expert, but it seems like Bioware doesn't have anybody willing or competent to even look into this severe, deadly problem.

 

Some guy I don't even know lost his computer last night. He is an associate of my friend's wife. "Yeah, I was playing TOR and my video card fried out."

 

Inexcusable.

 

 

You want candy. You take a bite. You burn your mouth due to excessive heat.

 

You buy a car. You put gas into it. Your car explodes. How is that YOUR fault?

 

You install SW:TOR on a gaming machine....you need to WATCH OUT and play Star Wars: Temperature Monitor Control.....BOOM.....fried computer due to excessive heat.

 

My machine doesn't even struggle to run this and it's hotter than Jessica Alba on a summer day.

 

SOLUTION:

 

LOWER YOUR FPS. LOWER YOUR FPS. LOWER YOUR FPS.

 

LOWER YOUR GRAPHICS CARD 3D SETTINGS TO WALMART QUALITY.

 

Use a program like Bandicam and limit your FPS to 30, hell 20 just to be safe. I certainly don't want to lose a GAMING MACHINE to one *********** game.

 

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD *TRY* OR *ATTEMPT* TO SEE, THEN *FIX* THIS PROBLEM BIOWARE.

 

It's a sad day when a million voices suddenly cry out....then are silenced...........

 

Good job making yourself look like a complete idiot by not understanding a word of what you're talking about.

 

I wont even bother explaining. You wouldn't believe me or care.

[MrTijger]

Even if the game isn't causing cards to run hot, it's still terribly optimized. But, I do think there is something weird going on. I'm running on a laptop , around 60fps idiling in Dromund Kaas right now, with random jumps/dips, and my GTX 560M is around 65C, which is the lowest it's been in game, ever. The highest it's gotten is 90C, but when a desktop computer with average cooling gets the same temps as me... I think something's going on.

 

Yes, something is going on, substandard cooling on GPU's so they can sell them for a few bucks less....not to mention cards where the fan speed has been limited to keep noise in check.

 

Here's a puzzler though, my system, which admittedly has better than average cooling, doesnt run hotter than say, playing Skyrim.

[TheSeventhJedi]

My computer runs super hot when playing TOR... sometimes. I can't figure out why. There are times when I can play for hours and it runs nice and cool. Sometimes just logging in makes it run so hot I have to put a fan by my legs so I don't get burned! I haven't had any problems since the last patch, but fingers crossed it stays that way.

[ClayPeopleCry]

I have an over heating problem too. This game makes my card heat up to 100-103c. My card can take up to 110c before the computer crashes. But 100+ is defenitly in the red zone. Just so you know my computer has two huge fans on the its door, and 3 inside. I just used some canned air yesterday to clean it all out because the computer kept crashing when playing this game. Even after doing that it still gets to 100c but at least it doesn't crash anymore. I'm thinking about just under clocking the card a bit when playing this game.

---

Windows 7 - 64 bit, 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM, i7 920, 1TB HD, 1920 x 1080 22" , GTX 470, and a 1'000w PSU.

Edited January 10, 2012 by ClayPeopleCry

[MrTijger]

I have an over heating problem too. This game makes my card heat up to 100-103c. My card can take up to 110c before the computer crashes. But 100+ is defenitly in the red zone.

---

Windows 7 - 64 bit, 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM, i7 920, 1TB HD, 1920 x 1080 22" , GTX 470, and a 1'000w PSU.

 

Download one of the nvidia utilities and check what your fan setings are, MSI has a decent one that seems to work on all cadrds, its called Afterburner

[ClayPeopleCry]

Download one of the nvidia utilities and check what your fan setings are, MSI has a decent one that seems to work on all cadrds, its called Afterburner

 

My fan is 100%. I'm using afterburner. Thats how I know its 100c when I play.

[Sealunar]

Overheating problem here as well. I am running a laptop with (2) Nvidia 8700m gt. My framerate performance is HORRIBLE, and I believe this is because the game is terribly optimized. I can run games like Mass Effect 2 on High settings and have good performance. This game doesn't look that much better than WoW but demands SO much more power. I don't not dun get it.

[MrTijger]

My fan is 100%. I'm using afterburner. Thats how I know its 100c when I play.

 

Return the card? Its simple, if it cannot run at 100% without overheating then your problem lies with the hardware or you have zero airflow in your case, thats also possible ofc.

[Abomin]

most reasons its overheating is because a lot are running their computers overclocked, they should know when they go and google overclocking and then doing it, that they should of read the warnings, stuff are performing better but also are generating a lot more heat while its overclocked.

 

Running computer Normally

 

 

Computer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229209

 

Power Supply had to replace bearings in the fan were bad this my new power supply I had

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120720311398&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:1123#ht_1552wt_1140

 

Graphics Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129185

 

Game runs fine except when when going in the Sith academy, once inside it starts lagging alittle not hardly enough to hinder me or break my enjoyment.

 

Computer hardware running smoothly no over heating or anything when playing.

Edited January 10, 2012 by Abomin

[VorpalCheese]

The issue (and there is an issue; if you aren't suffering it, good for you...may you continue in good fortune) can be caused by the lack of driver support, poor TOR coding, or a combination of the two. This is assuming a build that has proper airflow, of course. Software is all it takes, ala the Furmark/Nvidia GPU issue. For me, my rig handles other modern games (Skyrim, Just Cause 2, etc) with no problem and not nearly as much heat output. TOR causes my rig to put out so much heat I start sweating in my room, even with a fan running full blast. When I first played TOR, I was burning dust. This is not normal for my system which has more than adequate airflow.